Conflicting info on finasteride shed? HairLossTalk.com vs. Merck, other sites

[genki21]

I've been on finasteride for almost 4 months now. I went through a shed, not even sure if it's over yet or not, all I know is my hair is thin as hell now!
Anyway, I know I kept reading on here that the shed is normal, and I'll recover,etc.

After clicking the links to the merck website and other doctor sites linked from the merck site I'm getting worried. All the clinical trials they note state patients notice hairloss slowing at the 3 month mark. By month 6 it's stopping, by month 9 it's regrowing. According to the people freaking out on this forum though, it sounds more like by month 3 we notice dramatic hairloss..by month 6 possibly recovering, by month 9 hairloss slowing, etc.

So what gives here? Now I'm starting to freak out since I'm past month three and my hair is so much worse than before. No matter what, by month 6 it's not going to look great. At this rate, if everything starts bouncing back, I hope by month 9 I'll be where I was before starting finasteride.

 

[Cassin]

The vast majority of negative posts are panic posts from people who can't evaluate their situation correctly due to reading hairloss forums too much and not enough studies (facts). If you pay attention, most contradict themselves post by post. Don't worry about it. When I first came here I heard the word "SHED" mentioned like 3 times in 4 months, now thats all you hear. Look up the phrase "Placebo Effect" and you will understand what is going on here.

For a good example, read all the posts by Deaner. No offense Deaner, but c'mon.

EDIT: Here this is a perfect artical, in can work in the negative way too.

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the placebo effect
The placebo effect is the measurable, observable, or felt improvement in health not attributable to treatment. This effect is believed by many people to be due to the placebo itself in some mysterious way. A placebo (Latin for “I shall pleaseâ€

 

[genki21]

Great, so if this isn't a shed I guess I'm F#$ED. Because my hair is a LOT worse than before. After taking finasteride my hair has gotten SUPER THIN. And no it's not in my head either. Before only I noticed some thinning. Now, if I don't wear couvre my hair is see through to the scalp.

I got a haircut and the lady wouldn't cut more of my top off. I asked for shorter hair and she insisted that my hair was TOO thin on top, it would show in through the scalp, etc etc etc B$TCH! YA I KNOW it's thin, that's why I want a buzz cut...damn.

Even my GF who normally tries to get me not to worry has admitted that it's REALLY REALLY thin now, but encourages me by saying the couvre really helps.

So, you see I'm actually HOPING TO GOD THAT THIS IS A SHED and I will recover. If it isn't then I'm screwed, my hairloss is accelerating despite the finasteride and now I basically went from some thinning to being bald.

 

[Cassin]

Well my post certainly didn't go with you as I had planned. :shock:

When it gets down to it bro, 4 months is nothing. I have great results from finasteride and at 4 months I was still looking horrible in the progress catagory. At 4 months I had barely stopped the massive fall out I was having.

 

[Deaner]

LoL cassin, I know, I'm trying to shed that image! I get it now!

 

[helpmefindmyhair]

Genki,

The only valid explanation is that your hairdresser and girlfriend also suffer from the placebo effect. It doesn't even matter if they don't know you're taking propecia. The placebo effect is one powerful mofo.

Honestly, can't we all accept the possibility that propecia has different effects on different people? Some people won't shed, some people will shed a little, some people will shed a lot. We don't all have identical systems. Some people's bodies can better tolerate this stuff than others.

And you can take that placebo effect and turn it around on people that think they're benefitting from propecia. "Hey all you people that say propecia has had a positive effect on your hair, haven't you read about the placebo effect? It's all in your head. Propecia isn't doing jack."

 

[Cassin]

Very true.

But I was more focused on his title

"Conflicting info on finasteride shed? HairLossTalk.com vs. Merck, other sites"

All of these sites have main trends that the posters tend to follow and they see then trend in themselves. His title reflects conflicting reports.

 

[genki21]

cassin: don't worry about it, i know you were trying to lift me up. i know 4 months is nothing and i need to wait it out. it's just really hard and depressing, i'm sure everyone's felt this way on here at one time or another.

i'm just trying to figure out what's going on with my hair. is it a shed that i'll bounce back from even better? or is my hairloss just accelerating and i have false hope that it's just a temp shed i keep reading about. the fact that i read the merck site and other physician's sites, and there is NO mention of hair getting worse kind of freaked me out. along with other posts where people are saying there is no such thing as a finasteride shed!

it's like, i was going through some tough times in my life anyway. i had to change a lot of things, going through relationship issues, money issues, etc..... then bam! god decided to squeeze out an extra trickle of sh!t to land on my ...head of all places =)

biggest mistake in this whole process, was telling my jackass brother. i forgot what a big mouth he has, and how much he likes to embarass others. i was at a family gathering wearing a hat. my hair was long and messy, and i also had some couvre in it, but didn't feel like styling it.

anyway, my aunt tells me i lost weight and to take off my hat to get a better look at me. i say naw that's ok. my brother busts out that i'm just afraid i'm losing my hair! oh gawd. i kinda chuckle and go along with it. i say ya, i think it's getting thinner, oh well.

so i lift my hat up momentarily, and my aunt who is at least 15 feet away is like " why is your hair so DARK? did you put coloring in it??" i quickly put my hat down and play it off casually. i was freaking out because the last thing i needed was to be discovered with freaking black paint in my hair!!!

the lighting at her house is weird...i remember last year she commented on my thinning hair. that was back when i was in self-denial. i swear the lighting at her place is like the light of truth, you can't hide from it. funny thing though, i noticed my bro's hair is really thin too. i mentioned it right then, and he said naw it's just the gel. i now know he's losing it tooo...but he's in self denial. he won't go on any treatments til it's too late. i feel bad for him on one hand...but on the other i can't wait to rub his face in it....

sorry for the rant =)

 

[HairlossTalk]

Genki, did you read the article on shedding we posted a couple months ago?

You're shedding right now. Merck doesn't state that regrowth happens at 9 months and leave it at that. They state that some people may continue to lose hair for up to 1 year, and *then* see results. Very different.

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