male pattern baldness Hair Looking Great - Shedding From The Sides. Is This Normal?

[Dirty_Harry]

Hi to you all! First timer here..
So, started Propecia 8 months ago Norwood ~2 with receding temples and hairline. Massive shed all over my head on male pattern baldness areas and even on the sides and around ears for 1,5 months. After that great regrowth and very good results, I mean real good. Between now and then I experience small sheds but I come back even better, but the last month I realized that I'm shedding/thinning only on the sides (especially on the left) below temple points, even if that type of shed stopped after the first 1.5 month.Hairs on the top,crown, back and in the safe zone looking absolutely great and new regrowth is happening on the temples. So, what is going on?
-Is this some kind of Telogen Effluvium?
-I've read that hair on the sides, nape and bodyhair are depended on DHT, if that so does everybody pretty much experience this kind of shedding to a degree till all the follicles adapt to the new situation? It's reasonable that someone is focusing only on male pattern baldness areas...
-male pattern baldness also involves hairs on the sides and the back, that's a fact, but before finasteride I was pretty thick there. Maybe there's a "natural" finasteride shedding going on after all though I doubt it.

What do you guys think?

 

[julien1200]

Hey Harry,

Personally I started finasteride 12 years ago (I was 20, I am gonna be 32 this year).
Never had any sides, but my hairloss has always been a rollercoaster, my hairline receded a bit but globally i maintened super well.

Today I am on this website as I am stressed, I combed my hair from the back and probably lost 200 hairs on what sheet of paper. Also many from really the back, supposed safe zones.
An insane amount ! :s but all hairs are thick and long wich reassured me.

I also started finasteride gel 3 months ago so it is maybe the shedding. All my life I have got period of heavy shedding. But globally my hair are still better than when i started and even than when i was a child and had very thin fair.

You have no choice than to stick with it. If you stop it is sure, you will loose hair over time.
So ride out the shedding even if I know how stressing and annoying it is

Best

 

[Dirty_Harry]

I know how annoying a shed can be, I don't freak out about loosing some hairs. But the fact that my whole left side is shedding and thinning in a diffuse pattern and I can see through the scalp really scares me. It's not normal! Plus the lack of information about Finasteride can drive you nuts. People just say "I'm shedding pretty much", those who post about telogen effluvium or shedding from the sides or nape, never come back to post what happened. So what's going on?

 

[Dirty_Harry]

Shedding or thinning on the sides stabilized, neither bad or good, but as I passed the 8 month mark on finasteride I'm experiencing my second great shed. The problem is mainly in the areas that I recovered well but not anything like the first massive shed. I've been reading everywhere that people experience those 6-8-10 month sheds after regrowth and I shouldn't be worried, but guess what...Have any of you, long term users, had these type of shed and bounced back better? Unfortunately all I can find online are incomplete stories...

 

[Dirty_Harry]

Just finished 100 pages of threads. Found a lot of guys complaining about a second shed at 8 month - 1 year mark after regrowth, but NO ONE came back to post. This is unbelievable, so many people going through that shed and they share so limited info. I'm really going crazy cause I truly believe that although some people have great early regrowth, after a while the drug can't keep with male baldness... So ANYONE who had same experience please share! There are so many of us going through that "8 month" shed and even if I see everywhere that it's ok and the hair will come back better, there is no data to back it up.

 

[hairblues]

Hey Harry,

Personally I started finasteride 12 years ago (I was 20, I am gonna be 32 this year).
Never had any sides, but my hairloss has always been a rollercoaster, my hairline receded a bit but globally i maintened super well.

Today I am on this website as I am stressed, I combed my hair from the back and probably lost 200 hairs on what sheet of paper. Also many from really the back, supposed safe zones.
An insane amount ! :s but all hairs are thick and long wich reassured me.

I also started finasteride gel 3 months ago so it is maybe the shedding. All my life I have got period of heavy shedding. But globally my hair are still better than when i started and even than when i was a child and had very thin fair.

You have no choice than to stick with it. If you stop it is sure, you will loose hair over time.
So ride out the shedding even if I know how stressing and annoying it is

Best

I just started topical finasteride I am a woman but not having kids so my Dr said I can try it before starting oral meds in Fall if this does not work

What is your experience with topical finasteride?

Mine is not a gel its alcohol based (ethanol) I believe. Have to double check.