9 Months On Finasteride - Second Great Shed - Really Desperate

[Dirty_Harry]

Started a couple of threads before but I got no answers...

9 months propecia user (7+ years of minoxidil) with hairline/temples baldness:

• Massive shed for the first month
• Great regrowth since 1.5 months in the medication
• 3-4 months in and the hair is becoming even better
• 5-6 months moderate shed, hairline/temples became worse, I also felt itchy
• 7th month and I bounced back, looking better like the 4th month
• 8th month and I'm experiencing shedding of small little hairs, and let's say 5% of normal and "sick" big hairs
• Fast forward to 9th month mark and I'm sure that's my second massive shed.

I'm beginning to worry because I'm loosing ground and I'm searching everywhere for answers but guess what...I can't say I'm shedding a lot of hairs, although I surely lost a lot of ground real fast, it's very visible to me. There are also a couple of things that may determine the outcome: First, 2 weeks since the shedding and I can see tons of very little thin hairs in my head. I'm sure I didn't have that much 2 months before. That's a real issue because it suggests thinning. Secondly, there's something hopeful. When I'm touching specific shedding areas I feel something like pinching on the fingers. Felt the same thing right after my initial massive shed, which led to regrowth.
So, what is going on? I'm sure a lot of guys experienced another big shed, but what happens next? Does that means that finasteride lost it's effectiveness? Do I experience hyperandrogenism? It's really frustrating since I had absolutely great results! Can someone backtrack so fast? I also have an issue on summer time, every year my hair looks the worst, seriously! But I'm taking supplements this year...I'm hoping for some answers, because trust me, I've search everywhere... And please, share if you're in the same boat!

 

[abba]

I suppose i'm kind of in a similar situation as you. i'm 23 months into finasteride and have the feeling my hairline receded a little bit since last year, although it's not yet noticeable from the pictures i have been taking. Also because i like to grow my hair long (to hide my NW2 recession) i do not know how bad i'm diffusing if at all. (I shed a few miniaturized hairs once in a while, but no visible crown loss yet). My hairline has a lot of thin hairs but i'm half certain they weren't there when i started finasteride, although i can't shake the feeling they were hairs that got miniaturized since then, so i'm contemplating making the jump to dutasteride when i go to my derm once i reach the two year landmark.

You're talking about upregulation, that could very well be the case. I've seen lots of people here in the forum who had upregulation and needed to make the jump to Dutasteride or add RU or spironolactone to their regimen. And others who have been on finasteride for 5+ years and kept maintaining their hair (i hope we both are on the latter boat). I wonder if upregulation has any symptoms that can be recognized.

And from what i read on this forum and my personal experience, shedding terminal hairs isn't necessarily a sign that your baldness is progressing. I do shed a f*ckload of hairs every week, and have been that way since before i started finasteride, but that doesn't seem to have affected my density much. I believe the thickness of the hair that grows in place of the one that shed is what defines if you're still balding or not, but i have no good way of measuring it.

 

[IrishFella]

For what it's worth, I've had, and still have, multiple sheds. It can be disheartening, but stick with it!

 

[Dirty_Harry]

I suppose i'm kind of in a similar situation as you. i'm 23 months into finasteride and have the feeling my hairline receded a little bit since last year, although it's not yet noticeable from the pictures i have been taking. Also because i like to grow my hair long (to hide my NW2 recession) i do not know how bad i'm diffusing if at all. (I shed a few miniaturized hairs once in a while, but no visible crown loss yet). My hairline has a lot of thin hairs but i'm half certain they weren't there when i started finasteride, although i can't shake the feeling they were hairs that got miniaturized since then, so i'm contemplating making the jump to dutasteride when i go to my derm once i reach the two year landmark.

You're talking about upregulation, that could very well be the case. I've seen lots of people here in the forum who had upregulation and needed to make the jump to Dutasteride or add RU or spironolactone to their regimen. And others who have been on finasteride for 5+ years and kept maintaining their hair (i hope we both are on the latter boat). I wonder if upregulation has any symptoms that can be recognized.

And from what i read on this forum and my personal experience, shedding terminal hairs isn't necessarily a sign that your baldness is progressing. I do shed a f*ckload of hairs every week, and have been that way since before i started finasteride, but that doesn't seem to have affected my density much. I believe the thickness of the hair that grows in place of the one that shed is what defines if you're still balding or not, but i have no good way of measuring it.

From all I can find, people that experienced upregulation never really had a regrowth or stability. They only had a continuous shed from the beginning. I do have itchiness when I'm shedding but nothing compared to pre finasteride status.

