skinnyshaft

I should probably keep a photo document of me on the Avodart. So this is me now, wet hair in both pics, shortly after coming out of the shower. I'll take photos again in 6 months.

Hi guys I'm just approaching my 6 month mark since switching to Avodart so thought I'd provide an update. (Apologies: I have literally made the same post in another thread on Dutasteride efficacy, but thought I should update here too). At present, I am currently shedding TONS, possibly even more than I was previously. Not that I count hairs, but it looks like I'm shedding at least 200 hairs per shower. It looks quite terrifying and very difficult not to freak out. And I still continue to lose hairs when I dry and style my hair. Not really sure what's happening, and also not really sure if the size of a shed is a true indication of MPB (like if you're replacing those hairs, it doesn't matter - I read conflicting comments on it). Or if I should be looking at other reasons why I might be shedding so much? I've always shed a lot - my hair is mega fine, so others have noted that I have seem to have more of it than other people in order to compensate. However, I've definitely noticed an accelerated shedding over the last year, and that appears to have accelerated again in the last fortnight. It's certainly never dissipated since switched from Propecia to Avodart. In terms of what's happening on my head, I think I've thinned a little, especially at the crown, but not a huge amount, it's always hard to tell with my hair. Anyway, I've just renewed my Avodart prescription. As everyone has recommended, 6 months is definitely too short a period to truly gauge Dut's effectiveness, so need to stick it out for another 6 - 12 months at least. Am sure you'd all love to see this, but this was the shed from my shower this morning! Thanks for reading, and will look to update again soon.

Just a quick update: Just approaching the 6 month mark on Avodart and have to admit that I am currently shedding TONS at present. Not that I count hairs, but it looks like I'm shedding at least 200 hairs per shower. It looks quite terrifying and very difficult not to freak out. And I still continue to lose hairs when I dry and style my hair. Not really sure what's happening, and also not really sure if the size of a shed is a true indication of MPB (like if you're replacing those hairs, it doesn't matter - I read conflicting comments on it). I've always shed a lot - my hair is mega fine, so others have noted that I have seem to have more of it than other people in order to compensate. However, I've definitely noticed an accelerated shedding over the last year, and that appears to have accelerated again in the last fortnight. It's certainly never dissipated since switched from Propecia to Avodart. In terms of what's happening on my head, I think I've thinned a little, especially at the crown, but not a huge amount, it's always hard to tell with my hair. Anyway, I've just renewed my Avodart prescription. As everyone has recommended, 6 months is definitely too short a period to truly gauge Dut's effectiveness, so need to stick it out for another 6 - 12 months at least. Am sure you'd all love to see this, but this was the shed from my shower this morning! Not sure if I should be looking at other causes as to why I should be shedding so much?

You're definitely making the right decision to try the Finasteride. You're some way off yet considering an HT (imo), but importance of HTs anyway is trying to limit future hairloss. I started receding when I was 18 and began taking finasteride when I was about 25. I was on it for about 13 years, before switching to Avodart (Dutasteride) this year. In all honesty, I never really could tell if Finasteride was working or not. It certainly didn't make new hair grow and it certainly didn't stop hairloss completely. All I know is that my hairloss was very, very gradual. I've had 3 HTs in 10 years and, with the help of concealers, I can still maintain the illusion of (almost) a full head of hair with a longish style. I still shed tons in the shower, but I don't think shedding is actually an indication of whether you're losing hair or not anyway. So in theory, the meds may very well have slowed my hairloss considerably. I will just never know for certain. But the likelihood is that I'd be in a worse place now if I hadn't taken them. So yeah, I personally think you're improving your chances by getting on the meds.

Yeah, a few other people were speculating the same in the other threads, that your hairloss will eventually catch up with you, no matter how much you manage to slow it with meds. Sad if true, but we can still hope.

Yes mate, I'd been on Propecia for a similar period of time. Was convinced I was noticing excessive shedding from around Sept last year, which never seemed to slow. So I switched to Dutasteride in March earlier this year, been on the drug for approaching 6 months now. To be honest, I've not noticed any change in shedding since moving to the new meds, but it's still early days. It's so hard to tell with my hair. But ultimately yes, I raised the same question as you a while ago, and most people seem to think it will likely lose its effecitiveness over time. However, I will add that I personally felt branded Propecia worked better for me than generic - I seemed to notice more shedding when I switched to generic, so always stuck with branded after that.

