Finasteride Results - 1.5 Years

[hairlossPA]

Almost at 10 months on finasteride.

Still constantly shedding since the end of November. The pictures may seem good but I’m not feeling great about it. The density is down from November considerably. I loved my hair in November. I felt so confident and would’ve been totally fine if that’s how my hair stayed. However, I need to remember where I started and that is the important part like Raphael84 stated. 

Has anyone been through something like this? Surely my body didn’t adapt that quickly? Surely my hairs didn’t all grow back for 1 cycle between July 2018 and November 2018 and then die out and not return?

Im obviously sticking it out on finasteride for the long run. I’m just waiting for the rebound... which is hard

I’ll be getting a haircut soon and will post pictures with a shorter haircut. I used to be able to push it up in the front but now i need to keep it flat and brush/comb it over...

[hairlossPA]

11 months before and after haircut.

Feeling very sad and not hopeful that this is going to turn around. The shedding continues. You can see my original pattern start to come through. My crown is still holding up though. Its not dipping.

Is this really happening to me? The hairs grow back for basically 1 cycle and they just die off again? Did my body adjust that quickly? I understand the hair growth process is very slow, and I'm not a normal case of finasteride, but I just find it hard to believe I had a huge surge of hairs from July to November, and then they all just fall out and never come back. I have read a million times they go to sleep/regenerate after 3 or so months... I dont think anything has grown back. Does anyone have any guidance on this?

[hairlossPA]

This is an example of me running my hand through my head about 4 or 5 times and what falls out.

[CosmoKramer]

Hmmm...Could it be Telogen effluvium? 

Have you gone to a dermatologist or had your thyroid/blood work checked?

[hairlossPA]

I haven't had anything crazy stressful in my life so I doubt its Telogen effuvium.

I have not had any blood work done, nor seen a dermatologist.

I'm really trying to hold onto hope... my "hope" is that since I'm a rare/extreme case of finasteride results, its taking my hair extra long to regenerate..? not a strong case but its the only one I have right now...

Edited June 6, 2019 by hairlossPA

[Raphael84]

@hairlossPA

Have you considered any kind of PRP treatment? It could be a potential option for you. In regards to strengthening and regenerating hair.

Where are you based?

[hairlossPA]

2 hours ago, Raphael84 said:

@hairlossPA

Have you considered any kind of PRP treatment? It could be a potential option for you. In regards to strengthening and regenerating hair.

Where are you based?

I’ve considered PRP but don’t know if it’s proven enough. just really haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I’m based on the east coast, USA. 

 

Im trying to remain calm. I’ve been reading a lot about people’s experiences on reddit who have been on finasteride a long time. a lot of people seem to have quite a number of sheds and bounce backs in first 2 years. Also read this thing about a ‘synchronized shed’.

Staying the course and fingers crossed..

[LonelyGraft]

@hairlossPA sorry to hear about your extended shed. I’ve been on hair loss forums long enough to know that shedding has been reported by some individuals on fin/minox and it could be a sign of weaker hairs shedding to make way for new stronger hairs or a case of synchronized shedding like you stated. I’m not an expert but my advice would be to stay the course if you notice there are no side effects. You stated you didn’t experience stress and could rule out telogen effluvium which is good.

 

my question is how is your scalp health? Is it itchy/inflamed/flaky? I notice I have Lots of prolonged shedding when my scalp is unhealthy

[Mycroft]

Firstly, your hair is still better than it was in the original photos and it's important to keep that perspective. You could be experiencing synchronized shedding, and you're certainly around the right time frame for it. 

Are you still using the minoxidil? How long ago did you start/stop that?

[hairlossPA]

@jj51702 scalp isn’t itchy or flaky or anything. I actually experience pimples a decent amount (nothing extreme). i know people usually report that when they get a HT and they say that’s new hairs poking through.. Idk...

@Mycroft i stopped rogaine around christmas time. it just wasn’t worth it to me. in my first post i mentioned how i used it religiously before and it didn’t do anything for me. i highly doubt it’s because  of me stopping the rogaine as I started noticing the shedding before I stopped rogaine 

 

fingers crossed bros!

[Curious]

I've just read this page of the thread and your hair looks reasonably full.  I'm sure you've considered that if you weren't taking finasteride, your hair loss might be much worse.

[Melvin- Admin]

Shedding doesn’t equal hair loss. Everyone sheds. In fact, @Spanker claims to be shedding like that for years with no visible hair loss. 

[Spanker]

True. I shed every day a lot of hair and still have pretty solid locks. 

 

It's about what grows back. 

[LonelyGraft]

35 minutes ago, Spanker said:

True. I shed every day a lot of hair and still have pretty solid locks. 

 

It's about what grows back. 

Interesting. If you had to guess do you lose more than the typical “100 per day?”

[Spanker]

5 hours ago, jj51702 said:

Interesting. If you had to guess do you lose more than the typical “100 per day?”

I would guess it's around that many. 

[LeftHook]

Hey man!

First of all, I have to say that your hair's initial response to finestaride was absolutely amazing -- completely transformed your head! Congrats on that result!

I do understand your recent frustrations and worries regarding the shedding, and although I'm no expert on this, intuition makes me agree with the guys that have suggested judging the effectiveness after 12 to 18 months, given how hair growth and regrowth is a cyclic thing. 

Although the current shedding may seem worrisome to you, please don't lose sight of the fact that in comparison to where you started, the hair is still infinitely better. Hopefully the thickness will return to what you had during those peak months.

