Propecia worry..

[phaedrus]

I started noticing my hairline receding last November (I had just turned 22). It is mostly forming a V shape. Anyway, I started taking 1mg finasteride towards mid/end of January. For the first 2-3 weeks things were fine (including no side-effects) and then I started noticing myself losing those very fine near-transparent hairs during/after showers and when I ran my hand through my hair. I have read of the 'shedding' that is possible when taking finasteride, however this has basically continued for 5-6 weeks, losing the same amount, and now I am beginning to notice seemingly normal (thick) hairs falling out too. I have always had thin hair but in the past week have noticed that my scalp is becoming quite visible now.. and this alleged shedding is not stopping (it is now just about 2 months of taking the drug).

 

I have no intention of stopping the dosage but am becoming despondent of my prospects and I suppose I am just looking for reassurance or a reality-check.

[Blake Bloxham]

Phaedus,

 

The initial finasteride shedding phase can last up to the first 3-4 months of treatment. After the shedding is done, you should see thicker regrowth, stabilization of your hair loss, and possibly some newer growth in areas where you previously thinned.

 

If you do start having side effects (aside from the initial shedding), I recommend scheduling an appointment with the physician who wrote the Propecia prescription.

 

Good luck!

[phaedrus]

Felt like updating. I started this drug because I had noticed pretty slight receding of my hairline at the sides/temples a month or two before starting. Almost 3 months after starting now. The hair is falling out just as fast, which is pretty fast. It's pretty much impossible not to see my scalp now, which was never even a problem before I started.

[tacolinowest]

interesting, i have started taking propecia about 3 months ago and also was having alot of shedding , more than normal,, my scalp was already see threw so i didnt notice my hair being any thinner, its already really thin,, and for the past week the shedding has stopped, thank god i thought it wasent gonna stop, now i will have to see what happens over the next year, my advise is to stick with it at this point

[phaedrus]

Ok so I figured I should add some pictures. Unfortunately, I don't have any high quality, easily available pictures of my original hair or right before I started taking finasteride. If you people think it is necessary for analysis I can probably find one.

 

Anyway, it's now been 3 months and 1 week and it seems the shedding has only increased in the past week. I think it's everywhere, maybe more shedding in the first third? My hairline hasn't seemed to change at all in the past four months, only the shedding. I'm wondering what type of hair loss pattern I have and am worrying that it might be diffuse hair loss. Also, I haven't noticed any return of the hair that has been lost since I started.

 

My hair is either somewhat oily or wet in these pictures so this is how it looks at its worst. Any input would be appreciated, or if I need better/different pictures.

 

[bmorelaxing]

I feel your pain bro, i'm about the same hair loss as you and I started taking propecia recently, I'm freaking out about the shedding too, my scalp is starting to look more and more noticeable too.

[phaedrus]

What bothers me is that I went on finasteride because I had just started noticing that my hairline had receded a small amount at the corners, but otherwise I had no hair loss/shedding on the top of my head, so I don't know if I screwed myself over by taking the drug and if I would have been better off to avoid it.

[Bobilero]

Fingers crossed dude it comes back for you stronger. However not enough people point out it can trigger an awful shed which may or not recover. It triggered a shed in my hairline which never recovered. I went from not having to having to use concealer in a matter of weeks.

[JohnnyDrama]

What bothers me is that I went on finasteride because I had just started noticing that my hairline had receded a small amount at the corners, but otherwise I had no hair loss/shedding on the top of my head, so I don't know if I screwed myself over by taking the drug and if I would have been better off to avoid it.

 

I think the key to meds is to 'ride out' the worst part. Of course, every second person reacts differently to a specific drug, but in general the shedding phase can be 3-4 months as has already been pointed out. Any doc worth his salt will tell you to give the meds 12 months and see where you are at at that point. You could easily be at the peak of the shedding right now, in that stronger hairs might be starting a new growth cycle soon. Unfortunately everything regarding hair requires incredible patience.

[phaedrus]

So I've been telling myself that I'm going to give it 6 months, but I just finished month 4 now and there has been absolutely no change to the massive shedding I've had since the second week. At this point, this drug is either not working for me and this is how fast my hair would have been lost with or without it (which I doubt) or it is effectively worsening my condition as I see no regrowth at all of any hair that has been lost as a result of the drug.

 

I'm seriously considering stopping the drug now in an attempt to either save what I have left or allow hair to grow back since it seems the drug is preventing my hair from doing that (which makes me wonder how much of the 'shedding' is a result of me fucking with my hormones).

 

I see no reason to continue for another two months just to keep losing more hair over those two months so I can tell myself that I gave finasteride a chance.

[Thick1988]

I am NOT a medical doctor, but I will offer an explanation. There is only a single pathological basis by which your shedding would be increased due to taking finasteride. Your DHT-sensitive follicles are no longer receiving the DHT signal and are restarting the follicle cycle. This is happening all at once. As a result, you are experiencing massive shedding. All of this should grow back. All the hair you are now losing would have slowly shed over some number of years. Do yourself a favour and wait it out. DO NOT GO OFF FINASTERIDE. You should have started a lot earlier.

 

It is always tempting to blame worsening of a condition on a drug. This is typically done by those who do not understand the mechanism of action of finasteride. It is a very simple molecule and Wikipedia is your friend. There is no reason it would cause accelerated hair loss followed by subsequent follicle death, but there is every reason it would cause accelerated hair loss followed by healthy follicle propagation, eventually leading to new hair.

