Thread: 2.5 Months Finasteride, still Miniaturizing

Hey all, I've been reading these forums for a while now (mostly via Google), but never signed up until now.

I first noticed my hair loss about a year and a half ago at 26; I'm 27 now, and things have gotten much, much worse, from where I couldn't be sure if I was losing hair, to where it's all I can do to hide my hair loss.

I'm a diffuse thinner with a receding hairline and a thinning crown now, too.

I tried Rogaine for 8 months, but all it did was make me shed an unbelievable amount of hair which never seemed to return. Within two weeks, my hairline went from strong, NW 1 (mature hairline, but looked great), to totally broken up and diffusely thinned. It never came back.

Anyway, I've been on finasteride now for 2.5 months (and 1% Nizoral for perhaps four months), and my hair is still thinning and receding. While I normally wouldn't be *too* worried about this, it's doing it at the same rate (extremely rapid) as before, and I can see differences week to week. Sometimes even day to day.

At first I thought it was working and was thrilled, because it stopped my shedding instantly. I went from shedding 40 hairs in the shower to, on the first day, 8. Then maybe 10-12 the following weeks. By the second month though, I was shedding more again (maybe 30, less than before but still shedding).. and then, to my horror, I realized:

The hair is still miniaturizing.

The 2.5 or so months I've been on fin should equal about an inch of hair growth; and the last inch of hair that's been falling out is thinner than ever, sometimes dramatically so.

Has this happened to anyone who has later had stabilization/regrowth? I would have thought that it might have caused a shed/TE, but stopped the miniaturization of the follicle immediately.

Am I completely screwed?

Again: Has ANYONE continued to miniaturize for a few months and *THEN* reversed or halted? I know many continue to shed/thin, but this seems like the drug is have zero effect even though my DHT levels should be ~33% of what they were before.

I know "2.5 months is far too early to tell," but I would have thought the follicles should have stabilized, even if I was shedding a lot.

Thanks for any helpful replies.

Edit: I suppose I should mention I don't really have any sides. My libido might be a bit higher if anything, albeit inconsistently; semen seems a bit watered down, but honestly who cares. Other than that, nothing.

2.5 months is not enough, evaluate after 8 months or year.

Originally Posted by Scalpology

2.5 months is not enough, evaluate after 8 months or year.

I mention in my post that I'm aware 2.5 months isn't long enough.

But I'm asking has anyone continued to miniaturize and then reversed it.

Well that was a bit underwhelming.

a lot of people say it got worse before it got better. you know about shedding on treatments right??
w/e it may be all you can do is keep taking it, it might be halting/slowing your hairloss too and evaluate after some more time. keep takig photos.

Originally Posted by Scalpology

2.5 months is not enough, evaluate after 8 months or year.

Correct. Many guys experience shedding, some for more than a year. Avoid the brands sold online without a prescription.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office - forhair.com - Cole Hair Transplant 1070 Powers Place Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 - Phone 678-566-1011 - email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice. Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

Originally Posted by stan

a lot of people say it got worse before it got better. you know about shedding on treatments right??
w/e it may be all you can do is keep taking it, it might be halting/slowing your hairloss too and evaluate after some more time. keep takig photos.

I know that many people shed... that isn't what I'm describing at all though. A shed wouldn't scare me if my hair wasn't thinning. My hair isn't shedding at an increased rate, it's thinning at an increased rate (or at least continuing to thin).

The individual hair shafts are thinning.

Originally Posted by 35YrsAfter

Correct. Many guys experience shedding, some for more than a year. Avoid the brands sold online without a prescription.

I'm not shedding, I'm miniaturizing. I'm also taking brand name Propecia.

Originally Posted by TotallyScrewed

I'm not shedding, I'm miniaturizing. I'm also taking brand name Propecia.

DHT is believed to shorten the anagen phase of the hair cycle. The usual duration of 3-6 years has been in some cases reduced to weeks or months. Do you have growing hairs that are thicker toward the top and thinner in caliber toward the scalp? If a hair falls out, it's difficult to compare that hair with the hair that later grows in its place unless you tattoo the scalp.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office - forhair.com - Cole Hair Transplant 1070 Powers Place Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 - Phone 678-566-1011 - email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice. Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

Originally Posted by 35YrsAfter

DHT is believed to shorten the anagen phase of the hair cycle. The usual duration of 3-6 years has been in some cases reduced to weeks or months. Do you have growing hairs that are thicker toward the top and thinner in caliber toward the scalp? If a hair falls out, it's difficult to compare that hair with the hair that later grows in its place unless you tattoo the scalp.

Like I said in the original post, all the hair is thinnest at the bottom (root), especially the last full inch or so.. About the length of hair you'd expect in ~2.5 months growth. There are no exceptions.

I'm not comparing one hair to the one that replaces it, I'm comparing a hair to itself as it gets progressively thinner down the shaft.

I'm worried about a hyperandrogenic reaction... The body compensating for decreased DHT levels by populating the follicles with more receptors.

My beard appeared to both thin and soften shortly after propecia and is now thick and coarse again, for example.