I only started finasteride at the start of this month, and so your thread has been especially inspiring and helpful to me. Thanks again brother, and I wish you even greater results for the upcoming months and years

[pkipling]

Your hair still looks considerably better than before you started the Finasteride. Fingers crossed for you that it shapes back up to how it was before and this is all a temporary shed. Regardless, there are still other options it seems like you can explore, so not all hope is lost... And stay focused on the progress you've already made.

[hairlossPA]

Basically 13 months since starting finasteride. My confidence of this turning around is pretty much gone. I am still shedding a considerable amount each day. I would have thought I'd see some hairs return by now. I am getting sad. I bought a dermaroller to start that up, and also have bought Nizoral shampoo. We shall see if that kick starts anything. The crown is holding up and not dipping.

I have also attached a few pictures which were at the peak  4.5-5months in. I absolutely loved my hair at this stage. I could spike it up, wear it forward, etc... but now I have to try to hide it with a swooping combover, etc...

I have a dermatology appointment on thursday.

 

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE

[shookwon33]

Sorry, which manufacturer of finasteride were you using again? Dr. Reddys?

[AssaultedByDHT]

@hairlossPA There was a study in which a person found that finasteride was losing effectiveness for him. He was prescribed 0.5mg dutasteride a week in addition to the finasteride, and that somehow turned things around for him. Within 3 months he was back to having thick hair. 

[hairlossPA]

i’m hesitant to go on dut as it is not FDA approved for hairloss and i’ve heard increased risk of sides. also, it essentially only lowers DHT by another 15-20%? i’m not sure 

[shookwon33]

Mate @hairlossPA you should really be educated about what generic finasteride manufacturer you take. There have been cases that particular manufacturers that CVS/Walgreens dispense are known to cause an unknown amount of excess shedding at any given time during therapy.

[hairlossPA]

17 minutes ago, shookwon33 said:

Mate @hairlossPA you should really be educated about what generic finasteride manufacturer you take. There have been cases that particular manufacturers that CVS/Walgreens dispense are known to cause an unknown amount of excess shedding at any given time during therapy.

i’ll look into it. can you post any article or source of this? how would you suggest getting a different brand?

[shookwon33]

I've saw many people sharing their 12 month progress via various manufacturer of generic finasteride on reddit. For getting a different manufacturer just tell your local pharmacy you get it from to order from a different manufacturer specifically for you and they will oblige with no issues. If you look on your bottle you were dispensed from CVS it will tell you what manufacturer you received. Do you happen to know what it is ? If you have Dr. Reddys you may be in the clear from the shedding but another 2 manufacturers im aware of you may wanna switch from

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Hi PA, 

So just to be clear: you started 1mg finasteride in July of 2018, and seemingly did not see any sort of initial shedding phase? By around 4.5 months post-op (November), your hair looked great and you appeared to be an excellent responder to finasteride. Then from November until now, you experienced gradual and worsening thinning to the point where you believe you have pretty much lost all gains? 

Typically people experience a shedding phase for the first 3-4 months; the follicles are somewhat "shocked" into a telogen phase (which lasts around 3-4) and then wake up and begin functioning better -- and growing stronger, healthier terminal hair as a result. If we presume that you did not experience an initial shedding phase but did experience one starting in November, it would likely end around March or so and should start exhibiting noticeable improvement by June or July. 

If you were my patient, I would probably tell you to wait 6 months from when the transition from Telogen (rest) to Anagen (growth) occurred. If we say the resting cycle ended in March, you would maybe want to wait until September before declaring that you have experienced no benefit from the finasteride. 

Now, how likely do I think this is? Probably not too likely. However, I have seen stranger things when it comes androgenic alopecia. 

I also think there is another possibility; and fair warning here: I do not think my experience and opinions when it comes to finasteride are necessarily as "main stream," but I feel pretty confident in what I have seen thus far interacting with thousands of hair loss patients over the past 5 years. 

I personally believe finasteride is a "kick the can down the road" type medication. In the end, androgenic alopecia is genetic. It is like your height, eye color, or any other inevitable physical trait based upon your genetic code. In the end, your genes are going to win out. You take a drug like finasteride and put someone on it while they still have a lot of their own native hair, and it may help them hold on to this hair or hold on to a greater portion of the hair for a longer period. In the end, however, they are still going to get to the same point. It just may take a little longer on finasteride. When you get to a certain point where you have already lost a good portion of hair or maybe the "horse is out of the barn" a bit, the drug tends to do less. You specifically may have been further along in the process, and there was just simply less that the drug could do. Maybe an initial "bump" was all that was possible before your body started making more DHT or expressing more DHT receptors in the follicles because that is its coded mission and there was not much you could do to slow it at this point in the mission. I know this is not the rosiest of theories, but I often find it holds water. While preventive medications are great and I always have a detailed discuss about using them with patients, they do have limitations and they cannot overcome what is hard-coded in your programming. Does this mean you should give up on it if you are not experiencing side effects? No, not necessarily. But it may be time to research other adjuncts (surgery possibly being one of them) to help. Just remember to play it safe and try to stick to tested and approved treatments. 

Again, the above is my educated opinion based upon my experience with the medication and hair loss patients. Other doctors may feel differently and they are absolutely entitled to their own conclusions based upon their experiences. I also say the above not to discourage anyone from using preventive medications; I do think they are useful adjuncts and recommend that all hair loss patients research and consider them.