Hello everyone,
My name is Ken, and first I want to thank all those who took the time to read this, as I know it's quite long. I also want to apologize up front for no pics, so if you don't want to advise without pics to reference, I understand.
So, about 8-9 years ago when I was 22, I noticed that I was losing hair quite a bit and it was getting noticeable especially around the crown and temples. The dermatologist I visited told me to try Minoxidil before going to Propecia, which I did and actually had good success with it. My crown slowly got denser and my temples stopped thinning out, so I stuck with the minoxidil.
However around July 2008, I noticed I was shedding a lot of hair from my crown and temples again. Sometimes my success with minoxidil is so good that I slack off and don't always use it twice a day every day, so I figured I was losing ground and got back to a twice a day schedule. I kept I monitoring my hair for about 8 months, and over that time my hair continued shedding and my crown/temple areas continuously got worse.
So in March 2009, I got on Propecia while continuing with minoxidil. My goal mainly was to cease the shedding and maintain hair that I have. I was trying to be realistic so I wasn't expecting regrowth, I just wanted to keep what I still had.
I'm about to hit month 9 mark in a week, so here is a month by month account of my experience.
Month 1 to first half on month 2 - no noticeable change in shedding
Second half of month 2 - noticeable slow down in shedding for about 2 weeks. Hair seemed to feel slightly better.
End of month 2/beginning of month 3 - Sudden attack of scalp acne as well as increased facial oiliness and acne. Head is covered with pimples for about 1 week. Major shedding follows.
Month 3 - increased shedding. Temples get noticeably worse and frontal hairline hairline around widow's peak begins to shed.
Month 4 - continued heavy shedding until slowing down at the end of the month
Month 5 - noticeable slow down in shedding. Hair on crown seems better. Many noticeable smaller hairs coming in around temple and widow's peak.
Month 6 - Another sudden increase scalp acne as well as increased facial oiliness and acne. Scalp goes through several waves of pimples lasting over 3 weeks along with major shedding. All of the quarter/half inch hairs that were growing around temples/widow's peak shed as well as increased shedding from all of the frontal hairline. Progress made on crown lost. Experiencing hair shedding from all over scalp including sides and back/neck area. Having acne on back for the first time since high school. Very oily forehead.
Month 7 – Continued Heavy Shedding. Areas on outer temples that I was trying to maintain now mostly gone. Areas that were not a problem before now getting bad.
Month 8 to current– Continued, but inconsistent shedding. Some days 10 - 20 hairs in the shower, some days 50-60+.
The first shed at month 2-3 was bad, but this second shed at month 6 just killed me. I had so may pimples my scalp looked like it had chickenpox. I really can't get over how much hair I've lost from my temples following this one. My frontal hairline other than my temples, which wasn't a concern before starting propecia, is now really thinning out. In fact I'm experiencing diffuse shedding from all over my scalp now. The shedding of the hair on the sides around my ears and back against my neck is particularly disconcerting.
I'm also shedding more and more short hairs, as well as longer hairs that are thick at the tip but about halfway towards the bulb the strand starts getting noticeably thinner. I'm not talking about the last 10%-15% getting thinner which is normal, but 50%&-60%, like the strand is experiencing micronization in one cycle. I googled this and it doesn't seem common to have hair to look like that.
I also experienced increased facial hair growth in odd places like my forehead, cheeks, earlobes, and the place between my eye and the side of my hair.
I haven't had any of the classic side effects like low libido or testicle pain. If anything my libido has increased noticeably. I had bloodwork done, but they all came back good according to my doctor. No thyroid issues.
I tried talking to my derm about reflex hyperandrogenicity as a lot of my symptoms seem to point to that, but she was dismissive of the idea.
I tried the S5 cream from this site for 4 months following the first shed, but gave it up after the second shed as it didn't seem to stop the loss from my hairline at all.
So my question is.... What now?
At this point I want to wait to one year mark before making a definite decision whether to give up on the Propecia, but I'm losing ground so fast, especially at the temples.
If I'm having this much shedding with finasteride, would dutasteride be much help?
Oral spironolactone? I'm schizoid, so I don't have romantic relationships, so any type of sexual side effects aren't a problem for me if the stuff helps my hair.
Based on some of the posts I've read like el_duterino's, RU 58841 sounds really good, and is the thing I'm most interested in trying. I don't mind the cost if it helps save what I have left. Would Elitepharamacy be the place to go for that?
Basically, what is the most aggressive regime I can go for to maintain what I have?
Again, thanks for reading. I appreciate any help.
