NARMAK

1) I have been on Dutasteride for now coming up towards my 10th month. The sides whilst my body adjusted to the lower DHT (90% lower on Dutasteride vs 70% lower on Finasteride) at the full dosage took maybe a couple months and then rebounded a bit. 2) I used Minoxodil when i was maybe 18/19 but i honestly wasn't educated enough on how it should work and what results to expect in what timescale, so i probably didn't use it diligently enough and gave it up. However i still can go back to use it in the future if i need to. 3) I do not think lower baseline testosterone has anything to do with the sides. Mainly because if you look at some studies Testosterone in the body is boosted because its not converting into DHT as much on the medication. However, i think one of the culprits is your individual DHT regulation and how much your body is reliant on it for your functions. Ideally we will in the future have something that can block scalp DHT entirely and not tank body DHT and be easy to use. 4) I have not had a hair transplant just yet. I did know that i'd have to get to like 25 before i would probably get considered for one and not losing a lot of hair. Luckily i met that criteria probably before medication was started but i had stuff going on in my life and what i need for my hair transplant is a very specialised skill very few surgeons/clinics can do. It's why i've chosen Eugenix Hair Sciences in India and originally was going to go last week but hoping to go in May now. You stay on Fin/Min for as long as you want to keep your hair. Personally i'm now on this road for life if i can stay on the medication. Whether you get the hair transplant or not, it will help you keep what you have as long as possible. Some people are lucky and once they start, their hair loss will almost stop and they even are lucky to regrow a lot of hair they were losing. Some unfortunately are on the opposite side and still continue to aggressively lose hair. Just consider yourself in the middle. Don't expect regrowth with Finasteride but stopping/slowing your hair loss. Minoxodil helping with regrowth but combine it with Microneedling to boost your results as much as possible. You can also use Microneedling without Minoxodil but it's much more effective when you are using it.

Topical Finasteride can be more easily applied than using Minoxidil which usually is 2x a day, but like you said, much harder to get a hold of. I think the mental stress you mentioned probably wouldn't have helped and i noticed around about when i started the medication i had stresses that probably also factored into things but i kept going and eventually my body adjusted to the lower DHT and some of the sides reduced or went away. So right now i would happily do it again knowing what i know BUT that doesn't mean it's right for everybody and you need to keep an eye on your situation. If you do experience serious sides, stop or reduce and see if anything else could be the cause.

You're welcome bud. I know what you mean, and tbh, i'm of the opinion that everybody can look 1 million times better if they had perfect hair and only went bald if they chose to for a bit. You can start off on a low dosage like you said and then see how you feel after a month and then slowly increase the dosage and wait till you feel fine and eventually if possible get to 1mg a day. Topical Finasteride can work but you will have to be diligent with applying it and if you probably can't stick to Minoxidil, chances are you'll fall off with Topical Finasteride but it is probably your last option if Oral Finasteride keeps giving you side affects. Look, i don't know if you have done this but go get a proper blood test. Make sure everything is okay with your body Vitamin levels, hormones etc. before taking Finasteride again. You could have underlying conditions. Also, btw, don't confuse lower libido (sex drive) with ED and not getting morning erections as often as being a complete sign of ED. It's actually pretty common to sometimes have the lower DHT reduce libido and morning erections not be there or as much, but as long as you have the ability to get and maintain an erection during actual sex, that's the main thing. Also, don't forget that stress and other issues can cause ED too so you said you had stuff going on in your life, those could be factors.

Unfortunately being young, in an image driven social media world trying to look "perfect" drives people to take these risks. Similarly there's a huge supply/demand issue. For example, we can't clone a thousand Dr Bisanga's and have them running around the clock 24/7 to probably meet the demand but if we could and pricing was at the right point, we sure as hell wouldn't have to see young hopeful people get their donor destroyed and future hair transplant repair chances ruined

I saw this earlier and it's not even just DHI vs FUE really if we're honest. Super, Duper Diamond Dragon Blade FUE giving you 200% graft survival and Doctor uses a single graft, but you magically get 5(!) The industry and the marketing powerhouse of social media reaching the mass naive who don't do enough research or are deliberately misled is a pandemic. The amount of people who don't know anything of what forms a good hair transplant and just see these flash horror mill clinics and flock to them expecting rockstar results is abhorrent from a patient care perspective and the worst thing? The clinics will usually convince them the bad outcome isn't even down to them over harvesting, pluggy multi grafts etc. but patient fault.

