10 Months On Finasteride. Hair Looks Worse Than Ever. Please Help :/

[SlinkyDink]

My regimine:
Kirkland minoxidil twice a day.
Finasteride 1mg a day.
Nizoral shampoo twice a week.
Dermarolling 2 - 3 times a week


So, I'm 27 years old. When I was 25 i noticed my crown was thinning along with slight receding. It was really getting me down so I decided to jump on Kirkland minoxidil, and using a dermaroller. After 5 months on applying all over my scalp twice a day, the results I had were incredible. My hair had thickened up all over my head. I was the happiest I had been in a long time. Around month 7 i noticed my hair was shedding again.
I did some research and people said to 'ride it out'. I continued applying minoxidil twice every day. The shedding never let up. So after a year of being on minoxidil, I took the plunge and jumped on finasteride.

Still applying minoxidil twice a day, I started off on 1.25 mg finasteride a day. It was a 5mg tablet I had to cut into 4.. i took this over a period of 7 months. Over that time, I noticed my hair was becoming thinner all over my head. I saw no improvement, just becoming worse. I did some research online and read that it needs to be taken correctly each day. The thing with pill cutting, is that you can never really get it even each time. So I ditched that after month 7 and started taking 1mg tablets. I've now been on finasteride for 9 months, and my hair has never been worse. The hair all over my head is thinning out completely. I'm still shedding 100s of hair on a daily basis. Honestly, I can't believe how much hair i have lost over this period of time. Last year my hair was so thick, now I can literally see my scalp in daylight, and when its wet. My confidence is completely out of the window. I'm obsessing every day in the mirror. Even lying awake at night feeling like sh*t.

Does anyone have any similar stories, or if I could try anything else? Any help would be appreciated guys, thanks.

 

[SlinkyDink]

Anyone?

 

[Anatoly]

make sure your minoxidil works, remember it's a topical solution

 

[justbeconfident]

Yeah, mate, i have similar story. I started balding since i was 19, but it wasnt noticeable, i just saw that my hairs fell out randomly, but i didnt pay attention, because i had extremely thick dense hair, all hairdressers complained it was too thick and too hard to cut it.
Fast forward to 23, thats when i started to bother and realize something was up, eventually after denying it i came in terms with the fact that i have progressing genetic hairloss.
It took some time before i decided to risk taking finasteride.
I'm not 5 months on finasteride and i see no results, i shed around 250-300 hairs a day. In 2 years from 23 to 25 i lost around 45% density of my hair.
It kind of destroyed my life, because at this age it's too heavy burden to carry with you. I think about my shrinking follicles and balding head every 15-30 minutes of the day.
I havent started minoxidil yet, because im concerned about the sides in form of dark circles under eyes and heart palpitations and acne from liquid dripping down.
Balding is social death sentence and to experience it's weight at such early age is deadly for one's peace of mind.
I think i might give dutasteride a shot, since for some people, for whom finasteride didnt work, dutasteride can actually be helpful.

 

[Wisemiller]

While there still may be some slight chance finasteride may work, it is likely that you do not respond very well. I also went on finasteride 3 years ago when I noticed the first signs of hair loss, and I'm going to need to shave soon. These medications rarely work well for most people. You are going bald as god intended, and need to consider carefully the next stage of your life going forward.

 

[SlinkyDink]

make sure your minoxidil works, remember it's a topical solution

It worked amazing in the first 5 months or so. Then I started noticing shedding again. It actually thickened up my body hair (arm hair, chest hair and even eyebrows) I have even noticed my body hair thinning. I don't know what the hell is going on..

 

[Anatoly]

It worked amazing in the first 5 months or so. Then I started noticing shedding again. It actually thickened up my body hair (arm hair, chest hair and even eyebrows) I have even noticed my body hair thinning. I don't know what the hell is going on..

well familiar with this situation;
body hair is a good indicator of minoxidil effectiveness at the time (despite being on dutasteride, minoxidil allows me to keep my beard, have more body hair etc)

 

[Anatoly]

what to check:
1) Kirkland and other non-Rogaine minoxidil sold vie Internet vary in quality..... you cannot be sure that it is actually 5% and or contains proper amount of conductors incl. alcohol %, they may sell an already expired solution in bottles marked as newly produced
e.g. I use a high-strength minoxidil 15% and on a few occasions its colour differed from usual (a 15% solution that works perfectly and produces some swelling of my legs etc is usually colourless, however, sometimes I open a new bottle and its contents is slightly yellowish or even yellow- the substance should not change its colour (maybe some alcohol evaporates/insufficient etc)
2) purchase a good hair peel for once in 30-45 days use + regular shampoo with a peeling effect: over time due to prolonged exposure to conductors (e.g. alcohol) contained in minoxidil solutions your scalp chars change - keratinisation, thickening of dead skin layer, larger/deformed oil glands and more active sebum production as a natural response to dehydration caused by conductors (your timing 7 month fits very well) - make sure your scalp is exactly of the same quality as it used to be when your minoxidil worked well for you

 

[Anatoly]

I suspect you're experiencing a withdrawal syndrome, as now your minoxidil cannot get into your scalp properly and/or one of the bottles you used was of poorer quality that usual