Finasteride, minoxidil and finasteride (photo)

It is my best interest to continue with finasteride, Rogaine and microneedling however, I’m a bit concerned as to whether fin is losing efficiency or so. I am wanting to get a hair transplant in the nearby future. It is my intention to have the FUE procedure and have SMP to add to the density once the results had healed.
Thanks for writing to me. Your results from finasteride and microneedling are fantastic. At 20 years old, you have achieved the goal and I would continue to do all three (minoxidil, finasteride and microneedling once a week) with the hope that this will continue to improve your situation. At 20 there is no reason to do a hair transplant and if you are lucky and the finasteride and minoxidil with occasional microneedling holds on to your hair, you may not need a hair transplant for years to come. Read this post: https://baldingblog.com/22-year-old-received-a-hair-transplant-of-2800-grafts-from-reddit/


2020-08-28 11:30:07Finasteride, minoxidil and finasteride (photo)

Steven Miller has a Bad Hair Day (with Stephen Colbert) from Reddit

Stephen Miller used too much Toppik in the front so that the back and sides of his head are a different color. He should have Scalp Micropigmentation (https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/bold-shaved-look/) done so that the effect would be uniform and not stand out (you can see it in the video below). The key to undetectable concealers is that the leading edge can not be sharply thick. A normal hairline has a transition zone between the forehead and the thicker hair behind it. Hair is very important to all men and the use of concealers show that the men who use them are take charge guys, wanting to look how they feel. I am not faulting Steven Miller at all by posting these Reddit photos and posts, just sharing my thoughts with my readers.

Don’t go on (HD) TV show with spray-on hair! from tressless

 

Finasteride & Prostate Cancer

In a recent article in the Journal of Urology, an article was published which addressed the relationship between prostate cancer and the drug finasteride. The authors came out of various universities (Dr. G. Andriole was the lead author, Ref: J Urol. 2005 Dec;174(6):2098-2104)

Simply stated, what I read suggested to me that they reviewed the 7 year Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial that was finished a few years ago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The conclusions of the original study showed that this drug (finasteride 5mgs) reduced the appearance of prostate cancer by a statistically significant degree. There were some questions about the ‘control’ group when compared to those that actually received the drug. These authors suggested that the difference in the severity of the malignancies that were identified between the two groups may not have been real, but rather they were the results of patient selection criteria based upon blood testing, amongst other things. This group still did feel that prostate cancer chemoprevention with finasteride needs further research, although I personally believe that they are ignoring good statistical evidence to the contrary. Keeping an open mind is always good.

Please note that I just wanted to share what I read with the readers of this blog. I do not own Merck stock and can not benefit from any opinions expressed here.

Stopping dutasteride, when will my sexual sides reverse?

My dutasteride ran out on september 25th, so its been almost 2 months. My libido hasnt gotten any better since then. Considering the halph life of 5 weeks, i should have some significantly higher libido now. But i dont. I was okay with having no libido for a time, but sooner or later i would prefer it to come back.

There is no way to predict the reversal of sexual side effects on Dutasteride. I would hope that within 2-3 months the drug will be completely out of your system


2020-11-02 12:14:18Stopping dutasteride, when will my sexual sides reverse?

Finasteride Substitute Suggested By Patient – Your Feedback Is Important

You performed hair surgery on me in 2009. I thought you might be interested in something I’ve discovered.

Since 2009, I have been taking Finasteride. It was very effective in stopping hair loss, and even regrowing some of the more recent hair losses. The problem was that after several years of taking the drug, my system seemed to become less responsive to it, and regrown hair started falling out again. I increased the dosage from ¼ pill to ½ pill. That was effective at stopping additional losses and some regrowth. Then, gradually, the new, higher dosage became less effective, as well. I then increased the dosage to a full pill per day. The same phenomenon of hair regrowth happened again. You advised me (see below) to not exceed the 1 pill per day dosage. The situation seemed stable, although not as much hair regrowth as when the drug was still relatively new to my system.

Then I came across an over-the-counter supplement that I tried. It is called Restore FX by North Star Nutritionals. Here are the contents:

Serving Size: 3 Softgels
Amount Per Serving:

Biotin 600 mcg
Zinc (as Zinc Picolinate) 15 mg
Copper (as Copper Sulfate) 3 mg
DL-Methionine 500 mg
Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) Extract 400 mg
Methylsulfonylmethane 200 mg
L-Cysteine 200 mg
Grape Seed (Vitis vinifera) Extract 200 mg
Yielding Proanthocyanidins 190 mg
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) aerial parts 100 mg
Pygeum (Pygeum africanum) bark extract 75 mg
Yielding Plant Sterols 1.87 mg
Beta Sitosterol (from plant sterol blend) 100 mg
Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) (from Borage Seed Oil) 50 mg
Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioica) Root Extract 50 mg
DIM (Diindolylmethane) 50 mg
Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) Leaf Extract 50 mg
Yielding EGCG 15 mg

Directions: As a dietary supplement, take 3 softgels (1 serving) daily with food.

