Propecia induced hair loss

[So]

I noticed my hair loss as the begining of this year and rode the storm for a couple of months after deciding it was time to give Propecia a try (March 06).

I am about to start month #6 tomorrow, but to my dismay, my hair loss has not dimished or slowed to the slightest degree. My density has disolved and continues to do so quickly.

I would have thought Propecia would have at least halted the loss in its tracks or at the very least slowed the rate of loss.

My question simply is,

Does (or can) Propecia cause more harm than good? More loss than savior?

It seems I have had not even a small win in the fight.

I also take Epolobium, Fish Oil, Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin D and Ginko - here and there (not religiously).

I propose that none of the above are causing my increased rate of loss but rather the only culprit it seems is Propecia.

I'd like to ride out twelve months to see where I end up but each day gets tougher as many of you would know with the continual loss or bad hair days.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this topic?

 

[Hans Gruber]

shed,go to shedding shedding shedding ,or do a search

 

[So]

Dude I know I am shedding but thats besides the point, I've been shedding for a long period of time, since March. It seems Propecia has accelarated the loss.

What I am asking is as to whether or not Propecia could be having a detremental effect on our hair just as it has a proposed good effect on others?

By now I should have seen results, but I potentially am a non-responder, though it feels that Propecia is contributing to my problem.

I'm trying to get a feel for what others think about this possibility, not only for my sake but for others.

 

[fallenfeather]

I think what libertine is saying is that you could be going through a propecia induced shed. When starting treatments it's very common for things to get worse for a while before they start to get better. Starting Propecia, minoxidil or some other treatments often cause you to shed alot of the hair to make room for new stronger hairs. You should really give it a full 12 months before evaluating how well the treatment is working for you. If propecia doesn't work you could try Dutasteride or a combo of dutasteride, minoxidil and Nizoral shampoo. This is a variation of "the big 3"

I hope that's of some use.

 

[Hans Gruber]

sorry about the short response but this question has been asked so many times,people will often go through a propecia induced shed ,and from what i have heard these sheds can go on past the year mark,im 11 months on finasteride/nizoral/min and ive been shedding since about february.....but my hair continues to improve.

what im saying is,research all that is on these boards,you are more than likely to find an answer to every question you have :hairy:

 

[mrfuture]

Just out of curiosity.....is it Propecia, Proscar, Finpecia or Fincar you are taking ?

Future

 

[Thinning]

If you bought it from an overseas pharmacy its likely fake.

Finpecia is a scam IMO, well some of its real but more than half of its fake.

 

[Guest]

You could just be shedding. When I first started it felt like I shed for 7 months straight with breaks once and a while, but my hair wasn't really getting worse or better. Then it just straight up got better noticably. Then I shed like 20 months into treatment for 2 months but it didn't get worse then it just got even better. DOn't trip, ride the shed.

Or you could be shedding like a b**ch because your overseas finpecia is fake. I don't know why everyone orders overseas and doesn't see a Doctor and get a precrip for legit sh*t. Use Proscar and cut it up if you wanna save money. At least for sure you know its real.

 

[brighteye]

Because some oversea sights like inhousepharmacy.com are very legit with the real and generic product,this has been discussed and pointed out all over this board.Why not save money,if you don't have insurance,it is a sure bet i believe.Can anyone attest to this.

 

[Thinning]

Dude the US government spent a million dollars ordering and testing drugs ordered from overseas. They found over half of them to be fake.

 

[Phillip]

Well, im not an expert but usualy hairs that shed are hairs being affected by dht. Those hairs should regrow in in about 3 or 4 months as healthier hairs since finasteride is reducing dht on the folicle.

So this loss can be bad from the aspect that : You have many predisposed hairs to dht. You also loose lots of hair temorarily so thats bad.

It can be good: All those hairs you lost will be replaced be better quality terminal hairs.

I never had shedding so i dont know.

Just based on what i read.

Bryan would surely know the correct answer.

 

[SHORTHAIR]

get a Doctor to give you a prcription for proscar 5mg and cut them in 1`/4 most ins will cover it i pay nothing for ir my ins covers it i order my min from http://www.physicianshairgrowth.com/ and he writes me the prcription for the proscar

 

[mrfuture]

Dude the US government spent a million dollars ordering and testing drugs ordered from overseas. They found over half of them to be fake.

No offense, but do you actually think that if the US gov finds out that most overseas medications are legit, they would just tell it to all the american people ?????

