Six months of nothing but agony

[Neuro]

I started to use Propecia almost one year ago. I stopped for a couple weeks in May, began to shed, and immediately began using it again. Since May, I have been shedding nonstop from only the top of my head. It now seems like the hairs are getting progressively thinner as they fall out.

Might I conclude that my body now rejects finasteride in this horrible phenotypic way rather than being influenced by it like before?

I want to stop taking Propecia because of what it's doing, but I'm afraid to stop when I think what might happen if I do.


ANY HELP??

 

[barnabas]

No, your conclusion is incorrect, since it didn't start immediately the first time you started taking it. (Unless you switched to some fake version or something when you started retaking it.) Either it's not working for you, or you're going through a shed period that will eventually stop and most probably reverse. But if you're taking genuine propecia, it's NOT causing permanent hairloss, at worst it is simply not stopping it. If you quit it there is NO chance of more improvement than you would have seen staying on it.

 

[Guest]

Might be a reflex hyperandrogenicity

Q: What's reflex hyperandrogenicity?

A: When the effects of androgens in the body are lessened, e.g. through lowering DHT or by systemic hormone receptor blockade, the body seeks equilibrium through a process called upregulation. This can take the form of increased hormone production and/or increased tissue sensitivity to the remaining hormones. The reason side effects usually gradually disappear with finasteride is probably due to such upregulation. In a small percentage of individuals, it may be that this process overshoots the mark, resulting in significant hyperandrogenicity. This is marked by such signs as greatly increased facial oil, increased pimples, and greatly elevated libido. It's possible that in certain cases such hyperandrogenicity overcomes the hair-protective effect of, say, finasteride, though this does not appear to be the case for the vast majority of people.

 

[barnabas]

No, if it was that he would have seen it very close (like, within a week) to when he first started taking it, unless his FIRST batch was fake.

 

[Guest]

Propecia is not making your hair loss worse. It's not. You shouldn't blame your genetics on the drug. There's absolutely no way that it's making your hair worse than it would be otherwise unless it was a reflex hypoandrogenic reaction as Taug said, but then you would have seen it a lot sooner and not after restarting.

 

[JDW]

How can you say that with such authority JayMan? I respect your contribution to the forum but there are several first hand accounts, including my own of it doing just that and with no regrowth. I have lost a huge % of my hair within a few months and as soon as I stopped taking the drug everything went back to normal. Who knows how messing with hormones will affect individuals? ok we're obviously the exceptions to the rule when taking the drug but we ARE exceptions.
Some people have comas induced by paracetamol but however small that percentage of people are, they are out there.

 

[barnabas]

How can you say that with such authority JayMan? I respect your contribution to the forum but there are several first hand accounts, including my own of it doing just that and with no regrowth. I have lost a huge % of my hair within a few months and as soon as I stopped taking the drug everything went back to normal. Who knows how messing with hormones will affect individuals? ok we're obviously the exceptions to the rule when taking the drug but we ARE exceptions.
Some people have comas induced by paracetamol but however small that percentage of people are, they are out there.

Your account falls within this very site's description of the common SUCCESSFUL effects of propecia, you just quit it before you gave it anywhere close to enough time to do anything positive. Same deal with 95% of the people who complain on this subforum, though many of them don't even quit it and who knows what happened to them. The additional recession thing is a bit of a question, but it sounds exactly like that finnish guy's experience who responded to one of your posts.

 

[JDW]

Yeah I see your point but I'll admit it that I'[ve lost my bottle completely
That finnish guy was on minoxidil as well I think which may have stimulated regrowth

 

[barnabas]

Yeah I see your point but I'll admit it that I'[ve lost my bottle completely
That finnish guy was on minoxidil as well I think which may have stimulated regrowth

He was? I thought that at the time of the big shed and regrowth he was only on propecia. I don't remember now though.