4 Months In. Losing Ground On Propecia

[Dhldan]

hey I’ve been taking 1 mg propecia for 4 months now. I have diffuse thinning and a receding hairline. My thinning extends all the way to my crown aswell. I was just wondering if any of u lost ground while taking propecia before regrowth. I’m not noticeably shedding, but my hairline’s getting worse by the day at this point and the few lost hairs each day aren’t growing back.

Please share ur experience w a timeline

Month 1-4 started losing ground especially on the hairline and vertex.


Btw Im aware it generally takes 6-18 months for propecia to show results, but I’m not confident that my shedded hair on the hairline will regrow as I’ve gotten no indication of it working yet. I was expecting maintenance at this point.

 

[HLV]

hey I’ve been taking 1 mg propecia for 4 months now. I have diffuse thinning and a receding hairline. My thinning extends all the way to my crown aswell. I was just wondering if any of u lost ground while taking propecia before regrowth. I’m not noticeably shedding, but my hairline’s getting worse by the day at this point and the few lost hairs each day aren’t growing back.

Please share ur experience w a timeline

Month 1-4 started losing ground especially on the hairline and vertex.


Btw Im aware it generally takes 6-18 months for propecia to show results, but I’m not confident that my shedded hair on the hairline will regrow as I’ve gotten no indication of it working yet. I was expecting maintenance at this point.

Everyone’s been where you are now. I shed at different points throughout the first year of finasteride.

The first year is when you have the most ups and downs in terms of shedding. It’s also when you’re the most worried. My advice to you is to trust the studies, most men kept their hair on finasteride. you should be just fine

HLV

 

[Dhldan]

Everyone’s been where you are now. I shed at different points throughout the first year of finasteride.

The first year is when you have the most ups and downs in terms of shedding. It’s also when you’re the most worried. My advice to you is to trust the studies, most men kept their hair on finasteride. you should be just fine

HLV

Thanks dud, thing is I started awfully young. (16, now 17). Hopefully I’ll be able to regrow what I lost.

& are you just maintaining on propecia or did you experience regrowth aswell? And when did you start to notice results?

 

[HLV]

Thanks dud, thing is I started awfully young. (16, now 17). Hopefully I’ll be able to regrow what I lost.

& are you just maintaining on propecia or did you experience regrowth aswell? And when did you start to notice results?

I must state that I cannot recommend starting finasteride 1mg prior to the age of 18, as the hormones finasteride reduces are likely to still be needed by the body. I’m guessing you weren’t prescribed finasteride by a doctor?

however I understand the desperation that hairloss can cause,
Especially at young age, and so understand the fact that will you will be wanting to do anything possible to stop it.

I used finasteride years with very good results. Kept most of my hair but I shed at month four for sure. The reasons I stopped it are not because of side effects from it, but for other reasons.

I would suggest that no matter how bad you think your hair is getting, do not freak out every single day thinking it is not working.

I was exactly like you posting every day within the first year convinced finasteride would not work. Constantly asking if it’s not normal my hair is thinning and receding even more. These forums are not the real world. in real life majority of people take it and keep most of their hair for years.

I would have suggested you used minoxidil for a year or two with nizoral until 18, just to buy you some time without potentionally harming your body.

HLV

 

[Dhldan]

I must state that I cannot recommend starting finasteride 1mg prior to the age of 18, as the hormones finasteride reduces are likely to still be needed by the body. I’m guessing you weren’t prescribed finasteride by a doctor?

however I understand the desperation that hairloss can cause,
Especially at young age, and so understand the fact that will you will be wanting to do anything possible to stop it.

I used finasteride years with very good results. Kept most of my hair but I shed at month four for sure. The reasons I stopped it are not because of side effects from it, but for other reasons.

I would suggest that no matter how bad you think your hair is getting, do not freak out every single day thinking it is not working.

I was exactly like you posting every day within the first year convinced finasteride would not work. Constantly asking if it’s not normal my hair is thinning and receding even more. These forums are not the real world. in real life majority of people take it and keep most of their hair for years.

I would have suggested you used minoxidil for a year or two with nizoral until 18, just to buy you some time without potentionally harming your body.