 

[Dirty_Harry]

For what it's worth, I've had, and still have, multiple sheds. It can be disheartening, but stick with it!

Did you experienced anything like it? Can you please describe your first year of finasteride?

 

[zetta98]

I suppose i'm kind of in a similar situation as you. i'm 23 months into finasteride and have the feeling my hairline receded a little bit since last year, although it's not yet noticeable from the pictures i have been taking. Also because i like to grow my hair long (to hide my NW2 recession) i do not know how bad i'm diffusing if at all. (I shed a few miniaturized hairs once in a while, but no visible crown loss yet). My hairline has a lot of thin hairs but i'm half certain they weren't there when i started finasteride, although i can't shake the feeling they were hairs that got miniaturized since then, so i'm contemplating making the jump to dutasteride when i go to my derm once i reach the two year landmark.

You're talking about upregulation, that could very well be the case. I've seen lots of people here in the forum who had upregulation and needed to make the jump to Dutasteride or add RU or spironolactone to their regimen. And others who have been on finasteride for 5+ years and kept maintaining their hair (i hope we both are on the latter boat). I wonder if upregulation has any symptoms that can be recognized.

And from what i read on this forum and my personal experience, shedding terminal hairs isn't necessarily a sign that your baldness is progressing. I do shed a f*ckload of hairs every week, and have been that way since before i started finasteride, but that doesn't seem to have affected my density much. I believe the thickness of the hair that grows in place of the one that shed is what defines if you're still balding or not, but i have no good way of measuring it.

I'm in somewhat the same boat as you. Except I'm on dutasteride. It's not a cure all either like so many claim it is. I'm thick everywhere but my hairline is a mess.

 

[zetta98]

Hairline in January. Hairline now.

I'm in somewhat the same boat as you. Except I'm on dutasteride. It's not a cure all either like so many claim it is. I'm thick everywhere but my hairline is a mess.

 

[abba]

From all I can find, people that experienced upregulation never really had a regrowth or stability. They only had a continuous shed from the beginning. I do have itchiness when I'm shedding but nothing compared to pre finasteride status.

Thank you for sharing that, but if that were the case i think Finasteride would not stop working ever. What you just said is the exact opposite of what i had read here in the forum. That Upregulation is when the body develops resistance to Finasteride and increases the production of AR to compensate. Could it be the case that the people you're speaking of did not respond to finasteride at all?

I'm in somewhat the same boat as you. Except I'm on dutasteride. It's not a cure all either like so many claim it is. I'm thick everywhere but my hairline is a mess.

Sorry to hear that. you're at least 7 months in a daily minoxidil+dutasteride treatment with no regrowth and maybe even further loss!? Are you certain the Dutasteride you're taking isn't fake? I mean, i can understand that it might not work for everyone, but i'm disappointed to see that it really isn't working for you. I consider dutasteride the next safest treatment to jump after the Finasteride boat sinks, so this really disheartens me.

 

[zetta98]

Thank you for sharing that, but if that were the case i think Finasteride would not stop working ever. What you just said is the exact opposite of what i had read here in the forum. That Upregulation is when the body develops resistance to Finasteride and increases the production of AR to compensate. Could it be the case that the people you're speaking of did not respond to finasteride at all?



Sorry to hear that. you're at least 7 months in a daily minoxidil+dutasteride treatment with no regrowth and maybe even further loss!? Are you certain the Dutasteride you're taking isn't fake? I mean, i can understand that it might not work for everyone, but i'm disappointed to see that it really isn't working for you. I consider dutasteride the next safest treatment to jump after the Finasteride boat sinks, so this really disheartens me.

I'm about 20 months into treatment.

 

[abba]

Hence why i said "at least 7 months". Again, are you sure the Dutasteride you're taking isn't fake? I don't know if the dose you're on is too low, or if you're just not responding to it well or at all. Still i'm curious about which one is your case.

 

[Dirty_Harry]

1 and a half month has passed and I still shed, I'm 9 months and 20 days on the treatment. I also shed nice long hair for 2-3 weeks now. I'm pretty sure that it will be downhill from now on...I can see A LOT of new thin-light colored hair in the regions that I suffer the most, so...yeah, I believe that I'm starting to gradually thin... There's a small chance that I might be wrong because I don't know for sure if I had these small hair in the past when I reached my peak (didn't pay attention then), plus it might be some kind of new regrowth on areas that didn't respond on the initial regrowth phase. Anyway, I feel very disheartened...