Happy New Year to you too.
I`ve added your pre op picture to your post to make it easier to evaluate your progress.
Your crown has improved from month 6 to 8. It is definitely fuller. Your hair is longer but you’re not doing a combover which makes it easy to see the progress. I think it will improve further, especially with your new hair loss regimen. It’s good that the Lipogaine is better for your scalp. The added vitamin D will help your immune system too. If you do have an underlying issue, there’s a chance it will help out also.
At 8 months you still have time for more growth. I’d expect more but you only had 2500 grafts with some of them being used in the crown and the front was quite a large area to cover. You probably could have done with more grafts in this area. I don’t think you have an underlying issue but you never know. There does not seem to be any obvious redness and you’ve not reported excessive itching/soreness. I’d wait it out until 12 months, have your doctor check the growth and confirm what the density is. This will give you an indication of how many grafts have grown. If the numbers are well below average, then you can start to look into the reasons you mention for low yield.
Without going through the whole thread again I don`t recall if I asked you if the clinic provided a graft breakdown for the area covered. How many in the frontal 3rd, then mid section through to the crown. It’s possible they placed around 1800 in the frontal 3rd which was nearly bald, therefor, coverage will decent but the density will probably be lacking when compared to your native hair which is still quite thick.
Finally, the lopsided growth still has time to even out. 12 months should determine this.