[lemedico]

Originally Posted by sjain2054

I have been taking Finasteride 1mg for 11 months now.

I will continue Finax 1 mg for a few years. Lets see how it goes. I am sure, in the next year or two, the improvements will be 50% more than what I have already seen in the last 1 year.

I'm curious to know your age. I'm a urologist and I can promise you taking anti-testosterone at young/middle age isn't good for the rest of your body apart from your hair roots. Keep an eye on your bone density.

[red herring]

Do any of these medicines work for ageing related hair loss - to be specific for men in their late 40's and 50's? Has anyone seen regrowth this 'late' in life?

[dextor]

My family has history of baldness and I already started getting the effects from the age of 25. I tried everything possible - Finasteride, Minoxidil, Ayurvedic oils, special shampoos etc but nothing works for long term.

Finally in 2019 I got my partial hair transplant done (frontal area) and I was fully satisfied with the money spent. Although I thought I will get the rest also done but some how it is getting delayed or I am not so particular to get that done.

I have been using minoxidil since early years & I realised that it just helped in delaying the hair fall by some years. I reached to this conclusion by comparing with my brother who never used minoxidil. I was never comfortable taking Finasteride considering its play with hormones.

I can suggest few things to people who are struggling with hair fall.
1. Accept the fact & do not let it affect the self confidence.
2. Keep consulting a good doctor who you trust.
3. There is no harm in trying different treatments but understand that eventually shedding will happen (if its hereditary).
4. Do not go for early age hair transplant. Better to understand the hair loss pattern and after reaching certain stage go for it. I have seen cases where people have done transplant at an early age & after few years their head looked patchy as the other area hairs had started shedding.
5. Always choose a reputed & good surgeon for transplant. Don't be fooled by chain treatment centers which are cheap but their results are equally bad. And why to allow some unprofessional person to play with your head?
6. People who are thinking of hair transplant, do not wait for some miracle to happen. If you need it, go for it. It will be worth the money spent. Definitely you will love the looks after that :-)

[GTO]

Originally Posted by sjain2054

I have been taking Finasteride 1mg for 11 months now. My story is as follows

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Originally Posted by anjanravi

Wrt Finesteride (Finpecia), the drug is banned for consumption by pilots/air crew because of side effects of cognitive impairment and depression.

Thanks. The odds are very low though. I've read up extensively on this. E.g. the NHS website says low mood / depression affect 1 out of 1000 people taking Finax - Source. And that too, I am presuming is for the 5 MG dose taken for enlarged prostates (us hair dudes take 1 MG).

I've been taking Finax for 1 year & 4 months. Happy to report that the side effects are absolutely ZERO.

Originally Posted by dextor

Finally in 2019 I got my partial hair transplant done (frontal area) and I was fully satisfied with the money spent. Although I thought I will get the rest also done but some how it is getting delayed or I am not so particular to get that done.

From which doctor? How was the experience?

[Sree]

Why is no one talking about the long term risk with finasteride. Increased chance of developing high grade prostate cancer. I will be very wary even if the absolute risk is minimal.

Originally Posted by lemedico

I'm curious to know your age. I'm a urologist and I can promise you taking anti-testosterone at young/middle age isn't good for the rest of your body apart from your hair roots. Keep an eye on your bone density.

Finasteride can cause severe sexual dysfunction including impotence and decreased libido. Not something that I will recommend to an active young man

[dextor]

Originally Posted by GTO

From which doctor? How was the experience?

I got the transplant done by Dr. Kapil Dua in his BLR clinic.
He has a very good and professional setup. I had done some research before going for treatment & this doctor is among some of the top rated ones.

Quality of treatment & results were satisfactory.
He had mentioned around 20% shedding of transplanted hairs which actually turned out to be more - around 30%. But doctor cannot really be blamed for this as it varies from patient to patient.

I have seen some other people in my circle who had got the transplant done from regular clinics & results were not so great - shedding was even more or the placement was not so perfect.

[sjain2054]

Originally Posted by anjanravi

As an airline pilot, I have to ensure whatever medication I take is approved by a doctor specialising in Aviation medicine.

Wrt Finesteride (Finpecia), the drug is banned for consumption by pilots/air crew because of side effects of cognitive impairment and depression

Originally Posted by lemedico

I'm curious to know your age.

I will be 39 years old in December 2023. Yes, I understand your point and I read extensively and consulted the physician before I started taking the medicine. Keeping these side effects in mind, I started taking the medicine. The studies show that 1mg is a safe amount for long term use and the side effects happened in less than 1% of the group being tested.

Clarification: I am not arguing with you because as a Urologist you will know better. I am only putting my point forward. It is possible that with more discussion, reading etc I will change my point of view. With Finax we are directly interfering with an important hormone of the body. However, the doctors and the studies that I read gave me enough satisfaction that it is also ones health history that matters and the side effects are very rare. Example, even in Covid times, the virus affected some people more than others because of health history also.

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks. The odds are very low though. I've read up extensively on this. E.g. the NHS website says low mood / depression affect 1 out of 1000 people taking Finax

Originally Posted by Sree

Why is no one talking about the long term risk with finasteride. Increased chance of developing high grade prostate cancer. I will be very wary even if the absolute risk is minimal.

