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So I've been on finasteride for just under 2.5 months now and have been shedding at the same rate as pre-finasteride, which is probably around 150 hairs. I have/had extremely thick hair which has receded to around a Norwood 2.5. My derm said the shedding (which has been going on for about 4 years) was likely chronic telogen effluvium separate to my recession as he couldnt detect any loss of density on my vertex. For the first two months of finasteride my hair and loss stayed essentially the same, even some days where i thought i was regrowing hairs at my hairline and improving my density. In the past week, I have, no joke, lost an INSANE amount of density in my frontal area. I am losing HUNDREDS of hairs daily. Every day in the shower it's over 100 hairs, plus whatever is now covering the bathroom floor and whatever else i lose daily. My hairline hasn't receded any further, i've just lost a tonne of density. The only change to my routine is that I have started using nizoral in the past month twice weekly. I am honestly at a loss. I understand it is too early for finasteride to begin working properly but i have just lost so much in one week that i don't know what to do. I have shoulder length long hair which has for years been the essence of my physical appearance. From the research I've done I somewhat doubt the validity of the 'finasteride shed' as no clinical research supports it. Has anyone actually lost shed this much hair during treatment and had it actually come back? 95% of the hairs are strong, thick hairs with a white bulb, around 5-25cm long. Around 5-10% max are smaller and thinner. It could also be the continuation of my CTE as it would coincide with both my dexamphetamine binges/sleepless nights for uni exams 3 months ago, and when i started freaking out about my hair. At this point though I am absolutely terrified of it getting worse. I dont want to add minoxidil yet but i am so far below baseline in my frontal area that finasteride cannot stop my shed soon enough, and if it does, I've still lost too much. Should I ditch finasteride if it's ineffective and see if I can find dutasteride? Should I switch from the 1mg generic (prescription from a reputable pharmacy) to propecia? Apologies for the scattered post but this week has been a breaking point and has absolutely obliterated what little optimism I had left.