HLV

Thanks for the advice, but I think I’d rather take action with finasteride now than wait and regret it.
I’m happy with my height, build, and everything already.

So far I haven’t had any side effects and hadn’t have had any results either in a little more than 4 and a half months. When did you first notice thickening?
Bc right now my hair’s shedding more than the previous months where i thought i was undergoing a shed.

 

[Maxihair]

it takes up to 12 months for real results.

 

[Pequod]

Too early to worry, you are only half way up the mountain.

 

[Dhldan]

Thx for the replies.

I was planning to continue for atleast 12 months regardless. However I’m 10 days from month 5 and continue to lose hairs from my hairline and vertex + crown. I’ve receded and diffused thin more everywhere else and am below baseline.

Is this normal? I haven’t stablized or maintained + the lost hairs arent showing signs of return 5 months in.

 

[MKP05]

I was in a similar situation. Between months 4-6 things got really bad and i started seeing miniaturized hair across the entire scalp rather than just the hairline and temples (where it started). It has leveled out somewhat the last 5 months. I haven’t seen any regrowth and my hairline continues to recede but at a slower pace. I’m 3 weeks away from 12 months and well below baseline but plan to continue on for at least another 6 months. I’d say don’t give up. You’re not experiencing sides so you should plan on staying the course for at least one year. Hair cycles are slow so you need to be patient. It may not work out (and I’m not sure it has for me) but the odds are in your favor that it will.

 

[Dhldan]

I was in a similar situation. Between months 4-6 things got really bad and i started seeing miniaturized hair across the entire scalp rather than just the hairline and temples (where it started). It has leveled out somewhat the last 5 months. I haven’t seen any regrowth and my hairline continues to recede but at a slower pace. I’m 3 weeks away from 12 months and well below baseline but plan to continue on for at least another 6 months. I’d say don’t give up. You’re not experiencing sides so you should plan on staying the course for at least one year. Hair cycles are slow so you need to be patient. It may not work out (and I’m not sure it has for me) but the odds are in your favor that it will.

Thanks dude. I rlly hope ur right and it works for the both of us!!

 

[HousePanther]

I really appreciate this thread and the comments. I just completed Month 4 on Finasteride (1mg) and I'm in a similar, discouraging place.

For the first time ever, you can look at my front hairline and easily see a noticeable gap and thinning. And it got this bad over a period of a few weeks, even though I haven't noticed that much shedding. It just seems to be getting worse every day, after nearly 20 years of VERY gradual diffuse thinning. (I'm thankful at least for that.)

Is it the Finasteride doing what it's supposed to do? Or is it just failing to work? Maybe this is just the natural progression of my hair loss, which gained a little steam in January? I guess it's too early to tell, but either way it's dinging my self-confidence.

I completed a series of three PRP treatments last summer and fall, with a follow-up this spring (and another coming in September). I've been using iGrow LLLT every other day since November. Yet none of that seems to have worked (unless it just kept my hair from getting even worse). My doctor has glowing reviews and I trust him; I'm doing what he recommends and he feels it's the correct regimen. He wants to to see the Finasteride progress in September.

Hopefully the Finasteride will help. I feel like the experiences I read about online are overwhelmingly from people who felt the drug did nothing or made their hair worse.

 

[Dhldan]

6 months in no improvement. Started drinking minoxidil. Still receding and thinning out some.

 

[I'mme]

6 months in no improvement. Started drinking minoxidil. Still receding and thinning out some.

Oral minoxidil will darken hair everywhere

 

[MKP05]

13 months now on finasteride. Still thinning across entire scalp. I’m beginning to become convinced that the finastride killed my hair as I’m thinning in places there was zero hair loss or thinning prior to starting. I’m terrified to stop though so I guess I’ll just let the next few months play out until my prescription runs out and then make a decision. Anyone in this situation experience hair loss stop or slow down after stopping finasteride? I have read a few accounts on this forum but not sure what to make of it.

 

[baba_yaga]

13 months now on finasteride. Still thinning across entire scalp. I’m beginning to become convinced that the finastride killed my hair as I’m thinning in places there was zero hair loss or thinning prior to starting. I’m terrified to stop though so I guess I’ll just let the next few months play out until my prescription runs out and then make a decision. Anyone in this situation experience hair loss stop or slow down after stopping finasteride? I have read a few accounts on this forum but not sure what to make of it.

