Please have a look at this and tell me what i shoud do?!!

[Declan123]

Hi there,

Thanks for taking the time to look at my problem, hopefully you will be able to give me some insight as what to do next, because i am in pretty bad way emotionally about what has happened to my hair recently, and i would like you to give me your opinions on what type of hair loss this is, why it happened and what action to take.

Here's my story, im 27, i have been slowy loosing my hair over the past 4-5 years, when i say slowly i mean barely noticeable as i have always had very thick dark brown hair, no receeding hairline, only slight loss on crown and slight temple loss, over all great coverage.

In Feb this year i decided to go on finasteride to preserve what i have, only wanted to maintain as i was happy with how my hair was.

I commenced taking it at 1.25 proscar everyday, and initially i had some slight shedding about one month in, by the start of May i was even thicker than ever and was really happy with the results and just went on with my everyday life thinking "thank god i will be able to preserve my hair, this drug is great"

Anyhow fast forward two months to mid June and then all of a sudden my hair kinked and instead of being strong and thick, all of a sudden seemed lifeless and light, i went and got a hair cut and noticed that i had lost hair just behind my hairline and all over seemed to be a less amount.

I shaved my head to get a better idea of my loss and since then i have watched my hair shed at a shockingly fast rate!!! I have never ever noticed hair loss before, since mid june until now i have lost 40 - 50% of the hair on my head, diffuse all over it seems and it just continues, its really upsetting and has made me so upset and anxious i really dont know what to do, or why this has happened.

I have read that some people get TE from finasteride, but usually they are the ones who shed continuously from the first month, i have lost this after 6 months, and inittially thought it was a normal shed, but this has lasted 9 weeks and gets worse everyday!

My scalp was burning and had red marks on it a month into this shed, they seem to have subsided but i still seem to shed, its more noticeable in my MPB areas such as mid scalp and crown, but it seems i have lost some on the sides too.

I have been to a hair transplant Dr here in Melbourne Australia, he has won a "Golden Folicle" award and asked him about Finasteride and loss, he says that he has priscribed it to over 3000 patients and had never seen or heard of Shedding because of it.

So i went to a Dermatoligist yesterday and he said that its TE, or a form of AA, most likely due to stress, and that he would expect my hair to grow back, i showed him the documentation of people experiecing this type of thing 11-16 weeks in on Finasteride, and he says it doesnt make sense, and told me to stay on the Finasteride and the hair should grow back in 3-4 months, but i am convinced that Finasteride has caused this, and i feel like i am ruining my hair by continuing to take it, what should i do??!!!

Im so upset and confused as to why this has happened, what to do next, will i get my hair back?? Is this a shed or TE, and if its TE or a type of efluvium should i get off Finasteride as it may have been the trigger for it, or ride it out only to see my hair get worse and worse everyday untill there is none left?

I was thinking if i did get off it i would get some RU and then Minox and see if i could get this hair back.

Please help, need advice, im devistated!!

[irishpride86]

Hey buddy same thing occurred to me... I would like to know as well,

Maybe stay on it... Any others go through this and stay on fin and prevail ?

[Declan123]

Hey irish,

I have read alot about your experience in this forum and HLH, you seemed to have the same type of loss, but for you it was at the start and all throughout your time on Fin wasnt it, mine happned at 4 1/2 months which is strange.

I noticed that you got off it and then on RU and Niz and grew it all back didnt you?

Do you think i should do the same, my Derm seems to think that i should stay on it, how is your treatment going now, i dont really know which direction to take from here, its not MPB, but in the areas where i have MPB the loss is more evident, how can someone loose all their hair in one cycle, surely cant happen??

Whats your advice?

I notice Dr Lee's advice was to stop fin when you described what happened to you, what do you think about this?

[irishpride86]

Hey irish,

I have read alot about your experience in this forum and HLH, you seemed to have the same type of loss, but for you it was at the start and all throughout your time on Fin wasnt it, mine happned at 4 1/2 months which is strange.

I noticed that you got off it and then on RU and Niz and grew it all back didnt you?

