looking worse before I look better?

[He-Bat]

I have been on minoxidil 2% for almosr 3 months, just switced to 5% and I am still shedding alot. I started shedding after 1.5 week and it's still going on. I am starting to notice alot of very thin hairs that were not there before. They are not very impressive but they are growing longur, not thicker though. BUT, my hair looks worse than it did before I started the minoxidil. My question is; why does my hair look so much thinner now even if I have started to grow alot of new hairs?? It doesn't make sense?

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Some people on here have experienced this. If the shed is from the minoxidil, the good news is that if you ever stop, all the hairs un-affected by male pattern baldness will grow back the way they were pre-treatment.

I'd stick it out. Some people have had better luck by reducing the amount of minoxidil they put on by a small amount (I've seen some people putting 3ml a day and they go down to 2 or 1.5 and things work better for them)

 

[Abvincent1]

He-Bat I am right there with you. This Rogaine Foam has nearly wiped my head out in a matter of 5 weeks. I have stayed with it as advised, but I am beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just shave it off and give in to the heredity Gods. :sobbing:

 

[done]

Seems like there aren't many answers on the net, just a lot of people with bad results :thumbdown2: ...Been 5 weeks since I started taking finasteride, i think. I've gone from very minor hair thinning to losing 60-70 percent of all my hair in no time. Completely shocked, I was never expecting something like this. I've heard about minor sheds, but not this. Seems like it's a risk not worth taking, but i'm forcing myself to stick with it. i have no idea why, but i guess i might as well go all the way.

 

[Abvincent1]

Good luck with the finasteride. I took that a few years back and it nearly destroyed my sex drive. I couldn't take it any more, so I gave it up in months. I don't recall a shed with the finasteride however. Now with Rogaine Foam, that is an entirely different story. I started it 6 weeks ago now, and shed like crazy. It has gotten better now, as it seems I am not shedding at all any more---of course, after I damn near lost all my hair maybe that is why I am not shedding, there isn't any more to shed.
:shakehead:

 

[done]

Good luck with the finasteride. I took that a few years back and it nearly destroyed my sex drive. :

:shock: now you're beginning to scare me. It wasn't permanent though, was it?

btw, a question(sorry if i'm hijacking this thread) if I've lost this amount of hair because of the drug in just the first month(about 50 percent of what I had), would i get any of that back if I stop the drug? or is it gone forever. Meaning, would it go back to where it would be if i hadn't taken the drug?

 

[Abvincent1]

Drugs do different things to different people. I will say No, it never came back WHILE I WAS ON THE DRUG---I only took it a few months and bet I had a desire for sex once or twice during that period (I was 30-31 at the time). Which is why I quit. Sorry, but my sex life meant far more to me than my hair. But that doesn't mean you will experience it, it happened almost immediately to me. As for the hair you lost, from what i am reading (for what its worth), when you start these medicines you go through a shed. I have for about 5 weeks on Rogaine Foam. Mine has since stopped---granted I lost a lot so maybe there just isn't any left to lose! Less than 2 months ago no one could tell I was even losing my hair, now I look half bald (literally).

But, I stay with it, and I suggest you should too, assuming you don't face the awful side effects I did. I will NEVER take finasteride again, so I am hoping Rogaine works. :woot:

 

[done]

I totally agree with you about your sex life being more important, no question about that.. I've been reading about other side effects of finasteride, and it's beginning to creep me out. and now this:
http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=56678&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
might be reassuring for some:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15361986

Might very well be a coincidence, sure, but I don't know if I want to gamble with something like that.

when you start these medicines you go through a shed.

yes, but what I'm wondering is if what I've shed so far(about a month) is hair that I would lose forever if I stop taking finasteride right now, or will some of it grow back?

 

[mpbsux20]

If you dont have sexual sides,dont make it worse for yourself by imagining things that you read online.If you have genuine problems,then stop the drug.Shedding due to finasteride usually results in healthy regrowth.