Is shedding at 5 mo okay if your doctor is seeing some new hair?

[laxnerd213]

I am new to this forum and have read quite a great deal on this subject but feel like my situation is somewhat unique and therefore am trying my own thread for answers and advice.

 

What i need to know is how long shedding can last and still possibly be a good sign?

 

I am 27 with a receding hairline but had very thick hair everywhere else before starting (though my physician says my crown will eventually see loss). at 16 i had a widows peak, at 20 i had a large forehead, and by 22 it was obvious my hair was receding and it hasnt changed all that much since.

 

My main goal is to retain what i have and anything else will be an absolute bonus. I started Propecia and Rogaine about 5 months ago.

 

I started shedding at 2 weeks and it has not slowed down to this point. I have been applying the rogaine everywhere (even though it takes alot of foam to cover my entire scalp). The shedding is occuring everywhere and i can see much more scalp then when i started. But for the most part the shedding is mainly in the front (the area i am destined to lose and am mainly trying to protect) and i am starting to see a bald area connecting the two sides of my hairline through the front (like a circle). I am having to comb the back part forward and the front part backward to somewhat cover it up.

 

My physician said to stop both meds if any shedding occurred and based on what i read (it being somewhat normal) i decided to get a second opinion from a derm. The derm said to continue the meds during my visit at 2 months.

 

Last week i saw the derm again to see if the meds were working. He said i had great results for 4 and a half months and that i should absolutely continue. With a magnifiying glass he said that i had some new (very small and white) hair along my hairline. The derm even brought in a young doctor in training to show her what new hairs can look like. Sometimes i can see a few new small and shiny hairs myself but other times i cant

 

Despite what he said (and the fact that other people think my hair looks thicker) i am still paranoid that i made a huge mistake in starting such an aggressive treatment. Every single time i see hairs on my hand and in the sink (i never noticed any shedding before starting the treatment) i feel like i am only making things worse. At times i even feel i am being punished for my vanity (my friends dont think i should be using these meds bc im not completely bald). I have started to hate washing my hair bc i feel i lose 25-50 hairs every time

 

Anyways what i need to know is the ultimate length of time i should put up with the shedding before calling it quits?

 

Am i just being paranoid here? i know shedding can be a good sign and the derm says that i have good results but looking at my hair from the top just make me miserable bc the shedding is starting to show a great deal of scalp.

 

This is the first and only time i have been able to take a medicine for this long without seeing great results and have been very patient. Every time the shedding starts to subside it comes back within a day or two.

 

So to make this as short as possible...is shedding at five months okay if your doctor is seeing new hairs (even though i can only see them sometimes)? Is it a sign that the meds are working? do i just need to chill out bc i am lucky to be getting any results this early? or am i putting myself at great risk to lose more than i can ever gain?

 

Note: i have had no other side effects that i know of besides shedding, but the shedding is making me pretty paranoid.