Regular Member Sm90 Posted February 22, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted February 22, 2019 I’ve been on propecia/finasteride 1mg for just over a year now. Would it be beneficial to increase my dosage? Maybe to 1.5mg ? It has definitely helped me the last year but I recently am going through a shed and notice some thinning in the crown. Would this be a good or bad idea? Pros and cons? PS I have had no side effects to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted February 22, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted February 22, 2019 i don’t think increasing the dosage would stop/halt the shed. I am also going through a shed with finasteride since the 5 month mark it is now almost 8 months, so essentially I have a 3 month shed going on right now. hoping it stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted February 22, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 22, 2019 7 minutes ago, hairlossPA said: i don’t think increasing the dosage would stop/halt the shed. I am also going through a shed with finasteride since the 5 month mark it is now almost 8 months, so essentially I have a 3 month shed going on right now. hoping it stops. 5 month mark since you first started taking it ? Or 5 months since your surgery? I’m 13 months out from my surgery. Started taking propecia just 2 months prior to the surgery. At the 9month mark post-op surgery my hair was growing in strong and looking the best it’s every looked. Out of no where I just started losing thickness/fullness/density and my new hairline. Its like most of the new hair is just gone. It’s been 3 months of this shit. I’m hoping this is a shed of some sort. I was hoping maybe increasing my dosage would do something idk. I’m desperate at this point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted February 22, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted February 22, 2019 I have not had a HT surgery. I started finasteride in July 2018 and it seemed like I did not lose a single hair between July and November. Now, ever since November, I have been shedding constantly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted February 22, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted February 22, 2019 IMHO, the shedding is a good sign that you are responding to finasteride and I believe most doctors would say the same. A shed cycle is not uncommon...I had one that lasted roughly 5 months however when it was done, it was done and my hair grew back very nicely. Increasing the daily dosage of finasteride is not going to help...ask your doctor about that...the clinical trials that are done confirm this and the key is to take it as prescribed for the recommended daily dosage of 1mg daily. Sometimes the doctor may lower the dosage because the individual is experiencing side-effects but they do not increase it to improve efficiency. Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted February 22, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 22, 2019 2 hours ago, gillenator said: IMHO, the shedding is a good sign that you are responding to finasteride and I believe most doctors would say the same. A shed cycle is not uncommon...I had one that lasted roughly 5 months however when it was done, it was done and my hair grew back very nicely. Increasing the daily dosage of finasteride is not going to help...ask your doctor about that...the clinical trials that are done confirm this and the key is to take it as prescribed for the recommended daily dosage of 1mg daily. Sometimes the doctor may lower the dosage because the individual is experiencing side-effects but they do not increase it to improve efficiency. I started taking finasteride in November of 2017, I then had a hair transplant in January of 2018 (3months later). After shaving my head for the HP it took 3-4 months for my hair to return to normal. 9/10 months post op (November-December of 2018) is when the shed started and came in full force. Even transplanted hair has she’s and fallen out. I know this cause my new hhair line was pretty much gone and still is to this day and it’s been 3 months. I’m in panic mode. Should I have hope that it will all grow back including the new hair? Or is this possibly a fail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted February 26, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) Although the shed cycle in itself is not abnormal, you should be starting to see a new growth cycle emerge. I would give it another month or so and if you do not start seeing new growth emerge, yes IMHO that would be some cause for concern. Also am wondering if the increase in finasteride has anything to do with this prolonged lack of growth? I trust you have communicated all of this with your surgeon. If so, what have they told you? Edited February 26, 2019 by gillenator Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted February 26, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 I did not increase my dose of finasteride. I have been on 1mg since November 2017. My procedure was January 2018, I started finasteride prior to my procedure. When the patient advisor called me to check in at the 9 month mark I told him I was VERY happy with everything so far. Fast forward to approaching month 11 I called with concerns explaining my hairline had begun to thin and fall out and the density was begin to go away and I was very upset. He told me not to worry and that the new hair falls out sometimes and grows back stronger. I found this explanation to be strange since I was never told this before or never heard it anywhere else. The only shed that I was ever told about was around 4 weeks after the initial procedure. They had contacted me at the one year mark (January 18, 2019)to see my “final result” and to be honest I didn’t answer them. I was so upset at the time I didn’t have anything nice to say nor did I want to talk to them. Maybe it was childish of me but that’s how I felt at the time. Here I am at the end of February 2019 and still the same issue. No hairline. No density. I’m praying some new growth starts very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted February 26, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 every hair sheds at some point and regrows (for better or for worse), whether it was transplanted or not. So it could be a few options... 