is shower shedding enough to base treatment decision on?

[viceroy]

ok. i am officially mired in maddening indecision about whether or not to start propecia.

when i run my hands through my hair in the shower, 3-5 come out every time, and i could keep doing this until i reach 50-75 easily. this has been going on for at least 2 months, and goodness knows how much before that... but i've only REALLY been taking notice of it the past two months.

right now this is the only symptom i have. no real noticeable loss on my head (...but maybe? i'm so obsessed its hard to tell). just shower sheds so pronounced that i have come to DREAD taking a daily shower.

i'm sorry if i sound like a broken record. but the thought of just waiting until i LOOK bald seems almost worse than just taking propecia without even being sure if i'm going bald or not. (and if you haven't caught my previous whining posts, doctor and dematologist visits have proven to do nothing but further my indecision on the matter.)

the only reasonable information i've been able to find in all the world has come from this forum (thanks to all who maintain the site and offer such learned advice over and over...), but i'm so stuck in indecision right now that i want to hurl. thanks for listening.

 

[Kramer3]

I hate to say it but if you feel that your losing 50-75 hairs in the shower everyday then it's probable that your thinning. Thats allot of hair to be losing and is above normal. Do you notice any hair on your pillow and shirts? That's another good indicator.

 

[VoRteX]

you are shedding.

this could be normal shedding or the onset of male pattern baldness.

Just because you lose "75 hairs a day" doesnt mean you are going bald. I dated a girl with long, curly hair who could fill up a brush with shedded hairs just from brushing after a shower but she had thick head of hair.

The hallmark of male pattern baldness is shedding without sufficient regrowth(miniturization)

If you have male pattern baldness in your family, then you might want to consider propecia.

However, obsessing over how much hair you lose every day wont accomplish anything except making you crazy and probably shed more