[phaedrus]

I am NOT a medical doctor, but I will offer an explanation. There is only a single pathological basis by which your shedding would be increased due to taking finasteride. Your DHT-sensitive follicles are no longer receiving the DHT signal and are restarting the follicle cycle. This is happening all at once. As a result, you are experiencing massive shedding. All of this should grow back. All the hair you are now losing would have slowly shed over some number of years. Do yourself a favour and wait it out. DO NOT GO OFF FINASTERIDE. You should have started a lot earlier.

 

It is always tempting to blame worsening of a condition on a drug. This is typically done by those who do not understand the mechanism of action of finasteride. It is a very simple molecule and Wikipedia is your friend. There is no reason it would cause accelerated hair loss followed by subsequent follicle death, but there is every reason it would cause accelerated hair loss followed by healthy follicle propagation, eventually leading to new hair.

 

I don't see why I should have started earlier. I only started because I noticed that I lost my juvenile hairline but otherwise had no other signs of hair loss. I would have had to start taking a hair loss drug with no indication or reason to believe I would experience hair loss just to 'be safe', which is ridiculous.

 

Either way, I am off finasteride now and either what you say is true and my hair will eventually stop massively shedding (which it has not) or it will continue to shed meaning the drug had no effect on me.

 

I'm pretty sure I have diffuse pattern alopecia, though I would have expected gradual minaturization instead of mass shedding.

 

If my hair does stop or slow down its exodus and some hairs return, then I might consider going back on finasteride. However, nothing has returned yet and I'm close to buzzing my head as having hair on the top, however short is starting to look silly.

[KO]

Nope, you are going to continue to lose your hair, and there's a good chance your hair loss will start accelerating, if you're destined to go to NW5.

 

As they say with finasteride, use it or lose it...

[phaedrus]

You don't understand, finasteride hasn't kept anything from falling out - it has either resulted in more hair loss than I would have had (due to a supposedly endless shed) or it has done nothing and my hair would have started massively shedding around the same time I started taking finasteride anyway. I'd only been taking it for four months and prior to that had basically all the hair I ever had other than the loss of a juvenile hairline, so it's not like it was keeping my hair intact.

 

I'm not proposing that I only experienced hair loss due to finasteride, I think it's obvious I will lose my hair eventually.

[NoTakeBacks]

Considering you made it to 4 months, with no mention of any sexual side-effects, it's my opinion that you should consider staying on Fin, maybe at a lower dose. Realize this is coming from someone who's not all "RA! RA! FINASTERIDE!" 4 months concerning the hair production phase is not really giving enough time to allow for the shed hairs to grow back.When it comes to combating hair loss, it often takes 4+ months to see any results. Even hair transplants it's a waiting game, same goes for Minoxidil.

 

In the end it's your body and you have to do what feels right, especially when dealing with hormones. I can respect. I'm curious though, did you get it prescribed or did you buy it from some online pharmacy?

[phaedrus]

Considering you made it to 4 months, with no mention of any sexual side-effects, it's my opinion that you should consider staying on Fin, maybe at a lower dose. Realize this is coming from someone who's not all "RA! RA! FINASTERIDE!" 4 months concerning the hair production phase is not really giving enough time to allow for the shed hairs to grow back.When it comes to combating hair loss, it often takes 4+ months to see any results. Even hair transplants it's a waiting game, same goes for Minoxidil.

 

In the end it's your body and you have to do what feels right, especially when dealing with hormones. I can respect. I'm curious though, did you get it prescribed or did you buy it from some online pharmacy?

 

My reasoning is that if it does take 4+ months or whatever then I should see hair that was shed coming back with or without the drug. Of course, with the drug, the hairs that come back might stay there longer.

 

I had it prescribed to me. Though, my prescription was only for four months and I also don't want to deal with doctors that are just trying to make money on office visits when all I need is a prescription.

[KO]

It takes longer than 4 months, and 25% of responders see growth in second YEAR.

 

Just look at my sig...

[Thick1988]

phaedrus,

IMHO, you are making a huge mistake going off now. If you were going to shed anyway, so be it - staying on or off the finasteride would make no difference. If the finasteride brought on the shed, it means it will probably also bring back great results. By going off now at this crucial point, you accelerated the loss of light hairs and you might just get nothing back as the DHT starts taking its toll again. That is, you dosed only long enough to lose it all but not experience the benefits. You are shooting yourself in the foot. Finasteride should only cause shedding if it is doing its job. I strongly recommend you do NOT go off finasteride given the state you are already in.

 

As for the price of a doctor's visit and the prescription... please... $50 visit and $0.25 a day? Even someone living in poverty could afford that. Get a 24 month prescription.

[Thick1988]

KO: I checked out your pictures at your site Twins Hair Loss | Stop Thinning Hair Loss | Dutasteride and all I can say is THANKS for that. I really appreciate that information. The value of your being monozygotic is an absolutely amazing case vs. control study -- probably comparable to having a heterogeneous study of size n=100. I have no doubt whatsoever you have been approached at this point by Glaxo or someone for questioning?

 

What is particularly amazing is that you have no noticeable hairline recession compared to your twin (orrrr, you are the other one? hahah). I wonder if finasteride would have had a comparable efficacy. Man, imagine triplets and the other one was on finasteride 1mg. I strongly suggest linking to your website from the dutasteride wikipedia page and making a one-sentence note about your experiment.