# Men's Hair Loss > Men's Hair Loss: Start Your Own Topic >  Hey guys 7 and 1/2 month update Propecia

## heynow1234

Hey guys hope everything is going good for everyone.  I started propecia on Jan 15 2009 its now Sept 3rd.  When i started i said that i would try to keep you guys updated if anyone was interested.  So heres what I have so far:

Regime:
1mg propecia daily in the morning
Nizoral 1 % once or twice a week
Used nioxin shampoo and conditioner for about 6 months dont reall use it anymore.


Well the heres the monthly break down

month 1 and 2:  nothing really 
month 3:  Hairline tanked
month 4 and mid 5:  seems to stabilize
Month mid 5 and 6:  the hairs that i shed since starting the drug were comming back  in the hairline,  best way to describe is hair was pretty close to a NW3 and new hair all in the area of going back to a NW2.  The growth was obvious, others could clearly see it.  I was pumped
Last couple weeks:  hair seems like it might be crappy out again, not sure, everyday i change my mind.  there are def new hairs not at the temples but in the frontal part of the hairline.  However i feel like the other hair in the front may be thinner.

Hope this makes sense and isnt confusing.  In summary i would say my hair is a little worse than it was a year ago, but i guess thats to be expected as im only 7 1/2 months in.

The thing that confuses me and will prob seem crazy to you guys is that i have all these new hairs (real hairs, thick and long)  however my hairline really hasnt improved and actually seems to have gotten alittle worse.  Does anyone else have any experience like this.

My outlook now is this:  Propecia is def doing something cause i have these new hairs, however i feel that i prob wont get great results.  I have the feeling that in the end its just gonna slow it down maybe buy me another 2 years. Thanks for listening!

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## John P. Cole, MD

I think most stabilize on Propecia, if that.  Very few have remarkable results.  I think you are in the group where you quite simply do not know what is happening either good or bad.  Many patients seem to stabilize, but it could be that their hair loss simply settles in for a time only to progress later on.  In other words, your hair loss may accelerate in due course independent of the Propecia.  Merck really has something going.  When your hair loss stops for a period of time, Merck claims the credit.  It could be that it was going to settle down for a time without Propecia.  Unless you see real improvement, you don't know.  No loss could be mother nature or a drug affect.   Either way, Merck makes out and eventually you loose.

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## Buckerine11

That's great to hear that you're noticing at least some effects from Propecia. For me, I was on it for about 7 months, and I didn't notice much change, if any at all. But, more importantly, I was starting to experience some sexual side effects, as well as a bit of gynecomastia. I've stopped it for about a month and a half now, and things seemed to have returned to normal (mostly, anyways).

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## smileyface19

Hey dude,

little different regime but i'm just coming into month 7 and i can feel so many new terminal hairs coming in all over my scalp. It feels amazing, my hair is a bit longer but i can feel these smaller hairs sprouting all over my head, including in the front. The most exciting feeling...

I use finasteride halved every second day and minoxidil 5% twice daily, and switch up the shampoos constantly making sure to t-gel (anti-inflamatory) 3 times a week. 

Honestly, I have a good feeling that most of the hair that I have lost within the last year at least is coming back, maybe even more and my hair dresser said that whatever i'm doing is making a huge difference. 

I also forgot to mention that I'm pretty young at 19 years of age. Try Propecia (AS LONG AS YOU ARE AWARE OF THE SIDE-AFFECTS and are prepared to use it until it stops working for you completely).

I did notice that my mood changed quite often and i'm sure that it has to do with this drug being that it ****s up your hormones.

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## heynow1234

Hey guys thanks for the responses,  one great thing for sure is that i never experienced any side effects for propecia.  I dont really know what to say about my hair, there are def new real hairs but like i said my hair actually looks alittle worse.   Anyway I pretty much agree with the doc when he says i fall into the area of not really knowing what the heck is happening to my hair right now.  I will say that merck pretty much has me as a customer until my hair is gone,  i will be too afraid to get off the drug for fear that my hair will completly tank.  That being said im 7 and 1/2 months in and there is still plenty of time for my hair to improve, maybe!  