My name is Ken, and first I want to thank all those who took the time to read this, as I know it's quite long. I also want to apologize up front for no pics, so if you don't want to advise without pics to reference, I understand.
So, about 8-9 years ago when I was 22, I noticed that I was losing hair quite a bit and it was getting noticeable especially around the crown and temples. The dermatologist I visited told me to try Minoxidil before going to Propecia, which I did and actually had good success with it. My crown slowly got denser and my temples stopped thinning out, so I stuck with the minoxidil.
However around July 2008, I noticed I was shedding a lot of hair from my crown and temples again. Sometimes my success with minoxidil is so good that I slack off and don't always use it twice a day every day, so I figured I was losing ground and got back to a twice a day schedule. I kept I monitoring my hair for about 8 months, and over that time my hair continued shedding and my crown/temple areas continuously got worse.
So in March 2009, I got on Propecia while continuing with minoxidil. My goal mainly was to cease the shedding and maintain hair that I have. I was trying to be realistic so I wasn't expecting regrowth, I just wanted to keep what I still had.
I'm about to hit month 9 mark in a week, so here is a month by month account of my experience.
Month 1 to first half on month 2 - no noticeable change in shedding
Second half of month 2 - noticeable slow down in shedding for about 2 weeks. Hair seemed to feel slightly better.
End of month 2/beginning of month 3 - Sudden attack of scalp acne as well as increased facial oiliness and acne. Head is covered with pimples for about 1 week. Major shedding follows.
Month 3 - increased shedding. Temples get noticeably worse and frontal hairline hairline around widow's peak begins to shed.
Month 4 - continued heavy shedding until slowing down at the end of the month
Month 5 - noticeable slow down in shedding. Hair on crown seems better. Many noticeable smaller hairs coming in around temple and widow's peak.
Month 6 - Another sudden increase scalp acne as well as increased facial oiliness and acne. Scalp goes through several waves of pimples lasting over 3 weeks along with major shedding. All of the quarter/half inch hairs that were growing around temples/widow's peak shed as well as increased shedding from all of the frontal hairline. Progress made on crown lost. Experiencing hair shedding from all over scalp including sides and back/neck area. Having acne on back for the first time since high school. Very oily forehead.
Month 7 – Continued Heavy Shedding. Areas on outer temples that I was trying to maintain now mostly gone. Areas that were not a problem before now getting bad.
Month 8 to current– Continued, but inconsistent shedding. Some days 10 - 20 hairs in the shower, some days 50-60+.
The first shed at month 2-3 was bad, but this second shed at month 6 just killed me. I had so may pimples my scalp looked like it had chickenpox. I really can't get over how much hair I've lost from my temples following this one. My frontal hairline other than my temples, which wasn't a concern before starting propecia, is now really thinning out. In fact I'm experiencing diffuse shedding from all over my scalp now. The shedding of the hair on the sides around my ears and back against my neck is particularly disconcerting.
I'm also shedding more and more short hairs, as well as longer hairs that are thick at the tip but about halfway towards the bulb the strand starts getting noticeably thinner. I'm not talking about the last 10%-15% getting thinner which is normal, but 50%&-60%, like the strand is experiencing micronization in one cycle. I googled this and it doesn't seem common to have hair to look like that.
I also experienced increased facial hair growth in odd places like my forehead, cheeks, earlobes, and the place between my eye and the side of my hair.
I haven't had any of the classic side effects like low libido or testicle pain. If anything my libido has increased noticeably. I had bloodwork done, but they all came back good according to my doctor. No thyroid issues.
I tried talking to my derm about reflex hyperandrogenicity as a lot of my symptoms seem to point to that, but she was dismissive of the idea.
I tried the S5 cream from this site for 4 months following the first shed, but gave it up after the second shed as it didn't seem to stop the loss from my hairline at all.
So my question is.... What now?
At this point I want to wait to one year mark before making a definite decision whether to give up on the Propecia, but I'm losing ground so fast, especially at the temples.
If I'm having this much shedding with finasteride, would dutasteride be much help?
Oral spironolactone? I'm schizoid, so I don't have romantic relationships, so any type of sexual side effects aren't a problem for me if the stuff helps my hair.
Based on some of the posts I've read like el_duterino's, RU 58841 sounds really good, and is the thing I'm most interested in trying. I don't mind the cost if it helps save what I have left. Would Elitepharamacy be the place to go for that?
Basically, what is the most aggressive regime I can go for to maintain what I have?
Again, thanks for reading. I appreciate any help.