Absurd 1000+ Hair/day Shed, Hairs Falling Out At Record Rate

kafka12

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First post, bit of background: 5 months ago I noticed the first signs of male pattern baldness so I thought it would be smart to do something about it early on. Went to the Doctor, got a prescription for Finasteride 1.25mg/daily. Decided there was no need for minoxidil or anything else, so skipped that, hoping finasteride alone would keep balding at bay. First 3 months everything was perfectly fine, no lost ground, no lost hair. But then month 4 during a shower I noticed that there were 20-30 hairs in the tub when before there were none. Next day there were 60-70 hairs. Day after that there were a good 200.

Soon enough I was losing 700-1000 hairs a day, easily. It's just falling out at an insane rate, all over my bed, chair, keyboard, desk, floor, sink -- I have to be careful when I eat so I don't end up with hair in my teeth. It falls out from every area of my head, including the back and sides, where it shouldn't be possible to bald. I have extremely thick hair so it hasn't been too bad of a visual hit, but if it continues at this rate without stopping, I'll be slick bald in less than a year. Plenty of big, perfectly healthy hairs are falling out, so it's not just like it's sick dying strands being replaced or whatever -- and each one tapers and has a little white bulb at the end.

Called up my Doctor today and he told me he's had quite a few instances of this in his practice, but in his opinion it's "less than 10%". He said that half the men in his experience are beyond hope, while half recover. He said to keep taking the drug for another 2 months and report back then. If the massive shed continues, he says to stop taking finasteride for a month and see what happens, then maybe start up again.

The situation is so insane it's almost comical. I'm like a cat; hairs just fall out at random; I saw 3 drift down in front of my face as I typed this out. Today I switched from generic to brand Propecia in some vain hope it'll make a difference. Unlike so many other people to whom this happens, I promise to actually report back here in however many months and share my results, although I have very little hope it will get better for some reason, it's just too insane, pure madness.

Anyone else experience THIS HARDCORE of a shed for this long and live to tell the tale?
 

kafka12

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Let's hope it stops and I don't go slick bald. Losing 1000+ hairs a day means I'll know the result quickly though =/
 

Abandoning

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Hi Kafka

Finestaride has a shedding phase, usually near the start but for others it can be delayed.

Shedding usually shows that the treatment is working as it’s pushing out the unhealthy hairs/hairs that were going to fall out anyway to replace them with thicker, healthier hairs.

As you’re only 4-5 months on the medication, it’s usually a good idea to stay the course and wait until you hit the 9-12 month mark before evaluating and working out whether to continue. At the 2 year point is when Finestaride typically hits its peak.

One final note: hair shedding doesn’t necessarily indicate hair loss. After all, as long as more hairs are regrowing than falling out, you’re not losing your hair. I’d try and keep a record of what your hairline, centre part and crown look like by taking monthly pictures. This will give you a better idea than counting hairs.
 

baba_yaga

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Hi Kafka

Finestaride has a shedding phase, usually near the start but for others it can be delayed.

Shedding usually shows that the treatment is working as it’s pushing out the unhealthy hairs/hairs that were going to fall out anyway to replace them with thicker, healthier hairs.

As you’re only 4-5 months on the medication, it’s usually a good idea to stay the course and wait until you hit the 9-12 month mark before evaluating and working out whether to continue. At the 2 year point is when Finestaride typically hits its peak.

One final note: hair shedding doesn’t necessarily indicate hair loss. After all, as long as more hairs are regrowing than falling out, you’re not losing your hair. I’d try and keep a record of what your hairline, centre part and crown look like by taking monthly pictures. This will give you a better idea than counting hairs.
This is a solid post and I agree mostly, expect for the second phrase.