It has been discussed. See previous posts in this thread.

Originally Posted by Sree

Finasteride can cause severe sexual dysfunction including impotence and decreased libido. Not something that I will recommend to an active young man

Consistency is the key. As with anything in life. A 3km walk everyday will be more beneficial than a 10km run once a week, driving at a consistent speed of 70-80kmph will cause less wear & tear of the engine, brake pads and ones mental peace than driving at 110kmph sporadically, a batsman scoring a century every 15 innings and scoring just 20-30 odd runs rest of the time is less preferable to a batsman scoring consistent 60-80 runs through out..and so on..

If the 1mg Finax pill is taken everyday at the same time, the probability of side effects reduces further. The body adapts faster and better. In addition to this, if Finax is being taken, one must take care of ones health in a very disciplined manner. Here are the things I have been doing for most of my life but more so from 1 Sep 2022 onwards -

1. Sleep at a particular time every night - ensuring proper rest despite all the pressures and troubles of life

2. Very particular about what I eat and how I eat it.

3. No alcohol

4. Mild exercise (I am now strengthening the discipline around this)

5. Regular champi (twice a week)

6. Many other things

Everyone's body is different and will take differently to any kind of medicine and not just Finax. All I can do is tell you what I did and narrate my experience. Sexual dysfunction, depression, losing bone density, decreased libido, risk of cancer etc are "side" effects. They may happen for some people and studies say its very very rare. So, to each his own. I went into it knowing the risks and as far as bone density and decreased libido issues are concerned, I have not had a problem till now. I am enjoying my "active young man" life.

[am1m]

I was for the longest time planning to go the 'acceptance' route. My dad's bald, I'm going bald, accept it. But after reading so many opinions, might go in for a consultation on the medication. I'm still not motivated enough to go through a transplant. So thanks all for sharing.

[2000rpm]

I have a very simple solution to this problem (which is genetic for me also)

Watch more Vin Diesel and Jason Statham movies

I honestly believe that I look better with super short hair (crew cut!)

[revvharder]

Originally Posted by red herring

Do any of these medicines work for ageing related hair loss - to be specific for men in their late 40's and 50's? Has anyone seen regrowth this 'late' in life?

I had read on a sub reddit, name has slipped my mind but a few people with Norwood 7 and shining heads went nuclear with Minoxidil, Finasteride, Ru58841 and Dermaroller twice a week and they witnessed very good progress within a few months.

Also it's not about how 'late' in life, it depends on which Norwood level you are and how long has it been that way.

[$YouWe_Fan]

Thank you all for sharing valuable information regarding hair transplant. It’s amazing to see how T-BHP authentically covers non-car topics too.

Having just crossed the wrong side of forty, I’ve been facing male pattern baldness and currently I’m on the lookout for a reputed clinic/plastic surgeon in Pune.

I would really be grateful if someone can share name/details of any reputed plastic surgeon in Pune for hair transplant!

[GTO]

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this page!

I stumbled upon this thread about 2 months ago while browsing the "Hot Threads" section of Team-BHP. I am 27 years old and have been experiencing MPB since the last 8-9 years.

~2016 - Went to the doctor for the first time. Got prescribed Finax and Minoxidil. Used both of them diligently for about 6-8 months but then gave up after seeing some results (big mistake). Stopping them abruptly actually makes it worse.

~2018 - Started my first job out of college and restarted both Fin and Min. Again saw results after about 7-8 months and repeated the mistake of stopping again. (I know, I know...). Lost all the gains again in about a year.

2020-22 - Shaved my head a couple times. Travelled a fair bit. Quit my job. Didn't really do anything about the receding hairline though it was always there in the back of my mind. I have been ruminating about a transplant but found the process/recovery very tedious. Plus I was scared in general about going under the knife.

2023 - Started taking Finax again but without a proper schedule. Used to miss day/weeks in between doses and didn't see any improvement. Stopped Minox because it just made my hair frizzy and the gains are negligible. About 2 months ago, I found this thread and with my new found courage and motivation, I blindly just repeated GTO's process. Just rang up Eugenix with the number given by GTO, flew to Gurgaon for 15 days, booked myself a nice hotel room and got the procedure done. Got 2500 grafts from Dr. Sumesh and the experience/service was wonderful. Now, I just have to wait for the results which in my case could easily take 7-8 months.

Once again, a big thanks to GTO for starting the thread without which I wouldn't have taken the plunge. To others similarly on the fence about going for a transplant, don't worry too much and just get it over with immediately. Its not as complicated as it looks.

[Pancham]

Anyone has been to Turkey to get the procedure done? Any feedback will be helpful. That seems to be THE destination for transplants.

[GTO]

I evaluated it. Avoid buddy. Two reasons:

1. After sales service. In automotive terms.

2. India has enough reputable, solid clinics for transplants. No need to go anywhere else.

[mentalmaxout]

A fantastic video and very useful for people who have undergone transplant and for those sitting on the fence

Eugenix founders

https://youtu.be/ZmyMaD147H0?si=idYcNuN48llhZv6-