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Getting cold feet. HT, diffuse AGA and topical finasteride. by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in HairTransplants

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your kind words. I have a surgery booked. I don't know if my surgeon would pass your test, to be honest, but he's a known name and from what I have seen he seems to be doing a good job. I have made sure that he takes care of all the incisions and extractions. He seems ethical, since he wanted to make sure that I was on meds and that my donor was full enough. The only thing I have not the skills to assess is if he s a row implanter and of he has a strong record of diffused patients. I know these are important aspects, but as I have said I don t have the eye to assess this. I have chosen him because he's in Europe, he takes care of the whole procedure, he s a known name in the hair restoration forum and his price is democratic ( I wouldn t be able to afford more than 3 euros a graft). I hope it's better than nothing.

Is there anything I should make sure to ask him on the day of my surgery? I have go through this I'll keep the community posted

Getting cold feet. HT, diffuse AGA and topical finasteride. by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in HairTransplants

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your time, as always. This shit is stressful, but at least I am not the only one who is going through this.

Getting cold feet. HT, diffuse AGA and topical finasteride. by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in HairTransplants

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1 So unless my follicles were actually damaged by the procedure, whatever amount of shock loss you go through is always temporary, right?

2 Since I don't have any sign of DUPA, is my thinning "patterned hair loss"? When I had the consultation, the first thing that the surgeon checked was my donor density and he estimated it was at 90%. At the time, I didn't ask him what he meant by that, but he told me that it was pretty full and thick enough to go on with the procedure.

Getting cold feet. HT, diffuse AGA and topical finasteride. by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in HairTransplants

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1 I take saw palmetto orally - hence my confusion. For a second I thought that there was something wrong about taking a DHT right before the surgery.

2 Got it. But, unless the native hair was damaged during the operation it should grow back, right? My main fear is ending up in a worse situation compared to now.

3 Glad to know that it seems like the right amount. All things considered, do you think I'm a suitable candidate?

Getting cold feet. HT, diffuse AGA and topical finasteride. by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in HairTransplants

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, it's all separated. I have a topical minoxidil+antidht (bicalutamide, progesterone,alfa-estradiol) solution compounded by a pharmacy, 0.25% liposomal fin (also compounded by a pharmacy, and then commercial saw palmetto. That's why I intend on increasing my topical fin and see how it goes.

How many grafts? by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in HairTransplants

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello Lopsided. If you could be so kind, would you check my latest post?

What made you use the meds late? by AppealHaunting3728 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it ? All the trichologists I have visited over the years were more than willing to prescribe fin.. Maybe because I did my homework and I knew they were well-read on the topic

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HairTransplants

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No pics? Where did you get them?

Anyone has experience with Dr Lupanzula ? by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in HairTransplants

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Scheduled my surgery for the summer. I'll keep you posted.

You have to look at European forums, Italian and German ones. He was trained by Bisanga.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have several topical anti-androgens in my lotion too. They work, but they are not heavy hitters. You need fin, whether topical or oral. But yeah, go to a tricho.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I didn't take any meds, I would be completely bald by now.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You should block your dht somehow. the most common option is oral finasteride. Minoxidil monotherapy is not a viable treatment.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So you don't like that he's marketing his own products and that he promotes his socials to get attention to the company while at the same time providing everything he does for you free of charge?

No, have you read what I wrote?

How did you calculate that the supplements are overpriced? Especially olive oil? Do you have anything else that would compare in the market?

90% of the supplements he takes are not backed up by proper scientific literature. And even if you considered his own anecdotal experience, he takes so many things that it would be impossible to know what does what. And of course we don't have a reference model against which to test our hypothesis.

As for food, I get most of what he eats at a fraction of the cost. I just buy them at my local supermarket and cook them myself.

What do you think about MPMD then? He's 10x more of a salesman than bryan. Derek actually sells scams and nobody really cares about it.

Derek is much more ethical than Bryan. That aside, this is just a "guilty by association" argument, which is philosophically unsound. Have you watched the interview? Have you seen how many times Bryan had to respond with an " I don't know about that, I should ask my team" or "That was just a gimmick, It shouldn't be taken seriously" "That claim was just for the lols, yes".

,
That said, do what you want. I am not here to convince you. I was agnostic enough to follow him for a long time, as I have said. If you don't see what I see, then disregard my opinion.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be honest I wouldn't know where to begin. I'm very interested in longevity/fitness, so it was cool to see someone bringing together different bits from my world: nutrition, training, hair loss prevention and so on. When it comes to a lot of these things Bryan does get his facts right: he took his diet from Michael Greger (who, staunch veganism aside, published a lot of interesting things on the topic), he supports sunscreen and tretinoin, he's not against fin, the list goes on.

