10 Month Update On Finasteride And Minoxidil

[MKP05]

So 10 months on finasteride with minoxidil applied at hairline only. Regenepure DR (keto shampoo) 3-4 times per week.

Month 1-3 - continued loss on temples, hairline and forelock

Month 4-6 - noticeably less density on entire scalp. Hair feels “fried”. I can now feel and see thinning hair all over scalp and not just at the temples.

Month 6-10 - continued loss on temples, hairline and forelock. Rest of scalp still thin all over and totally fried feeling but doesn’t look or feel drastically worse than month 6.

Although I have zero sides, I have clearly not responded to this medication. I feel like I may have even had a negative reaction to it. I have autoimmune AA as well for 20+ years so maybe that also played a role. I am way below baseline. Pictures below are 2 weeks prior to Fina, 3 months in, and current. All 3 pictures my hair is slightly wet. The question is should I continue taking it at this point? It’s not looking good.

 

[Maxihair]

What dosage of finasteride?

 

[MKP05]

What dosage of finasteride?

1mg

 

[MKP05]

Yep. your hair looks the same...

My hair doesn’t look remotely the same. Look at the first and last pictures again using my forehead line as a marker. I’ve receded a half an inch at the hairline alone. In the first picture my hair looks healthy and thick. In the last picture my hair looks stringy and dead. Even my dermatologist told me last week that it looks terrible. Lol.

 

[megadyptes]

Does indeed seem like you lost ground. But if you stop you will lose even more. So, if I were you, I would just stick to your regime until something better comes along, like we all do. There is no alternative.

 

[Manochoice]

Why did you start the more aggressive treatment? (I know some will not consider it aggressive). You had great hair when u started. Last picture looks like years of hair loss with no treatment.

 

[MKP05]

Why did you start the more aggressive treatment? (I know some will not consider it aggressive). You had great hair when u started. Last picture looks like years of hair loss with no treatment.

Thanks for being honest. That’s exactly what it looks like....years of hair loss instead of 10 months. You’re right and if I could turn back time I would. I’ve battled alopecia areata for 20 years. I’d just come off a 10 year stint of remission when it struck again last April. By May I started rapidly losing hair at my temples which 3 different doctors confirmed was Androgenetic Alopecia. So while I was eventually able to treat the AA successfully on the back of my head with cortisone injections my front kept thinning. I was in a bad mental state and I panicked and started treatment. In hindsight I should’ve waited as this medicine appears to have completely shredded my hair. All I was trying to do was to stop the hair loss and it accelerated instead.

 

[MKP05]

Does indeed seem like you lost ground. But if you stop you will lose even more. So, if I were you, I would just stick to your regime until something better comes along, like we all do. There is no alternative.

Yup. I really fucked myself up. I wish some medical professional could explain what has happened to me. Thanks for the advice. I only hope that the finasteride is not exacerbating the problem somehow.

 

[MKP05]

I guess I was trying to find someone else who had such quick hair loss in spite of being on finastrride for this long. Someone to tell me that they kept going and it resolved eventually or that they stopped and it got better somehow. A part of me wants to stop just to see what happens and then another part is terrified to quit.

 

[Pequod]

I would go off that shampoo and minoxidil to see what the reaction was before stopping finasteride. Since your hair feels fried then chances are it is something being applied to the hair. I say that because i once switched shampoos and my hair got that fried feeling, then i went back to the old stuff and it went away.

 

[MKP05]

I would go off that shampoo and minoxidil to see what the reaction was before stopping finasteride. Since your hair feels fried then chances are it is something being applied to the hair. I say that because i once switched shampoos and my hair got that fried feeling, then i went back to the old stuff and it went away.

Not sure it’s the minoxidil. I only apply at fhe hair line and all of my head feels fried. Plus the handful of times I missed a day or two of minoxidil I feel like my hairline almost immediately thinned out. Maybe I’m using the Keto shampoo too much. I still feel like it’s the finasteride that did this to me. There are lots of other stories I’ve read online which seem identical to mine.