I started taking this supplement in addition to the Finasteride in February, 2016. Over the next several months, I noticed the hair started regrowing thicker than it had ever done previously, even when the Finasteride was new to my system. Then, in July 2016, I decided to discontinue the Finasteride to see what would happen. Since discontinuing the Finasteride, my hair growth has stabilized, and no significant hair re-loss has occurred. That has now been nearly 5 months of stable hair growth without Finasteride (Restore FX only).

I have also noticed that since discontinuing Finasteride while still taking Restore FX, the adverse effect on sexual performance (e.g. decreased semen flow) has diminished.

Just thought you might be interested in my experience.

Finding a low cost hair transplant

I’ve been trying to get some sort of idea of about how much a hair transplant would cost to just fill in my temples. I’ve been on finasteride and minoxidil for over a year now with great results, but my temples are still thinner than i would like.

Anyone able to give a rough estimate of what the cost might be just to fill in thin temples? I think 500 grafts would be the absolute most I would need. And yes I am in the process of setting up a consultation but I would like to have an idea beforehand.

Hair transplant pricing is all over the place; however, think about what you are actually buying. If you needed a heart transplant or brain surgery, would you try to find the least expensive place to do it? I have seen many men find a cheap hair transplant and then, when either it failed or the doctor who performed it, didn’t bother to build a Master Plan for your future and then you find out that you lost a significant amount of your donor supply that is limited, the fee becomes ridiculously high regardless of how little that you think you paid for it. I have seen many hair transplant result where the doctor ruined the donor area or did it too soon just to get your money. Make sure that the doctor is reputable and if he employs a salesmen, don’t trust the consultation or possibly even the surgery. Try to find dirt on the doctor from Yelp, Realself, and Reddit. There are many potholes in selecting a doctor so don’t fall into one.

Here is a review sent into Realself for me this morning about the consultation I gave him yesterday and that I told him not to do a hair transplant, which is why he came in to see me:

As the years have gone by, I have started to notice some thinning up top. After doing some research, I decided to setup a hair loss consultation with Dr. Rassman.

I chose to setup my appointment via an online form, and was surprised when I received a phone call from Dr. Rassman himself within 15 minutes! Turns out, he happened to see my consultation request while relaxing on his deck, and decided to give me a call! He was very friendly and personable on the phone, which made me feel better about my upcoming in-person consultation.

I arrived on the day of my consultation and was seen very promptly. Dr. Rassman was as friendly and jovial in-person as he was on the phone. He did a quick visual examination, and then performed an inspection using a device called the Haircheck. This devices takes measurement of hair density per square inch at different sites on the scalp, using the back of the head as a baseline to compare with other locations on the scalp. I had never seen this type of device used before, and I was impressed by Dr. Rassman’s objective and data-based approach to evaluating hair loss.

After the Haircheck inspection, he informed me that there was some thinning, but not enough to recommend a hair transplant. He then gave me a thorough description of my options and talked through the potential side effects, while interjecting some lighthearted humor, which made me feel at ease. He was very knowledgeable, and was up to date on the latest research. In addition, he answered all of my questions and promised to email me additional info. I was surprised and delighted to find that Dr. Rassman followed-through on his promise quickly, emailing the additional info in about an hour.

I suspect that many other surgeons would have simply taken my money and performed a hair transplant, but I respect Dr. Rassman for his candor and honesty in recommending against a hair transplant. If you are thinking about seeing someone about your hair loss, I would definitely recommend seeing Dr. Rassman for a consultation!


2019-09-18 12:47:06Finding a low cost hair transplant

Stroke following PRP (article)

This is a disturbing article because it put a new risk for PRP, although very a very remote risk. The doctor may have entered one of the vessels that communicated through the skull into the brain. Although these connections are usually small, we have known that such connections exist. The post-treatment of necrosis also indicates that possibly too much PRP was injected into the scalp, enough to cause the necrosis, again an unusual happening. The stroke may have been related to the use of fat cells in the mixture with the PRP but the connections from the scalp to the brain are clearly known anatomical vessels. Two unusual complications, both rare, suggest that there is more to what happened than just a standard PRP treatment. This was published in the Journal of Neurology and Stroke (Click to enlarge the page)


2020-03-03 08:51:52Stroke following PRP (article)