Can you post before and after pics?

 

[itsyaboi]

13 months now on finasteride. Still thinning across entire scalp. I’m beginning to become convinced that the finastride killed my hair as I’m thinning in places there was zero hair loss or thinning prior to starting. I’m terrified to stop though so I guess I’ll just let the next few months play out until my prescription runs out and then make a decision. Anyone in this situation experience hair loss stop or slow down after stopping finasteride? I have read a few accounts on this forum but not sure what to make of it.

Yeah actually I was just in this exact situation, I kinda ignored online forums and the issue for the year plus, until I noticed that my hair was much thinner, hairline was receded further and I lose also losing ground on the sides/ temple points.

Unfortunately I don’t really know how to advise because I really wouldn’t recommend my intentions to most people, but I feel from my experience it wasn’t necessarily that Finasteride made it *worse*, after looking through past photos it just seems that the thinning was too aggressive for it to work.

Do you also experience things like severe itching, oiliness/ acne or increased libido?

 

[djhype]

13 months?

f*** sakes the stress alone will probably age you 5 years.

That luscious hair system is looking pretty good right now.

 

[MKP05]

Yeah actually I was just in this exact situation, I kinda ignored online forums and the issue for the year plus, until I noticed that my hair was much thinner, hairline was receded further and I lose also losing ground on the sides/ temple points.

Unfortunately I don’t really know how to advise because I really wouldn’t recommend my intentions to most people, but I feel from my experience it wasn’t necessarily that Finasteride made it *worse*, after looking through past photos it just seems that the thinning was too aggressive for it to work.

Do you also experience things like severe itching, oiliness/ acne or increased libido?

Yes to itching although it’s not consistent. It sort of comes and goes. And I’d say that most days I don’t notice any itch. Definitely yes to oiliness and acne. I frequently have hard red bumps all over the top of my scalp. I use clindamycin for that when it gets really bad. When I roll the solution on I can feel the bumps and it actually hurts slightly. They usually dry up and go away but it definitely appears to be a sign of some sort of chronic inflammation. I can actually see the oil buildup on my forehead along the hairline. Libido has been unchanged throughout.

I’m not sure which direction to head (no pun intended). I’m shocked at how much my hair has receded and thinned out in one year. I kept telling myself to give it more time but here I am over a year later on the “big three” and my hair is far worse than I could’ve even imagined it would be. My doctors are useless so I’m pretty much on my own. I’ve begun to sort of accept my fate which very likely could be a NW7 - an incredible result considering last year at 45 years old before all this started I had incredibly thick hair without even a sign of hair loss aside from normal aging. Not sure what triggered the onset of this aggressive loss or how to stop it but it’s been really frustrating.

 

[MKP05]

Can you post before and after pics?

First pic from June 2018 one month before starting finasteride. 2nd and 3rd from June 2019. What you can’t see from these pictures is the state of my hair beyond the hairline. In June 2018 I didn’t even take any pictures because the only issue I had was recession at the temples although that recession came on abruptly and aggressively. I’d say I lost in inch at each temple in the course of 2 months (hence the reason I jumped on finasteride).

Today you can see that my hair has thinned noticeably at the hairline. What the pictures don’t portray is that same loss of density now extends across my entire scalp. In the two months since those last photos my hairline has receded even further but I don’t have a picture handy with the same angle and lighting.

So to recap since being on finasteride I lost density everywhere (and particularly in the forelock) and my temples and hairline continue to recede albeit at a slower pace than 1 inch per 2 months. My hair is much drier - almost strawlike at times and feels lifeless. I certainly did not maintain what I had and I’m way below baseline in terms of density and overall hair healthiness. When my hair is wet it’s a total disaster and you can really see the true condition of what’s being hidden by keeping my hair length longer.

 

[MKP05]

13 months?

f*** sakes the stress alone will probably age you 5 years.

That luscious hair system is looking pretty good right now.

Yeah. It’s been a fun ride. I’m actually stressing less now than I was 6 months ago when i still thought there was hope that finasteride would simply maintain. I’ve sort of abandoned that notion so ironically I’m stressing less about it. Still looking for answers though.