Diffuse Hair Loss 3 Month finasteride Update

[02107]

Posted this on reddit earlier but I would love more opinions.

Going to be a lot of pics, sorry about that. I'm 20 years old.

Baseline: http://imgur.com/5x9T41G - fresh out of the shower untouched http://imgur.com/o9pKrKn - wet, combed backwards http://imgur.com/eyF7kMJ - wet, combed forwards http://imgur.com/BK5hbGA -slightly toweled (what I usually see coming out of the shower) http://imgur.com/twZx8MU - dry

Current: http://imgur.com/LlXvcwo - untouched out of the shower http://imgur.com/4suhe0q - wet combed forward
http://imgur.com/QwgCeWO - wet combed back
http://imgur.com/ZtHxp1z - same
http://imgur.com/eVmYCm5 - same
http://imgur.com/VptTthl - front wet
http://imgur.com/7Wwrvyk - temple
http://imgur.com/t3BFhNN - other temple
http://imgur.com/a3s62wh - toweled/crown
http://imgur.com/tstkbyi - dry hairline
http://imgur.com/FqwqebU- dry top
http://imgur.com/o8H2Am0 - dry front of hairline

If you couldn't tell by all the pictures I'm pretty obsessive over this. I think my shedding increased shortly after starting finasteride and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, and although it is really hard to tell in the pictures I feel that my hair has gotten worse, especially at the hairline where it's now really see through when I style my hair up (the last picture shows the "hole" in my hairline that concerns me most and has been getting thinner pretty quickly). Hair also feels wispier, and it is really easy to see scalp by lightly moving my hair around when its dry. But I do know I am still in early stages of balding and I shouldn't be freaking out yet. Sides also seem to be getting thinner, could still possibly be some form of chronic Telogen Effluvium from accutane that I stopped in January as I'm also losing a lot of eyebrow hair and some body hair, although I know that is unlikely.

Any opinions would be appreciated, thanks guys.

 

[Illusions]

When I seen the baseline pics I didn't even think you were thinning at all, after seeing the pics from now it does seem that your hair is thicker than before, this could be because of the angles/lighting or it could be that you did have very minor thinning and finasteride has thickened everything up. Either way, great hair pal.

 

[Tano1]

First of all, you still have a lot of hair and looks great! I can see the thinning in some pics (with harsh lighting) but in others it's not noticeable especially dry. One thing to note that I've also done because I am obsessive over it too, is that even if you barely towel dry just a tad bit your hair will look significantly better if you've noticed.

As for the Finasteride update it is still too early to assess if it's working or not. With finasteride some people do experience more shedding than usual (I did too) and can be alarming. Several doctors claim some of those are hairs shedding to make room for thicker and or stronger hair to come through as there has been success in some percentage of people actually thickening existing hair. You definitely need to use it for at least 6 months preferrably a year before you decide if it's working or not. If you can't tell there's any difference in your hair after a year then definitely keep using it for another year or so because it might've significantly slowed down further loss. The hair goes through growth cycles and a shed cycle. A percentage of your hair is always in the growth phase while a much smaller percentage is in the resting phase and sheds. After some time the hair in the resting phase switches to the growth phase and some of the hair in the growth phase will go to the resting phase. So it takes time for all of your hair to go through the shedding phase as all your hair will cycle differently at different times. Imagine if all hair entered the shedding phase at the same time? We would all basically be pulling a wig off after a shower lol That's why it's better to use finasteride for at least a year to see how effective it is for you. No change is also good news because that's a possible halt of further hair loss for the time being.