New Proscar User - Shedding After 2 Weeks

[Big Jack]

I recently went on Proscar after contemplating the use of Finasteride for 6 months. I made the decision after consultation with my doctor, and after watching for six months a gradual recession of the frontal hairline.

 

I am 34 years of age. My hair guy for 10 years has said that I am paranoid, and that hair gradually recedes a little every year (after constantly harassing him to tell me the truth ever visit for 6 months). I have a loving, supportive, truthful and blunt girlfriend, and she has not said anything despite me telling her to do so if she notices anything.

 

However, my hair has lost its ability to be easily styled and an analysis of photos over the past 4 years shows the move to a mature hairline with some frontal recession and temporal recession. Each successive haircut saw a slight move more to the V shaped or widows peak hairline (but I am not there yet). I also noticed more minaturized hairs (1-3 ) coming out when I showered and thin longer ones as well.

 

The frontal hairline has receded slightly beyond the crown, it is about ?? inch from the first mid line crease line when furrowing my brow, and about 1.6 inch recession on the temporal sides (with the left side sharper indent). That being said, the 45 degree temporal recession is now in line with the vertical line on the front of my sideburns (as opposed to the vertical line of the end of the sideburn closest to the ear). I believe this puts me firmly in the Norwood II camp, even though the II shows the end of the 45 degree recession in line with the front of the sideburn instead of in the middle or close to the line of the ear). When I use Nizoral 2% or a volumizing shampoo like Herbal Essence, my hair looks more normal and manageable.

 

When I went to speak to my doctor, he was acknowledged that it was very mild or early MPB just by looking at me. He looked at the density at the back of my head and noted its thickness and said I would never be completely bald though. I acknowledged that I had a lot of stress/anxiety, and he said the best thing to do if I took the Proscar was to actually eliminate the source of my stress/anxiety. I noted that for the past 6 months I have been under a lot of daily stress, but normal relationship and job stress, not traumatic incident stress. As a result, I get less sleep (now 6 hours), less exercise and my diet has suffered (more eating out, and less fresh fruits and vegetables).

 

I have been on proscar for 3.5 weeks and have the following side effects:

??? Very slight ???queasy??? feeling for 5-10 minutes after taking it for the first 2 weeks

??? Reduced libido (though may be linked to work, stress)

??? Complete reduction in the loss of minaturized hairs

??? Increased noticeable shedding of hairs, with the overwhelming majority of them being thick long strong hairs

??? Increased shedding on days where the cut Proscar pill may be a little more than other days (hard to cut those darn things into perfect 1.25mg)

??? Frontal hair thinning more rapidly (in my subjective opinion)

 

The point of taking Proscar was to slow the hair loss, and now it appears that my hair has become thinner and slight move to a more mature midline has increased. I have actually been growing my hair longer now, as before I would have a hair cut every 3-4 weeks. Since it has become thinner, there is less need, and I figure that I might as well try a shaggy look while I still have the hair (I have always kept it quite short and neat for professional reasons)

 

The point of my story - has anyone else experienced these symptoms in the first couple of weeks of taking Proscar, and if so, does anyone have stories of hair lost during a shed that eventually grows back?

 

I hate to think that I am speeding up the process of hair loss.

 

I realize that pictures would be helpful, but I figure that there must be another ???anal??? poster on here who has analyzed photos and taken measurements, and might be able to provide some insights.