I had an overall shed about 2 months in. I was seeing some progress and then blammo my hair looked like it lost volume all over. This went on for a few weeks... I can see how folks quit during a shed. But it came back in even better.
Regarding Propecia, yeah I have been on it for five years, and I saw a little regrowth about 5 months into using it, but to be honest I just stayed on it because of the directions not because of strong results.
All in all, having just turned 40, I'm glad to have as much as I have currently. I think I might be able to thicken it all up over the next 6 months, but we'll see... I'll keep taking the monthly pictures. FYI if I have my top hair as long as I had it in the early combover pics, I would be able to cover all of my top right now.. I am cutting a lot shorter than in the past. But we'll see if my crown regrowth has peaked or if it can get better. I'm all ears if anyone has any other product ideas.