Finasteride An Emotional Rollercoaster

Vesemir

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I have been using finasteride for 10 weeks now(1.25mg daily). The first week I was very optimistic because I had the feeling I was fighting the hair loss. After the first week everything gradually got worse. The itching on my scalp increased, especially on my left temple. I also started to see more and more hair loss, currently I'm losing so much that I don't even bother counting it. When I use a clean brush, and brush my hair a couple of times from hairline to crown, the brush is filled with 40 - 100 strands. It's a devastating thing to see...
The good news is is that in the past 7 days the itchiness decreased with like 80%. Only ~5 itches a day now... No change in hair loss unfortunately.

I don't know if I'm shedding because of the hair cycles that are being synchronized or because of hyperandrogenicity, which I read about and concerns me a lot.
as far as I know there aren't really indicators to tell you and you just have to wait it out. Waiting another 3 - 6 months hoping for some improvement scares me. If I keep losing at this rate I will soon be a NW4. I hardly see any regrowth, no thin short hair.

Below you see some progress pics. (Both wet hair, right after showering) The first one was just before I started finasteride. the second one is from two days ago, so 2.5 months on finasteride.

May 2nd - Wet hair.jpg

August 10.jpg


P.s. Please don't say the pictures are exactly the same. The light isn't worse in the second picture, if anything I would say better, because in the first picture I'm standing right under the lamp... and in the second picture I'm standing at 1 meter / 3 feet.

P.p.s. Please don't reply if the only thing you have to say is something like: "You're imagining things" - "I wish I had as much hair as you do"
 
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buckthorn

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you're definitely not imagining things. finasteride can create drastically different reactions in different people. We are used to the simple, "either you're a responder or a non responder" and "finasteride can't make you lose more hair, it's impossible". These are two most common things I have heard. For you, soon any of the following may occur -

1) you stop shedding and remain where you are
2) you stop shedding and the shed hair regrows and you stabilize
3) you continue to shed and shed and your hair thins out drastically

how common are any of the above? most people say you have a 90% chance of either 1 or 2 happening. unfortunately number 3 is what happened to me. continue to monitor yourself. if you're still below baseline at 8-10 months, drop it.

your second picture is at a different angle. from right above, hair always looks thicker. from a 45 degree angle, hair looks thin because you can see through everything.
 

Vesemir

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Thanks buckthorn, I really appreciate it. What a shame it didn't work out for you, that must have been terrible. Let's pray #2 will happen to me or at least #1. I'm definitely a responder but not in the way I would like to be just yet.
 

g.i joey

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I've seen too many people to say they've seen improvement in 9 months to a year. No choice but to stick with it brah
 

Vesemir

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Many things need to get worse before they get better. So I'll keep that in mind the coming months.
 

MicroDoser

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Were you itching for the past 2.5 months? How bad was the itch? Was your scalp inflammed? How was your libido? Oil Production?
 

Vesemir

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The first month I didn't notice anything at all. After that the itching started, you could say it feels like inflammation but my scalp doesn't look irritated or red(ish). My scalp and hair seem pretty healthy actually..... No change in erection/libido (at least that's something). I do notice that my forehead/scalp are more oily than normal.

In my original post I stated that the itching has decreased. However, it fluctuates. Some days only a couple itches, other days it's unbearable.
On the worst day I also seem to lose the most hair. It's becoming worse by the day. My hair pretty much still covers my whole scalp because I'm a diffuse thinner, so no bald spots yet. But that's something that will happen in the near future (couple of weeks I guess).

All in all it's very hard for me to ride this out. I read too much horror stories and I probably shouldn't have done that, but I always keep coming back to these forums if I'm having a bad day.
 

Vesemir

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I want to add that I'm also losing very short hairs atm. Before that I only saw thick, strong hair falling out. Now it's a mixture.
 

Vesemir

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September 7-1.jpg


A little update

Shedding, shedding, shedding. That's all I can say really. My hair looks and feels bad and is definitely worse compared to pre-treatment. I have been growing my hair out for the last two months so it would cover a bit better but at this point it just accentuates my scalp.
Tomorrow I will have it cut down short though, to make thing a little bit easier; not seeing as much hair everywhere, minoxidil application and styling..

People have told me that shedding is a good sign and that hair lost due to treatment will always grow back (stronger). So, fingers crossed.
 
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Vesemir

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@Spellbinder I'm sorry to hear that my friend. I read through your thread quickly and I find your story quite sad. It must be tough. Hopefully the meds will start doing the right thing soon for the both of us.
 

MomoGee

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Check out Hellouser's log, he lost a fair amount of hair before regaining everything back and some more. Your regime might work just consult your doctor and ask if you should continue on finasteride or not
 

Vesemir

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Today I've finally got some good news! I'm so happy about this. For the first time I see noticeable hairs coming in everywhere. They aren't super dark yet but they aren't in the vellus stage anymore either. They are all between 0,1 to 0,5 inch long.
I feel like the shedding had decreased a little but I'm still losing a considerable amount. Also, In the last update I forgot to mention that the itching almost completely subsided by then too. I've been pretty much been itch free since then.

Hopefully I can report some more good news in the future
 

Vesemir

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Another quick update. Still losing a considerable amount of hair each day but the regrowth seems to have really started now. In my opinion you can see a lot of new hairs coming in on my hairline. What do you guys think? Please let me know!
 

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Vesemir

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Hey vesemir, im due to start finasteride soon. Hows the regrowth and did shedding decrease any more?

Regrowth on my hairline is pretty decent, a lot of vellus hairs and some terminal hairs. But I still have a long way to go. I lost quite a bit during the shed, so be prepared. It has decreased though but it's not completly over yet.
 

Grasshüpfer

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Good to see the rollercoaster goes up in the end. Seems like you really have to stick it out most of the time.
 

Vesemir

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Good to see the rollercoaster goes up in the end. Seems like you really have to stick it out most of the time.

Man it's so hard. But I never skipped a day of taking finasteride and applying minoxidil since I started. I told myself this was gonna be my last move to safe my hair. If I'm going to lose it regardless, well... that sucks but f**k that.
 

michel sapin

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damn man you are so lucky . Why i didnt have this result with propecia , f*** i am so jealous . You are also applying minoxidil ?
Did you got diffuse thinning or receding temple when you first started the meds ? because your temple look perfect in this last picture
 
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