3.75 Months On 5% Min - Time To Give Up?

[shadowcast]

I started min on July 5th, applied liberally 2x a day to my whole scalp. I'm also on finasteride.

Almost immediately small hairs started popping up on my hairline (and probably elsewhere on my scalp, but I'm diffuse so its hard to tell), somewhere between vellus and full-on hair (they have pigment, but are not the thickness and darkness of my remaining "regular' hair). Things were looking good.

The only problem is now I'm almost at 4 months and nothing much has changed. New hairs slowly continue to come in but they're very sparse. I'm not reaching anything close to cosmetic significance so far.

Should I quit? Seems like anyone who gets significant results gets them within 3 months...

 

[INT]

You have new hairs growing but you want to quit because it is not happening fast enough. Unless your financial situation is not very strong atm that seems pretty stupid.

 

[Erland]

Be happy you are getting something.

If you are getting results, albeit small, keep going I think.

 

[AnxiousAndy]

It even states on the rogaine website that new hair grown starts off soft and thin, are you really going to stop before you're supposed to with such promising results over the horizon? The full effect of minoxidil is not seen until months 8 - 12.

 

[BoatsLoadsofDope]

Don't take my word for it, but i've been looking into these drugs as well since i think my hair is thinning, and everywhere it states that it might take between 4-6 months and maybe even up to 8 months for you to spot a difference, it seems like yours have worked very quickly.

 

[AnxiousAndy]

I've read many reports of people in the same situation who stick with it and never get past the initial crappy soft\thin hair phase. I haven't had constant improvement, almost like immediate initial regrowth, and that's it. That's what makes me think I'm not going to react any better down the stretch. Would be interested to see if there is anyone out there who started getting substantial regrowth past 4 months.

You do understand hair follicules work in cycles, right? It takes 3 - 4 months for it to cycle, and then another 3 - 4 months for the minoxidil to thicken up the new hairs. You dont just start growing thick hairs on bald temples. Ive seen plenty of pics of guys who had little to no results the first few months, and then made a FULL recover. This guy @jgray201 made a recovery from NW3v to Norwood f*****g 0. Give up if you like, but be thankful you are at least getting some growth, others get nothing at all and even some get worse.

 

[Erland]

shadowcast, wtf? That looks great.

 

[AnxiousAndy]

@shadowcast, for some there are always exceptions.. by the way your progress is looking great! By 1 year i bet you will have alot more hair! Can i ask why you took so long to treat your hair loss in the first place?

 

[shookwun]

should seriously consider buzzing your scalp.

 

[AnxiousAndy]

@shadowcast I would give finasteride a try.. if you get sides ( which you probably wont ) then just stop taking the medicine and the side effects will go away. Ive personally never had sides from finasteride but it didnt work for me so im going to drop it soon.

 

[Dontwannabeabetabob]

Harsh lighting or not, you could step into a dimly lit bar and people will still see you're hangin onto scraggly hairs man...Shave that sh*t.

 

[reuters]

Looks fantastic, great results and I am happy you kept up with Rogaine

 

[Red October]

@shadowcast I would give finasteride a try.. if you get sides ( which you probably wont ) then just stop taking the medicine and the side effects will go away. Ive personally never had sides from finasteride but it didnt work for me so im going to drop it soon.

Hi there,
I haven't really posted on here before. I tried generic finasteride for about 2 years. Didn't seem to do anything for me. I dropped it last Jan/Feb. I decided I'd give regaine a try. A last roll of the dice as I thought putting something on your head twice a day is a lot of hassle (which it is). Have been applying 5% twice a day since end of January. I was initially using the foam but found most went on the hair not on the scalp. I switched to the liquid and that is much easier to use. I do seem to be noticing my hair is looking a little fuller and people have commented. Now I'm sceptical so I take it with a pinch of salt for now. It could be that I'm styling my hair differently too but we'll see. Either way it may be starting to turn around. I'm just wondering would it be worth getting back on finasteride as well now that the minoxidil seems to be working? Or is it just the case it doesn't work for some people. Also, maybe I shouldn't mess with something that now seems to be working (minoxidil alone)? Any thoughts much appreciated.

 

[Red October]

Update if anyone cares, hair continues to slowly improve. Not cured, but much better. I have been religious with treatments, never miss a day of finasteride, at worst I'll only use min once in a day rather than two times. I swear if it weren't for photos I wouldn't be 100% sure I've had much improvement at all. Hope this helps convince people to be patient with their treatment and take consistent photos.
View attachment 88196

Thanks for posting. Always encouraging to see someone having results.

 

[Derelict]

Great results, thanks for giving us an update

 

[hopeforhappiness]

There's just no way to know unless you try. I can tell you I saw no change after 4 months finasteride. Only after adding minoxidil did I start getting new hair. I've continued finasteride but I have no idea if it's doing anything!

Hi there,
I haven't really posted on here before. I tried generic finasteride for about 2 years. Didn't seem to do anything for me. I dropped it last Jan/Feb. I decided I'd give regaine a try. A last roll of the dice as I thought putting something on your head twice a day is a lot of hassle (which it is). Have been applying 5% twice a day since end of January. I was initially using the foam but found most went on the hair not on the scalp. I switched to the liquid and that is much easier to use. I do seem to be noticing my hair is looking a little fuller and people have commented. Now I'm sceptical so I take it with a pinch of salt for now. It could be that I'm styling my hair differently too but we'll see. Either way it may be starting to turn around. I'm just wondering would it be worth getting back on finasteride as well now that the minoxidil seems to be working? Or is it just the case it doesn't work for some people. Also, maybe I shouldn't mess with something that now seems to be working (minoxidil alone)? Any thoughts much appreciated.

Anyone using finasteride can get a blood test to check dht level and determine whether or not it is working as intended. If you were using finasteride for as long as two years and didn’t even achieve maintenance you should consider trying it one more time and within 3 weeks get your blood tested. If dht levels are still within normal range or higher you are not a responder and should (assuming you aren’t already getting nasty side effects) consider moving on to dutasteride. Finasteride is known to increase the benefits of minoxidil and vise versa.

 

[Red October]

Anyone using finasteride can get a blood test to check dht level and determine whether or not it is working as intended. If you were using finasteride for as long as two years and didn’t even achieve maintenance you should consider trying it one more time and within 3 weeks get your blood tested. If dht levels are still within normal range or higher you are not a responder and should (assuming you aren’t already getting nasty side effects) consider moving on to dutasteride. Finasteride is known to increase the benefits of minoxidil and vise versa.

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking that maybe I should try finasteride again now that I'm seeing some results from min. Seem to read a lot that people don't keep their gains long term on min alone. Maybe like you say the two together can provide the combo of growing, thickening and then finasteride keeps DHT at bay.

 

[hopeforhappiness]

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking that maybe I should try finasteride again now that I'm seeing some results from min. Seem to read a lot that people don't keep their gains long term on min alone. Maybe like you say the two together can provide the combo of growing, thickening and then finasteride keeps DHT at bay.

That’s the idea. People that want to keep minoxidil gains get on finasteride and people that have maintenance on finasteride use minoxidil for regrowth. As they say you will have to find some way to address the hormonal issue or eventually your hairloss will catch up. I wish you good luck.

 

[reuters]

looks absolutely fantastic

 

[FOLLICLOLZ]

Great progress!