It's been a few months since I've posted. But I have some very encouraging news to share.
After seeing a very well qualified dermatologist back in September who recommended staying on the Propecia and adding 2% Minoxodil, my telogen effluvium has totally stopped. In fact, now that the Propecia is kicking in I am essentially back to where I was a year ago. Much of what I had lost was on top, but due to Telogen Effluvium a lot of these hairs were accelerated to telogen phase and they are now nicely growing back for the moment.
BTW, I am a MD (non-dermatologist) with +20 years of medical practice and may be able to share my thoughts below and give you some hope.
1. A lot of guys who are suffering from acute hair loss may have an element of telogen effluvium. I think many doctors, particularly dermatologists, are disinclined to belive that Telogen Effluvium can affect men. But it really does and chronic stress can certainly bring it on. I can certainly attest to that.
2. Telogen Effluvium and male pattern baldness can co-exist: in some people it can be devatating and accelerate male pattern baldness. In my case the Telogen Effluvium has stopped and my early Norwood 2A male pattern baldness has actually improved somewhat, particularly with the Propecia.
3. If you are on Propecia, please don't stop; give it time. If you stop early you may lose what you've gained.
4. I don't think that Propecia, per se, causes Telogen Effluvium. At first, I really thought so, but I have come to the conclusion that a lot of posts on this topic are from guys who are quite upset about their hair loss that is due to Telogen Effluvium, male pattern baldness, or male pattern baldness+Telogen Effluvium. The stress, the anxiety, the angst over hair loss is probably bringing on Telogen Effluvium and this is probably the real cause of the shedding in some guys who are taking Propecia. Of course I do recognize that in some
others the accelerated loss is due to aggressive male pattern baldness and this may account for the "shedding".
5. Shop around for a good dermatologist; these days they are very hard to find. Many of them are out there only to do cosmetic procdures, facial surgery and other high end stuff which leads to $$$. I was very, very fortunate to find a colleague who had extensive training in internal medicine as well as dermatology. He came to the Dx of Telogen Effluvium within just a few minutes of my first visit.
I hope this has been helpful to others affected by this situation: again, please don't give up the hope.
Anthony
After seeing a very well qualified dermatologist back in September who recommended staying on the Propecia and adding 2% Minoxodil, my telogen effluvium has totally stopped. In fact, now that the Propecia is kicking in I am essentially back to where I was a year ago. Much of what I had lost was on top, but due to Telogen Effluvium a lot of these hairs were accelerated to telogen phase and they are now nicely growing back for the moment.
BTW, I am a MD (non-dermatologist) with +20 years of medical practice and may be able to share my thoughts below and give you some hope.
1. A lot of guys who are suffering from acute hair loss may have an element of telogen effluvium. I think many doctors, particularly dermatologists, are disinclined to belive that Telogen Effluvium can affect men. But it really does and chronic stress can certainly bring it on. I can certainly attest to that.
2. Telogen Effluvium and male pattern baldness can co-exist: in some people it can be devatating and accelerate male pattern baldness. In my case the Telogen Effluvium has stopped and my early Norwood 2A male pattern baldness has actually improved somewhat, particularly with the Propecia.
3. If you are on Propecia, please don't stop; give it time. If you stop early you may lose what you've gained.
4. I don't think that Propecia, per se, causes Telogen Effluvium. At first, I really thought so, but I have come to the conclusion that a lot of posts on this topic are from guys who are quite upset about their hair loss that is due to Telogen Effluvium, male pattern baldness, or male pattern baldness+Telogen Effluvium. The stress, the anxiety, the angst over hair loss is probably bringing on Telogen Effluvium and this is probably the real cause of the shedding in some guys who are taking Propecia. Of course I do recognize that in some
others the accelerated loss is due to aggressive male pattern baldness and this may account for the "shedding".
5. Shop around for a good dermatologist; these days they are very hard to find. Many of them are out there only to do cosmetic procdures, facial surgery and other high end stuff which leads to $$$. I was very, very fortunate to find a colleague who had extensive training in internal medicine as well as dermatology. He came to the Dx of Telogen Effluvium within just a few minutes of my first visit.
I hope this has been helpful to others affected by this situation: again, please don't give up the hope.
Anthony
