1mg finasteride journey

[infamousrodi]

Okay so I have decided to start 1mg finasteride after noticing my hair was thinning back at the beginning of November. Another big reason I’m starting finasteride is because all the men on my fathers side have male pattern baldness full nw7. I’m 26 and and worried about following the same path. Here are my baseline pictures of today. Will keep posting to document my progress.

 

[infamousrodi]

Day 3 of finasteride 1mg daily, no sides yet to report. Increase in sex drive though for some reason. I noticed a lot of baby hairs here on my hairline. Does this look normal?

 

[infamousrodi]

Lately I’ve been seeing my scalp in harsh lighting where my hair parts in the middle. Is seeing your hair part more noticeable a sign of diffuse thinning or Telogen Effluvium? Just took my 4th pill of finasteride today so far no sides. Hair is parted in the middle in these pics.

 

[infamousrodi]

Been experiencing shedding along my good side of my hairline and I’m worried finasteride might be making it worse, does this look bad ? Been noticing a lot of shedding along here. Wondering if I should quit finasteride, I heard it can ruin hairlines? Not sure if that’s true or not. Anyone help? Been only taking finasteride for 5 days.

 

[Selb]

Been experiencing shedding along my good side of my hairline and I’m worried finasteride might be making it worse, does this look bad ? Been noticing a lot of shedding along here. Wondering if I should quit finasteride, I heard it can ruin hairlines? Not sure if that’s true or not. Anyone help? Been only taking finasteride for 5 days.

I haven’t seen evidence of finasteride hurting the hairline. dutasteride I’ve heard can cause temporary shedding on the hairline that usually comes back. I think it’s related to testosterone being more sensitive in the front part of the scalp, but testosterone on its own shouldn’t affect hair too much unless you’re sensitive to it. A good supplement you can consider to counteract that is topical keto cream or shampoo. Leave the shampoo in for ten or 15 mins.

 

[WaccWaccWacc]

5 days of finasteride isn’t much at all. I think at very minimum 6-8 months should be when you compare pictures. Considering your family history, I wouldn't except results further than maintenance solely on finasteride. Add the keto shampoo to reduce inflammation.

 

[Micky_007]

Been experiencing shedding along my good side of my hairline and I’m worried finasteride might be making it worse, does this look bad ? Been noticing a lot of shedding along here. Wondering if I should quit finasteride, I heard it can ruin hairlines? Not sure if that’s true or not. Anyone help? Been only taking finasteride for 5 days.

There definitely are cases of Finasteride potentially making your hair or hairline worse, of course not always the case but the possibility is there.

You look like you still have a good head of hair with strong hairline, so I don't think you have anything to worry about right now atleast. You're possibly over reacting.

Also, the baby hairs on your hairline after day 3 of using Finasteride is highly unlikely to be the result of Finasteride growing you new hairs. It would take several months at least to see regrowth.

As you mentioned, you don't want to be on Finasteride if you really don't need to in the first place and end up worsening your hair.

I wou suggest you stay off Finasteride for now, wait 3 months before you take a new set of photos, if you don't see any significant thinning or recession of your hairline, I would then suggest you keep monitoring your hair taking a new set of photos and updating this thread every 3 months so you can ensure it's not all in your head. There are some people who have lots of Balding in their family tree but the Balding gene completely skips a generation or 2. You might even be in this case.

However, if after 3 months you do notice significant thinning or receding hairline, you can hop onto Finasteride then if you want.

I agree with the others who mentioned you use a 2% Ketoconazole Shampoo left in your hair for 15 minutes at a time.

Try to use the keto shampoo at least 3 times a week and if you can, everyday. Ketoconazole has anti-androgenic characteristics so it could help in a similar way to Finasteride but without the side effects If you use it regularly as I mentioned.

 

[Catagen]

If you started finasteride the best idea is to distract yourself from hair loss for a bit and revise your hair every month.

 

[Micky_007]

Remember, Finasteride is only helpful if you respond positively to it and not everyone does respond positively to it without side effects. The possible side effects are the main reason I only would recommend Finasteride as a last resort.

