"Shedding" 5 months in on finasteride 1.25mg - normal?

[Thyme]

Hello. As the topic title suggests, I have been on finasteride 1.25mg (Proscar via pill cutter) for 5 months. For what it's worth, I am 25 years old, and have not tried any treatments before now. My hair began to recess/thin maybe three years ago, but the thinning has progressed incredibly slowly. Up until very recently, my hair seemed to have been enjoying very minor improvements on Finasteride, but nothing major, and I certainly wasn't losing any hair. I was confident that I would see great results at the 1 year+ mark.

However, not more than a week ago, I realized that my frontal region was horribly thin - to create some imagery, the hair loss I had experienced there before looked 80% dense compared to areas of no hair loss, and now it looks like it's at 25%. I genuinely cannot recall noticing anything even remotely similar two weeks ago, nor have I noticed my hair falling out in "clumps" - it falls out at its usual rate, as far as I can tell, and comes mostly from the sides (my hair is very thick, where it hasn't thinned, and so naturally sheds constantly).

I have read several times that there is a shedding phase associated with Finasteride, but typically it's reported as being within the first 1-3 months. Is this a normal reaction at this point in the treatment?

Also, for what it's worth, I have been very good about taking my medication every day. I have only missed a handful of days since I started (forgetfulness on a busy day, etc.), though I am not particularly diligent about taking the medication at the same time every day. I have read that this is important, and I am trying to get better about it. None-the-less, my issue is extremely sudden.

If you've managed to survive my essay, does anyone have any insight or come into contact with another person who has experienced something like this? Because of the severity, suddenness and lateness, I am a little freaked out.

Thanks for reading.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

I feel like I've been shedding a little and I am also 5 months in.

I've never had "big" sheds but I've been losing a lot of hairs the past week and over the weekend my "itch" came back on my scalp, but it's gone now.

It does seem most of the hairs I am losing are tiny or thin, so hopefully they'll all grow back.

 

[Crabs&shrimps.INC]

I'm 6 months in now and I've just gone through a 2 month shed. My hair looks almost the same, but i'm loosing at least 200 hairs a day - that's alot and i never shed more than a maximum of 100 hairs. But ppl tell me that it's a good sign and if these hairs come in thicker and fuller, it will be the whole shed worth it. So keep up the meds for at lest 1 year and expect the worst from your shed. Almost everyone with success goes through devastating sheds before having succes, so you just have to wait it out

 

[starspangledcannon]

Dude, this exact same thing has happened to me. We pretty much have the exact same scenario. I'm 23 w/ thick hair except in front where I can tell it was becoming thinner so I started taking the exact same dose of finasteride and the same thinning happened in the front. This is actually the exact reason I started looking at forums. I've been on the pill since June, however I went on holiday for 2 1/2 weeks and forgot them in July. However I've taken them almost everyday since, but also not at the exact same time. I'm pretty worried about the "shedding" thing bc I'm not entirely sure what the word entails.

I'm also using Nizoral shampoo which is supposed to help scalp health, however whenever I feel my scalp I can feel certain follicles that feel "different" than the others, almost like a sandy texture. With a little bit of prodding they fall out.

Unfortunately I don't have any good news for "down the road" yet at least, however I was wondering if you are having the same weird feeling follicles happen to you? Best of luck and hope to hear from you.