Finasteride shedding

[Crk]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question about the shedding phase of finasteride. I started taking it almost two months ago, so far no issues. I’ve spent a lot of time on Reddit hair loss forums, and it seems like everyday someone is posting a horror story about a dread shed. I’ve talked to my dermatologist, read numerous hair surgeon or doctor blogs, etc, and all of them say a shed is possible, but likely not very noticeable if noticeable at all, and their patients don’t really have them/complain about them. But I compare that to the posts I see on Reddit, and all I read is “ everyone sheds, it gets way worse before it gets better, trust the process.” 

Anyways, i was wondering if anyone here had a shed or lack of a shed, and if so, how bad was it? 
 

thanks for the input!

[Balding Bad]

I nearly started a topic myself with the same question so I'm glad I did a search, but I am a bit discouraged to see no one answered this question. 

Part of me is hoping I would be spared of any potential shedding since I've already gone through that with Minoxidil, however would I theoretically experience shedding on Finasteride since it's a different element I'm introducing to my body?

I'm inclined to say yes, but for those who are Fin pros, what say you?

[dotdashdashdash]

Same—also logged on to post on this myself.

I started finasteride 0.5mg per day back in late July, so nearly four months.

I either have quite a bit of shed or my hair doesn't care about the finasteride and is falling out anyway. It's not super noticeable, though, unless there's a situation in which I lean my head down to my chest or am seen from above (I first noticed when walking through a store and seeing myself from an overhead security camera).

I had been thinking about increasing my dose to 1mg per day, but am concerned I will shed even more.

Would love to know more about other shed experiences, too...and how bad it was, how long it lasted, how much better it got. Thanks for starting this thread!

[Balding Bad]

23 minutes ago, dotdashdashdash said:

Same—also logged on to post on this myself.

I started finasteride 0.5mg per day back in late July, so nearly four months.

I either have quite a bit of shed or my hair doesn't care about the finasteride and is falling out anyway. It's not super noticeable, though, unless there's a situation in which I lean my head down to my chest or am seen from above (I first noticed when walking through a store and seeing myself from an overhead security camera).

I had been thinking about increasing my dose to 1mg per day, but am concerned I will shed even more.

Would love to know more about other shed experiences, too...and how bad it was, how long it lasted, how much better it got. Thanks for starting this thread!

I haven't started my Fin journey yet, I'm waiting on getting on blood test done first (which I'm hoping will happen by next week).

But for you, I would recommend staying on the same dosage for the next 2 months, so this way at the half year mark (6 months) you can do a proper assessment. Also in the next 2 months perhaps your hair growth cycle will have kicked in and you'll recover those hairs you have shed.

May I ask why your dosage is only 0.5mg as opposed to the recommended 1mg? Are you cutting your pills in half or were you prescribed the half dosage?

Edited November 22, 2021 by Balding Bad

[dotdashdashdash]

59 minutes ago, Balding Bad said:

I haven't started my Fin journey yet, I'm waiting on getting on blood test done first (which I'm hoping will happen by next week).

But for you, I would recommend staying on the same dosage for the next 2 months, so this way at the half year mark (6 months) you can do a proper assessment. Also in the next 2 months perhaps your hair growth cycle will have kicked in and you'll recover those hairs you have shed.

May I ask why your dosage is only 0.5mg as opposed to the recommended 1mg? Are you cutting your pills in half or were you prescribed the half dosage?

I was concerned about sides so my doctor recommended that I start at 0.5mg per day. I plan to speak with him too after the holiday. But your plan makes a lot of sense.

I hope that does the trick too and hair starts growing cause I’m definitely feeling bummed out and nervous about whether this loss is permanent…

[Aftermath]

Been taking it since 2007, never had a shedding phase and it’s working well for me