"hey america, guess what...I am your government, you know, the one that made the law that you need prescription for most drugs, and that the only way to get a prescription is with a doctor etc.....well, guess what: I just spent a lot of money and I found out that most of the drugs you buy online are legit !!!! Aren't you happy ? So you are safe to take them and they work just the same...but they are cheaper !!!!!! OOOOPS, did I just shot myself on the foot ?????????"

I guess you got my point......why is it that it never appears on the news that websites like unitepharmacies and inhouse give legit medications ? Why do newstations ONLY report when they find out a BAD website that sells medications and make a huge deal about it ?

CIPLA was many times endorsed by president clinton, who paid visit to their headquarters and declared how great it was. the World Health Organization AND the FDA have both inspected CIPLA and approved their facilities and most of their drugs (especially AIDS generics).

Therefore, I am sorry but you'll never hear the USA GOV approving of those websites, simply because it goes against their whole system.

Plus, go to the SUCCESS STORY forum and see how many people who ordered from either inhouse or unitedpharmacies had GREAT results AND growth with FINPECIA from CIPLA.....

Future

 

[So]

I am using Propecia in AU and its not fake.

I only proposed the question because I seem to be losing hair from the sides and back as well as the top.

The top looks diffuse (with some temple recession)

The sides and back (including lower back) retain their density

BUT, the loss from the sides and back, especially the back rivals that of the top but isn't noticeable to the naked eye.

Begining my sixth month on Propecia I would have thought to see some results as opposed to a worsened effect.

I think it could be Telogen Effluvium, but I am not placing to much weight in it or searching for coincidental answers that will ease the burden. Merely I am trying to rationalise my experience by assessing that of others and free available data scattered around the web.

 

[Thinning]

Dude the US government spent a million dollars ordering and testing drugs ordered from overseas. They found over half of them to be fake.

No offense, but do you actually think that if the US gov finds out that most overseas medications are legit, they would just tell it to all the american people ?????

"hey america, guess what...I am your government, you know, the one that made the law that you need prescription for most drugs, and that the only way to get a prescription is with a doctor etc.....well, guess what: I just spent a lot of money and I found out that most of the drugs you buy online are legit !!!! Aren't you happy ? So you are safe to take them and they work just the same...but they are cheaper !!!!!! OOOOPS, did I just shot myself on the foot ?????????"

I guess you got my point......why is it that it never appears on the news that websites like unitepharmacies and inhouse give legit medications ? Why do newstations ONLY report when they find out a BAD website that sells medications and make a huge deal about it ?

CIPLA was many times endorsed by president clinton, who paid visit to their headquarters and declared how great it was. the World Health Organization AND the FDA have both inspected CIPLA and approved their facilities and most of their drugs (especially AIDS generics).

Therefore, I am sorry but you'll never hear the USA GOV approving of those websites, simply because it goes against their whole system.

Plus, go to the SUCCESS STORY forum and see how many people who ordered from either inhouse or unitedpharmacies had GREAT results AND growth with FINPECIA from CIPLA.....

Future

Its fake and you are stupid.

End of discussion, lol.

 

[uk_propecia1]

Me too

Hi,

I started on Propecia at around the same time as you and have had a similar experience. I haven't been taking it non-stop since then - I was advised by a dermatologist to stop in April (he thought I had alopecia areata, not male pattern baldness) but was then advised by a well-known trichologist over here to start again, and I've been on it continuously since late July now.

Before I started I had only slight hairline recession, though my hair had been shedding diffusely - and quite noticeably for me - since last December or so. Both times I have started on Propecia, *major* shedding has started within 2-3 days and it just never stops. My hair (which is medium length) goes droopy and if it's windy, it blows around everywhere and looks an absolute mess (it's generally pretty tangled anyway). I also get quite a lot of hairs that twist into strange shapes and have these weird kinks in them, especially at the sides. Whenever I have stopped taking Propecia, the shedding has stopped within a few days and my hair started to look fuller and less flat - it's uncanny. When I'm taking it, my libido is lower than usual, and when I stopped it rose a great deal - other than that I have no real side effects. I'm sure it's not Telogen Effluvium, just male pattern baldness because of the pattern.

I am convinced Propecia is doing me more harm than good, and yet the maddening thing is that I have told all this to the trichologist and he flatly refuses to believe that Propecia can possibly be causing any shedding. I can't help thinking he's being paid to say that (he was involved in running trials on it years ago, or so he claims, yet he runs an apparently private practice). He has also told me not to believe anything I read on the Internet that suggests Propecia accelerates baldness!

