Can't Tell How If Thinning, Receding, Or Both?

[Thins]

Whats your hair looking like now?

I've been doing pretty good, I noticed when I started finasteride in the first month or two I had some shooting groin pains, not the ball ache that people said they had, as well as some chest/breast sensitivity. Both of these have gone away now, and in terms of my hair, not much has changed except I think I am thinning a bit more on my left side.

Honestly I'm shedding more hairs right now since starting finasteride which my dermatologist told me can happen; he says normally you begin to see results 3-4 months in at the 1mg dose, so since I just changed to 0.5mg every day he said it could take longer to see noticeable results or halting of hair loss.

I'll attach some pictures of what my hair looks like now, I took these a few days ago. I have a naturally high forehead like you and you can definitely see some thinning in front compared to how my hair looked last year, it was so much thicker :/ I know my hair situation is not as bad as others on here so I'm grateful for what I have and will be totally satisfied to maintain if that's all finasteride ultimately does for me. But who doesn't want to experience thickening + regrowth you know? Hopefully I'll have better results to show after the 6 month mark!

 

[Thins]

UPDATE:

As it's been around 4 months since I've started finasteride, this is my timeline.

AUGUST 1 2018: 0.5mg every other day - had a few side effects, not really ball ache but I had some shooting groin pains that would last about 30 seconds to 1 minute. I had chest and breast sensitivity throughout the entire month I was on it.

SEPTEMBER 1 2018: 0.5mg every day - most of the side effects subsided, was losing some morning wood, but it seems my libido bounced back and now it seems to have increased...also I had some chest tenderness still.

OCTOBER 1 2018: 0.5mg every day - this is when I noticed I was losing way less hairs every time I showered or styled my hair. I was losing around 40-50 every day whenever I showered, but now I only lose around 10-15 per shower.

NOVEMBER 12: 2018: 1mg every day - I switched to 1mg every day because I wasn't really seeing any thickening or regrowth (I know it's rare), but I feel like my hair stabilized and with every haircut I had my hair definitely felt stronger. I used to get around 1-3 hairs each time I ran my hand through my hair but now I barely get 1 unless I vigorously run it through multiple times.

DECEMBER 1 2018: 0.5mg every day - went back to 0.5mg because I noticed after a week on 1mg I started getting painful cysts and inflammatory pustules on my cheeks that my dermatologist said might be the result (although he said it was very unlikely) of hormone changes since I haven't introduced anything new into my system except for the increased dose of finasteride. I have noticed that the left side of my thinning temple looks a bit thicker and that I am seeing a little bit of new hairs on the left side of my front hairline where I was thinning/receding, but it's still thin after showering and I can still see through it a bit. This is good news at least to me it looks like things are slowly but surely improving. Will update when I notice more on the 6-8 month mark.

I also want to note that I have been using generic finasteride for the entire time and that the brands even changed once from my pharmacy.

 

[Northface32]

Thanks for the update .... Continue and hope you have some good results. Gl

 

[recedingornot87]

UPDATE:

As it's been around 4 months since I've started finasteride, this is my timeline.

AUGUST 1 2018: 0.5mg every other day - had a few side effects, not really ball ache but I had some shooting groin pains that would last about 30 seconds to 1 minute. I had chest and breast sensitivity throughout the entire month I was on it.

SEPTEMBER 1 2018: 0.5mg every day - most of the side effects subsided, was losing some morning wood, but it seems my libido bounced back and now it seems to have increased...also I had some chest tenderness still.

OCTOBER 1 2018: 0.5mg every day - this is when I noticed I was losing way less hairs every time I showered or styled my hair. I was losing around 40-50 every day whenever I showered, but now I only lose around 10-15 per shower.

NOVEMBER 12: 2018: 1mg every day - I switched to 1mg every day because I wasn't really seeing any thickening or regrowth (I know it's rare), but I feel like my hair stabilized and with every haircut I had my hair definitely felt stronger. I used to get around 1-3 hairs each time I ran my hand through my hair but now I barely get 1 unless I vigorously run it through multiple times.

DECEMBER 1 2018: 0.5mg every day - went back to 0.5mg because I noticed after a week on 1mg I started getting painful cysts and inflammatory pustules on my cheeks that my dermatologist said might be the result (although he said it was very unlikely) of hormone changes since I haven't introduced anything new into my system except for the increased dose of finasteride. I have noticed that the left side of my thinning temple looks a bit thicker and that I am seeing a little bit of new hairs on the left side of my front hairline where I was thinning/receding, but it's still thin after showering and I can still see through it a bit. This is good news at least to me it looks like things are slowly but surely improving. Will update when I notice more on the 6-8 month mark.

I also want to note that I have been using generic finasteride for the entire time and that the brands even changed once from my pharmacy.

What made you switch from 0.5mg EOD to ED?

 

[Thins]

What made you switch from 0.5mg EOD to ED?

just so I could have a consistent dose of finasteride every day, my dermatologist actually recommended me to do 0.5mg everyday but I was apprehensive so I started off with EOD first. Didn't really notice an increase in any other side effect except maybe increased acne! But I think that's due to the hormonal changes my body was undergoing because of the DHT inihbition! Just my own observations!

 

[Thins]

Just wanted to post an update for January, hope everyone had a happy new years! I'm still on 0.5mg every day but unfortunately even though I am losing less hairs on the shower, I am still thinning on the left side :/ It seems to be really really slow but I can see my hairs looking thinner and thinner on the left side every month. It would probably be more effective if I took 1mg everyday but I can't handle the side effects so 0.5mg will have to do.

