propecia + romaine making it worse

[ThinningB420]

You all have valid points, and I sincerely appreciate the time and effort required in responding to my worries.

The only flaw in your logic, however, is that hereditary hair loss is in fact a gradual process. In February, I had a full head of thick hair. A theory I have is that medication for acne might have been the culprit (an excess of vitamin A). My hair started to thin a bit in May, and when I started taking propecia and rogaine, that is when the rapid shedding occurred. I do not know how it is possible to go from having hair that can stand on its own to having brittle, dead, thinning hair with patchy bald spots on my scalp. That is the startling thing--how fast this process is occurring. I assumed hereditary hair loss would be over time in a more subtle and gradual manner.

I again assume that you are not medical professionals, though I do appreciate sincere advice. I've scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist.

Sounds like someone is mentioning Accutane. Welcome to the club. I hate that drug. I think that drug made my hair thinner and very very dry. It never really recovered. Good luck getting a dermatologist to recognize that Accutance can cause permanent hair loss.

The problem is I never recovered from the thinning of hair from Accutane.

[PatientlyWaiting]

So you are suggesting that I am stuck to the products for life--without them, my condition will forever worsen. Is that what these products are doing for us? Binding us to to a total of $130 a month for the rest of our lives?

Who's paying that much?

There's generic minoxidil foam from Kirklands, Walmart, and Walgreens. They're much cheaper than Rogaine.

There's generic Finasteride that is substantially cheaper than Propecia. 30 5mg pills, cut into 1.25mg each, would last you several months and that's just 30 pills. I think you can them for $9 at Wal Mart.

Whoever pays $130 a month for these products is because they want to or they didn't know about generics.

[win200]

Some people do stop. There is absolutely no way for anyone to know if they are going to be one of the lucky ones for whom it does stop. Therefore it is best to be prepared for the worse and hope for the best.

I don't think you truly understand what the doctors were probably saying to you. To give you an example; If a person is genetically programmed to be a Norwood 4 and they are currently maintaining a Norwood 2 with medications, once they stop those medications the process of progressing to Norwood 4 will resume. On the other hand, if a person is genetically programmed to be a Norwood 4 and they are already a Norwood 4, they are not going to get any worse - but how would they know that? There is no way for them to know that. They certainly won't get better without the medications, but they might get better with medications. If they do get better, they would need to keep taking the medications to prevent returning to a Norwood 4.

Did that make sense?

Tracy, that makes sense, and thanks. That is how I interpreted what the doctors told me--that you have a "default" setting that you'll bald to absent mitigation via medications. I'd be curious to know on what basis the three doctors pegged me as a NW3--maybe my current age combined with my current pattern and level/location of miniaturization. Who knows. I was heartened that all three of them said the same thing independently.