 

[Manochoice]

Had I been in your place when you started treatment and knowing what I know now, I probably would've start w/ only finasteride at a low dosage (.25 - .5) if I decided to try any serious treatment.

 

[MKP05]

Had I been in your place when you started treatment and knowing what I know now, I probably would've start w/ only finasteride at a low dosage (.25 - .5) if I decided to try any serious treatment.

The picture I don’t have for comparison purposes is the one 2 months before the first baseline picture I posted. In the span of 2 months from May to June of 2018 my temples receded about 1.5 inches. I visited two different dermatologists and my gp and had 2 rounds of blood tests in that time. In hindsight I was not in bad shape but I was much worse shape than the two months prior to that. It came on so fast that I decided I had to take action. “Catch it early and start treatment” is the majority consensus here and in other forums. I never expected to have the result I got. What do I do now though? Quit and pray for a miracle or continue taking it and pray for a miracle? I’m not exaggerating when I say that in 12 months I’ve gone from thick healthy hair to trying to determine when I’m going to reach the point where shaving it all off is my only option. I’ve seen a couple of posts here from guys who had a similar experience and they were able to recover somewhat by quitting finasteride.

 

[IncognitoMan]

If you’re temples receded 1.5 inches over a span of 2 months (prior to starting treatment), and now during 10 months of treatment, they’ve only receded around 0.5 inches, I’d say your hair loss slowed down. Maybe your hair loss was coming on super aggressive, and what you’re doing now has slowed it down? At this point, I would continue with the Finasteride at the least, if I were you. It can take 18-24 months to see full potential results — and, stopping Finasteride could likely make your situation even worse. Hair cycles take months: when a hair goes from its growth cycle (anagen) to regression (catagen) it usually takes 10 days, then from regression to resting (telogen) it can take 3-4 months. So, for maximum of 4.5 months your hair could show no improvement just based on growing cycle (granted that is somewhat worst case scenario). Anyway, I would give it another 6-7 months if I were you. Hope things work out! Hair loss sucks, especially when it happens so quickly.

 

[Manochoice]

The picture I don’t have for comparison purposes is the one 2 months before the first baseline picture I posted. In the span of 2 months from May to June of 2018 my temples receded about 1.5 inches. I visited two different dermatologists and my gp and had 2 rounds of blood tests in that time. In hindsight I was not in bad shape but I was much worse shape than the two months prior to that. It came on so fast that I decided I had to take action. “Catch it early and start treatment” is the majority consensus here and in other forums. I never expected to have the result I got. What do I do now though? Quit and pray for a miracle or continue taking it and pray for a miracle? I’m not exaggerating when I say that in 12 months I’ve gone from thick healthy hair to trying to determine when I’m going to reach the point where shaving it all off is my only option. I’ve seen a couple of posts here from guys who had a similar experience and they were able to recover somewhat by quitting finasteride.

Even though I am not one that promotes use of Finasteride (I never got to use it - simply because I never was able to decide if it's worth the risk or not and in the mean time I may have reached a stage that might not be worth it), I think that if you've already started this road (Finasteride) and have no sides, you may as well continue to try it for another 8-12 months. I doubt there will be a miracle no matter how much and intensive you pray so don't count on that.

 

[MKP05]

If you’re temples receded 1.5 inches over a span of 2 months (prior to starting treatment), and now during 10 months of treatment, they’ve only receded around 0.5 inches, I’d say your hair loss slowed down. Maybe your hair loss was coming on super aggressive, and what you’re doing now has slowed it down? At this point, I would continue with the Finasteride at the least, if I were you. It can take 18-24 months to see full potential results — and, stopping Finasteride could likely make your situation even worse. Hair cycles take months: when a hair goes from its growth cycle (anagen) to regression (catagen) it usually takes 10 days, then from regression to resting (telogen) it can take 3-4 months. So, for maximum of 4.5 months your hair could show no improvement just based on growing cycle (granted that is somewhat worst case scenario). Anyway, I would give it another 6-7 months if I were you. Hope things work out! Hair loss sucks, especially when it happens so quickly.

