24 Yo, 1 Year On Finasteride... Lost A Lot Of Hair.

[Credo]

Hi guys, welcome all, this is my first post here. To be honest, I'm pretty perplexed and shocked by the intense hairloss I experienced this year.

I first started noticing my balding perhaps a 1.5 year ago: my hairline was slowly receding at the temples, but it was minimal. In the summer of 2016 it made me alarmed enough that I decided to go on finasteride. I did so in October that year; it was generic finasteride from the doctor. Throughout late autumn and early winter I had troubles with my hairline; I thought it fell below baseline. During that time I was also using minoxidil (I stopped it in March because of facial bloating). However in March/April I felt my hairline stabilised; anyways I still had a great head of hair so I wasn't really worried.

Then in late May I noticed my temples were visibly thinning. I was 8 months in and thought that perhaps it was a shed. Within 3 months between May and August, my hairline got decimated, and I was shocked because I didn't and still don't understand why.
In late August I buzzed my hair because I wanted to see how I'd look like bald. This revelead some thinner areas on the scalp which I had never suspected because with a normal haircut my hair looked thick everywhere but in the temples. I'm not sure if it's diffuse thinning or some broad crown thinning.

Enclosed are the photos of my hair as it looks like now.

 

[bluemoon1212]

You stopped minoxidil. What did you expect to happen?

 

[Credo]

Well I stopped it because it made my face bloated... So it's either being bald or looking like a balloon I guess. The left side of my hairline just started visibly retreating though so I might just get back on it.

 

[Credo]

I thought I'd give some photo documentation of my hair since starting finasteride. Baseline is October 2016. Felt that I'm slowly receding so I hopped on finasteride. Around the same time I also started using minoxidil.

In late autumn/early winter my hair troubled me a bit, but by early spring I felt that my hairline stabilised. I stopped minoxidil in March because of facial bloating (truth be told, I also used it on my face for facial hair growth).

The photos from early May, 7 months in, are from the last period when I had nice hair. In late May it started thinning/receding rapidly in the front, and by August it was quite bad.

Then I got a buzzcut and saw that I am thinning on the top of my head, something I had never noticed with longer hair. I wonder if it could be caused by inflammation as the areas were red and itching The dermatologist confirmed they were inflamed and I am currently treating that.

Currently I believe that my hairline might actually be regrowing, so I hope that what happened between 7th and 10th month was just a shed. Especially the right temple, which suffered the most during that time, seems to be filling with baby hair. I also started Nizoral once a week this autumn. I plan on getting back on minoxidil as soon as I get rid of the inflammation, this time avoiding putting it on my face.

What Norwood would you say I currently am? Norwood 2 with vertex/diffuse thinning?

 

[Credo]

Bump. Nobody has any opinions?

 

[Credo]

bump

 

[TONSofBODYHAIR]

looks like you got a solid hairline (so far) but yeah your vertex is definatelly thinning, maybe restart minoxidil at least for the back?

 

[Mushu]

Think you're pretty spot on with your own assessment. Wouldn't say you're diffuse.

 

[Dazz_nz]

Have you thought about adding in dermarolling? Im not the same pattern as you and im alot older but im microneedling my temples at 1.5mm once a week and started on finasteride a while ago and things have been blowing up the last few weeks on my temples, im actually blown away by it... might be worth a try maybe at a minimal depth to help the effectiveness of using minoxidil.

 

[Credo]

Thanks for replies, yeah I have restarted the minoxidil although I'm still worried about the puffy face; I think it may be creeping up again. Thankfully the vertex thinning is not especially visible with longer hair. It's weird because it goes further towards the front than the 'typical' vertex thinning, and I even lost hair from the sides of my head, just below the temples! I wonder if this could be related to inflammation and stress.
Yeah, I do plan on buying a dermaroller. My hair looks like it's in the place where there is a lot of potential for regrowth; for instance the temples are not bare but the hair there is baby hair/miniaturised.

 

[Mushu]

I've just started Finasteride for 2 and a half months and I can see my miniaturized hair grow longer and stronger. Although I did start eating right(eat enough protein cause I work out) and taking supplements, zinc,fish oil,iron.

I started with Regenpure DR(1% ketoconazole) and washed my hair according to how oily it got. I did have dandruff problems. If it felt dirty I wash with shampoo and conditioner. I used to skip washing hair with shampoo or conditioner base once in a while. Now I at lest use conditoner. Ever since, my scalp has felt healthier. I believe coincidentally, it was due to a shedding phase that cause my temple seem thinner, as the hair there was thinner on one side. The other side was obviously more miniaturized, you can easily tell, compared to non miniaturized hair.