Do you think i should do the same, my Derm seems to think that i should stay on it, how is your treatment going now, i dont really know which direction to take from here, its not MPB, but in the areas where i have MPB the loss is more evident, how can someone loose all their hair in one cycle, surely cant happen??

Whats your advice?

I notice Dr Lee's advice was to stop fin when you described what happened to you, what do you think about this?

TO BE HONEST GET ON MINOX .... this seemed to get my hairs out of TE state, and stay on FIN till the 1 year mark, but get on minox to trigger your hairs out of TE, thats what i think worked for me

im "thinking" of giving FIN another go but going through a 2nd minox shed after regrowth after it stops i may add FIN, we'll see... but add minox it will get the TE to phase out

[Declan123]

Irish, didnt that Dr Lee tell you to get off the Fin because it was the cause of the issue, do u think RU would help too?

So you think stay on for the year mark on fin which will be Feb next year, and try and awake the TE through Minox, you got all your hair back hows it going now man?

Did you have an irritated scalp and when it stopped being irritated was that a sign the shedding stopped?

By the way i am happy you posted in here i was hoping you would see this tp be honest because your story was so similar to mine.

Sorry for all the questions, just want to know the way to go here, its made me pretty depressed lately.

[RainMan11]

I have been using fin 1mg/day for the past 5 months. When I first started, I had a little thinning in my crown, but that was all. Since starting the medication, my hair has been falling out like nuts. The hair falls out from everywhere--top, front, back, sides. My hair is way, way thinner than it was when i started.

I consulted two dermatologists about this and both advised me to continue the medication. They told me that "shedding" is not caused by finasteride, and that my hairloss was just normal progression of mpb. They also both told me that it was not a telogen effluvium.

Maybe the docs are right that its just mpb at work. Who the hell knows? What I do know, though, is that it is HIGHLY coincidental that hair loss would become so severe at the exact moment I begin taking a drug like finasteride. Obviously there is a lot of speculation online that hair sometimes thins after starting the drug, only to regrow later...But i guess when it comes down to it, you've got to trust the people in the medical circles on this one.

So, I'm going down with the ship. If propecia F's my hair over, so be it. But all scientific evidence suggests that it does in fact work, and permanent hair loss has never been reported as a side effect of the drug.

Keep taking it.

[Declan123]

I have been using fin 1mg/day for the past 5 months. When I first started, I had a little thinning in my crown, but that was all. Since starting the medication, my hair has been falling out like nuts. The hair falls out from everywhere--top, front, back, sides. My hair is way, way thinner than it was when i started.

I consulted two dermatologists about this and both advised me to continue the medication. They told me that "shedding" is not caused by finasteride, and that my hairloss was just normal progression of mpb. They also both told me that it was not a telogen effluvium.

Maybe the docs are right that its just mpb at work. Who the hell knows? What I do know, though, is that it is HIGHLY coincidental that hair loss would become so severe at the exact moment I begin taking a drug like finasteride. Obviously there is a lot of speculation online that hair sometimes thins after starting the drug, only to regrow later...But i guess when it comes down to it, you've got to trust the people in the medical circles on this one.

So, I'm going down with the ship. If propecia F's my hair over, so be it. But all scientific evidence suggests that it does in fact work, and permanent hair loss has never been reported as a side effect of the drug.

Keep taking it.

Loosing hair the way we have in such a short amount of time is certainly not MPB, surley not. To loose 40% of your hair in a 4 week period has to be brought about because of another factor, in my case Fin or as the Dr and Derm said more likely stress, i think it was the Fin personally, as i have been through more stressfull things over the years than an event happening in march this year.

I am hoping the hair grows back, i still cant believe the loss i have had when i had litterally hardly any signs of MPB even as litlle as 8 weeks ago, i really hope like crazy that this is temporary, but im not holding my breath, i have read alot of people claim it doesnt come back, if thats the case the question i want to know is if it is hypatheticall aggressive MPB then you would expect some sort of hair to come back in the next cycle this is what i will be waiting for, anyone else have an opinion on this, or experience similar, if so what happened, what can we expect here?

