Yeah, it really is completely crushing. After the first month or two on propecia I was thinking I saw some regrowth and was surprised it had happened without any sheds, and then BAM! My hair isn't coming out in clumps or anything (thank god, it was pretty thin already), but it's been an increase in shedding and without regrowth, so it's REALLY, REALLY noticeable. My hair got visibly thinner maybe 3 weeks to a month ago, so I got a different haircut (before then, I would comb my hair straight back with a combover on the temples, which were a bit recessed, now I comb it straight forward and it's fairly long yet hardly goes below my hairline of a few months ago).
Then, I quit folligen, which I'd been applying nightly to the hairline and temples. I figured it wasn't doing anything, since I'd only been on it for about 2-3 months, and my hair was thinning out more anyway, so I figured it might be irritating it or something.
Now, after another 2 or 3 weeks, not only is the remaining frontal hair much thinner, but the front center of my hair has receded at least an inch, as have my temples.
They actually ARE creeping back further every day, I've been keeping measurements on it. Just today, I felt for my front hairline, and discovered there was a slick strip about 1/4" long below it, which was not there a few days ago, meaning it's receded another 1/4" in just THREE DAYS. It's really, really bad. And when it does stop (it will be hard to tell when it does, as there was never a really obvious increase in hair fall), I will have to wait an entire 3 months before I know if it's going to grow back or not. Rgh, rgh rgh. I would just shave my head now and take the plunge, but fortunately I also have a horrible case of dandruff (probably related), not to mention I am very skinny and would look like a prisoner of war. Man, I"m in a bad mood. Three months, I don't know if I can make it
I also don't know if this has ANYTHING to do with folligen, as I didn't think it was doing anything, yet I have lost tons of hair in all the places I was putting it, so maybe it was? I don't know if putting it there on the newly slick areas would do any good now anyway, so I guess I'll just stay off of it for a few months and see if it comes back anyway.
The really funny thing is that I read these forums and basically all the info I could about propecia, and was worried about sexual side effects, yet here I am four months later with none of the more common side effects and the worst possible shed side effects. That's got to be incredible luck, since supposedly the vast majority of propecia users never shed, yet I, the guy who had read about it beforehand, actually get it. And it wasn't some psychologically triggered thing, I completely did not expect this to happen, especially not to the degree it has. It isn't helped by that list done by the dermatologist of the "top myths about hair loss," with one of the very highest being that "propecia sheds are normal and are a good sign."
Also, not helped by the fact that I have less hair than any member of my family at any point in the family tree who's under the age of 70...neither of my grandpas had loss remotely close to as bad as mine before about age 50. Terrible.