Firstly i would not recommend any hair transplant till you at least hit 25 or seriously get your hair loss under control for a few years. Regarding Finasteride, you took half the recommended daily dosage but maybe your body still wasn't great with that everyday. The other option is to take 0.5mg Finasteride 3x a week instead of everyday. Also Minoxodil doesn't treat the underlying cause of hair loss which is DHT, that's why it can feel like it "stops working". I know it sucks to hear and i really don't like giving this advice to younger guys in particular, but you should seriously think of shaving it down all over to a low buzz cut whilst you try medication OR you could try using hair fibres, concealer etc. Ultimately your hair loss is not under control and if say you were like 18 and been on medication for 3 years and then no further hair loss, maybe in an extremely rare case they'd consider you for a hair transplant but realistically you have to wait for 23-25 for most reputable clinics and even then display that you have actively managed it and not lost ground. Losing hair as a younger guy is one of the worst things but it shouldn't become the centre of everything for you. There's more to life and whilst you are trying to sort it out, work on other parts of yourself. Going to the gym, doing well at education, your job etc. to put your energy into.

Forget PRP for now. What side affects did you experience and what dosage were you taking on Finasteride? Right now, Minoxodil combined with Microneedling might be right for you. You're way too young and hair loss too aggressive to be getting a hair transplant for at least a few years without stabilisation of the hair loss.

Thanks for sharing. Tbh, i never like saying negative things to people at all and regardless of where they go, i wish they have a positive result but the concerns with yours and in particular where you went is that the density may not have been possibly high enough or graft yield/survival could have been lower. Luckily your donor area does look fine so if say in the future around the 12 month mark it did become apparent you need a touch up, then hopefully you can get that done. For now, maybe try Minoxodil.

Shedding is a part of the hair cycle and tbh, probably a good thing if it's leading the to hair getting stronger and thicker. Your one side definitely looks like the comb over might be throwing off the look of density on the right side. Look at where it's combed over a bit more closely there and it doesn't seem too different in density. I would definitely say don't freak out but wait. Sometimes there's people who pick up from Month 9 till 12. Also, where did you go for your procedure? Do you have any before pictures and then immediately post-op. Depending on your hair loss, 3500 does seem like quite a bit of grafts and hopefully that did get you the requisite density and you are simply slow growing. Apparently Minoxidil can help speed things up and as that hairs from the DHT resistant area, unlike hair normally Minoxidil helps grow back, yours won't fall out once you stop.

This may not 100% be true for you, but there's about another 5 months or so of potential growth etc. you could have and believe it or not, some people are slow growers. Particularly if the initial placed graft was quite traumatised and needed to recover. I would say not to worry about things just yet, and see how they are month to month till you hit the 12+ month mark. That's pretty much when like 98% of the results are in for everybody. I also cannot be certain, but there's a few dots on your head near the frontal zone which might be ready to sprout hair and that could add more density. Also remember that with hair, it can take a few cycles to thicken up etc.

The "best" imo is the the one that is able to tackle your specific needs for hair restoration based on your specific hair characteristics and your goals. Some clinics and doctors regularly deal with a specific ethnicity and hair calibre and therefore become much more adept with those and thus produce results that might impress you more but you might be completely the opposite ethnic and hair calibre. The Spanish clinics/doctors deal usually with thick hair individuals very often that are usually more straight and have high graft yields but also high skin/hair contrast. The results might impress you but if you're a person with fine Caucasian hair with with a low skin/hair contrast, is that going to give you a good indication of how they'll deal with you? Similarly people of African descent with much more curly/afro hair should look to places that specialise and are adept with working with that hair type and calibre. Again as people mentioned above, the artistry of a particular surgeon will also attract you to subjectively like some results over others.

You're welcome and good luck with that. If you can get them for free or a reduced cost, it's always nice. Finasteride luckily is now available more widely as the patent expired but some people still think the Propecia brand (more expensive) might still be better in terms of efficacy. Personally i'd like to think quality control is more stringent in certain countries like the US, UK, Europe etc. where it shouldn't be an issue. Hope it works out for you and definitely take advantage of this website to look at which clinic might be best for you.

Dude, you look awesome with the work done at only 7 months. I've become a big fan of his work, but seeing patient results is the main thing and there's not a lot on this forum so thank you for sharing. I'm actually thinking to get on a wait list for him in a couple of years for possibly my second procedure to add some more density. Gives me time to save up.

I completely understand the concern around Finasteride and let me share my story for a moment. For about 10 years from my early 20s till 30s i didn't take it at all. Because originally when i looked the anecdotal BS was your penis will stop working and its permanent even if you stop etc. and all sorts of other fear mongering. As a young 20 something guy i said i'd rather lose my hair than that happen, BUT i never did any actual research on the clinical data. So i never used it and extremely lucky like you that my hair loss seemed to be slow generally. However, my brother who had been hit harder than me and was a few years younger had already begun to take Dutasteride. A much stronger version of Finasteride if you will. Hr luckily showed no side affects really of concern that he mentioned at all. Just the good stuff it helped him with like some regrowth even. Things came to a head when during lockdown he's cutting my hair and telling me how badly it looked like it was starting to get in terms of the signs for thinning. Bearing in mind i had Covid prior to that which apparently now has been linked to some hair loss and i had really bad scalp condition. So, i got back, bit the bullet and decided to go for Dutasteride. Hell, when you realise they already say you're at the 50% mark so i went nuclear to try jet engine regaining any ground i could. I did have side affects for a few months as my body got used to the sharp drop of DHT as i took 0.5mg everyday. After my body recalibrated i would even say those sides have almost all but abated and i don't notice anything of concern that would stop me continuing it. I made sure i got my blood worl etc. tested and they identified Vitamin D deficiency which was addressed and helped me too as it can be responsible for hair loss. I added Nizoral but it wasn't helping enough with my scalp dandruff but adding T-Gel recently had helped a lot. I need to pick Microneedling up again but i feel in a better place than 10 months ago with the medication. I will certainly share things around the 12 month mark around here.