I did notice even before Finasteride, there were more hairs that grew where it seemed there was no hair, but again, it could have been thin and the remaining hairs shed at same time. Now it seems stronger. I don't use minoxidi.

Hope that helps.

 

[Johnmpb]

I've just started Finasteride for 2 and a half months and I can see my miniaturized hair grow longer and stronger. Although I did start eating right(eat enough protein cause I work out) and taking supplements, zinc,fish oil,iron.

I started with Regenpure DR(1% ketoconazole) and washed my hair according to how oily it got. I did have dandruff problems. If it felt dirty I wash with shampoo and conditioner. I used to skip washing hair with shampoo or conditioner base once in a while. Now I at lest use conditoner. Ever since, my scalp has felt healthier. I believe coincidentally, it was due to a shedding phase that cause my temple seem thinner, as the hair there was thinner on one side. The other side was obviously more miniaturized, you can easily tell, compared to non miniaturized hair.

I did notice even before Finasteride, there were more hairs that grew where it seemed there was no hair, but again, it could have been thin and the remaining hairs shed at same time. Now it seems stronger. I don't use minoxidi.

Hope that helps.

How often do u use regenepure?

 

[Mushu]

How often do u use regenepure?

2-3 times per week.

 

[jonnywalker93]

Have you thought about adding in dermarolling? Im not the same pattern as you and im alot older but im microneedling my temples at 1.5mm once a week and started on finasteride a while ago and things have been blowing up the last few weeks on my temples, im actually blown away by it... might be worth a try maybe at a minimal depth to help the effectiveness of using minoxidil.

Do you only use microneedling and finasteride or minoxidil as well?

 

[Credo]

Got a few more temple photos; this looks more like an Norwood 3-ish territory, right? Or 2.5? I think it was already more or less this way in August before I got a buzzcut. I hope I can reverse it.

 

[Credo]

This is how my hair has changed since baseline. Leftmost is baseline (October 2016), second from the left is the end of April 2017 where the hair was pretty much the same as at the start, before the shedding/thinning started in late May. Third from the left is from August 2017, when the entire front had definitely thinned out, and you can notice a slightly higher hairline and a lighter colour (my hair changed colour from dirty blonde to blonde in the summer, I actually like that more but I think it's the sign of miniaturisation). Finally the rightmost photo is from the end of November. The lighting is slightly different, my hair is shorter than in the other pics and I'm not covering my left temple, but it still shows the recession.

So my hair loss has been progressing. I've gone from around Norwood 1.5 to a 2.5 with temple thinning in an Norwood 3 pattern (not counting the crown thinning since I have no idea when it started, it's possible it's gone on for a long time), and now I think my forelock is thinning. It's been 14 months so I guess Propecia isn't working for me. Should I get my DHT levels tested to see if that's the problem?

 

[Mushu]

Your hair is longer in the baseline pics, but it does appear you have gotten thinner on the temples a bit, but not as bad as it seems based on the 2 pictures due to your hair length discrepancy. Your recession doesn't appear super aggressive, which is good. Yor norwood is probably closer to 2.5 thinning.

You should definitely go see a Dermatalogist and get tested if you haven't notice improvement. Look closer at the temples,as we all know our own hair best, try to remember if the hair has gotten weaker individually compared to before. My own temples I can tell easily( each strand of hair is a bit lighter, thinner, and doesn't grow as long). Finasteride may have helped maintained. Perhaps look into Dutasteride, but do your research as it's more potent than Finasteride. Good Luck.

 

[Credo]

Thanks man, does it look bad? I've already grown my hair slightly longer (can't take a photo though) and it's easier to style but in strong lighting the temples shine through unless I cover them. The forelock started to look transparent under strong light whereas I swear 3 weeks ago it wasn't.

I'll definitely try to get the blood test for DHT levels and will most probably jump on dutasteride. I also restarted minoxidil just 6 weeks ago. Do you think I could return to baseline with duta + minoxidil?

 

[AIH]

The hair looks weaker on those photos. I've the same experience with finasteride , lighter hair and looks and feels way thinner then baseline.
I really feel it accelerated my hairloss.

 

[Credo]

So is there anything I can do or should I just accept that hair loss meds don't work for me?
I talked to my dermatologist but she says she sees a lot of new baby hair at the hairline and that I'm too neurotic about this. Well, what good are some baby hairs if my temples have receded and the overall hair thickness decreased since starting the drug.
I'm getting a DHT blood test done, perhaps it'll shed some light. Depending on the result I'll probably be switching to dutasteride.