A trillion fears about taking the hair transplant Plunge. Please help me!

[Balding Scot]

Hey everyone. I'm new here. I'll try to keep this brief. I'm desperate for some good advice.

My story? Starting losing hair around age 20. Went on Propecia at age 23. Was on it for 2 years. Slowed down loss but didn't improve anything. Had to go off because of *major* side effects (to the doubters, YES, life altering mental side effects do exist, including panic disorder and brain fog).

Rogaine was awful, made my hair look like greasy nasty nothingness.

I'm now 28. A few months ago I shaved it all off and tried a hair system. Hated it. Terrible decision. Felt like a mannequin. Took that off.

Discovered at that point that I look terrible with a shaved head. Two months later, I have very short hair. I've taken pictures and posted them here, since having this short hair really helps in showing where my loss is at the moment.

I consulted with Hasson and Wong two years ago and they were very helpful, thought they could fill everything in quite nicely and bring the hairline forward slightly. I've sent them these updated pictures so they can see the loss progression, we'll see what they say.

Also just submitted an evaluation to Dr. Rahal in Ottawa.

I wanted to post here to get some advice on what you think I should do. I'm not willing to live with how thin my hair is right now. I'm in the entertainment business, and I can't keep wearing hats. I need thicker hair.

Here are my questions:

1. Has anyone really had any success going on 0.25mg of Propecia instead of 1mg? At least in stopping loss? I feel that if I do a transplant, losing further hair would be awful, but going back on propecia is terrifying after what happened to me with side effects the first time.

2. Do I look like, considering my donor area and pattern of loss, a decent candidate for a successful hair transplant?

3. Would shock death of surrounding hairs be a serious issue to consider? Or can the top surgeons (ie. hasson and wong, rahal) take measures to protect against this?

4. In my situation, what would you do?

Thanks kindly.

 

[CCS]

Hey,

I did not read your post, but I did look at your pictures. I advise against hair transplant.

If you transplant in between hairs, a lot of the thin ones you currently have will likely have shock loss and die, negating a lot of the gain, and leaving your sides a bit thinner.

Your sides are somewhat thick, but not very.

My advice is to keep your hair that length, and get on treatments. Finasteride, Nizoral, Piroctone olamine shampoo (like Bodyshop Ginger on Amazon), and rogaine foam.

Also look into body hair transplants. At your length the curliness might be less noticeable.

You got some nice sides, and I'd really hate to see them get thinned out if it does not give you the hair on top you want.

 

[CCS]

OK, I just read your post.

Yes, 0.25 is almost as strong as 1mg, but it is a question of if you get side effects.

As for the rogaine that was to greasy, again try the foam.

Does not look like you use Nizoral.

I looked at your pics again, and your loss is not bad. Definitely thinning. Yeah, visually a bit bad. But what I mean is I don't think there will be much room in between hairs to fill that in. I really worry you will get some shock loss.

Looks like you do have enough hair to move the hair line forwards a bit though.

Just don't expect to get all your hair back. hair transplant does not make new hair. It only moves existing hairs around. Your hair will be thinner over all, between the grafts that die, the dormant hairs that got transected, the shock loss, and the wider spread of hairs, you will have less hair on your head afterwards, but just more even.


I can understand why you'd not want the hair piece. You got a lot of hair that probably was growing up through the base.

My advice is to use concealers for the top, and maybe lower your hairline a bit, but not until after you are sure that you've slowed down your hairloss enough.

Even if you get hair transplant, it takes time for the hairs to wake back up and grow. How long/curly is your body hair?

 

[s.a.f]

Hmm it does look like you're heading for nw6. Looks like you've already lost a considerable amount of hair and without finasteride it looks like you'll probably lose the rest.
However its not so much the dosage as how well you respond to it. A good responder will see thickening up and maintaining on even a small dose (although.25mg) is a really small dose to take it can be effective if you're lucky.
But on the other hand some people can take 1.25mg dose without getting any decent results.

You need to stick with the finasteride for a good period of time and monitor the results, hopefully you will see thickening up which will help improve your options with a hair transplant. Without finasteride you wont really be in a good position in the future if you continue to lose what hair you have left.
I dont know what CCS is looking at but your donor is not good. If you had a hair transplant you'd probably would'nt be able to keep it short without the scar being noticable (obviously it all depends about how you heal).
I think you could get some improvement from a hair transplant but not really a full head of hair.

If you do lose hair permanantly to shockloss then it'll be more due to hair being on its way out than surgeon error.

You really need to go to one of the top Drs (again) this time purely to discuss your concerns. H&W and Rahal are good guys and will be realistic about the outcome they wont promise you what they cant hope to achieve.

