+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 2 of 2
  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    4

    Post 13 Year Transplant Veteran.

    Started losing hair at 17.

    The first things to go were the corners of the hairline.

    While that was going, general loss all over the top was going.

    I would say a Norwood 5 is where it looks like I was headed. Most of the men in my family are about a Norwood 5.

    I started taking Propecia at 18.

    I had transplant #1 with Dr. Wong at 20 years old, a little over 1000 grafts, and switched to Proscar, quarter tablet every other day.

    Transplant #2 at 25 years old. About 3000 grafts. Dr. Wong.

    Noticing more loss a few years later, advised to take a quarter Proscar daily instead of every other.

    Around that time the generic finasteride became available and offered by my pharmacy. I took the offer.

    Still dissatisfied I searched the internet looking for "hair cloning". This search brought me to Dr. Hitzig and Dr. Prasad. I did no research. I saw their videos on YouTube and I was sold. It was a mistake. I agreed to have a procedure done, involving another strip harvest. Transplant #3. About 600 grafts (they said). Complying with my wishes, they tried to restore my hairline to look straighter and square in the corners. The corners ended up looking like pin cushions, and the donor scar had worsened. This lead to...

    Surgery #4. Back to Dr. Wong for repairs, primarily to repair the donor scar. Now it looks more like it used to, which, by the way, was excellent; it was like having no scar at all, and hard to find. At this time I had gone to half a finasteride daily for almost a year (generic still). That increase was prescribed by Dr. Hitzig. At this time my hair thickness did not appear to have worsened, but I was also keeping it longer. Its hard to say why it looked as full as it did. Because it was longer? Because the ACell injections? Going from quarter pill to half? All the above?

    I went back to a quarter pill every other day of generic finasteride and it looks bad. About a month ago I have been advised by Wong to get off generic and go back to Proscar, one half daily. I think I had failed to make it clear that I was on generic. They are reporting to me that patients going to generic have experienced loss and have been able to regain when going back to Proscar. Today its too soon for me to evaluate results.

    My feelings on hair loss: I just like hair. Yes, it effects dating/relationships (I am a gay male), but I really don't care what others think. A lot of people have bad taste or low standards, anyway. I know what looks good. My evaluation is the only evaluation that matters (to me). I just like the way a full head of hair looks, A LOT, and I want it.

    Taking DHT blockers and getting transplants is definitely worth it. I don't know what this is going to look like in the future (!) but at least I was somewhat happy in my 20s (I'm 33 now). If I had done nothing about my hair I would have looked like CRAP. I buzzed off my hair when I was about 18 or 19 and it was a no-go. When you're loosing your hair, you're supposed to expect an instant improvement in your general appearance when you buzz it down like you're going to join the NBA, and that instant improvement did not happen. It just didn't look good. I looked like Uncle Fester. When my thinning hair grew back out it obviously was better for me. Being able to pull off bald has to do with scull shape, and face, mostly scull shape, though (see Sinead O'Connor).

    However I am generally dissatisfied. This is never going to get where I'd like it to be. I feel like Cher's daughter. My identity and my body don't match. I'm struggling with medicine and surgery to correct my wrong body and the work is never done (I'm just talking about hair; I like being a guy).

    Here's what I'd like to see: the thing I was looking for back in 2011 when I went to that scammer in NYC - cloning, regeneration. I see things in the internet once in a while, and I saw a short in Scientific American. From what I gather, it looks like scattered individual teams around the world are all trying to attack this problem from the stem cell angle. Its nice to see that someone is working on it. Maybe there is hope.

    But basically I just exist. I'm not excited. There is no joy in life. My ceiling of happiness is low. I suffer. I have existential anxiety. I also think its weird that I (we) care so much about this and others don't. Why? Its not life-threatening and bald guys are everywhere. My answer to this, and I have no proof, is DNA. Everything is biological, including the mind. There is no "mind/body problem". Will is not as free as people say. For some reason I can't handle losing my hair, its similar to how Cher's daughter couldn't handle having breasts. Just as there are some lesbians who are fine with being women while some identify as transgendered (is that what that's called?), there are sufferers of hair loss, and people who don't care about their hair loss (I guess). Genetic? A brain thing? Anything we can fix? Is there a way to change my mind? A way to stop caring? Maybe, but we don't understand the brain enough to make THOSE kinds of alterations - and maybe never will.

    Anyway that's my introduction. So, what is science going to bring us first: time travel? Or a real cure for male pattern baldness? I hope I'm wrong but its looking like time travel. You know those heads in jars that talk from Futurama? Science will be able to figure THAT out before hair loss is solved. We'll have those heads... but they'll be bald!

    From my heart,

    iJustExist

  2. #2
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    10

    Default

    do you have pics?

Similar Threads

  1. HT veteran's warning about artistry concepts
    By I Wish Hair Grew in forum Non Surgical Hair Replacement
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 12-05-2018, 12:20 PM
  2. From a veteran Baldie - Good Advice
    By andyroberto in forum Introduce Yourself & Share Your Story
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 01-13-2013, 07:45 PM
  3. New member seeking veteran advice
    By Truckin02 in forum Introduce Yourself & Share Your Story
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 01-13-2013, 07:36 PM
  4. I Need A Hair Loss Veteran
    By Picked1st4Kickball in forum Hair Loss Treatments
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 10-26-2012, 01:22 AM
  5. Replies: 2
    Last Post: 07-01-2010, 11:17 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

» IAHRS

hair transplant surgeons

» The Bald Truth

» Recent Threads

1800 graft repair case results by Dr. Lindsey
Yesterday 08:38 AM
Last Post By Dr. Lindsey
Yesterday 08:38 AM
Navigating the German Job Market as a Kenyan Citizen
11-04-2023 06:31 AM
Last Post By Keegan212
Yesterday 03:51 AM
DR HAKAN DOGANAY/ 4500 GRAFTS / Implanter Pen+FUE
03-26-2024 04:15 PM
Last Post By Hakan Doganay, MD
03-26-2024 04:15 PM
The Mane Event for Thursday, June 15th, 2023
06-15-2023 02:59 PM
Last Post By gisecit34
03-26-2024 08:05 AM
Sun Exposure after Hair Transplant
02-26-2009 02:36 PM
Last Post By gisecit34
03-25-2024 08:24 PM