Haven't delved too far into the oral minodoxil but I figured it was a recent thing on the market given I'd not heard of it before. However, seems like it's been around since the 80s but was never FDA approved for hairloss. Is it more widely accepted/considered safe these days? I tried topical minoxidil for a few months when I was about 20. I seem to remember it briefly slowed the number of hairs in my shower, but then picked up again. As for your reset question, interesting theory. However, given I've not yet noticed any slowing on the Dut, don't think the reset would work with me

Thanks for the post jjsradar! How many HTs have you had to date and what age are you at now, if you don't mind me asking? And what have your experiences of Dut been? My 2 surgeries with Dr Feller were 2,167 and 1,000 grafts into the front. My HT with Dr Alexander was 1,600 into the front and 400 at the crown. All FUT. (So current totals, front: 4,767; crown: 400). So just over 5K grafts. Hopefully I should have a few surgeries left, though not sure how many. I still wear my hair quite long, which I've managed to do since my first HT with Feller. An indie-rock/"emo", style I guess. However, I'm very reliant on concealers (Mane) and hairspray to achieve the desired effect. No way would I be able to maintain the style without them. For how long though, who knows! It's actually quite hard to determine where I'd need my next surgeries. At present, the thinning I'm noticing seems to be predominately at the crown, but also I can create extra wide partins running from my crown to the front. So maybe thinning between the front and crown. You actually mentioned a few treatments I'm not familiar with, such as the Acell and helmet. Recommend me looking into? Hadn't heard of SMP before!

Your situation doesn't sound massively different to mine in that I've lost hair very slowly having first started receding at 18. However, unlike you, I shed TONS. My hair is super, super fine (Dr Feller said it was the most naturally fine hair he'd ever seen). However, it means there's lots of it. So when I shower, especially after I've applied conditioner when it's all stuck to my hands, I see lots of hairs. It's just hard to tell how much of mine is genuine hairloss or which is normal hair cycle. I mean, I've obviously been losing hair/thinning all these years. Just not sure if that loss has accelerated recently. So hard to tell with me. But yeah, I do seem to be shedding more than normal last couple of years, unless I'm just more sensitive to noticing. Anyway, great to hear of your success with Dut. Long may it continue! Please keep us updated.

Thanks for the advice Hank9. I think you're right, I should stick on the Dut for another 6 months to complete a full year. As you say, given that it's a very similar but stronger drug than Fin, I'm not sure that switching back to Fin would make any difference - especially after I gave it up anyway because I thought I'd noticed increased hairloss. I'd never heard of oral minoxidil though. When was that introduced? I've never used that stuff before because I use a lot of hair products (eg hairspray, concealer) so didn't want to apply a topical solution as well.

NEWHAIRPLEASE - how long did it take for you to start noticing an improvement? And is the improvement visible on your head already, or is it more that you're noticing less hairs in the shower? Very encouraging to hear you've been getting great results if you're in your mid 40s. Long may it continue.

Just to add to the above, I was using Propecia for the Fin, briefly switched to generic fin but was certain that I was shedding more than I was with the branded meds. For the Dut, I've been using Avodart.

Hank9 - your story with Dutasteride seems to be vaguely similar to mine with Finasteride. I'd been on Fin for around 12 years but felt it had been losing its efficacy over the last year so I made the switch to Dut in March, nearly 6 months ago. I'm sad to say that I've not noticed any improvement since making the switch and I still seem to be shedding hairs like crazy. I'm not sure whether I should return back to Finasteride, stick with the Dut for longer, or see if there's anything else I should be trying. Sadly, I do fear that mother nature may finally have caught up with me and that there's not a huge amount I can do now. For the record, I've just turned 40 and I've had 3 HTs since the age of 29 - 2 with Dr Feller and 1 with Dr Alexander, all very good results, although I am hamstrung by naturally incredibly fine hair.

Great posts and info guys. Returning to the original post, I made the switch from Fin to Dut (Avodart) in March so have been on it for around 5-6 months now. I've just turned 40 and had been on Fin for about 12 years prior to that. During that time I've had 3 HTs (2 with Dr Feller and 1 with Dr Alexander). I made the switch to Dut because I seemed to be noticing ton more hairs in the shower and felt Fin was losing its efficacy. However, since moving to Dut, I still seem to be shedding hairs like crazy. Definitely no visible signs of improvement. I don't know whether to give up on the Avodart and return to Fin. Or stick with the Avodart and just see what happens. Or whether there is something else I should be trying. The bleak pessimist in me is wondering whether maybe mother nature has finally caught up with me and there's nothing much I can do now. My gf swears that there isn't much difference to my hair and that my daily shedding is perfectly normal, but I've certainly noticed some thinning over the last 2 or 3 years.

Just wondering whether others who have used or do use Dutasteride found that it took a long time for the drug to work. Should I still be hopeful?