Just out of curiousity, should i maybe look into rogaine.   To be honest I can't see myself using it twice a day, and im horrified about the horrendous intial shed.  Anyway thanks for listening!

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## sleep_flower05

> Hey dude,
> 
> little different regime but i'm just coming into month 7 and i can feel so many new terminal hairs coming in all over my scalp. It feels amazing,


 
hey smiley face....i think i have the same thing on my scalp...i hope they are new hairs...could they be just old hair that have miniaturised though?

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## J_B_Davis

> Hey guys thanks for the responses,  one great thing for sure is that i never experienced any side effects for propecia.  I dont really know what to say about my hair, there are def new real hairs but like i said my hair actually looks alittle worse.   Anyway I pretty much agree with the doc when he says i fall into the area of not really knowing what the heck is happening to my hair right now.  I will say that merck pretty much has me as a customer until my hair is gone,  i will be too afraid to get off the drug for fear that my hair will completly tank.  That being said im 7 and 1/2 months in and there is still plenty of time for my hair to improve, maybe!  
> 
> Just out of curiousity, should i maybe look into rogaine.   To be honest I can't see myself using it twice a day, and im horrified about the horrendous intial shed.  Anyway thanks for listening!


 This is how Propecia works for a lot of guys. You kind of dont know if its working or not for a long time and then you realize that you still have the same amount of hair 2 years later. :Smile: 
If you start Rogaine you really have to commit to it and you will probably shed hair at the begin so be prepared.

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## mikey79

> Hey guys hope everything is going good for everyone.  I started propecia on Jan 15 2009 its now Sept 3rd.  When i started i said that i would try to keep you guys updated if anyone was interested.  So heres what I have so far:
> 
> Regime:
> 1mg propecia daily in the morning
> Nizoral 1 % once or twice a week
> Used nioxin shampoo and conditioner for about 6 months dont reall use it anymore.
> 
> 
> Well the heres the monthly break down
> ...


 hey man i feel as though i am in the same boat as you...not too sure what to do next. i have actually kept a picture journal , i wanted to post them, what is the best way to do so..

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## party

any update guys? are you going to stay on propecia?

i am taking for a receding hairline and have been taking since Nov 08. That means i have been on it for about a year now (possibly 18 months but for the first 6 months i was taking with st johns wort which I hear can cause a decrease in effectiveness.

Anyway my hair was really good (maintaining more than anything) up until around April or May 09 when i experienced a massive shed. This affected the frontal part of my hair and really thinned out the front and the temples. 

I have been waiting and hoping for regrowth but none has come. The shedding has def reduced now but i am still very easily able to tug hairs from the front and the temples....its all very distressing as my temples have both really receeded now. If i look back to my hair one year ago it was so so much thicker.
Really unsure what to do. Lots of people urge you to wait for regrowth and that it will come and you must be patient. But my hairline is being destroyed and is nearly at the point where i will have to shave my head. I am only 23 and dont want to have to do that.
I have been taking rogaine foam for the last 2.5 years and i am very pleased with it. Or at least I was pleased with it before i added propecia to my regime. 

So confused as to whether i should stick on propecia for a while longer or get off and try and save what I have left just using the rogaine foam?  Dreading a further shed if I come off propecia now and dreading the idea of not having a med that can stop my mpb progressing....

What to do?

Thanks

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## heynow1234

hey man I dont know what to tell you, sorry.  I dont know what else is out there other then rogaine and propecia. I would say stick with it and try to stay positive, what do you have to lose?  You might lose your hair with the meds but you will Def lose it without.