[hudsonhawke]

This is probably why I've decided not to go on fin. I'm 30 and I've got pattern recession hitting me at the temples, though overall thickness is good like yours was. no signs of diffuse. I'm going to opt for a transplant to fill in the temples and unless I start to badly diffuse from there then I will consider fin as an option.

I think your anxiety from constantly looking at the shed and worrying could be accelerating the shed. You need to relax your mind. Ever pop a nasty zit and stare at it constantly waiting for it to heal? always seems to heal slower, though when you take your mind off it it heals faster. Think of your hair that way. Try buzzing the hair really short to the point you wont notice the shed as much and try not to look in the mirror, accept that it's gone (always have low expectations) and find a distraction.

As most people would suggest the best thing to do is to ride it out. Though I have read a few people claim to be shedding still after a year! But I'm thinking the only way to grow it out again is to keep it constant.

Have you experience any side effects? erectile problems, tender breast etc? I think that would be a good enough reason to stop if those persist, never mind the hair!

Though from what I read here the shedding can last for months and then the hair slowely starts to grow back. To me it all seems like a win/lose gamble. Though to be honest from your pics, doesnt look to bad dude! Hair looks alot thicker when it's long. If you've never had a buzzcut you'd it might be more of a shock to see your scalp, but thats normal as the hair is shorter and there is less coverage.

[Declan123]

I am the original poster:

So its been another month and i went and visited an endocrinologist, and he was very helpfull and sympathetic to what has happened here.

I explained my situation to him and showed him photos of baseline and photos that i have been tracking constantly on my iphone of my hair since starting FIN in late feb.

He concluded that i have had a bad reaction to the finasteride and that i have reflex hyperandrogenicity which has caused a TE effect on my hair.

The loss is diffuse but i seem to have massively accelerated my loss in my MPB areas in which i had minimal loss initially, prior starting FIN.

The hair on the sides and back is still thin and wispy, the crown is thinned and the hairline looks like absolute sh%t.

He has told me to get off FIN, i am wondering how i go about getting off it without possibly furthering my hairloss problem, however the amount of hair i have lost over the last 3 months since having a full head of thick hair i cant see how it could be any worse, however i am wondering what people think i should do regarding getting off it, do i taper off, or just go cold turkey?

I have also ordered some RU58841 from Faith Eagle in China, and i am hoping this gets through customs. The only person i have seen or heard of recovering from this kind of similar situation is one of the above posters "IrishPride", i hope to do the same.

I have noticed an increase in facial hair, and as i am not a generally hairy perosn body hair wise, i have also noticed some chest hairs that i have never had before. I also get the odd couple of pimples i never usually got and at 28 i find that strange, but my face and scalp are dry not oily so go figure? T

he thing i dont understand is that my sex drive hasnt been elevated and that is a massive syptom of reflex hyperandrogenicity, if anything its lower than normal.

The endocrinologist was optimistic that my hormone levels will re adjust over time, and that my hair should regrow, this is good in theory but i doubt it. Its frustrating not knowing if this will be the case, and everyday is a depressing nightmare to be honest, all i do is obsess about this loss and read through different forums looking for some form of hope and answers, i have probably read every thread on diffuse loss, TE, reflex hyperandrogenicity there is on the web and i can do is hope that this can be reversed, i am not overly optimistic though, i actually think i need to go and see someone about the depression this has caused me.

I feel so angry and frustrated that i was one of the unlucky repsonders to FIN, and that after it working for 3 months loosing this amount of hair and watch it deterierate every week has been nothing short of devistating.

So do i taper of FIN or get straight off it, anyone out there have their hormones and testosterone levels go back to nomal after FIN?

Anyone have any ideas from here, and what kind of time frame if at all i will see improvement, if at all?

Desperate question, i know knowone will be able to answer, but if anything else i feel like asking.

Thanks for reading, and i realise that for most of you FIN works but i think i am perminantly f$%ed from this.

[irishpride86]

Add minox it will help your te hairs get out of that state..