24 Yo Questions About Regime Going Forward

[PantherPit]

Hello -

I am 24 years old and have been taking Propecia (1mg) daily for about 4.5 months. All my life I have had very thick hair. My entire dad's side of the family is thick and full hair including my 85 YO grandfather. I'm not sure about my Mother's side. About 6 months ago I noticed when styling the front of my hair I could see some scalp. After going back and fourth debating if I was seeing things I decided to see my doctor about starting Propecia (at the recommendation of a friend). My doctor was no real help other then simply writing a prescription.

For the first 3 months on Propecia I saw no real difference in my hair and no side effects. At this point I started using Nizoral (2-3x per week). At about the 4 month mark I started noticed increased shedding. Also, to me it appeared that my temples had receded slightly and the front of my hair looked even thinner. Due to the shedding I decided to take a break from the Nizoral.

This brings me to current day and 4.5 months on Propecia. When I run my hands through my wet hair in the shower they are almost totally littered with hairs. The hairs appear to be a mix of thin short ones as well as healthier looking long ones. When dry, I have this same issue and my hair feels dry and weak to the touch. My scalp at times feels itchy and I have noticed some dandruff. The hair in the front has gotten fairly thin and I noticed individuals hairs on my forehead which I assume is where my hairline used to be.

I know I need more time on Propecia but I'm concerned about the shedding (which I assume is causing the increased thinning in front). Should I expect the shedding to decrease over time? My hairstylist suggested a Nioxin regimen. I feel like my scalp is in bad shape so my assumption is that this may help. I'm also on the fence about starting Rogaine as well. Does anyone have a similar experience in using these three? (Rogaine, Nioxin, Propecia).

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

 

[johndoe89]

Pics would be helpful to see where you're at. Personally the finasteride+minoxidil combo is working. You want to not only slow down the hair loss but try and grow whatever you can in the process.

I remember thinking "There's no way I can put Rogaine on my scalp twice a day for the rest of my life". Then I realized I would be lucky if I had hair for the rest of my life and if Rogaine maintained some fraction of it then it would be worth it. Lol

 

[PantherPit]

Pics would be helpful to see where you're at. Personally the finasteride+minoxidil combo is working. You want to not only slow down the hair loss but try and grow whatever you can in the process.

I remember thinking "There's no way I can put Rogaine on my scalp twice a day for the rest of my life". Then I realized I would be lucky if I had hair for the rest of my life and if Rogaine maintained some fraction of it then it would be worth it. Lol

Thanks for the reply. I have attached a few photos. The 1st & 2nd photo show how it looks when normally styled. (For the record I wore a hat today so my hair is matted down). In the 3rd photo you can see what I refer to as the "1st layer" or thinning part of my hair brushed down. You can see the thinning part and then the "normal" layer behind it. The remaining pictures show the rest of my hair where all in all I think is OK. When wet and not pushed to side definitely some noticeable thinning but not as bad as it is in the front. Can I anticipate the shedding to slow? From my standpoint the only thing stopping me from starting Rogaine is that my shed will only get worse.

 

[johndoe89]

It's really tough to tell because you need to pull your hair back so I can see your hairline.
I'll give you an example here's mine:

You wouldn't believe it but mine has come a long way and I've done finasteride for 5 months and minoxidil for 3.

But to answer your question yes you may experience increased shedding and if you do it's a great sign in my experience because it means thicker, stronger hairs are growing back.

 

[PantherPit]

It's really tough to tell because you need to pull your hair back so I can see your hairline.
I'll give you an example here's mine:

View attachment 64636 View attachment 64637

You wouldn't believe it but mine has come a long way and I've done finasteride for 5 months and minoxidil for 3.

But to answer your question yes you may experience increased shedding and if you do it's a great sign in my experience because it means thicker, stronger hairs are growing back.

I appreciate your reply...Hopefully these pictures are better...I guess based on a lot of my reading getting the shed close to the 5th month mark (W/o getting any previously) seemed a little weird to me. Also, the fact that it seems that I'm shedding longer and healthier looking hairs sometimes concerns me...I assume this can be normal?

I also have a pretty big Vitamin D deficiency. I'm sure this doesn't play a major role but it cant help either..working on getting those numbers back to normal and also just started taking Biotin. I don't think it can hurt to start Rogaine as well as Nioxin, a little hesitate without consulting with a dermatologist but also interesting in hearing suggestions here.

 

[johndoe89]

Ah okay yes now I see thanks. I would definitely recommend starting minoxidil at this point in addition to finasteride and start applying it to the thinner areas of your hairline. The way I see it the worst that could happen is you don't grow new hair (which will happen if you don't use it at all).

Also be careful with Nizoral apparently it's very rough on the hair so don't use it more than once per week.

 

[PantherPit]

Ah okay yes now I see thanks. I would definitely recommend starting minoxidil at this point in addition to finasteride and start applying it to the thinner areas of your hairline. The way I see it the worst that could happen is you don't grow new hair (which will happen if you don't use it at all).

Also be careful with Nizoral apparently it's very rough on the hair so don't use it more than once per week.

Thanks for the response. I will start minoxidil next week I think. I'm going to also throw in a Nioxin regime, I cant see how that can hurt me. A healthy scalp can't do any harm I wouldn't think.