-My Update: so I got 2 1/2 months left before the 12 month mark.  Who the hell knows whats happening with my hair.  Changed to 2% Niz since my first post.  I think my hair loss has slowed down on propecia, but the front doesnt really look that great.  I just keep telling myself that 87% of guys keep there hair with propecia and best results arnt until 24 months,  so chances are it is working(right?).  The funny thing is, I have never had a noticable shed, and by that I mean, hair in the shower, pillow, etc.  Who the hell knows where my hair is going, but believe me its going!  My current state of my hair is still acceptable to me,  but who knows how much longer that will continue?  

Side note: im kinda losing my mind:  2 weeks ago i was convinced my hair was looking better and getting better now im convinced its going! In another week i will start this cycle all over again.


Spence any advice for us?

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## nooooooo not yet hair

heynow1234 I have noticied from your posts that we are having almost the exact same effects with propecia. I just turned 21 and am about a NW2.5 NW3 Currently I am approaching month 7 on propecia I know from your later posts that you are about a year on propecia now.  

But I too had the same effects about 2 weeks ago on propecia... it was during my finals week and i was noticed major thinning and I just assumed I was in the shedding phase and more hair will grow back soon but I started freaking out when my hairline was getting worse and read blogs on the internet that propecia kills the hairline(My hair getting increasinly thinner was also probably the result I was under stress and not getting much sleep because of finals)  Also I feel like I started getting a bald spot in my crown after taking propecia... Right after I was done with my finals I noticed long black hairs growing below my hairline but not in my temple region... At first I was happy since I felt like propecia was working... However I believe that the hair was coming back from the shedding phase so I was just getting back the hair that I lost... I know that propecia will help keep the hair that you have and thats all I want it to do. (IT would be great if I could alot of my hair back but I know thats just wishful thinking)  However I do not want to continue taking propecia if it will make my hairloss worse.... I also am like you in feeling like some days my hair is great but other days I feel like its getting worse and will have to start preparing to shave my head by age 24.... 

I also am like you and spend too much time worring about my hair (when I saw my hair doctor who prescribed me with propecia in november he was amazed with how much information I knew about hairloss and hair cloning still being years away  :Frown:  and all the celebrities who have had a hairtransplant) Im sorry for this long message but it makes me feel better to share this information.... I guess my real question is how is your hair now that you are a year on propecia... And what are those random black hairs doing now?

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## heynow1234

Hey man,


Reading your post, I think your right we are going through the same garbage.

That being said, Ill be at a year in about 2 weeks.  So heres the deal,  I still kinda dont know whats happening, which i guess may be a good thing since if i was losing a ton of hair I guess I would know it wasnt working, however the flip side is my hair hasnt improved.  

Since starting the front of my hair has gotten worse, however i dont know when it really got worse (over the course of the year), or really how much worse that it has really gotten.(my mind plays tricks on me) Its possible that in the last 3 months or so it hasnt changed and propecia is now keeping what I have. 

I remember when I first started taking it someone said dont look at your hair for a year.  This obviously is impossible, but for some reason it stuck in my mind.  If one year ago right b4 I started taking propecia I could see a pic of myself now, I would prob be sastisfied.  I think that once you start the meds you really start to go nuts about your hair and notice every little hair lost.  And when you dont grow back the hair you lost, you get depressed, when in reality propecia may be drastically slowing down your loss, but each hair you lose on propecia is horrible, because you feel like you should be growing new hair not still losing hair. 

I would say to def stick with it, because if you stop taking it you know for sure that all your hair will fall out.


I wish I had better news for you, but Im prob in the same boat as I was when I started this topic.  

If you have any other questions that you think I can help with just ask man. Good Luck and keep your head up!!!

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## nooooooo not yet hair

Hey,
thanks for the fast reply... It is nice to know that your hair do not get drastically worse but yea im definetly gonna stay on it for atleast year... And im also gonna really try to stop obsessing about it since like my mom always says theres nothing I can do about my genetics and im doing the best thing I can at my age to treat it

Thanks again

Heres a funny video im guessing most of you may have already seen it but just incase check it out 



Haha im still in stage 3

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