Your hair loss doesn't seem aggressive and you are at a decent age where it isn't as aggressive but i would strongly suggest medication like Finasteride in order to better keep what you already have. Consider adding Nizoral with 2% ketoconazole and if you did want to, you could add Microneedling at 1mm to 1.5mm once a week too. That would really help beef up your hair loss prevention imo from further loss and even better stand you against needing a further hair transplant sooner. I would say you can keep Minoxidil in your back pocket for down the line tbh.

Firstly, have you sorted your Visa out? That's a really important part to get out of the way and although you might not have any issues, it's best to get it sorted ASAP because you will not be travelling without it. Your flight out there hopefully will go fine, but personally i have allocated 3/4 days post-op to recover in the same place and close to the clinic so they can check everything for me and whatnot before i will leave. Ultimately i think there's a lot of good advice from @Gatsbybecause he has made this very trip before from Australia. Good luck and looking forwards to following your full journey. Which package did you end up going fo?

Nah, he's playing the long game 😛

That's kinda the hopeful optimism i'm trying to go with too lol. It's also i guess why i'm really, really super focused on them getting an out of the park result first time out without any of the issues cropping up we have seen on a few guys recently. I think so far your temple points are the envy of the forum in terms of density and i think it would be really interesting to get an insight from Dr Pradeep on what influence the graft count is derived from for temple points. Was it the hair calibre or perhaps the desire to make a really dense packed aesthetic look to them. I personally want to go for something that looks really full and natural myself so that it blends into the native hair. I feel like you would need to go higher on the graft count but just not sure if i'll be allowed to get anywhere close to yours lol

Unfortunately the biggest problem we have right now is how these websites once designed and intended to help consumers have become manipulated and used almost fraudulently to create fake 5* reviews and also remove negative reviews against the clinic or drown them out. Patient reviews here are probably a helpful gauge and so far at least, i haven't seen the forum removing reviews from non-recommended doctors/clinics when posted by a patient. Although, i do not know if non-paying clinics are allowed an account on here to discuss like we see the more official patient accounts of recommended clinics/doctors.

I'm super jealous of it literally taking you a week. I've been waiting since February 4th lol. My original procedure was basically the say day as Midwestkid0324 had his. I delayed because i knew this would happen and it wasn't going to get given in time, luckily i didn't pay much more to move the flights at the time but March flights had gone up to £900+ and May was at £650+ last time i checked in late Feb. Hopefully we get an e-Visa style system but if i'm honest, i still don't think that will personally help people in my situation and i 100% plan to detail it all. I know it sounds very cryptic at the moment lol.

So when you applied in December, did it get granted by January? I think Melvin had his in December and said that apparently they let you break the quarantine for the procedure but you wouldn't be allowed to travel outside of that. Things are a bit different now. Glad to know it's valid for 6 months. That was my concern, that i would get it and they'd say i have to travel within 60 days. Technically since it would start from when it was granted, if they give it in April as it seems to be now, then it will definitely fall within 60 days. Tbh, i hope i get it but the biggest point of anxiety so far in this whole thing has been the Visa for me. Usually its the least i think for most.

I know you can withdraw the passport but then i don't want them to have any excuses that me doing that cause the Visa to be granted a further delay. So i'll simply try my best to keep ringing weekly/bi-weekly to ask for an update maybe until its granted. I remember yours did definitely take twice as long as it usually would but glad you did manage to get it sorted.

I sent an email in February 25th to them, but didn't receive a reply. The only reason i am not being pushy i guess is because they made me sign a document acknowledging it would take a minimum of 45 working days to process. Again, not really the place the get into the full details yet but that means i will ring them on the 8th April hopefully and then get an update.

When did you apply for your Visa? I am going to share my full story in more detail hopefully in a dedicated thread once hopefully i get the Visa and go through the procedure. I'm due to fly out on the 17th May for my procedure and return around the 23rd, so not sure if the timing would line up for Dr Sethi there.

It's looking really clean on the donor area post-op. Hopefully you'll have a permanent honeymoon in around 12 months lol You said on the Eugenix video that you live in Manchester, i'm quite close near Leeds. Hopefully we could arrange a meet up if you're open to it in May just before i am due to fly out if possible. Be great to see your temple points and the work Eugenix do in person hopefully if that's okay. I just want to make sure that i can get this damn Visa situation resolved and i was quoted minimum 45 working days and if feel that if i call before then, i'll get fobbed off.