May 21 2009, 8:36 am PT | Posted in: Drugs + Hair Loss Causes
I noticed someone else asking if propecia could accelerate hair loss and wasnt sure if it was possible or not. Both times I started taking propecia I did notice unusual hair loss within a couple of weeks. I understand it could take 6 months to get results but is there a possibility that in the first severall weeks it actually causes loss?
There are some reports of accelerated hair loss from Propecia, but this is probably just accelerated hair cycling and after it takes its course, the growth (anagen) part of the hair cycle will pick up and grow more hair.
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Can the guys who’ve started Propecia on this board let me know how dramatic the shed is? I’m going to start it and want to know what to expect. Are we talking about a dramatic loss?
i’ve been on Propecia for like 6 years and never saw any shedding. i don’t think it actually regrew hair for me (i started it before miniaturization mapping was offered by anyone, so i can’t be 100% sure), but it definitely stopped my hair loss from continuing down the path i was on. no side effects either, which was really my biggest concern being i was 22 at the time i started.
Hey,
I started taking propecia about one year ago. I had a full head of hair but much of that hair was minaturized. Two days after I started I began a huge shed that was probably 100 plus hairs in the shower everyday plus losing hair everywhere for about 8 months with periods where it was half that and periods where it was double that. In the first month or two I probably lost half of my density but still had a relatively full head of hair. After that as much as I shed the density never really changed for better or for worse until about 8 months in when I noticed that the stems of my hair where much darker than the ends. At that point I added rogaine in once a day and my hair improved more in a month than it did in on the 8 on just propecia but I was still shedding huge. Right now after 4 months on Rogaine and 1 year on propecia my hair loss seems to have more or less stopped and I believe that I am now regrowing as my hair seems to improve almost daily and is way thicker than a year ago. I still have some sheds for a week or so every once in a while but my hair always seems improved after those. So I am not sure if the propecia is finally showing or if its the rogaine doing it but I thought I would give my input as I was freaking out when the shedding was happening to me. Read the success stories on some of these forums and many of the people with the best results shed nearly all of the time. Im no doctor but I dont think shedding always means hair loss. Hope this helps Good luck.