Shedding does not show that finasteride is working. This only for works for minoxidil, which forces hair follicles to shed and start a new cycle. finasteride only inhibits DHT, which should not lead to any shedding.
This finasteride shedding is most likely Telogen Effluvium. Some have it, others dont. And it does not indicate the effectivness of finasteride. In fact it is a bad sign, you're experiencing a hormones-induced Telogen Effluvium
 

WaccWaccWacc

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If you really are losing 1,000 hairs every day you'll be bald in three months. By August we'll know if you're exaggerating.
How does one even estimate that? 10 here, 30 there, Id fall asleep once I got to 250.

In seriousness, that blows. Hope everything works out.
 

kafka12

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Hey guys, thanks for the replies. And yeah, by August I'll know LOL--at least I'll get my answer real quick. I also agree that it's Telogen Effluvium, from what I've read this medication does indeed cause it for some reason. I plan to stay the course and keep reporting back.
 

WaccWaccWacc

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Hey guys, thanks for the replies. And yeah, by August I'll know LOL--at least I'll get my answer real quick. I also agree that it's Telogen Effluvium, from what I've read this medication does indeed cause it for some reason. I plan to stay the course and keep reporting back.
Good luck man! Hoping for the best.
 

kafka12

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A day after my last post I gave myself a buzzcut because I got tired of looking at all the stray hair everywhere. It's now been over two weeks, hair is growing, and I have not noticed any shedding, hardly a single hair on the pillow, not a single hair in the shower. Not sure what this means, we'll see what happens when it grows out real long again I guess?
 

kafka12

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Update: hair getting longer, shedding has not returned. Hardly a hair on the pillow in the morning, no hairs in the shower that I can see, no stray hairs falling out throughout the day.

Even though shedding has stopped for a good while now, I have not noticed recovery. Hair is slightly thinner on top but it's not really noticeable now that it's longer (and when it's dry).

Things seem to be going ok.
 

kafka12

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Starting to notice a few stray hairs here and there over the last few days. Getting maybe 20 hairs in the shower now. I wouldn't call it a full-blown shed, but perhaps something minor is going on. Hope it doesnt intensify.
 

spring15

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Starting to notice a few stray hairs here and there over the last few days. Getting maybe 20 hairs in the shower now. I wouldn't call it a full-blown shed, but perhaps something minor is going on. Hope it doesnt intensify.

The derms says an average person (non-balding) , loses 50-100 hairs a day. Hopefully nothing to worry about
 

kafka12

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Shedding has definitely returned, just falling out at a lesser rate. Another change is that this time it seems to stop after a cap. If I run my hands through my hair above the sink in the morning, I count about 20-30 hairs a minute, but only for about 3 minutes before it completely (or nearly completely) stops falling out.

And yeah, Spring, I heard about that too, but this is definitely abnormal in my case. Will keep updating as things develop. sigh
 

SausageDawg

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Shedding has definitely returned, just falling out at a lesser rate. Another change is that this time it seems to stop after a cap. If I run my hands through my hair above the sink in the morning, I count about 20-30 hairs a minute, but only for about 3 minutes before it completely (or nearly completely) stops falling out.

And yeah, Spring, I heard about that too, but this is definitely abnormal in my case. Will keep updating as things develop. sigh

What's your hair density saying though? See lots of stories of shedding WHILST the hair density somehow improves! If all your shed hairs came back even a lil bit thicker than your hair would have made gains! Maybe just take pics and stop counting?
 

kafka12

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What's your hair density saying though? See lots of stories of shedding WHILST the hair density somehow improves! If all your shed hairs came back even a lil bit thicker than your hair would have made gains! Maybe just take pics and stop counting?

