My hair transplant journey

Chrisc said:
Im 35 have been balding since early 20's. where I do have hair is still really thick, i was tempted by a HT but UK prices are very high and im not sure about a turkish procedure. I may opt for tablets and using regain and see how I am 12 months down the line. Can anybody advise which tablets they have used and had good results? Im a bit skeptical when googling for it.
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Theres a few different medicines you can take. Personally I wouldnt bother using Regaine or anything topical and just go straight for oral meds if you can get them.

Minoxidil, Finasteride and Dutasteride are the most common. All come with a variety of purported side effects and you will no doubt read some horror stories about side effects for Dutasteride and Finasteride (as you do with any drug really, the horror stories are the ones that make it online mostly).

I believe Dutasteride is supposed to be stronger or more effective than Finasteride but I don't think there is any study/research to back this up, it's mostly anecdotal evidence from users online but what i've been reading is that most people start on Minoxidil and Finasteride daily and then once every 1-2 weeks they swap one dose of Finasteride for Dutasteride if they don't see results after 6-12 months. I don't claim to know the specifics on the science but I believe Dutasteride lasts in the body a lot longer than Finasteride, hence why you don't need to take it as regularly as Finasteride.

There are quite a few sub-Reddit's and Reddit posts about this kinda thing so give them a read. Obviously you will need to speak to a Doctor about all of this anyway as you will need to be prescribed the above but i'd give it Minoxidil and Finasteride a go first and see how you. I felt like I had some good regrowth and thickening when I took it over a year ago for 6 months and i've just started to take it again now so i'm hoping I can pick up where I left off!

I think the combination of Minoxidil and Finasteride works well to a) stop your hair from continuing to fall out and strengthen it and b) encourage new hair growth in areas which may have thinned. I can't remember which drug focused on which, I think Minoxidil may stop hair falling out and Finasteride may encourage new growth, so using both in tandem is the ideal.
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Theres a few different medicines you can take. Personally I wouldnt bother using Regaine or anything topical and just go straight for oral meds if you can get them.

Minoxidil, Finasteride and Dutasteride are the most common. All come with a variety of purported side effects and you will no doubt read some horror stories about side effects for Dutasteride and Finasteride (as you do with any drug really, the horror stories are the ones that make it online mostly).

I believe Dutasteride is supposed to be stronger or more effective than Finasteride but I don't think there is any study/research to back this up, it's mostly anecdotal evidence from users online but what i've been reading is that most people start on Minoxidil and Finasteride daily and then once every 1-2 weeks they swap one dose of Finasteride for Dutasteride if they don't see results after 6-12 months. I don't claim to know the specifics on the science but I believe Dutasteride lasts in the body a lot longer than Finasteride, hence why you don't need to take it as regularly as Finasteride.

There are quite a few sub-Reddit's and Reddit posts about this kinda thing so give them a read. Obviously you will need to speak to a Doctor about all of this anyway as you will need to be prescribed the above but i'd give it Minoxidil and Finasteride a go first and see how you. I felt like I had some good regrowth and thickening when I took it over a year ago for 6 months and i've just started to take it again now so i'm hoping I can pick up where I left off!

I think the combination of Minoxidil and Finasteride works well to a) stop your hair from continuing to fall out and strengthen it and b) encourage new hair growth in areas which may have thinned. I can't remember which drug focused on which, I think Minoxidil may stop hair falling out and Finasteride may encourage new growth, so using both in tandem is the ideal.
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Thanks very much for the reply, is it against rules to recommend places to purchase these products?
 
Chrisc said:
Thanks very much for the reply, is it against rules to recommend places to purchase these products?
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You'll need a prescription for oral Minoxidil, Finasteride and Dutasteride in the UK. So you'll have to go see your doctor first, then there are endless places you can purchase online or instore once you have the prescription.
 
Chrisc said:
Thanks very much for the reply, is it against rules to recommend places to purchase these products?
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Not sure but while you need a prescription for DHT inhibiting drugs, you absolutely don't need to see a doctor in person for finasteride nor dutasteride:

Oxford Online Pharmacy (finasteride and dutasteride)
Dr. Fox (finasteride)
Simple Online Pharmacy (finasteride)
eBay (Kirkland topical minoxidil)

All fine and safe to buy from. They do a cursory online check after you fill out a form answering a few questions. I've not yet found anywhere selling oral minoxidil off label in the UK though.
 
That topical minoxidil is basically the same medication as Rogaine, I did try it once years ago but couldn't be bothered with it in the end as it's a bit of a faff.

I've not bothered with the oral stuff though it is quite funny how this stuff is prescription only but you can just get it via online pharmacies anyway as they'll get some GP to do the prescription for you. Sure they'll check for interactions with current meds but a pharmacist could probs do that if they were OTC/Pharmacy only instead.

IIRC there was a telephone service previously that one doctor (can't remember if he was a GP or a dermatologist) was using to just dish out prescriptions for this stuff to pretty much anyone who wanted it, I did once ask a dermatologist about it and he took quite a dim view, wasn't impressed with some guy just doing that over the phone.
 
Malevolence said:
Guess some of us just lucked out with the hair genes. I've had a 10" mohawk for the past year but have started to grow my hair long. In the month since I last shaved my sidewalls I have grown a good inch of hair.
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Hey wow cool thanks for coming into a hair transplant thread solely to let people know that you lucked out with your hair genes. That's awesome.

