Shedding/Itchy is this normal

[thinning_esteem]

Ok been on minoxidil for 1 1/2 months twice daily.
I appear to be shedding in the front. At least I hope. I apply it religiously to the mid hairline, and just today I noticed a bald patch about 2 cm long where the hair has fallen out. Will it come back.
Also me head is quite itchy. I try to avoid scratching it but when I do I am scratching hairs out.
Is this a normal reaction to minoxidil?

 

[WorldofWarcraft]

Ok been on minoxidil for 1 1/2 months twice daily.
I appear to be shedding in the front. At least I hope. I apply it religiously to the mid hairline, and just today I noticed a bald patch about 2 cm long where the hair has fallen out. Will it come back.
Also me head is quite itchy. I try to avoid scratching it but when I do I am scratching hairs out.
Is this a normal reaction to minoxidil?

/sarcasm You are experiencing a shed on minoxidil? Wow, this is so rare, nobody has ever had a shed from minoxidil before. This is totally unheard of. Wouldn't it be weird if one day so many people reported sheds on minoxidil that a hairloss website created a section called "Shedding Shedding Shedding" were people could discuss this common occurance?

In all seriousness, you are just experiencing a shed that many many many others do. Of course the hair grows back. Why would so many people stick to minoxidil if the sheds were permanent?

 

[lain]

Yah I been on minoxidil for 9 weeks and it has thinned out half my hairline (which is where I apply it). Seems that everyday I wake up and look in the mirror the hairline is more diffuse than before.

I will post some pics on the weekend in my "my story" thread. Hopefuly the camera picks up what I can see. I dont think that people post enough of before & after shed pics so that we can guage what to expect from a shed.

Anyway a shed could last up to 3 months... so heres hoping that I only have under 3 weeks left of shedding. From what I understand regrowth from a shed hair can take up to 100 days to be visible again.

A positive note though is that I have new hair growing in previously bald spots.

I strongly suggest that you re-read the sticky thread in this section as it has helped me to find assurance that things are going to plan and will get better.

 

[thinning_esteem]

I read the sticky on shedding...it's just the itchiness that I'm finding so hard to deal with. I was just hoping it wasn't a bad reaction of any sort.
Remember it's the 2% not the 5%.
It's really hard not to scratch at it, and when I do I see little blonde baby hairs on my finger tips.
nizoral doesn't seem to help for more than a few hours. Would it be safe to use it daily until the itching stops?

 

[WorldofWarcraft]

I read the sticky on shedding...it's just the itchiness that I'm finding so hard to deal with. I was just hoping it wasn't a bad reaction of any sort.
Remember it's the 2% not the 5%.
It's really hard not to scratch at it, and when I do I see little blonde baby hairs on my finger tips.
nizoral doesn't seem to help for more than a few hours. Would it be safe to use it daily until the itching stops?

If you arent taking 1 mg of finastride daily, then you itching could be the DHT, not the minoxidil.

Before I got on any treatments, the areas in which my hair was falling out was very itch and flakey and greasy.

Once I got on finastride, the oily skin and scalp, the constant itching that felt itchy just under the scalp, and the flakes of crusty grains of skin stopped 100%. It was a freakin miracle.

If you are just on minoxidil, then DHT is still bombarding your scalp.

 

[Far Too Young]

Yeah, two weeks on finasteride, and the itchy/inflamed scalp has more or less dissipated. Inflammation as a factor in male pattern baldness is rather downplayed on this site, I feel. It's more of an indicator of scalp condition that how much you're shedding (that is, shedding is a reflection of your scalp condition 2-3 months ago, inflammation mirrors fairly recent irritation). People on here don't support Tom Hagerty's Scalp Exercises, but I do them daily. I swear that as soon as I feel that little pain about my vertex and do a good 15 minute "scalp workout" it works miracles. Scalp Exercises alone probably won't fix your inflammation problem, but they're a nice addition to Nizoral and finasteride.

Also, the foam helps quite a bit. (Though it seems to be causing a little breakage.)

 

[So]

Fish and Borage Oil are good for inflammation. They work for me.