Though I am still thinning on the left side, I hope within the 6 month or 1 year mark that I'll start to see some improvement, whether that's cessation of thinning or even thickening of existing hairs, I'll let you guys know what happens!

 

[Eman25]

Hey everyone, just made an account cause I need some opinions as to what is going on with my hair and what I should do. A little background info: 26 year old Asian male, baldness is common in my family. Dad always had thin hair and started losing hair at 26, became very thin on top with thick sides; his hair loss stopped at 30 and began again in his 40s. He started using finasteride at 48 but by that time he had very thin hair and just wanted to keep what he had left. Dad said I have thicker hair + more then he ever did at my age. My hair is a combination of my mom and dad, but on my mom's side my maternal grandfather started losing hair at 40 and became bald on top by 58, but had lots of hair on the sides still. Uncles and relatives follow the same bald on top, thick on sides hair pattern except for my mom's brother and the one odd uncle who both have a full head of hair.

Recently started noticing that I began losing a lot more hair in the shower and when combing/styling, turned 26 a few months ago and after a haircut saw that my temples have lost a lot of density and had began to recede more than I thought. I have always had a high hairline and a big forehead so in terms of frontal recession I'm not sure if there is any, but in terms of temple recession I definitely feel like I've had some and a lot of thinning of the temples too, especially on the left side (less density and miniaturization, you can see a lot of skin on the left side of my temples).

I've attached some pictures (these photos were taken last week after a haircut) and would like to hear from you guys what you all think? I went to a dermatologist who did say I had very mild temple recession but no hairloss or thinning on the crown and frontal areas. He does not recommend propecia yet as it is a lifelong commitment and has told me to try minoxidil. What do you all think based on these pictures? Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you for your time!

Check out my latest post. I’m in the same boat

 

[ToLGuy]

Just wanted to post an update for January, hope everyone had a happy new years! I'm still on 0.5mg every day but unfortunately even though I am losing less hairs on the shower, I am still thinning on the left side :/ It seems to be really really slow but I can see my hairs looking thinner and thinner on the left side every month. It would probably be more effective if I took 1mg everyday but I can't handle the side effects so 0.5mg will have to do.

Though I am still thinning on the left side, I hope within the 6 month or 1 year mark that I'll start to see some improvement, whether that's cessation of thinning or even thickening of existing hairs, I'll let you guys know what happens!

Add microneedling to your regime and you will have much better odds of winning the battle in the long term, considering you are already on finasteride.

 

[Thins]

thought I'd post another update since it's been 6 months since I started finasteride.

Unfortunately all the "thickening" and "regrowth" I thought I was getting was just wishful thinking, because as of my last haircut today I can finally see that my frontal hairline has continued to recede and thin out and it's much thinner than the photos I took in August 2018. Continuing to get acne while on finasteride which is frustrating, so now I have thinning/recession and a mild pizza face...Going to see my Dermatologist next week to see what the next steps to take are, or maybe just stop it altogether and let nature run its course :/ or I might even just shave my head to see how I look so I can stop thinking and constantly be anxious and stressed about my hairloss, which I know for sure isn't helping.

Not sure who's still following this post but just wanted to let you guys know my situation, still on Finasteride 0.5mg 6 days a week, I take 1 day off in between.

 

[Thins]

wanted to give an 11 month update: I've continued to take 0.5mg finasteride everyday, however I've also continued to thin and recede on the frontal part of my hairline; it's probably receded about a cm or so? And I've noticed my hair is a lot less dense when I run my hands through it and it's getting harder to style. Unfortunately it seems that I just don't seem to be a very good responder to the medication...

I've tried moving up to 1mg but I notice that I start to get a slight burning sensation in my bladder and that I have to be frequently urinate, I'm talking like every hour when I move up to this dose. This alongside some acne outbreaks are the only symptoms I notice when I move up to 1mg, libido is still fine as far as I can tell.

I'll keep taking finasteride since I don't have too severe side effects and see if anything it at least slows it down considerably until I can afford a hair transplant or gain the confidence to just let it go.

Anyways this was my update, I'll continue to update this thread if I notice any changes, or lack thereof.

 

[Thins]

Me again, thought I'd give an update in 2023, although I'm not sure who else will read this, hopefully it can be of help to someone who's going through the same thing.

It's been around 5 years since I've taken finasteride, throughout this time I've consistently been taking 0.5mg every single day, with some random missed days here or there.

My hairline has continued to slowly recede and the overall density/thickness of the hair has definitely thinned out. I will say that my hair would probably be a lot worse now without it, seeing as my father already was a norwood 4-5 by the time he was my age (I'm 31 now). I would say currently I'm at a norwood 3 or 3A, with continual but slow forehead recession and gradual thinning all over. Luckily my to-be fiancé doesn't care about hair, but personally for me I care and it affects my self-esteem and confidence a lot.

My next step is probably a hair transplant, which I'll get my partner to water my head for me during the healing stages . Her uncle ended up getting a hair transplant and recovered from a full norwood 7 to a norwood 2, albeit the hair on top is still a bit thin, but he has a solid hairline now.

My goal for the hair transplant would probably be to just lower the hairline a tad and just try to maintain overall thickness of what I have. I don't mind having a buzzcut or a shaved head either but would like to have the illusion of a solid hairline. I'll update this thread again once I get to the point of having to get a hair transplant, so until then, I hope this post can help anyone going through a similar situation.

TLDR; Finasteride works but is not a complete cure. Hair has continued to recede and thin over the 5 years I've been taking it. Next step is hair transplant once my hair gets worse.