weird the first time i went on minoxidil i never noticed a shed-EVER-my results were avg, smaller balding spot, mainly maintenance after 8 months of minoxidil 5%...this time 7 months later of minoxidil 5%/retin-a 2x day---started the treatment while experiencing a massive shed, then the shed got worse, later on shed slowed down--but it seems like i havent stopped shedding tho i mean if i wanted to i bet i could find at least 20 stray hairs from my head if i really went at it and played with my hair(ofcourse my hair could just be very brittle from bleaching it too much altho i bleached my hair even more frequently during the first treatment)-still my temples are filling in (which never happened the first time i was on minoxidil) and when i say filling in im not talking about anything miraculous--just some hairs growing there(u can actually see them from like a 3 foot distance when u look in the mirror--theyre darkening) and my thinning area looks thicker-im not crazy--everybodys told me my hair looks better including people at work so i dont necessarily think shedding should be soemthign to base progress on... even tho my loss at the onset was MUCH worse this time before beginning treatment than it was the first time i started minoxidil, the results im seeing now are MUCH better than they were after tthat first time...DESPITE the shedding...as long as you see the treatments working at some point its nothing to worry about...and even more strange--i find tha im losing hair in the norwood 6 and 7 area now...which still isnt noticeable on me at all unless my hair in that area is buzzed to a one....while the top and crown appear to be thicker...keep in mind im only using minoxidil/retin-a(which means continuous itching and irritation lately which i know isnt good for hair loss) and nizoral 1% 3X a week)..im wondering if what i perceive as a shed is just a result of irritation from the treatments and really just superficial as opposed to real "loss" or shedding or mainly from the norwood 6 areas where im not applying minoxidil...whatever the case is its quite strange..it seems like the moderate shedding indicates nothing in terms of progress or could it be that the hair the minoxidil is growing is merely excedding the hair loss ( in those areas im using it on)?