1) your hair is just taking its natural life cycle and shedding and will regrow in 3 months at the same caliber 2) you are losing non-transplanted hair due to DHT and that’s why you are seeing density decrease going through something similar. I have not had a HT but I’ve been on finasteride for almost 8 months now. I did not shed a single hair between months 0 and 5, but ever since I’ve been shedding like crazy... not much to do other than wait and see.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted February 26, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 Am very sorry to hear you going through this. This is unusual and I would insist to speak with the doctor. As hard as this is, try to collect yourself and still let your doctor know. There is one other possibility that I have observed over the years. Sometimes when an individual is dealing with significant stress for a prolonged period, it can affect the regrowth and induce shedding. I know of several cases where this happened and the individuals thought their procedures were failures until their periods of stress subsided. Once the stress was managed, their hair began normal growth cycles. Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted February 26, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 I understand this is just a waiting game now. You’re reasoning saying it could be my native hair falling out is one I can not agree with. My hairline was completely gone before I had the procedure, and as of 4 months ago my new hairline was looking and coming in so great and it’s now non existent once again. So there’s no way it’s the native hair. Get me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted February 26, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 4 minutes ago, Sm90 said: I understand this is just a waiting game now. You’re reasoning saying it could be my native hair falling out is one I can not agree with. My hairline was completely gone before I had the procedure, and as of 4 months ago my new hairline was looking and coming in so great and it’s now non existent once again. So there’s no way it’s the native hair. Get me? understood. was only putting it out as an option since we have limited information about your case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted February 26, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 These aren’t the best photos but it’s all I have I apologize. The top picture is September 2018. I was very happy at this point all the through November. The bottom photo is the beginning of December 2018. The density has even gotten worse after this going into January and now end of February. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted February 26, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 I see what you mean and believe you. We all know how our hair feels on a day to day basis and we do notice change. Do you have any pictures of where grafts where placed? or where the hairline was drawn? who was your surgeon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted February 26, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2019 I went to Huebner in Florida. It was great experience all up until this “shed” or whatever is going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted March 1, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 1, 2019 Is this a current photo? Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted March 3, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 3, 2019 this was the procedure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member KO Posted March 3, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 3, 2019 The dose response curve is nearly flat for finasteride. It's not perfectly flat so you may benefit from increasing dosage...but it's probably not much. 3382 FUE Lupanzula http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185463-3382-grafts-lupanzula.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted March 3, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 3, 2019 i've never seen a post op pic like that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted March 3, 2019 Administrators Share Posted March 3, 2019 You could switch from Finasteride to Dutasteride. IMO that would make more sense than increasing the finasteride dosage. I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice. Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey: View my thread Topical dutasteride journey Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog. Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted March 3, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 3, 2019 2 hours ago, hairlossPA said: i've never seen a post op pic like that... I was waiting for someone to say this... i had my procedure done by Huebner in Florida. Huebner’s technique is the same as Dr Bolton’s as he was once his “apprentice”. If you YouTube them they explain how their technique is different that others aka the gold standard way. I watched almost all his videos and was turned onto his results because I felt they were realistic, not perfect but obtainable. (I was very afraid of getting scammed by super impressive results thinking they weren’t real). I was also not as educated as I feel I am now. I do now wish I went to a different doctor or like Feller and Bloxham the first time around. But like I stated in earlier posts, I was very very happy with my results at 8-10 months and my scar is pretty dam good also. Anyways yea Huebner’s post op doesn’t look like most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted March 3, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 3, 2019 good luck bro. not much to do other than wait it out a bit longer. if things dont improve I guess reassess the situation and go from there for what its worth your hair looks pretty good from the limited pics. way better than your post op pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spaceman Posted March 3, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 3, 2019 How is your overall health? Medical issues like diabetes and thyroid problems can contribute to hairloss regardless of transplant or finasteride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sm90 Posted March 3, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) H Edited March 4, 2019 by Sm90 Hh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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