Username appears to fit.
 
Participant said:
Looks great. Are you still pleased with the outcome? Any intention to have another procedure at all in the future?
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Yep really pleased, I'm sure I'll go back at some point for a top up on the top and crown. I've got quite a bit of donor hair left but also happy to use beard and chest hair.
I'd also like a bit of reshaping at the front if it's possible but I'm not that bothered
Richdog said:
Looking good chip! Apologies if I missed this in your previous replies but do you now take any medication also?
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I use topical minoxidil religiously twice a day and ketoconazole shampoo one or twice a week.
I started taking finasteride about 8 years ago but after about 6 months lost my mojo if you know what I mean. I stopped and things returned back to normal.
There's a lot of debate about the side effects of finasteride and whether it's placebo etc so a few years later I started taking it again and sure enough after a while the same thing happened. I stopped again and things returned back to normal but took a bit longer than last time, probably a few months.
Now whether it was all in my head or it affected me medically the end result was the same and obviously unacceptable.
I personally think it was definitely a medical issue and I certainly won't ever take finasteride again.
 
darkgen said:
@Participant
Your finasteride results appear quite an improvement. Is there a reason to still opt for surgery?
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I personally think so, yes. Two reasons.

1. This is my crown in bright sunlight literally just now, dried after a shower. Massive improvement from where I was, but still thin and obviously balding and may never fully recover with meds, and what you can't see is how much worse it looks when it's wet, sweaty, greasy, etc.

Fuecapilar looked at a photo I sent them of my hair wet and said I was NW5 going on 5A, which surprised me a bit.

EXs2ivyh.jpg

2. The other thing you can't see is my large forehead / high hairline, something I've always been self conscious about. This is very unlikely to recover with meds so I'm just going to get it done surgically.

Chipperhead - please say if you'd rather not pollute your story with other people's stuff; am working under the assumption that you're happy for this to be a general discussion thread for HTs / hair improvement.
 
Thanks for the reply. The above pic seems like a normal head of hair with crown whirl but appreciate this is under ideal conditions. Appreciate your honesty and good luck with the surgery whenever it occurs.
 
elrasho said:
Any side affects?
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Missed this before but I've experienced absolutely no discernible side effects the whole time on finasteride, dutasteride, or minoxidil, and the improvements keep coming.

This is me as at yesterday and 18 months ago I was NW5-6 and completely screwed.

JHTzVuWh.jpg

CEqTFtGh.jpg

Going for my HT in ten days now and I can't wait. Really excited to see Istanbul; I've never been to Turkiye and it looks like a beautiful city.

I'm not too concerned about the anaesthetic injections as they will pale in comparison to some of the pain I've experienced in my life, but we'll see how brave I am at the time.
 
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Well I just got back from being mutilated in Istanbul.

w2mom8Wh.jpg

3,600 FUE grafts.

Istanbul is an incredible city, I'll definitely be going back to explore as a tourist one day. Super friendly people.
 
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I don't understand, I read your other posts and saw the pictures, you had a decent amount of growth and a full head of hair, why have you gone and got it all shaved off and had more procedures? It looks good as it was? Or am I missing something?
 
Wizzkidy said:
I don't understand, I read your other posts and saw the pictures, you had a decent amount of growth and a full head of hair, why have you gone and got it all shaved off and had more procedures? It looks good as it was? Or am I missing something?
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This was always the plan, improve it with meds then get a transplant to make it cosmetically better.

It's very thin and fine and my hairline had GTFO so whenever it was windy or wet, it would look so stupid. This should be a big improvement when it grows back out from ~4 months.
 
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Participant said:
This was always the plan, improve it with meds then get a transplant to make it cosmetically better.

It's very thin and fine and my hairline had GTFO so whenever it was windy or wet, it would look so stupid. This should be a big improvement when it grows back out from ~4 months.
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Really? To me it seems crazy to go through all that again when you had a great amount of hair after the first round. All hair looks dodgy when its wet or windy in some respect, I still do not understand the requirement to go through more proceadures when your hair looked great after the effort you already put in.

This screams to me more like you can't stop and it has to be perfect, which I'm afraid to say will never happen, its hair what's the big deal?
 
elrasho said:
Did you get to "choose" the hairline or did they do it? Also which provider did you go with?
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I had some say in this, but the Dr. was fairly assertive over what would a) look good and b) be possible with my donor capacity. I was happy to take his advice given his experience. I'm really happy with the design because of the density and 'randomness' of the implants, and it's not so much lower that it'll look weird and 'not me'.

I went with Gokhan Gur, who operates through Fuecapilar.

Wizzkidy said:
Really? To me it seems crazy to go through all that again when you had a great amount of hair after the first round. All hair looks dodgy when its wet or windy in some respect, I still do not understand the requirement to go through more proceadures when your hair looked great after the effort you already put in.

This screams to me more like you can't stop and it has to be perfect, which I'm afraid to say will never happen, its hair what's the big deal?
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I get all that, but it will (hopefully) look a lot better than it did before. The meds will be continued and should carry on supplementing the look of the HT. My transplanted hairline probably now takes me back to what I had around age 25, which I'm more than happy with.
 
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