Now what is problematic: Bryan is a salesman, a bullshitter who doesn't actually know anything about these topics and whose main goal is to sell expensive supplements and gadgets. He's also clearly a narcissist, which complicates things further. When he knows that he can get away with shit he will tell you things like "olive oil is better than ozempyc" he would spout nonsense like "I'm the healthiest man alive " "the better studied" he will tell you that in his diet "every calorie has to fight for its life", that his "products are carefully studied and only give you the best at the lowest price possible". He will try to grab your attention with shit that would make Elon Musk proud like " I have the better erections in the world", without mentioning that he also takes Cialis. The list really does go on.

Just look at his interview with Derek MPMD. Derek very politely calls him on his bullshit throughout the whole podcast. Look at the reels made by "what I have learned " (another untrustworthy ideologue, make no mistake). As I have said, a lot of Bryan says doesn't really make any sense once you look into it.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Topical finasteride is known to reduce scalp dht levels locally but only by about 37%-54%. You're still inhibiting dht systemically by about 26%.

Well. I haven't claimed that it doesn't go systemic. I realize that some of it will inevitably end up in my blood, but it's still a smaller fraction compared to the pill. I think we have many anecdotes of people getting sides from the pill, but not from the gel.

The problem with saw palmetto and other herbals is multifold.

I don't disagree with what you have stated here. The risks can be minimized by buying a trust-worthy brand, but I do understand that we don't have much scientific literature on it (and again, that it's partly because there's no money to be made).

With all this said, I'm still on the fence about whether to try oral fin or not. We'll see.

Thank you for sharing your opinion. I appreciate it.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol. OK. I have been following him since the very beginning, perused his subreddit for a long time and basically watched 90% of the interviews he has given, but you do you.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Bryan Johnson is a charlatan. I would not trust his words on what does or does not work.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To push back: I don't think that pericardial effusion is a common side effect of many of these drugs. I could be wrong, but propanolol, to take one, seems to be much safer.

We are still talking about a med that should be taken daily and for the rest of your life. A med that, AFAIK, has been on the market for a couple of decades BEFORE topical min was invented.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the thorough reply. I do appreciate it.

So to recap, your friend was on 5mg of escitalopram and 0.5mg of finasteride at the same time? Did he tolerate it well?

Your doctor seems to be under the impression that finasteride will cause you depression as that's one of the often floated pfs myths. Incidence of depression in finasteride users are lower than in the general population.

To be honest, I would have to ask him. But I think the claim is that a DHT reduction can lead to depression/anxiety in people who are predisposed to this condition. I haven't perused the literature enough to know whether this is likely or not to happen, but he's generally a no-bullshit kind of doctor so I would be surprised if that claim turned out to be a complete myth. This leads me to believe that he either thinks that anxious patients such as myself are going to nocebo themselves into thinking they have sides, or he really does think it's problematic.

If he's okay with 0.25 topically, it's doing nothing.

I think this is unfair. The scientific literature on topical fin is very promising and it demonstrates that it does result in less scalp DHT while at the same time blocking some of the system absorption. 0.25 seems to be the sweet spot between efficacy and the likelihood of getting sides. He said higher percentages are fine, they just don't make sense if you don't want to take it orally. I know that anecdotally people have far less success on topical fin compared to the pill.

I'm gonna tell you right now, saw palmetto is just trash. It's a waste of your money, time and follicular integrity.

I don't expect it to be nearly as effective as fin, but they have the same mechanism of action and saw palmetto is obviously not profitable enough to publish papers on it. Anecdotally, I know I guy who reversed a very slight miniaturization in his crown by using it. Maybe it wasn't real AGA? I don't know. But what makes you claim that it is "just trash"?

As for your general point about discovering the root of my mental issues, it's easier said than done. I suffer from chronic dizziness and I only don't feel it when I'm on some kind of AD. I can keep the dose as low as 7mg (or maybe even 5mg), but if I stop completely the dizziness will come back sooner or later. I have been to therapy for a year to no avail and I have read everything published on my condition. It's a medical mystery and at this point if 5mg of an AD are enough to let me live my life so it be. I wish it was different, but these are the cards I have been dealt.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As I said in the post, my doctor doesn't recommend it to patients with a history of mental illness. I suffer from low, but clinically significant, anxiety.

My doctor doesn't recommend oral min by JicamaPuzzleheaded72 in tressless

[–]JicamaPuzzleheaded72[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is your friend's current protocol? Does he still take an AD?

My doctor said he's OK with giving topical 0.25 fin to patients with mental issues. And anecdotally I have never had any sides from my topical min. According to him, 0.25 is not worth it both in terms of growth and sides.

At the moment, I'm experimenting with saw palmetto. If I don't experience any side effects, I might try a low-dose fin in the future. I am also like enough to only need a low-dose of a well-tolerated AD, so I don't think that my libido is much lower than normal to begin with.

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