I like that he’s being environmentally friendly by using metal straws.

Or is that because real straws would disintegrate in the gasoline?

You’re welcome! I remember the amount of distress my hairloss gave me and I’d rather no one else have to go through that.

I understand not wanting to go the topical route. I wouldn’t want to risk hurting a pet either.

I’ve thought about microneedling as I have some smile creases on my face that formed this summer (from what I read it should help with that), but I never thought about it for my scalp. I’ll have to see what’s available around me. From the little research I’ve done, it’s essentially the same as dermarolling, but even better since the needles only go straight in and out rather than go in at an angle, twist/rotate, then leave at an angle like the roller does.
If I go that route, I’ll try to keep you posted. It’s also nice to know that a dermatologist recommended it. To me, that gives it more credence.

Obligatory, I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. This is just my own personal experience.

I’m also an enby with some hairloss, but up front instead of in the back. I’m currently taking finasteride, 1mg/day, and have been on it for 2 years now. As far as I can tell it’s stopped the hair loss. I was also really concerned about the side effects, but they’re particularly rare last I checked the stats.
The one side effect I dealt with was hives near the start, but after a week they stopped showing up and I’ve been fine since.
The nice thing about fin is if you have any side effects, you can stop taking it and they’ll go away. It’s very rare for them to persist after discontinuing use. If you do get finasteride, I recommend getting it through Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Pharmacy. I know this sounds like a shameless plug, and it kind of is, but their prices are really good: a 90 day supply, with shipping, is less than $15 total. Compared to, last I checked, about $45 for a single month from a local pharmacy.

I tried minoxidil over the summer which did help regrow some hair, but I stopped in August as I didn’t enjoy having to apply it twice a day. On top of that, it was a spray type and would travel down my hair, making it look messy almost right away, which I really disliked. That also led to it getting on parts of my skin where I didn’t want it.
The spray version also contains ethylene glycol which is a skin irritant and would make that area itchy and red. Though there are foam options that don’t contain it, so you could try that route.

I recently started dermarolling that area, but it’s way too soon to tell if that’s making an impact. It’s important to prep the skin if you roll it to avoid any infections/pimples. I wipe the area with isopropyl, then roll, wipe with iso again, then apply some kind of moisturizer. The skin will be red for a day or two, but I only do it once a week.

I’m considering doing a transplant, but I need to look into that more first to see what to expect.

Hopefully this helps! And if you have any questions, I can try to answer them.

Edit: typos

I keep this in my phone for whenever those thoughts hit.