The 2% Ketoconazole used frequently can potentially give you the similar benefits as Finasteride, which is why I recommend you first trying to halt any possible hairloss or thinning with Keto Shampoo first.

You're actually lucky you have oily hair because frequent use of Ketoconazole can dry your hair, since your hair is oily you could probably use Ketoconazole every day even. It would be best if you can use it every day. Think of it as applying a DHT blocker/ anti-androgenic treatment to your scalp every day as opposed to only 3 times a week, it would locally block more of the hormones that cause Balding.

Your hairline looks exactly the same to me, most people would consider you a Norwood 0 or Norwood 1.

I noticed personally that using a Caffeine based shampoo has been very helpful to me to help stop shedding and make my hair feel thicker and stronger. I'm noticing an increasing amount of people on the internet also reporting that Caffeine Shampoo's help their hair.

There's quite a few studies about how Caffeine helps against hairloss. Some even said that Caffeine achieved the same amount of hair growth and hair stimulation as Minoxidil 5% at the 6 month mark.

I recommend using Alpecin C1 Shampoo, it's caffeine based. But you can use any other Caffeine Shampoo you'd like. I'm not here to promote Aplecin, only that it helped me.

Alpecin has a product called Alpecin Caffeine Liquid which is a tonic (topical liquid not a Shampoo) that can also be used exactly like Minoxidil, but without the side effects and without Making your hair dependent on it (such that when you stop use, unlike when you stop Minoxidil, your hair gains won't fall out).

Alpecin Caffeine Liquid should be applied twice a day, everyday for at least 6 months to see results. It is to be left in your hair the whole day.

You possibly have diffuse thinning, currently it does not look like male pattern baldness.

If you do decide to use the Alpecin C1 Shampoo and the 2% Ketoconazole Shampoo, then you can have a split like this:

4 days a week Ketoconazole Shampoo and 3 days a week Alpecin C1 Shampoo, with Keto Shampoo used once every alternate day and Alpecin Shampoo used in between those days.

 

[Micky_007]

Some people throw around the term Norwood 0 on hairloss forums which is used interchangeably for a Norwood 1 often, or to describe someone who has the same hairline they did as a teen/young adult pre-hairloss.

Shedding is extremely common with Finasteride. It's very possible you are shedding more due to Finasteride.

Peoples thinking, such as yourself, thinking is incorrectly conditioned by the media and the internet to thinking using Finasteride is the safe thing to do for hair. This is really not the case. Remember Finasteride has the marketing resources of the multi-billion dollar Big Pharma, that's how they have been able to falsely condition people into this wrong way of thinking.

I suggest you stay of Finasteride for now.

 

[Micky_007]

If Merck (manufacturer of Propecia) can cover up stuff like this, I'm highly sure they wouldn't hesitate to cover up any other negative results from studies, inflate positive results and thereby downplay the % of users experiencing negative side effects.

U.S. court let Merck hide secrets about popular drug's risks

Lawsuits claim baldness drug Propecia causes sex problems, depression. The judge sealed evidence – viewed by Reuters – suggesting the maker downplayed risks. A widow wants the truth out.

www.reuters.com

1100 law suits!!! And this was only from America!! I mean a law suit is a lot of effort, 95% of people who have issues with a drug wouldn't take the effort to resort to going through a whole law suit. Maybe at best a small percentage will maybe post their negative experiences online or on hair loss forums. So imagine how many other people would actually be experiencing side effects from Finasteride.

let people know the truth!!!!!

"More than 1,100 Propecia-related lawsuits filed across the U.S. against Merck were consolidated before Judge Cogan in so-called multidistrict litigation (MDL). Merck agreed to settle most of them last year for $4.3 million, to be divided among the plaintiffs. Prior to the settlement, plaintiffs’ lawyers cited internal company communications to allege that in revisions to the drug’s original label, Merck understated the number of men who experienced sexual symptoms in clinical trials, and how long those symptoms lasted. Merck settled before responding to the allegation in court."

