Elite Coalition Member
About
I first noticed my impending hair loss around 11 years ago at age 22
when I had just left the Midwest for the first time
to live on the west coast and start a new life, and one of the first
things that happened was that someone commented on a little tiny bald
spot at my vertex and my obviously-receded hairline that I had somehow
been blind to. I was like, "Nope, this is not happening." I've been researching ways to fix it ever since.
I've been on generic Finasteride on and off for several years; it has helped
stave off the thinning in the frontal scalp area that started in late
2008. Used Dutasteride briefly, but read about some side-effects, and
decided to just stick with good ol' Finasteride.
Won't try Rogaine, since I get the distinctive impression that it
is notorious for making your hair fall out first, and then (but only
sometimes) making some hair grow back, and that hair is thin and
wispy, and dependent on your continued use of Rogaine. I don't want to
risk that; Rogaine is an obsolete two-decade-old hair loss treatment of
generations past. I'll stick with Finasteride and good hair transplants.
I'm convinced that you get what you pay for, and that homeopathic
remedies, herbal pills, and stupid goop/foam that you put on your head
aren't going to fix anything. So I saved up some cash and got a moderate
(1,775 grafts - about $7,300 but would be much cheaper these days) hair transplant with Dr. Steven
Gabel (December 30, 2010), complete with frontal hairline restoration
(via FUT), and thickening-up of the thinned areas, namely the
2-inch-diameter circle of super-thinness at my vertex and the inch-wide
stripe of thinning hair right down the center of my scalp.
I was happy with a moderately-sized procedure at the time, since it
alleviated my immediate emergency by rebuilding my hairline and restoring
uniform thickness, which is awesome; no more obvious,?scraggly
baldness. It also let me get my feet wet and test the waters to see if Hair Transplant? technology pioneered by the scandal-ridden
Bosley Medical nearly two decades ago had truly matured enough to hold its own - and it most definitely can.
Some guys go in for mega-sessions of three to four thousand grafts at a time; I think I will go more gradually and stick with a few more transplants of 1,200 to 2,000 grafts at a time as I need them over the years, saving my donor regions for times of need.
My Surgical Treatments to Date
December 30, 2010, Age 27: Flew to Portland, Oregon and met Dr. Steven Gabel, who?graced me with a moderately-sized transplant of 1,775 grafts. I don't remember the specifics at the moment, but I think most of them were doubles.
March 27, 2013, Age 29: Flew back to Portland, Oregon, this time from Hawaii, to meet Dr. Gabel again for a second go-round - this time with 1,552 grafts total, mostly dedicated to my frontal hairline area; see the blog sections to your left for the details.
I tried Dutasteride for a few months, ran out and did not re-order based on some advice regarding possible side-effects and/or dependency issues.
I've been on Finasteride for years now. I believe it has certainly helped slow my MPB progression; given how fast it was going around the ages of 20-24 (before I started Fin), I would have been mostly bald at this point.
Bald Class
Norwood class 4
Characterized by further frontal hair loss and enlargement of vertex, but there is still a solid band of hair across the top (mid-scalp) separating front and vertex.
Pretty much made me into a hermit. Being bald/balding made me look unattractive because I don't have a head shape that can work well being bald... Plus I'm naturally an introvert anyway, and since people don't generally like to talk to unattractive people and I was unlikely to talk to them, these two things worked in tandem to pretty much eliminate my social life. Not really the way I wanted to live.
Finasteride.
Absolutely.
Finasteride and a good HT. Possibly Dutasteride if it works for you.
I look in the mirror and see myself again, instead of some prematurely old guy. I can style my hair and head into a club or bar and not feel like the creepy old guy, and people respond to me better in general -probably partly because of more confidence, but largely because I just look younger and better.
Finasteride and Dr. Gabel. And also, once you start Fin, do NOT stop! You'll lose hair like twice as fast.
