Hi guys,
I am at a crossroads here... and wanted to get a little feedback. First time here but have scanned the forums periodically.
I have been on finasteride for about a year and a half. I started with Propecia and around the year mark I switched to quartered Proscar (from wal-mart). The year on propecia went by without really any detectable change, which I thought was an ok thing. A little acne weirdness with the nose but that’s it (but no real gains and no real noticable halting of general loss). And I have been using Nizoral for about a year, almost daily.
Results: It’s my 4th month on proscar since the switch and my head is just sh**ing hair. My shower looks like a hair bomb exploded in it. I never had the paranoia before to drive me to counting hairs, but I counted morning pillow hairs on a white pillow to be around 50. I lose 10 easily whenever I run my hand gently through part of it.
No one had really noticed but now the friends’ comments have begun. And, I’m one of these dreaded diffuse-thinners it seems. I constantly think about what the person behind me is seeing when they walk down stairs behind me. I have shaggy hair, so it covers some, but some of the scalp is showing at different angles through parts of my hair...mainly the apex...but I can see through with more frequency in various chunks of space at any given time. The hairs have a miniscule follicle if any at all when lost. And if I lift it up in front I can see through my hairline. And NOW I get the itchy scalp and some minor dandruff. NOW I get a little ache in the nipple and notable difference in semen...weight gain...what gives?
Is this what everyone calls a shed, possibly from the switch to proscar? I never really noticed a big spike in the loss before, that would constitute the worry most here involve with a shed. Maybe it’s that. The unfortunate mindf*** with these drugs is you never can know what is actually doing anything to help or not help the hair...as if there needed to be any more of a mindf*** with hair loss.
I suspect some would say that the male pattern baldness is catching up and passing the drug’s effectiveness, and then point to minoxidil and even dutasteride. I really want to go have some blood work done first, to free my mind of any other causes...thyroid, liver, et al...any recs on specifics to check for in blood work otherwise (I’d rather know that I’m not frying my liver with this stuff, when a fried liver is what’s causing it)?
And now, having given finasteride its due year-and-change, should I just plow through this and see what changes, if anything? Go back to Propecia? Cut the proscar into fifths? Wondering if anyone had a big setback switching to quartered Proscar, or big changes this far along...how normal is this escalation...
Also, I am not too keen on starting minoxidil, because it does not work well with shaggy hair and I do not want to start a laborious topical that I can never stop using. So if there is another answer to this I would sure appreciate it!
I’m 33. I noticed the probability of baldness a long time ago, but I only noticed that the problem was upon me about 3 years ago.
Thanks guys.
----------------------------
I am at a crossroads here... and wanted to get a little feedback. First time here but have scanned the forums periodically.
I have been on finasteride for about a year and a half. I started with Propecia and around the year mark I switched to quartered Proscar (from wal-mart). The year on propecia went by without really any detectable change, which I thought was an ok thing. A little acne weirdness with the nose but that’s it (but no real gains and no real noticable halting of general loss). And I have been using Nizoral for about a year, almost daily.
Results: It’s my 4th month on proscar since the switch and my head is just sh**ing hair. My shower looks like a hair bomb exploded in it. I never had the paranoia before to drive me to counting hairs, but I counted morning pillow hairs on a white pillow to be around 50. I lose 10 easily whenever I run my hand gently through part of it.
No one had really noticed but now the friends’ comments have begun. And, I’m one of these dreaded diffuse-thinners it seems. I constantly think about what the person behind me is seeing when they walk down stairs behind me. I have shaggy hair, so it covers some, but some of the scalp is showing at different angles through parts of my hair...mainly the apex...but I can see through with more frequency in various chunks of space at any given time. The hairs have a miniscule follicle if any at all when lost. And if I lift it up in front I can see through my hairline. And NOW I get the itchy scalp and some minor dandruff. NOW I get a little ache in the nipple and notable difference in semen...weight gain...what gives?
Is this what everyone calls a shed, possibly from the switch to proscar? I never really noticed a big spike in the loss before, that would constitute the worry most here involve with a shed. Maybe it’s that. The unfortunate mindf*** with these drugs is you never can know what is actually doing anything to help or not help the hair...as if there needed to be any more of a mindf*** with hair loss.
I suspect some would say that the male pattern baldness is catching up and passing the drug’s effectiveness, and then point to minoxidil and even dutasteride. I really want to go have some blood work done first, to free my mind of any other causes...thyroid, liver, et al...any recs on specifics to check for in blood work otherwise (I’d rather know that I’m not frying my liver with this stuff, when a fried liver is what’s causing it)?
And now, having given finasteride its due year-and-change, should I just plow through this and see what changes, if anything? Go back to Propecia? Cut the proscar into fifths? Wondering if anyone had a big setback switching to quartered Proscar, or big changes this far along...how normal is this escalation...
Also, I am not too keen on starting minoxidil, because it does not work well with shaggy hair and I do not want to start a laborious topical that I can never stop using. So if there is another answer to this I would sure appreciate it!
I’m 33. I noticed the probability of baldness a long time ago, but I only noticed that the problem was upon me about 3 years ago.
Thanks guys.
----------------------------