Propecia Shedding - Can there be too much?

[waltherk]

Hi,

I'm wondering if there is a point when the shedding on propecia is abnormally execssive, or simply makes it not worth it. To provide a little background, I probably started balding in my early 20s, but was able to retain most of what I had using minoxidil until quite recently. 29 has not been kind, however. As recently as this past October, even my best friends could still not tell I was balding, except for a bit on top. But between then and May, the balding accelerated and I became desperate, even though looking back now I'd kill to have the hair I had in May. I went on Propecia towards the end of May. After experiencing some sides, I dropped the dose to .25 mg daily and have been on that regimen ever since without noticeable sides, in addition to taking minoxidil once daily at night. The shedding started almost immediately. Instead of noticing 5-10 hairs in the shower, it was 10-20, 20-30, or even more. A lot of the loss has occurred in the front. Now, after approximately two months on the drug, the state of my hair has regressed to a level that has left me basically in a constant depression. Just two months ago, I could put an adjustable baseball cap on backwards and see a good portion of my hairline in front. Now, there's basically nothing, meaning I've lost maybe a good half-inch or more on my front hairline in barely any time at all. I can't wear the same hairstyle I could two months ago. I can't wear any hairstyle, in fact. I can hardly look in the mirror, and have even skipped work and stayed home whole weekends over my embarrassment at how my hair looks.

Sorry for being long-winded, it's due in part to simply being so dismayed I need to rant, but my question is whether it's even worth continuing Propecia at this point, given what it is doing to my hair. I know some shedding is normal, but I was totally unprepared for this. I suppose I am wondering if anyone has experienced similar results, and has stuck with the drug and regained the frontal loss at the hairline -- that's what I'm mainly concerned about. Is there any chance of regaining that lost half-inch or more? If yes, that might give me a little hope to continue. If not, I think I'd rather just quit now and lose my hair more slowly while continuing to fight it with minoxidil only.

 

[zzzzz]

it is impossible to propecia to make your hair worse in the longrun. Whenever a hair is shed, it grows back. If you are not on propecia it will grow back weaker

 

[hmm]

You've only been on it 2 months!!!!!! Also according to your story you noticed accelerated loss before even getting on finasteride. The hair you've lost or shed recently was probably on it's way out before you even started taking it. Secondly finasteride is not an overnight miracle drug, It took me well over a year before I noticed that it had noticeably thickened up my hair.

What dose were you on that gave you these "sides"? Were you crunching up entire packs of 5mg Proscar and snorting lines of it? Why not be on 1mg daily which is what worked in the studies with almost no sides (3.8% taking it, 2.1% on placebo)...

 

[PreCueBall]

We shed 100 hairs a day too, 20-30 in the shower is peanuts. If you were only losing 5-10 your one lucky SOB.

 

[waltherk]

Thank you for the replies. To respond to each. . .

zzzzz: While I realize ultimately propecia will not make my hair worse than it otherwise would be in the long run, that's exactly what it is doing to the Nth degree in the short term. My hair is getting worse much quicker than it would otherwise, in other words. And while I really hope this is just temporary frontal loss that will grow back, I'm afraid that might not be the case. I suppose another way of getting at my answer would be: once a hair sheds as part of its natural cycle, how long would you expect before the replacement starts to show?

hmm: A standard 1mg dose was giving me the sides. I cut it in 4 to achieve the .25mg dose. And I'm comfortable with the lower dose because I searched on this forum and elsewhere, and found many success stories from people taking a .25 mg dose, along with reports of scientific evidence showing a lower dose loses very little of its efficacy in fighting DHT.

PreCueBall: Whatever amount I was shedding before, it didn't cause any noticeable difference in how my hair looked from day to day. Now, a week passes, maybe less, and I can see glaring evidence of hair loss progression due to the shedding. I guess that's the point I was trying to make.

 

[Geiri]

When you have been on the drug for such a short period of time you should expect the same status/development as if you hadn't gone on the drug. You were already on this path and you haven't been on the drug long enough to slow it down.

You have to give it at least 6-12 months. At worst it does nothing for you, but it won't make it worse.