Potentially The Worst Responder To Finasteride... Ever?

baldingboi

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I am now going through a horrible minoxidil shed, I felt like my hair was slightly recovering from the ungodly finasteride shed but this has set me way back, this is how much I've recessed in 7 months after taking finasteride, and behind the hair is falling out too. Really considering shaving it all off because having long hair it's gonna look horrible with it all at different lengths
 

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baba_yaga

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If you think you can shed hair from using finasteride while being a non-responder then you don't understand how finasteride works. If you're a non-responder it just means that finasteride won't do anything because your hair loss is not caused by dht. If your hair loss is caused by dht then finasteride will either stop it or at least slow it down. I lost a lot more hair in the same amount of time than OP did, and I was not on finasteride. Once male pattern baldness starts it can accelerate quickly. OP noticed his hair thinning so he jumped on finasteride as his hair loss was starting to accelerate. Two months later his hair looks even worse so he blames finasteride. Then he jumps off finasteride, and it continues to get worse.
You can be a non responder and still shed on finasteride. I think the shed is most likely due to some people being very sensitive to any sudden hormone levels change, which induces Telogen Effluvium in said individuals. finasteride will change the hormone levels and cause Telogen Effluvium, and at the same time is not working to slow hair loss to any significant level, hence shedding while being a non responder.
 
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baba_yaga

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Perhaps. I still am not completely convinced that finasteride causes shedding at all. It never caused shedding for me, I just noticed thickening within a month or two. I know it's commonly accepted, but there's nothing in the literature about it like there is for minoxidil. Minoxidil resets the hair cycle, finasteride does not. Maybe it could cause some temporary telogen effluvium by unbalancing hormones as you say.
I agree with you. minoxidil induced a small shed for me. Today is the 15th day on finasteride, still no shed whatsoever. finasteride's only way to induce a shed is through Telogen Effluvium, which is quite rare and isnt mentioned in literature. But here it seems like its the norm. We should not base our conclusions on forums.
 

MKP05

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You can be a non responder and still shed on finasteride. I think the shed is most likely due to some people being very sensitive to any sudden hormone levels change, which induces Telogen Effluvium in said individuals. finasteride will change the hormone levels and cause Telogen Effluvium, and at the same time is not working to slow hair loss to any significant level, hence shedding while being a non responder.[/QUOTE

Exactly. People blame the medication and then are attacked because the “science” says it’s impossible for a DHT blocker to cause hair loss. But no one should be suggesting that finasteride itself causes hair loss. It can however cause Telogen Effluvium due to the sudden shift in hormones and therefore exacerbate the situation. I had it happen to me with finasteride. And then happen again with dutasteride 17 months later. I’m clearly a non responder. But there’s absolutely zero doubt that these medications have induced chronic Telogen Effluvium for me. Every report of this occurring is nearly identical in how it presents. I would still say that these drugs are probably the absolute best solution we currently have. But they can and do cause catastrophic damage in some people and it should be noted as a potential side effect. And this side effect is physically and visually measurable and can’t be written off as a figment of the imagination and shouldn’t be dismissed as simply a case of sudden aggressive balding. It’s convenient to characterize it that way. But that’s not what’s happening here.
 

baldingboi

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what i dont understand is why my hair all over was so much thinner after finasteride? i understand the hormone change but it couldnt have had a more opposite effect on me than it was supposed to
 

MKP05

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Good question. Only way to really know if you're a non-responder.
My current dermatologist told me she was doing a full hormonal work up but when the results came in i asked her for my DHT level and she said something along the lines of not being able to accurately rely on serum DHT levels. I see her on Tuesday. What specific numbers should I be asking her for? On a related topic my (former) endocrinologist outright refused to even get my testosterone levels checked. I’m a little down on drs right now as I feel they have all failed me.
 

baba_yaga

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what i dont understand is why my hair all over was so much thinner after finasteride? i understand the hormone change but it couldnt have had a more opposite effect on me than it was supposed to
Perhaps Telogen Effluvium. Look it up.
 

MKP05

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Serum free T and DHT are predictive of finasteride response. If they aren't significantly lowered then you need to switch to dutasteride.
I’ve been on dutasteride for 3.5 months. My DHT levels should be non existent. Yet I’ve lost more hair in the last few weeks than i did the last 6 months on finasteride (particularly at the temples and hair line).
 

baldingboi

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Since starting finasteride almost 9 months and ago dropping it since, I have lost maybe over an inch of my hairline, this part had full density and now it just keeps receding and shedding. I have also developed a bald patch on top which I never had before. I think i have essentially committed hair suicide. However, hopefully this is just a minoxidil shed and will come back thicker as there seems to be some small black hairs coming in
 

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baldingboi

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Baseline to now, what the f*** I want to kill myself. I only asked for maintenance and I got the destruction of my hair
 

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whatintheworld

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Hair greed screwed you mate, from what I could tell your hair was good enough that you were never going to go bald. Zero thinning anywhere, just maybe a slight maturing from your pre-teen hairline which is completely normal for adult males.

Maybe finasteride changed the androgen sensitivity of your hair follicles (this is bro science as a disclaimer).
 

baba_yaga

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Hair greed screwed you mate, from what I could tell your hair was good enough that you were never going to go bald. Zero thinning anywhere, just maybe a slight maturing from your pre-teen hairline which is completely normal for adult males.

Maybe finasteride changed the androgen sensitivity of your hair follicles (this is bro science as a disclaimer).
No. He's just loosing hair. Should hop back on finasteride.
 

sonictemples

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This post made me shed.
 

baldingboi

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Hair greed screwed you mate, from what I could tell your hair was good enough that you were never going to go bald. Zero thinning anywhere, just maybe a slight maturing from your pre-teen hairline which is completely normal for adult males.

Maybe finasteride changed the androgen sensitivity of your hair follicles (this is bro science as a disclaimer).
I mean nah there was definitely noticeable recession (shown in this picture where the wind is blowing my hair back). It's just finasteride absolutely destroyed my overall density with receding another couple inches also.
 

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baldingboi

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I still remember that you wanted to shave.
i really really do want to as i think it will be so liberating but it will be full acceptance of having other people thinking "oh hes balding" and going from no sign of balding to that within 9 months is pretty hard to take just yet. With longer hair I can hide it pretty well but it's so much effort and draining. I will shave this year at some point for sure when it gets inevitably worse but i feel cause we're in lockdown there's no point as no one is seeing my hair anyway
 

baldingboi

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and now i have shaved my hair - to all that said it was BDD, f*** you. I thought this would make me feel better about losing my hair but it hasn't. It just shows how thin my hair has become over the past 9 months consequently from taking finasteride, showing definitive proof that finasteride can destroy your hair if you respond badly to it as it has mine
 

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