Hello,
I'm a long-time lurker and a first-time poster. I'm facing a wall in my journey. I have had both
HA filler, and, recently, I've had
PMMA. My starting
Girth was 4.5 inches midshaft, and my length is 6 inches. The progression of my journey is as follows:
July 2023 8 ML of Juvederm 5.1
Inch midshaft
August 2023 11 ML of Juvederm 5.5
Inch midshaft(some migrated to my pelvis due to me)
December 2023 13 ML of Revanesse 5.8 midshaft(a lot went to the head and left the base around 5.5)
January 2024 2 ML of Revanesse 5.9 symmetrical
At this point, my wife and I found around the size we wanted and decided to seek permanence. After research, I found a doctor who used
Bellafill and is a highly regarded
Urologist with several years of documented success. This is where my issues(or at least what I think my issues began).
May 2024 5 ML of
Bellafill to test skin. At first, it was great; the swelling put me at 6.2 inches for quite some time. After about a week, the swelling went down as I had expected. This is where issues began to confuse me. My post-swelling size was 5.8 inches, which was fine; I had only had 5 ML, and I had no expectations of a size increase. Week 3 brought an upsetting surprise, I began to lose size. I was now at 5.6 inches. I had already set my second appointment at this point. Two days before my second appointment, I measured at 5.4... at this point, I was very concerned that the
PMMA was causing the
HA to dissolve rapidly, as the half-life math on
HA was not matching the size loss rate.
August 2024 8 ML of
Bellafill. Unfortunately, measurements in the first few weeks were not reliable for this, as I acquired an infection. I'll spare the details of the infection as they are not pertinent to the topic. The infection subsided around week two post-treatment, and all swelling appeared to be down. At the 2-week mark, I was measuring 5.7-5.8 inches; given the circumstances, I was thrilled. Yet again, though, the shrinking began. week 3(where I am currently) now I measure at 5.5 inches. It's almost like I didn't even receive injections. I'm defeated at this point.
My goals are not unreasonable; given this forum, they seem rather achievable. My final goal is to reach the 6.2 mark again. I suspect that the inflammatory immune response that
Bellafill produces is causing the
HA to dissolve at a faster rate than it usually would. I fear that the
Bellafill is doing absolutely nothing, and I'm just a genetic freak that doesn't respond to collagen synthesizers. Ergo wasting my money.
Has anyone had
HA filler before
PMMA and had the same response of diminishing returns? Am I alone in this? Am I stuck at the 5.5 mark and should just be content and readjust my goals? I have the money to continue this journey, but in the same breath, I don't want to commit time, money, and stress to injections that won't produce results. Ultimately, I'm at a loss and just looking for someone more educated to tell me I'm not or am.