Heyy Sausage. Yeah I just don't know yet I guess? have to wait and see. these finasteride-induced telogen effluvium sheds seem to be a bit of a mystery online from what i read... but i'll be reporting back =/
 

SausageDawg

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Heyy Sausage. Yeah I just don't know yet I guess? have to wait and see. these finasteride-induced telogen effluvium sheds seem to be a bit of a mystery online from what i read... but i'll be reporting back =/

I really would wait and see and try not too assume it's something to worry about.. i know what you're saying, it's one of the main reasons I'm putting off using an AA, but there doesnt seem to be a whole lot of medical literature about it only anecdotal.. so we have to assume a lot of the stories we read aren't reliable and almost none of them have any evidence of density loss. I would say though that its difficult to judge progress from counting hairs that have been shed.. I remember hairs falling out onto my books and paperwork in secondary school all the time and trust me I had zero density loss until maybe 20/21 in fact the opposite it was always super thick!
 

kafka12

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I really would wait and see and try not too assume it's something to worry about.. i know what you're saying, it's one of the main reasons I'm putting off using an AA, but there doesnt seem to be a whole lot of medical literature about it only anecdotal.. so we have to assume a lot of the stories we read aren't reliable and almost none of them have any evidence of density loss. I would say though that its difficult to judge progress from counting hairs that have been shed.. I remember hairs falling out onto my books and paperwork in secondary school all the time and trust me I had zero density loss until maybe 20/21 in fact the opposite it was always super thick!
Yeah, I mean all I can do is wait and see. I'm still on the finasteride. The drug has completely prevented my receding hairline; it hasnt moved over the 10 or so months I've been using it. It's just this damn shedding.

Are you certain there's no evidence of density loss? I think I've read cases of guys shedding non-stop for years and ruining their hair irreparably. Or am I wrong? My MD personally told me that in his practice less than 5% of men experience this sort of thing, but they do indeed experience it. I know that's not a study or proper research, but take it for what it is.

This is an extremely stressful experience. Imagine taking a drug that's supposed to prevent hair loss and you start losing hair even more rapidly? It's some cruel joke. I was scared of sexual sides and all that crap before taking Finasteride. None of those sides ever happened but I got hit with this instead.

But like you said, who's to know what it all means anyway? I guess I'll find out.
 

SausageDawg

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Yeah, I mean all I can do is wait and see. I'm still on the finasteride. The drug has completely prevented my receding hairline; it hasnt moved over the 10 or so months I've been using it. It's just this damn shedding.

Are you certain there's no evidence of density loss? I think I've read cases of guys shedding non-stop for years and ruining their hair irreparably. Or am I wrong? My MD personally told me that in his practice less than 5% of men experience this sort of thing, but they do indeed experience it. I know that's not a study or proper research, but take it for what it is.

This is an extremely stressful experience. Imagine taking a drug that's supposed to prevent hair loss and you start losing hair even more rapidly? It's some cruel joke. I was scared of sexual sides and all that crap before taking Finasteride. None of those sides ever happened but I got hit with this instead.

But like you said, who's to know what it all means anyway? I guess I'll find out.

If you're hairline has remained intact and your density still remains.. it's a success, theres no two ways about it my man! I too have read many online anecdotes about the constant shedding but have only seen maybe 1/2 with pictures for evidence.. if this really did happen we wouldve seen a hell of a lot more!! And like I said before you cannot just assume every story you read on here is accurate.. we have to assume a great deal of them were just having a regular shed and they panicked. @pegasus2 is actually right.. I shed maybe 60/70 hairs in the shower and that's not even counting the ones on my pillow and that fall out throughout the day, so I'd feel happy with 20/30 imo.
 

kafka12

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If you're hairline has remained intact and your density still remains.. it's a success, theres no two ways about it my man! I too have read many online anecdotes about the constant shedding but have only seen maybe 1/2 with pictures for evidence.. if this really did happen we wouldve seen a hell of a lot more!! And like I said before you cannot just assume every story you read on here is accurate.. we have to assume a great deal of them were just having a regular shed and they panicked. @pegasus2 is actually right.. I shed maybe 60/70 hairs in the shower and that's not even counting the ones on my pillow and that fall out throughout the day, so I'd feel happy with 20/30 imo.
Wow really? That's interesting. Something to think about for sure. My density is a little bit worse at the front since I started finasteride 10 months ago, but not really noticable when hair gets longer.
 
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