Reuters asks judge to release secret Propecia documents

Reuters asked a U.S. judge on Thursday to unseal documents filed in court regarding potential risks associated with Propecia, Merck & Co's popular baldness drug.

www.reuters.com

So much for all these peoples bullshit about only a" minority" get side effects on Finasteride lol.

 

[Micky_007]

Even 5 law suits for one product or drug is alot. 10 is something to be concerned about. 100 is something definitely wrong. And 1000 is something undeniably wrong.

And btw, this is only 1100 from America. And I don't know for how many years that number hasn't been updated, it's surely much more than that by now.

*Furthermore, 1100 is not the number of people who had side effects, it's the number of people who had the financial and legal means to open a LAW SUIT. The majority of Finasteride users who experience side effects don't have the finances or time to open such lawsuits which are also time consuming. 1100 Law suits are also not the only only amount that were filed against Merck, but are the amount that were WON against Merck. There's probably tens of thousands more that have been filed on America alone and many of which have not been dealt with as yet. *

 

[infamousrodi]

Even 5 law suits for one product or drug is alot. 10 is something to be concerned about. 100 is something definitely wrong. And 1000 is something undeniably wrong.

And btw, this is only 1100 from America. And I don't know for how many years that number hasn't been updated, it's surely much more than that by now.

*Furthermore, 1100 is not the number of people who had side effects, it's the number of people who had the financial and legal means to open a LAW SUIT. The majority of Finasteride users who experience side effects don't have the finances or time to open such lawsuits which are also time consuming. 1100 Law suits are also not the only only amount that were filed against Merck, but are the amount that were WON against Merck. There's probably tens of thousands more that have been filed on America alone and many of which have not been dealt with as yet. *

Seems like there’s lots of people against finasteride, but there’s also lots of people that swear by it and use it daily. I think it depends on just how unlucky you are if you get sides or not. Look at Ashton Kutcher he went on dutasteride around my age and he’s been on it for 10 years, his hair looks amazing! I just want to keep what I have, I hear it’s harder to regrow then to keep.

 

[Norwoody]

Maybe take a break from the constant posting and come back in a few months? Lol nah that's not happening though, let's be honest.

 

[Micky_007]

Seems like there’s lots of people against finasteride, but there’s also lots of people that swear by it and use it daily. I think it depends on just how unlucky you are if you get sides or not. Look at Ashton Kutcher he went on dutasteride around my age and he’s been on it for 10 years, his hair looks amazing! I just want to keep what I have, I hear it’s harder to regrow then to keep.

Ashton Kutcher is a multi-millionaire celebrity, I'm sure apart from Dutasteride he probably used everything else available but you won't hear about that

 

[TDE97]

I believe Ashton never had hairloss or not that agressive to begin with. He has been off of it for few years and his hair still looks the same.

 

[infamousrodi]

I believe Ashton never had hairloss or not that agressive to begin with. He has been off of it for few years and his hair still looks the same.

If you go back and see pics of him in 2005 he was about Norwood 2.5 already. So I guess I might have similar hair loss to him as in not that aggressive? Did you see my recent pics? How do you think my hair is looking? Shedding has slowed down a lot already... can finasteride work this fast to halt shedding? it’s only been a week!??

 

[infamousrodi]

Maybe take a break from the constant posting and come back in a few months? Lol nah that's not happening though, let's be honest.

I’m not posting pics until next month. But I will keep you guys updated on me taking finasteride I’m concerned of getting sides. So far nothing yet thank goodness.

 

[Norwoody]

You've got to try and relax.... just stay consistent with your treatment and try to focus on other things for a few months.

 

[WaccWaccWacc]

I’m not posting pics until next month. But I will keep you guys updated on me taking finasteride I’m concerned of getting sides. So far nothing yet thank goodness.

You wont notice any difference in a week. Earliest you’ll notice anything is 3months and thats super super lucky. The more you think about sides the more likely you are to experience them.