Are these hairs salvageable? [PICS]

[EricGerard]

Hey guys.

I was poking around with my scalp microscope in the regions that I am thinning (across the front and top of my head), and I saw this:

If all of those little hairs in that photo were normal size and normal pigment I would have very thick hair. However, because many of those hairs are miniaturized I am left with medium thick hair at best. It is very frustrating as I have been on finasteride for about 15 months and minoxidil for about 7 months. I feel like ever since I started minoxidil I've been below baseline due to constant sheds. I would like to quit using minoxidil, but I won't if using it will salvage these little hairs. My scalp is very itchy on minoxidil and I get crazy flakage. I honestly think finasteride would probably do the job at maintaining the diameter of these little hairs on its own, at least. I should note that my hair density is normal (# of hairs per square cm).. the only thing I am experiencing is miniaturization. Is minoxidil even necessary here?

What do you guys think? Can these little hairs become thick again? If not, should I even be bothering with minoxidil? Here is what my hair looks like right now, just for reference:

 

[saja2148]

How often do you use minoxidil and did you miss any dose during your7 months of use?

 

[EricGerard]

I use 2mL of minoxidil once per day at night. I've only ever missed maybe a day here and there once in a while.

 

[Toms]

I think you shouldn't have started minoxidil in the first place. I don't know how it will affect your hair if you discontinue minoxidil, hope some senior members are on their way with the answers

- - - Updated - - -

You probably should have started with just finasteride, because your hair is still good. But if you are on minoxidil for only 7 months, this might be the shed and you can wait some improvement after a month or more.

 

[EricGerard]

Thanks for your reply!

I actually did start with just finasteride. I started taking finasteride for my slightly receding hairline.. I had almost no loss up top that I could notice. Everything was dandy for 7 months or so (hair stayed the same) until I started noticing thinning patches up top. This sudden thinning coincided with a crash diet as well as my being on several meds for a chest infection. I'm not sure if the sudden hair loss was due to that or not.. but I dunno. It freaked me out so I decided to add minoxidil to my regime.

Soon after I did so, I noticed MASSIVE hair loss. My hair went from nice and thick up top to this in a matter of 2 months or so from constant shedding:

Then the shedding stopped, and a few months after that my hair was back to completely normal. Like it was before any thinning at all:

Unfortunately I do not know if my hair would have recovered on its own without the minoxidil... maybe I had a bad Telogen Effluvium of sorts and it would have recovered on its own? Or maybe I had a sudden bout of increased hairloss WHILE being on finasteride, and the minoxidil helped me recover? I don't know. But I really would rather not be using minoxidil anymore due to the itch, flakes, and shedding. I have currently been shedding again for over a month and a half and my hair is once again getting thinner. I'm wondering if the minoxidil is sending me on cyclical sheds.

 

[Toms]

You probably experienced shedding from the finasteride, it most probably would've regrown, however, the minoxidil also seems to have helped. The thing you are experiencing could be both the shed from fifinasteride and minoxidil since they are month 15 and month 7. I'm still new here, but I've read alot , and this sounds like an explanation. Let's still wait for a senior member.

I am not on regimen yet, so I do not have any experience to share.
Do you get any sides from finasteride?

 

[EricGerard]

No sides whatsoever. Months 7 and 15 sheds hey? I can't say I've heard of those. We'll see how I'm doing in a month or two.. but damn it would be nice to know if I could quit using minoxidil.