 

[Balding Scot]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

I am actually on Nizoral, I just started a couple months ago. My hair seems thinner than it was initially... that could be why? A nizoral-induced shed? Or maybe it's gone from traction loss due to the stupid hairpiece I was gluing to my head. Ugh.

I'm a bit discouraged by these posts though... I'm getting the feeling that either I have to brave panic attacks and mental instability and try the finasteride again, or I have to basically give up and go bald.

I've done some reading about even half a dose or a quarter of a dose of finasteride, and that it basically hits your body the same way... that it's a flat-response kind of drug. If that's the case, I suppose I can expect to get the same damn side effects if I try it again at a lower dose?

I really really want to do something about this, but I'm just freaked right out. And the status quo or further balding just can't be an option... my band is in the middle of taking off quite suddenly.

What to do

 

[IBM]

You need to use anti-androgens to keep your hair. There's no way without that. Even if you do an hair transplant you'll need it. That's for granted.

Seems to me that your hair is very thin.

 

[Balding Scot]

When you say anti-androgen -- you mean Propecia?

 

[CCS]

Better to be bald than bald and broke, with odd looking hair pattern on top.

There are tatoo places that can make it look like you have hair follicles in the right places, and just shaved.

You don't need to glue on a premium wig. For your band, just put on a cheaper long haired wig. Many rock stars do it anyway.

 

[Balding Scot]

Hey CCS, you can't be serious man ... tattooing my head or long, cheap wigs? It's like you think I'll never be less than 10 feet away from people?!

 

[s.a.f]

Hey CCS, you can't be serious man ... tattooing my head or long, cheap wigs? It's like you think I'll never be less than 10 feet away from people?!

Glad you've got the sense to realise that. :agree:
Take my advice get on finasteride for a year if it maintains/improves your hair then go back to discussing your hair transplant options with a top surgeon. Otherwise just shave it.

 

[Balding Scot]

But that's the trouble -- i literally had absolutely debilitating sides from propecia. It's starting to be well proven that it causes panic disorder in a few unlucky individuals, and i was one of those individuals.

I've read that cutting the dose in half (.5mg daily) can help with sides. Do you or does anyone know if there's evidence of that?

As for shaving, can't be an option. I might go back to hairpieces before that (and I hated hairpieces). Being shaved was incredibly awful looking. I looked like an angry infant.

 

[Avery]

If treatments and a hair transplant aren't an option, I suggest you buzz it tight and try to forget about it.

 

[Balding Scot]

That is giving up. If I were willing to give up I wouldn't be posting on a hair loss help forum, now would I?

 

[uncomfortable man]

Wow bro, your situation really sucks. As you can see from my avatar, I'm pretty much bald and forced to shave it. I can pull it off on a good day but it is pretty debilitating for the most part...so you know I can feel for you situation. May I ask where your from and what kind of band your in? I ask because certain types of music, a shaven head is more acceptable, like metal. Don't get back on finasteride. Although I may b**ch and whine, your health is more important. The impact that going bald has on your mental health is another issue unfortunately.

 

[Avery]

That is giving up. If I were willing to give up I wouldn't be posting on a hair loss help forum, now would I?

Of course it's giving up. If the few ways to regain hair are unacceptable to you, then there's nothing else to do but learn to live with it. There's no hair growth secret that we're keeping from you.

 

[epictetus]

The reason you look bad with a close buzz is that you're fat. No, not fat for a person with a thick head of hair, like Kerzyguy, but for a bald man. To pull off the look, you need to be lean enough to have a jawline.

 

[Balding Scot]

I'm fat?

Wow, thanks man, you guys are incredibly supportive.

So not only do I have a rapidly disappearing head of hair, but I'm too fat.

Jesus.

 

[s.a.f]

Fat? I dont think so, look at the 3rd pic. :thumbdown2:

 

[epictetus]

Of course you're not objectively fat. All my point was is that NOBODY looks good with a buzzed head without having a lean face. EVERY male who is seen as handsome who has a buzzed head ALL have super lean faces.

There is nothing abnormal about the shape of your skull. You're not ugly. So why would you be any different?

I'm not going to lie to you (I guess that's being supportive?), and tell you that you're a candidate for a hair transplant. You're not. Your sides are thin just like mine. All that you'd get is a whole head of thin hair plus scars. Then you're really trapped on what you can do.

 

[Balding Scot]

So what is that, then?
You say I'd be really trapped in what I can do...
Well, what exactly is that?!

It seems like since posting here, I've been provided with absolutely no options. finasteride is out because it has brutal sides. minoxidil doesn't work. And I'm not a candidate for hair transplant.

What is this other stuff that I can do?