This is true. The very strange part about my situation is that the temple loss seems to have slowed dramatically and even though the top of my scalp thinned out all over at about 6 months I can’t say that it has gotten much worse over the last 4 (but not better either) The one area that seems to not have stabilized after the 6 month plateau is my forelock and hairline. It is almost as if different sections of hair are cycling at different times (if that makes sense).

 

[Manochoice]

This is true. The very strange part about my situation is that the temple loss seems to have slowed dramatically and even though the top of my scalp thinned out all over at about 6 months I can’t say that it has gotten much worse over the last 4 (but not better either) The one area that seems to not have stabilized after the 6 month plateau is my forelock and hairline. It is almost as if different sections of hair are cycling at different times (if that makes sense).

Normally your hair cycles at various stages throughout your scalp. This way you do not lose all of the hair at once or in patches when it cycles from resting to growing and back. Have read same reports months back that speculate finasteride tends to universalise this cycle which means that in time your entire scalp tends towards a uniform cycle: more and more hair on your scalp enters the cycles at the same time (hence the major sheds some people report?).

Also, comparing your pictures, in the last one the hair quality seems way different than the first photo. Seems very dry, brittle. If you do decide to continue w/ finasteride, maybe try some products that are gentle on your hair (whether natural or commercial products). Maybe you can buzz it short so that is easier to take care of the scalp for a few months? Whatever you decide to do, if you continue (any) treatment take regular pictures so you a timeline of proof. Memory is not reliable here.

 

[MKP05]

Normally your hair cycles at various stages throughout your scalp. This way you do not lose all of the hair at once or in patches when it cycles from resting to growing and back. Have read same reports months back that speculate finasteride tends to universalise this cycle which means that in time your entire scalp tends towards a uniform cycle: more and more hair on your scalp enters the cycles at the same time (hence the major sheds some people report?).

Also, comparing your pictures, in the last one the hair quality seems way different than the first photo. Seems very dry, brittle. If you do decide to continue w/ finasteride, maybe try some products that are gentle on your hair (whether natural or commercial products). Maybe you can buzz it short so that is easier to take care of the scalp for a few months? Whatever you decide to do, if you continue (any) treatment take regular pictures so you a timeline of proof. Memory is not reliable here.

Thanks for the feedback. My hair has had a completely different texture since around 4-6 months after starting finasteride. It was also during this time I noticed how much of my hair had thinned out all over. It was pretty startling tbh. The only thing I’ve been using on my hair (beside minoxidil) is Regenepure Dr (1% keto) alternated every other day with Avalon Organics biotin shampoo which is chemical free and has lots of good vitamins and oils. Maybe I will cut my Keto shampoo to 1-2 times per week.

Not sure if I can buzz my hair as the forelock area behind my hairline has been decimated. I did just get it cut so it’s about 1.5 inches shorter than that last picture. At my current length Im still able to style it in a way that hides a lot of the thinning.

I just re-upped my finasteride prescription another 6 months which will take me to the 17 month mark. I’ve been taking pictures throughout and will continue to do so. Maybe things will even out but expectations for even maintenance went out the window long ago and I’m afraid that I’ll be looking back 6 months from now and wishing my hair was as good as shitty picture #3.

Oh and my dermatologist keeps suggesting PRP treatments which seems like an expensive gamble for suspect results.

 

[Manochoice]

I have yet to read impressive reviews on PRP. Seem like expensive snake oil.

 

[MKP05]

I have yet to read impressive reviews on PRP. Seem like expensive snake oil.

Totally. These dermatologists really could care less about outcomes as long as they’ve got your money.