Should, or should I not...

[So]

I began to notice some diffuse thinning in February 2006, so a little bit after that I decided to give Propecia a whirl.

I've been on Propecia (the real deal) for six months.

• 
  5x months solid
  1x month break
  1x month (back on again, currently)

I stopped after 5 months because my hair has,

• 
  Increased it's rate of shedding, rapidly.
  Lost 50% density so it would seem.
  Shedding from sides, backs, lower sides, lower back has increased dramatically.

I thought Propecia would have at least slowed my rate of loss as opposed to speeding it up. It also seems I can pull hair from my arms quite easily, some eyebrows too. I have temple recession now, with diffuse pattern.

The question that plagues me is as to whether or not I should continue Propecia. I have great density at the beginning of this year and now in less than a year my hair has gone to hell and back a few times.

I have a feeling Propecia makes my situation worse, but I can't produce any conclusive proof other than coincidence.

Whats the consensus?

 

[Guest]

Well upon the first skimming of your post I realized that you are contradicting yourself. If you've been on Propecia for 6 months, but stopped it after 5 months, how does that work? I know you said you took a month ago but still you've only spent 5 CONSECUTIVE months on it. 5 months is not enough time to say that Propecia is making your hair worse. Chances are you were going through a prolonged shed but by ignoring the advice of posters on this forum that has been given time and time again, you stopped the drug, and now your hair may be gone for good.

 

[person_123]

how long do you need to stay on it before you see results? i've heard 6 months minimum. how long maximum though? how long before people should just give up?

i'm only on 3-4 months now, dont' feel like quitting. why would you use it for 5 months, stop, then go back on it?

ot: jayman, where, and how much do you get your cocaine for?

 

[Guest]

how long do you need to stay on it before you see results? i've heard 6 months minimum. how long maximum though? how long before people should just give up?

I guess 21 months

ot: jayman, where, and how much do you get your cocaine for?

It's a joke to make fun of biglemoncoke's inclusion of marijuana in his regimen. I don't really use it. Not enough people realize that though so I'm taking it out.

 

[So]

How have I contradicted myself? I appreciate your not so useful comments.

Be aware Jaydude... That by no means was I ignoring the advice of this board. I have absorbed all information realistically and employed the best use practices however felt it was imperitive that I investigate whether or not Propecia was causing adverse effects.

To better explain again, the only reason why I stopped after 5 months was to see if the shedding would subside and IF it did then I could conclude that Propecia was causing me more harm than good.

Again, at the time I feel I may have been having an adverse reaction to Propecia.

The reason as to why I have started again, was simply doubt, yes, doubting my theory above that Propecia has caused more damage than good. A noteworthy point is that I did not see any decrease or stabilization within that month off.

Oh and you might say 1 month is not long enough to see any decrease in adverse effects and IF that is something you believe, I say BS! The human body can make adjustments rapidly, enough for you to notice within the week.

A good, healthy, fit, balanced body will do that! I consider myself to be just that, healthy, probably more so than most people on this board who employ a standard Western lifestyle without much thought.

Regrowth is not my concern, stopping the shedding is.

From the information I have read, here, there and everywhere, a large majority of people stop their hair loss dead in it's tracks or at least slow down shedding dramatically within a couple of months.

Of course there are people such as in my case who have no results, YET.

Stopping Propecia for one month is not the be all and end all, hell my hair was progressing to this state anyway, right? Yes, I know I'm right because my hair since the beginning of this battle has done nothing more than increase it's rate of speed and aggressiveness and that is one constant I am sure of.

Why on earth people have to stick out Propecia for 12 months before stopping or slowing their hair loss is beyond me.

What Propecia does to your level of DHT happens rather quickly so any benefits should be noticed sooner rather than later.

...and what's this 21 months business? Who in their right mind thinks that after 21 months that Propecia is all of a sudden going to work if it has not already?

If you certainly believe, or GUESS that 21 months is the benchmark figure then at least substantiate your claim.

Cheers buddy. :roll:

 

[person_123]

he's answering my question of: "how long before you know it's not working for you."

21 months is a reasonable estimate. if you regrow nothing over 21 months, it might be time to give up then.

and you have to stay on propecia a long time before you notice benefits because hairs that are regrowing might be regrowing at the roots, inside your scalp, beyond visibility. these hairs are also struggling to grow, so it will take a while for them to get used to the lower dht environment and start to grow strong hairs again.

it's sort of like a tree. if you starve it of nutrients for ages, it will not grow into a great tree in a few days, it would take a few months or years to make it grow into a big strong tree. in many ways, hair is the same. starved of nutrients because of the barrier formed by dht and just because that barrier is weakened, does not mean the hair is going to miraculously strengthen.

shedding is something i completely do not understand. i imagine it to be like this:

the hairs you have shed, are hairs that would have been lost anyway. inside your scalp is a root or seed waiting to grow. this root/seed is what you see later and call regrowth when it actually grows. but for now, all you're noticing is the "would be dead" hair falling out faster. this makes sense in a way. if the old "nearly dead" hair detects that a new hair is growing beneath it, it dies off so that the new hair can have the nutrients it might take up otherwise, so we see that hair fall out and thus we call it a "shed".

i hope this helps you make your decision.

 

[Guest]

he's answering my question of: "how long before you know it's not working for you."

21 months is a reasonable estimate. if you regrow nothing over 21 months, it might be time to give up then.

and you have to stay on propecia a long time before you notice benefits because hairs that are regrowing might be regrowing at the roots, inside your scalp, beyond visibility. these hairs are also struggling to grow, so it will take a while for them to get used to the lower dht environment and start to grow strong hairs again.

it's sort of like a tree. if you starve it of nutrients for ages, it will not grow into a great tree in a few days, it would take a few months or years to make it grow into a big strong tree. in many ways, hair is the same. starved of nutrients because of the barrier formed by dht and just because that barrier is weakened, does not mean the hair is going to miraculously strengthen.

shedding is something i completely do not understand. i imagine it to be like this:

the hairs you have shed, are hairs that would have been lost anyway. inside your scalp is a root or seed waiting to grow. this root/seed is what you see later and call regrowth when it actually grows. but for now, all you're noticing is the "would be dead" hair falling out faster. this makes sense in a way. if the old "nearly dead" hair detects that a new hair is growing beneath it, it dies off so that the new hair can have the nutrients it might take up otherwise, so we see that hair fall out and thus we call it a "shed".

i hope this helps you make your decision.

But if you give up thinking that the meds didn´t give you any good results then you might see a terrible shedding of all the all hair that were saved by your treatments and now are falling out because you stopped your meds. Beware of this situation!

 

[Guest]

sorry i meant 12 months. i was tired and transposed the numbers. 21 months is extreme. 12, sorry.

and taugenichts is right. propecia may be stopping the rate of loss but if it hasn't stopped entirely then i'd consider switching to avodart.