Multiple Phases of Shedding with Oral Minox/Finasteride/Dutasteride

[Curious25]

Any one else experience this? 
 

I’m currently on all three -

 

ORAL MINOXIDIL

OM 5mg daily since Jan 2022. 

FINASTERIDE
Finasteride 0.5mg EOD Aug 2022 - Nov 2022
Finasteride 1mg daily Nov 2022 -March 2022 

Finasteride 1mg 6x a week March 2022 - present 

DUTASTERIDE

Dutasteride 0.5mg 1x per week March 2022 - present

 

I’ve been making really nice progres , however over the last two weeks I’ve noticed an increase in shedding and I actually thought that I looked like I have regressed to pre medication baseline this morning when I woke up. 
 

Most doctors and online info just refer to the initial shed that meds often times incur, however I’ve read a few anecdotal accounts of people saying they experience multiple phases of shedding, to then return better than previously - and I have two notable  periods in mind (November 22 and Jan 22) where I felt I had less density than the prior months, only to then seemingly make more ground following on from this. 
 

This recent shed has been a kick in the teeth, because as I say, I was feeling really great about things only a few weeks ago, to then go on to feeling very underwhelmed today at what I was seeing in the mirror. 
 

I guess logic would point to the introduction of dutasteride 1x a week being within the last 3 months, so it very well might be an initial shed from that . . It’s just annoying to think it could potentially be a continuous phase of shedding and growing for the foreseeable, if that’s how it works for diffuse thinning ? 

 

[Big Rome]

I’m guessing you saw no sides from the Fin 0.5 mg EOD hence you upped the dose to 1MG daily? 

[Curious25]

Yep, no unwanted sides from anything. 

[hairison_ford]

Yes, been there. Most docs don't seem to report seeing this but I've definitely experienced this 'cyclical shedding' myself and I've seen plenty of online anecdotes from people who have too. 

Been on fin consistently for 3 years and took photos every time I had a monthly haircut to track progress for the first 2ish years, so I knew I wasn't just imagining things. Had a huge shed over the first 3 months that took me to below baseline, got a ton of regrowth for about 3 months afterwards that took me to above baseline, and then went through several sheds/regrowth cycles over the next couple years at roughly that same cadence, though with reduced degree of shedding/regrowth each cycle. I also messed around with minoxidil on/off during this time, so that may have contributed a bit as well. I'd say it's been pretty stable over the last year with only minor sheds that I notice every now and then, but I ended up stabilizing at about pre-medication baseline -- which is fine for me as long as it's maintaining.

The 'theory' that I've seen floating around is that the medication synchronizes your hair follicles' growth/shed cycles when you start taking it. So a bunch of miniaturized hairs shed all at once, then they regrow back all at once, but because they're miniaturized they have a shorter growth period and will shed again within a few months, and so on. Eventually they become desynchronized and the shedding/regrowth cycles become less obvious. If the hairs were miniaturized enough to begin with, they may not be able to become terminal again even with medication, and so they may get 'stuck' like this for a long time/indefinitely. Again, that's just a theory I've seen floating around on the internet so take it with a grain of salt, but it makes sense to me and aligns with my experience.

[Curious25]

7 hours ago, hairison_ford said:

Yes, been there. Most docs don't seem to report seeing this but I've definitely experienced this 'cyclical shedding' myself and I've seen plenty of online anecdotes from people who have too. 

Been on fin consistently for 3 years and took photos every time I had a monthly haircut to track progress for the first 2ish years, so I knew I wasn't just imagining things. Had a huge shed over the first 3 months that took me to below baseline, got a ton of regrowth for about 3 months afterwards that took me to above baseline, and then went through several sheds/regrowth cycles over the next couple years at roughly that same cadence, though with reduced degree of shedding/regrowth each cycle. I also messed around with minoxidil on/off during this time, so that may have contributed a bit as well. I'd say it's been pretty stable over the last year with only minor sheds that I notice every now and then, but I ended up stabilizing at about pre-medication baseline -- which is fine for me as long as it's maintaining.

The 'theory' that I've seen floating around is that the medication synchronizes your hair follicles' growth/shed cycles when you start taking it. So a bunch of miniaturized hairs shed all at once, then they regrow back all at once, but because they're miniaturized they have a shorter growth period and will shed again within a few months, and so on. Eventually they become desynchronized and the shedding/regrowth cycles become less obvious. If the hairs were miniaturized enough to begin with, they may not be able to become terminal again even with medication, and so they may get 'stuck' like this for a long time/indefinitely. Again, that's just a theory I've seen floating around on the internet so take it with a grain of salt, but it makes sense to me and aligns with my experience.

Thanks. 
 

Yea that does make sense to me - miniaturised hair that is recoverable will likely need multiple cycles of a reduced DHT environment that remains consistently reduced for a sustained time period, as opposed to shedding at the first instance of a reduction in serum DHT and then miraculously growing back to their former glory right away. 
 

Probably why the studies allude to final results after 2 years. 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Curious25