How soon did your shedding start after you began taking Propecia? I have read on many posts here that if it does happen, it typically begins after a few weeks. Mine started within 2-3 *days*, which I think is a very bad sign - yet no one seems to know why. I have zero signs of regrowth and I have gone from having a fairly even hairline a few months ago to having two bald patches at the temples which are getting more and more obvious. For me, the whole point of taking it was to *stop* it from getting to that point, but I'm sure I've killed off that hair for good. I am getting diffuse and rapid shedding including at the back and sides - in fact the sides are arguably the worst area, and when I wash my hair I lose *hundreds* of hairs each time (yesterday I counted 264 before giving up as it was scaring me - and that was only the ones that came out on my hands). When I comb it while it's still wet I get masses more (in one swipe of the comb yesterday I got 36 hairs - and this was at the back of my head, where you supposedly don't go bald).

The trichologist has told me to keep going with it, and says that if it turns out not to work for me, he'll give me a solution which contains a type I inhibitor to try instead (we don't have Avodart/Dutasteride over here). I am *not* keen on the thought of smearing some other poisonous chemical mixture over my head for the rest of my life, but would do it if I knew it would work. Trouble is, the first time I saw him, he told me finasteride would stop my hair loss "immediately". That seems to have been completely wrong, so how can I trust anything he says now?! :roll:

Keep us posted on how you get on.

 

[So]

This coming Thursday will be three weeks off Propecia.

My shedding has still continued however after five months of daily use Propecia may be having a residual effect.

I will ride it out a little longer without Propecia (4 to 8 weeks) to see how things progress.

Though if I wait that much longer I'll have nothing left and thats especially difficult since at the begining of the year I had a full head of hair and I have dminished substantially since March.

I relate Propecia to the cause of this further loss.

I can not remember exactly how long after taking Propecia that my hair began to shed, though I am confidently certain that since taking Propecia the rate of loss increased.

Now I too lose alot of hair from the sides and back, especially the back, however the density on the sides and back looks relatively the same which I find odd.

Ontop, the loss is bad...

I am somewhat convinced that there is a severe imbalance within me and maybe other sufferers such as yourselves who have no luck with DHT inhibition.

Read the following post:

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/discussions ... hp?t=30157

Very, very interesting! It is about the inhibition of Aromtase.

"Further evidence indicates that lowering DHT alone, as with Propecia and Avodart, is only partially effective at best for stopping the progression of male pattern baldness, and even then for a limited amount of time. Both Propecia and Avodart are known for raising estrogen as well as reducing serum DHT levels, thus compromising the full potential benefit of lowering DHT for scalp hair growth and prostate disorders."

The entire post sparks some thought on our problems!

 

[person_123]

So, maybe you are just a non-responder to finasteride. I read somewhere it only helps 83% of men. It's a shame you are not part of that 83%, and I truly wish it were 100%. I doubt, however, that propecia can cause further hair loss. Further hair loss may be due to many other things, such as: you were going to lose it anyway, if not at a faster rate than now, or stress, or many other factors.

I hope you find a better treatment for you and get a full head of hair one day.

All the best.

 

[ossa]

I for one am convinced that propecia can actually cause hairloss.
I don't subscribe to the notion that that hair was "going to fall out anyway."
The same could be said for every hair follicle on my head!

My hair was cosmetically damaged by finasteride use for one month only. I noticed severe shedding (200 between showering and combing) at week two of finasteride, and quit taking it at week four. I've been off it for about two weeks now and while things are much better- only 20-50 hairs between showering and combing- it's nowhere near my pre-finasteride level of 15-20.
I still get quite a few hairs in my hands when just casually passing my hands through my hair, and a scalp itch- which I never had in my life before propecia- is still present, but much less than when I was on finasteride. My hair and scalp is much less oily since stopping and the acne has resolved too.
Whatever propecia did to cause all this, it wasn't through an elevated testosterone level: my testosterone level on the day I stopped was 18.84 pg/ml with the normal range for my age being 12-40 pg/ml. Finasteride did do one thing as it has been advertised to do: my dht level was only 6 ng/dL with the normal range of 16-66....so clearly it reduces dht.
That's little consolation for all the hair that went down the shower drain!

 

[person_123]

how did you measure the amount of testosterone and dht? do all doctors have the capabilities to test this?