Quick response to finasteride- is this normal?

[Curious Dude]

After using minoxidil on and off for several years, I started using finasteride almost three months ago. I was roughly a NW2, but with very bad diffuse thinning on top of my head. I seem to have had a very quick response. The hair started getting thicker after about a month, and after about 2.5 months, my daily number of hairs lost decreased greatly. I have not experienced a shed.

Has anyone else had this experience? I'm thankful for the progress that I've made, but I have a long way to go. Can I expect my progress to continue?

[Curious Dude]

Here are a couple of pictures. The first one was taken after being on finasteride for 5-6 weeks. The second one is after about 12 weeks. Admittedly, I did not get a haircut in that time, so that might be a partial explanation.

http://imgur.com/a/Emlpf