Shedding Question -- Is This True

[harey]

This site says this on the shedding stickie:

The shedding tends to be fairly symmetrical, but will be more noticeable in the areas affected by male pattern baldness, because there is a higher ratio of hairs in the telogen phase than in the other areas of the scalp.


Is this true. My small bald spot has gotten worse over the past 1.5 years. I was own Propecia for a year, that didn't seem to do anything, and I've been on dutasteride. for six months. I know it's too soon to tell, but could this be why the spot seems to have gotten bigger. it's not even just the spot. The all around it seems ready to go as well. It's so fine.

It seems like the people who have had results have them pretty quick. Or they have thickening the first three months, then a shed, then get better.

I seem to be shedding for all the six months. I started with a ton of hair, I haven't been one of these people who have had some massive frontal shedding or anything, but I'm hoping something happens, and don't necesarily but the whole "shedding is a sign that it's working" mainly because there are so many people who *never* stopped shedding.

I'll always continue cuz I know that I"ll just go bald anyway, but everyone has success on their crown it seems. Why not me? My front is pretty damn good, but my crown is bad. WTF? I can only hope I'm one of these guys who will start growing in months 9 and 10, and from I understand it all happens pretty quick, like 2 weeks.

 

[harey]

I love how people reply to "finasteride. is making my penis smaller!" and "finasteride is useless! I've been on it for two weeks and my hair isn't growing back!"

Yet they won't offer advice on a legitimate question.

 

[Lessofarockstar]

I love how people reply to "finasteride. is making my penis smaller!" and "finasteride is useless! I've been on it for two weeks and my hair isn't growing back!"

Yet they won't offer advice on a legitimate question.

easy mate...
It might just be that nobody knows the answer to that question.
If I should say something, it sounds like you are in one of these situations:

1) the treatment is simply not working for you and the bald spot is your natural male pattern baldness proces.

2) it's shedding and will grow back. This would be in line with what you quoted from the shedding FAQ.

Either way I suggest that you stick to your regimen at least until the one-year mark. By then you will have to make the decision on whether or not your treatments are working. If they don't you should either drop 'em or add something else... Did you take photos before starting?

 

[Slartibartfast]

You've not necessarily been shedding for the last six months. Isn't it likely that the first several months of this was actually the continuation of the male pattern baldness that finasteride had failed to stop, and that perhaps a dutasteride-shed followed on from this to give the impression of a near-continuous shed?

As you probably know, I shed quite late on - between months 6 and 8 - and it took a good half-a-year from its end for the hair on my crown to recover; the front has only just about clawed its way back to pre-shed levels a full year after it finished.

As for the shedding question: surely the male pattern baldness-affected areas are bound to suffer more from any finasteride/dutasteride-shed as that's where a disproportionate number of our damaged follicles live (hence the male pattern baldness!), and so when there's a sharp drop in DHT levels of course more hairs get shed compared to other parts.

Slarti

 

[harey]

thanks, slarti.

thing is, i'm sort of wanting to switch to EOD because of acne (minocycline only works for some time, and you can't stay on it anyway).

but i know that you did EOD, and saw better results once you upped the dosage. i'm thinking maybe 2 days on, 1 day off? i don't know.

 

[techprof]

harey, take and post pictures.
our eyes can cheat us.
you might be doing better/worse than what you think.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Hi harey, you're right, I took dutasteride EOD for 16 months and the improvement over finasteride was slight: my front continued to thin but did so at a slower rate. Interestingly, the reduced dosage never sparked a shed, or at least not one sufficiently severe to catch my attention, in the way that the daily dose did.

I assume from what you wrote that this acne has flared-up since starting on dutasteride, is that correct? If it is, and you're certain that the dutasteride is the cause, then 2 days on, 1 day off would obviously be preferable to EOD in terms of 5AR inhibition - and who knows, if that approach allowed the acne to die down then perhaps a full dose would be tolerated later on.

Slarti