First of all i want to say that i am NOT against finasteride. I know many people use it with great results. Just that for me it i suspect that it is making my hair worst. This purpose of the post is not to fearmonger about the drug but me really wanting to find answers to my hair problem
25M. So I have been on finasteride 1mg EOD since May this year (im on min once daily since dec 2020). But over the 7 months that i have been on it my hair has been getting progressively worst. Now before you commend and tell me that this is the normal part of a shed. NO. I did not have any abnormal shed in hair throughout this period. In fact as soon as i started finasteride my hairloss in terms of hair fall reduced. So i could tell that it was working in some sense. And also i did not have any major sides on finasteride, maybe some minor brain fog but could be placebo)
As you can see from the pictures, before i started on finasteride, my hairline wasnt that bad. So i guess my hairloss wasnt so aggresive to start with. My hairline did not change much until start of sept. That was when i realized that my hairline started to regress increasingly. Especially on my right temple. I started to panic but i thought that this was part of the normal process and continued. But now that it has been dec, i can say that it has been getting worst with no improvements whatsoever.
The regression is really in terms of increased hair miniaturization, whereby you can clearly see that for those hairs that fall off and on my hairline region, the tip is really thin and most of it has a slight curl. This is pretty classic progression of male pattern baldness whereby DHT causes hair to miniaturize. But why is it happening when i am on finasteride? Shouldnt my DHT be lower than normal? (I suspect its a case of reflex hyper androgenicity but unlikely since i did not display any of the other more common symptoms such as acne, oily scalp and stuff except for an increased libido)
I highly suspect is that finasteride is causing my hair to regress even further because i did not add any other regiments in my treatment. But why? Even for those people that are not a strong responder, most come to most it wont change their hairline. Why is it making me worst? Or is it due to some change in my lifestyle/eating habits? Somehow it feels like my hairloss or hair hormones just kicked up a notch up after finasteride...Would appreciate if anyone have any suggestions
So for me now my Doctor has asked me to keep on it for at least one full year and see if it works, but so far it has been extremely depressing for me with no signs of improvements. I think my recession has kinda slowed down since sept but am still not seeing any re growths or reversals.
(just abit more background, i have since added in vitamin D, fish oil, biotin, probiotics, hair growth serum, daily multivitamins and most recently - nutrafol. I've also tried derma-rolling but didnt see any change in my hair)
Needless to say my confidence is completely crushed. My relationship ended and i feel like sh*t everyday because of my hair... I've had pretty depressing episodes as well. So im really desperate and if there is anyone who face the same situation as me please share ur experiences as well...
So moving on im thinking of a few things:
Pics link:
(Ps due to lighting maybe cant really tell an accurate pic but trust me its really getting bad. My frontal side of hair is starting to grow slower and i have to get a haircut to trim off my sides more and more frequently. I cant even go to my default hairstyle of styling it up anymore because of my temple regression. I now only have one hairstyle which is just to pull my hair down)
(TL;DR: suspect finasteride made my hair worst. Looking for answers )
25M. So I have been on finasteride 1mg EOD since May this year (im on min once daily since dec 2020). But over the 7 months that i have been on it my hair has been getting progressively worst. Now before you commend and tell me that this is the normal part of a shed. NO. I did not have any abnormal shed in hair throughout this period. In fact as soon as i started finasteride my hairloss in terms of hair fall reduced. So i could tell that it was working in some sense. And also i did not have any major sides on finasteride, maybe some minor brain fog but could be placebo)
As you can see from the pictures, before i started on finasteride, my hairline wasnt that bad. So i guess my hairloss wasnt so aggresive to start with. My hairline did not change much until start of sept. That was when i realized that my hairline started to regress increasingly. Especially on my right temple. I started to panic but i thought that this was part of the normal process and continued. But now that it has been dec, i can say that it has been getting worst with no improvements whatsoever.
The regression is really in terms of increased hair miniaturization, whereby you can clearly see that for those hairs that fall off and on my hairline region, the tip is really thin and most of it has a slight curl. This is pretty classic progression of male pattern baldness whereby DHT causes hair to miniaturize. But why is it happening when i am on finasteride? Shouldnt my DHT be lower than normal? (I suspect its a case of reflex hyper androgenicity but unlikely since i did not display any of the other more common symptoms such as acne, oily scalp and stuff except for an increased libido)
I highly suspect is that finasteride is causing my hair to regress even further because i did not add any other regiments in my treatment. But why? Even for those people that are not a strong responder, most come to most it wont change their hairline. Why is it making me worst? Or is it due to some change in my lifestyle/eating habits? Somehow it feels like my hairloss or hair hormones just kicked up a notch up after finasteride...Would appreciate if anyone have any suggestions
So for me now my Doctor has asked me to keep on it for at least one full year and see if it works, but so far it has been extremely depressing for me with no signs of improvements. I think my recession has kinda slowed down since sept but am still not seeing any re growths or reversals.
(just abit more background, i have since added in vitamin D, fish oil, biotin, probiotics, hair growth serum, daily multivitamins and most recently - nutrafol. I've also tried derma-rolling but didnt see any change in my hair)
Needless to say my confidence is completely crushed. My relationship ended and i feel like sh*t everyday because of my hair... I've had pretty depressing episodes as well. So im really desperate and if there is anyone who face the same situation as me please share ur experiences as well...
So moving on im thinking of a few things:
- Get a bloodtest and check for my body hormone profile and levels
- Try another brand of finasteride (im currently using the STERICA brand)
- Try for topical finasteride? But i heard it will also inhibit DHT systemically
- Go for oral MIN. Feel like this is my last hope but comes with greater potential health impacts
- Wait for pyriflutamide to come out in 1 yr..?
Pics link:
(Ps due to lighting maybe cant really tell an accurate pic but trust me its really getting bad. My frontal side of hair is starting to grow slower and i have to get a haircut to trim off my sides more and more frequently. I cant even go to my default hairstyle of styling it up anymore because of my temple regression. I now only have one hairstyle which is just to pull my hair down)
(TL;DR: suspect finasteride made my hair worst. Looking for answers )
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