Hello
I'm 31 years of age, and at around 22 I noticed some thinning of my temples and around the crown of my head that went on for many months. My derm recommended I try Minoxidil before going with Propecia, so I got on minoxidil and actually had very good results for about 6 years or so. My crown filled right back up, and my temple loss halted.
Around July 2008, I noticed increased shedding again in my crown and my temples, so I continued my Minoxidil treatments. During this time I also had increased face and scalp oil/acne. After 8 months of watching the outer part of my temples thin out and a little spot growing larger on the back of my head, I decided to get on Propecia in March 2009.
My results;
March - No change
April- No change until a slight reduction in shedding
Late April - Shedding almost completely stopped
May – Heavy Shed #1. Increased oily skin and scalp. Facial Acne. Major Scalp Acne. Itchy scalp. Hair from all over is sheds. At this point I added topical spironolactone
Late June- Slowdown in shedding
Late July - Almost complete stop in shedding
Late August – Heavy Shed #2 Same as first shed except temple and front hairline is severely affected. Crown and vertex not as much. Pulling a lot of hairs that have color and are thick at one end, but thin and colorless for anywhere from last 20% to 50% of the strand. A lot of short, small, damaged hairs shed here too.
September - Heavy shedding continues - I switch to 1/5 Proscar.
October - Shedding continues
November - Slowdown in shedding - At this point I added Fluridil and Oral spironolactone ( started on 25mg, now on 100mg)
December - Longest slowdown in shedding yet
January - Heavy Shed # 3- Same as others, but crown and vertex is MAJORLY affected this time. Pull many strong thick healthy hairs from the crown. Quite a few hair bulbs are covered in a hard clear substance. I upped Fluridil to twice a day here
February - Heavy shedding continued
So three short breaks in hair loss followed by 3 massive sheds. During the sheds, my hair gets noticeably worse week to week. During the short non shedding times, my hair stays almost the same week to week.
Overall, I haven't maintained, and the rate at which I'm losing my hair has actually increased since starting Propecia. The outer temples are totally gone and the inner part of the temples as well as the whole front hairline took a big hit in the second shed and I really can't get over how much hair from my crown I lost in just 2 weeks in this most recent shed. I've had to change my hairstyle several times to accommodate and now I'm at the point where I'm slapping on tons of concealer now just to go out. I can't believe just one year after starting Propecia just to maintain, or at least slow down my loss, I'm at the point where I'm considering trying partial lace hair pieces for my temples and crown.
I'm still going through the third shed as a write this, so what do I do? I've added Topical spironolactone, Fluridil, and now even Oral spironolactone ( a desperation move), and I continue to lose a bunch of hair in these every three and a half months sheds. I was really hoping either the Fluridil or the Oral spironolactone would help prevent this shed, but no. Am I just a victim of major hyperandrogenicity? Besides the oily skin, my facial hair has increased including strange places like my cheeks and earlobes. My lobido hasn't lowered like many report, but it's actually has increased.
I'm thinking of trying the the low dose accutane thing because my sebum production is crazy, and it's obvious that DHT and androgen fighting isn't enough for me. But I'm also thinking of dropping the Propecia because my hair got so much worse so fast just two months after starting it, not just in count but in quality. My hair is just so wiry and kinked now. Besides the acne, my scalp feels like sh*t. Itchy, hot, even painful at times.
I was all prepared to see Propecia through for the full two years even after the first two sheds, but this past month has been really disheartening, so any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
I'm 31 years of age, and at around 22 I noticed some thinning of my temples and around the crown of my head that went on for many months. My derm recommended I try Minoxidil before going with Propecia, so I got on minoxidil and actually had very good results for about 6 years or so. My crown filled right back up, and my temple loss halted.
Around July 2008, I noticed increased shedding again in my crown and my temples, so I continued my Minoxidil treatments. During this time I also had increased face and scalp oil/acne. After 8 months of watching the outer part of my temples thin out and a little spot growing larger on the back of my head, I decided to get on Propecia in March 2009.
My results;
March - No change
April- No change until a slight reduction in shedding
Late April - Shedding almost completely stopped
May – Heavy Shed #1. Increased oily skin and scalp. Facial Acne. Major Scalp Acne. Itchy scalp. Hair from all over is sheds. At this point I added topical spironolactone
Late June- Slowdown in shedding
Late July - Almost complete stop in shedding
Late August – Heavy Shed #2 Same as first shed except temple and front hairline is severely affected. Crown and vertex not as much. Pulling a lot of hairs that have color and are thick at one end, but thin and colorless for anywhere from last 20% to 50% of the strand. A lot of short, small, damaged hairs shed here too.
September - Heavy shedding continues - I switch to 1/5 Proscar.
October - Shedding continues
November - Slowdown in shedding - At this point I added Fluridil and Oral spironolactone ( started on 25mg, now on 100mg)
December - Longest slowdown in shedding yet
January - Heavy Shed # 3- Same as others, but crown and vertex is MAJORLY affected this time. Pull many strong thick healthy hairs from the crown. Quite a few hair bulbs are covered in a hard clear substance. I upped Fluridil to twice a day here
February - Heavy shedding continued
So three short breaks in hair loss followed by 3 massive sheds. During the sheds, my hair gets noticeably worse week to week. During the short non shedding times, my hair stays almost the same week to week.
Overall, I haven't maintained, and the rate at which I'm losing my hair has actually increased since starting Propecia. The outer temples are totally gone and the inner part of the temples as well as the whole front hairline took a big hit in the second shed and I really can't get over how much hair from my crown I lost in just 2 weeks in this most recent shed. I've had to change my hairstyle several times to accommodate and now I'm at the point where I'm slapping on tons of concealer now just to go out. I can't believe just one year after starting Propecia just to maintain, or at least slow down my loss, I'm at the point where I'm considering trying partial lace hair pieces for my temples and crown.
I'm still going through the third shed as a write this, so what do I do? I've added Topical spironolactone, Fluridil, and now even Oral spironolactone ( a desperation move), and I continue to lose a bunch of hair in these every three and a half months sheds. I was really hoping either the Fluridil or the Oral spironolactone would help prevent this shed, but no. Am I just a victim of major hyperandrogenicity? Besides the oily skin, my facial hair has increased including strange places like my cheeks and earlobes. My lobido hasn't lowered like many report, but it's actually has increased.
I'm thinking of trying the the low dose accutane thing because my sebum production is crazy, and it's obvious that DHT and androgen fighting isn't enough for me. But I'm also thinking of dropping the Propecia because my hair got so much worse so fast just two months after starting it, not just in count but in quality. My hair is just so wiry and kinked now. Besides the acne, my scalp feels like sh*t. Itchy, hot, even painful at times.
I was all prepared to see Propecia through for the full two years even after the first two sheds, but this past month has been really disheartening, so any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
