5 months of finasteride (Shed)

[GT123]

Hello everyone.

I'd like to start off by saying that I started getting a receding hairline at 16, however by 22 I was only starting to get to NW2 territory, if not less.
In order to take preventative measures I started taking finasteride last may, and stopped in November 2013 due to scaremongering and stories aobut side effects. I hadn't noticed fin doing anything to my hair to be honest, but then again like I said I was barely at a NW2 so I didn't have traces that I was balding.

By late Jan of this year I started fin again. Like I mentioned before I had a very slow case of MPB, barely at a NW2 before starting on Fin late January.
As soon as I started taking fin (and nizoral once a week) my hair started thinning like no other. Most people think sheds are just hairs falling out, they are not just that, it's literally your MPB speeding up and thinning you hair.

I've noticed my scalp has become extremely itchy. Because of this I stopped taking nizoral which I figured was irritating it.

Here are some pics.

http://i.imgur.com/6lB5iVW.jpg -- January of this year (a few weeks before starting fin)

http://i.imgur.com/FXNOSTM.jpg -- 4.5 months on fin (Around May 5 or 6)

http://i.imgur.com/fvxDNG5.jpg -- Yesterday


My question is, should I stop taking finasteride? It has clearly made me lose 30-40% of my hair density.

On other forums people have told me to "ride it out"? But what's to say that it will not just make me completely bald judging from what it already has done?

[ericgerard]

A very similar thing happened to me at around 6 months into treatment. I got a hair cut and noticed some thin patches that weren't there before... so I rode it out for another couple months until my next hair cut, thinking it was a temporary shed and that it would fill in. Next hair cut comes around... and there is another thin spot that wasn't there before! Soon after I jumped on minoxidil.

Fast forward to today and it hasn't gotten any worse, but it never recovered. I am still waiting for the minoxidil to kick in though.. I've only been using it for just over 3 months. I'm seeing signs that it is reversing.. but only time will tell.

[GT123]

So basically I took this anti hairloss drug and it did the opposite? I am scared of taking minox because I hear there's a bad shed on that too.

I think I am going to stop taking this shit drug

[Buster]

So basically I took this anti hairloss drug and it did the opposite? I am scared of taking minox because I hear there's a bad shed on that too.

I think I am going to stop taking this shit drug

I am curious as to how that works for you. I was in a similar situation, but the shed wasn't quite as bad as yours, and mine was at the hair line. It's been over 2 years now, and I'm still on Fin, but it hasn't recovered, but I don't think it's gotten much worse either.

[kadlec]

This is concerning for me because my story is almost identical for yours!

I've been on Fin 5 months and had short sheds here and there. Recently the last few weeks my hair is falling out all the time and especially in the shower, literally my hands are full of hairs after shampooing.

I went for a haircut the other day and my hair looks very thin & im getting more and more concerned about this so called 'shed'.

I'm going to try and ride it out but will have to consider stopping fin if the shed doesn't halt or slow down in the next month or two.