Desperate need of reassurance!!

[Lito2]

here is the link to my success story
http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/showthread.php/98508-Do-you-guys-see-progress-!

A few weeks ago I posted to the "success" boards showing my progress. I started taking proscar in November, but I wasn't consistent on taking it daily nor was I consistent with the dose - taking .5mg to .25 mg eod or every third day. This was due to the side effects I was experiencing. In Mid January I started to take 1.25mg daily for the first time, and have not missed a single dose since. I also started taking letrozole at the exact same time, which is what allowed for my side effects to disappear. The last week in February and all of March I counted how many hairs I shed each day religiously - ranging from 60-90 and never going over 100. It was phenomenal. I also started to notice growth. But, in middle of March I started to slowly wean off of letrozole while I continued to take finasteride - hoping my side effects wouldn't return. The great news is my side effects haven't returned and I have been of letrozole for about a month. The bad news, I have been consistently shedding 130-160 hairs daily since early April! I'm freaking out, and have no idea what to think or what to do! Is it that my male pattern baldness is too strong? Is this a another shed from finasteride because I upped my dose in Jan? Or is it the hormone fluctuation I experienced coming off letrozole?! Desperately want reassurance!

 

[Contributed]

Looks good

 

[Lito2]

Bump!

 

[jgray201]

Why were on you on letrozole - gyno? So of course its impossible to say with certainty but i have some experience of this. Everytime i have ever added or taken away to my regimen i have experienced some shedding, but with the way the body works this won't happen immediately, i believe it takes a while for changes to affect your hair. From my understanding Letrozole is very bad for hair, so it may be that you are now suffering from that; or it could simply be that dropping letrozole has altered hormone levels which is causing you to shed. From my own experience, i have used SERMS like Ralox and Tamox in the past for bouts of gyno. Now both of these affect Testosterone levels and i tried to minimise the time i was on them. However, i would always get some kind of shedding, even when dropping them. But did always recover.

 

[Lito2]

Why were on you on letrozole - gyno? So of course its impossible to say with certainty but i have some experience of this. Everytime i have ever added or taken away to my regimen i have experienced some shedding, but with the way the body works this won't happen immediately, i believe it takes a while for changes to affect your hair. From my understanding Letrozole is very bad for hair, so it may be that you are now suffering from that; or it could simply be that dropping letrozole has altered hormone levels which is causing you to shed. From my own experience, i have used SERMS like Ralox and Tamox in the past for bouts of gyno. Now both of these affect Testosterone levels and i tried to minimise the time i was on them. However, i would always get some kind of shedding, even when dropping them. But did always recover.

Yes, I started to take letro for gyno onset caused by hormonal changes when I started finasteride. I have had no gyno symptoms since. I also agree with you, and I think the hormonal changes I experienced from getting on and off letro were extreme. My testosterone nearly doubled while I was on letro - from 795 to nearly 1500 in a month. The second month on letro my estrogen also dropped really low - lower than me and my endo were aiming for. Then I weaned back off and I assume my hormones dropped again - causing another drastic shift. It probably also doesn't help that I more than quadrupled my finasteride dose mid January - from .25-1.25 daily. None the less, I'm trying really hard to not count hairs and go solely off progress pictures instead. My progress procures show improvement to me, and maintenance at worst. So I guess I just have to be ok with that.

 

[Thespain]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but getting on letro was a BAD idea especially if you're male pattern baldness prone. I'm still hoping I can recover from using Raloxifene, which is way milder then letro.

Also, have you noticed shedding elsewhere? Like, lighlty run your fingers through your eyebrows, other bodyhair etc... I believe ralox gave me telogen effuluvium, which can be a possibility for you too.

 

[Lito2]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but getting on letro was a BAD idea especially if you're male pattern baldness prone. I'm still hoping I can recover from using Raloxifene, which is way milder then letro.

Also, have you noticed shedding elsewhere? Like, lighlty run your fingers through your eyebrows, other bodyhair etc... I believe ralox gave me telogen effuluvium, which can be a possibility for you too.

If if there was any other way short of spending $11,000 on gyno surgery to help me deal with the sides - I definitely would have. Letro has allowed me to take finasteride at the recommended dose without experiencing the side effects I was before. So I had to pick my poison - slowly but surely go bald over the next two years, or take letro and risk increased shedding Temporarily. I initially had great results with finasteride (check my success thread above), so I am just trying to have confidence in finasteride in that it will allow me to recover with out issue. Eye brows and lashes have seemed to be shedding, but I have plenty of those hairs to spare. My endo and hair Doctor both stated that if the shed I am experience is caused by the hormone fluctuation of letro, the I should definitely recover and continue to make progress on finasteride. I'm avoiding hair counting currently. Ha

 

[Dench57]

If if there was any other way short of spending $11,000 on gyno surgery

Is it being performed by the Sultan of Brunei or something?

 

[Lito2]

The actual surgery itself is 7 grand. If I got it done I'd get it done by arguably the best "gyno surgeon" - dr Blau in New York. The trip there such as my flight, hotel, and lost wages for the week I was out makes up the remainder.