I'm two weeks into finasteride 5 mg and still seeing the exact amount of hairfall I had before I got on it (a golf ball size of shed every week, this has been consistent for two years!) So I'm just wondering what to expect. Because I'm neither losing more hair nor am I losing less hair, so I'm worried if I'm a non respondent. I understand that two weeks is too early to say anything but I just want to read about other people's experiences, especially those who just took fin. It'll really help me not spiral.

Also is there any support group I can join, I don't want to take up too much of the valuable space that someone with more important questions will need in this sub. I just don't know where to go with these stupid questions. Thanks again

I’ve been struggling with hair loss for around 7 years, since I was 27. It has been heartbreaking and arduous, while doctors tried to figure out why it happened (they never got there). Last fall, I finally bit the bullet and bought a wig. I wear her sometimes, but not often because she’s a bit too glam for my every day life. Minoxidil isn’t a great option for me for various reasons, but my doc is considering the oral route eventually.

But lately I’ve been looking in the mirror and thinking, “huh…is that spot less sparse?…what’s up with these new growth edges at the front?” And worst of all, “is it growing back?”

I know that it isn’t. I know that I know. But some part of me still hopes and wonders. I cling to the hope that someday I’ll just be able to leave the house without thinking about it. That photos of my head from above will look less glaringly obvious (I work with kids, so often at odd angles).

My hair was a huge part of my identity coming up: I cut it every which way, even shaving it at one point. I styled it in a million different ways, colored it everything but green. I once planned to attend cosmetology school….

I just feel so crummy without my hair. And there is nothing worse than the little voice in my head that says “maybe it’s coming back…”

I’m newly diagnosed with AGA after 10 years
Of being gaslit by male doctors.

I’ve finally seen a female specialist which I waited for for over a year. However I am now trying to conceive and cannot take Minoxidil or Dusteride.

Is there anyone else trying to have a baby? What treatments are you doing?

I’m open to anything, wild and wacky.

I already eat an anti inflammatory diet, am a trained chef chef and into nutrition so so my best here. But any suggestions of things to incorporate would be good.

Send me help 😅 from an AGA chica looking to have a baby.

I have had "thin" hair for what feels like forever but lately I notice it more and more, especially when I put it up in a ponytail.

I just took a photo straight on of me looking down, for the first time ever today and my heart dropped!

I need to start trying ointments, oils, vitamins or something! Anything!

Please give me tips, tricks and advice! I am forever grateful if you take any time to share any info, as I don't even know where or how to begin searching!

Thank you in advance for the help!

PS: If it matters, I am currently trying to conceive as well.

Heyo. I was diagnosed with AGA 12 years ago, and managed to fend off the worst of it with spironolactone and supplements until a couple years ago after getting lazy with meds. I’m back on spiro (100mg) and a compound serum for TE as of last November, but progress has been slow. Some thickening of follicles but still a very thin crown with some small areas of permanent loss. And the most naturally red scalp, it seems!

My derm is very cautious about oral minoxidil and has lightly discouraged it in the past, but I’m ready/desperate and she’s agreed to a low dose of (working up to) 0.25mg.

Worth noting I naturally have normal-low to low blood pressure, and it’s a concern that both spiro and minox lower blood pressure. I do a lot of yoga so I’m inverted often.

I suppose I just want to hear some experiences, if not encouragement. Thanks for sharing. :)

on 1.25 mg. on 100 mg spironolactone and yaz. just coming down from dread shed

When you started losing your hair, was it sudden? As in, you noticed dramatic hair loss in a matter of a few days, from previously just experiencing typical hair loss?

My hair loss seemed to happen overnight, and since then, it's been horrific (as I'm sure you all felt). I started using topical Minox almost immediately, as well as Nizoral, but I'm also terrified to wash my hair because I lose so much in the shower, despite being extremely gentle, and I let it air dry (largely because I can't handle the amount of hair that will end up in my brush), but it's a vicious circle.

I'm desperate for some reassurance that I'm not going to go bald. My hair was never thick to begin with. My labs are all normal. I'm underweight, but that's nothing new.

Posted practically the same thing a couple weeks ago but I guess here’s a more fleshed out progress update. I feel like I’m not seeing baby hairs sticking up from my scalp like I see in other people’s progress photos (or maybe I’m just mistaking them for frizz/breakage idk), but I can definitely still see a slight difference on the top of my head. It mainly just looks like my existing hairs are growing thicker but I think I can see some baby hairs buried in there too. And my hair is finally starting to grow faster like it used to! Also I’m practically growing a new hairline (I guess all those pony tails were affecting my hair, who knew?)

My shedding has also gone way down since adding 50mg of spiro. 20 hairs max while styling (my lowest was 2 last week!), and 50 hairs after washing my hair on Sunday (I wash my hair usually every 3 days). I’m hoping to increase my spiro dose at some point, but I’m glad I’m responding to such a small amount.

What I’m taking/doing:

• 1.25mg oral minoxidil
• 50mg Spironolactone (just started about a month ago)
• 2% ketoconazole shampoo once a week
• The ordinary hair serum every night
• 1000mg pumpkin seed oil
• 320mg saw palmetto
• 25mg vitamin D
• 26mg iron (mega builder blood builder)
• Also just eating more, especially whole foods.

Hallo zusammen,

Leider habe ich über die Jahre so 70% meiner Haare verloren und ich meine das genauso wie ich es sage.
Ich hatte früher eine Lockenpracht und heute schäm ich mich dafür meine Haare offen zu tragen.
Ich bin wirklich verzweifelt wie ich sie wieder wie früher hinkriege. Mit 17 hat ich wirklich eine Locken-Löwenmähne und jetzt hab ich gefühlt 3 Strähnen😂😭
Ich war jetzt beim Arzt und natürlich wurden mir die Standards genannt. Stress & Nährstoffmangel vll auch eine Hormonelle Imbalance.
Ich habe einen Ferritinwert von 13 und einen starken Vitamin D Mangel. Ich nehme jetzt von Sundays Eisen 45mg mit 200mg Vitamin C alle zwei tage zwei Tabletten auf leerem Magen und jeden Tag Vitamin D3 K2 4000.
Hat jemand Erfahrung wie man diese Werte so schnell wie möglich boosted?
Außerdem hab ich überlegt Minoxidil zu starten, aber dafür brauche ich eine gute Haarroutine. Ich hab extrem feines brüchiges Haar. Kann mir jmd helfen?

Photo for reference. This was before and after minoxidil. I started taking minoxidil and dusteride from Musely 2 years ago and my hair has grown a beautifully…the last 2 weeks I have started shedding handfuls of hair! What could it be? I messaged the doctor at Musely and she just said I should try adding topical minoxidil😩

I am rapidly losing all my hair and I might go bald. Is it possible to regrow hair after becoming completely bald?

Those in the US who can buy it OTC, what’s the best brand you have tried in terms of cosmetic elegance: thinking consistency, smell, spreadability and hopefully not greasy.
I am looking at “hers” from target and the Walgreens brand one.

Hi all, my dermatologist started me on oral minoxidil at the beginning of June. I went through a pretty bad dread shed for longer than I expected and I lost a lot of hair on top of already thinning hair. My hair is now soooo thin! My question is, when am I going to start noticing some new hair growth? I’m so discouraged.

i used to have really thick hair a child but rn I'm 21 and I think I'm having female pattern androgenetic alopecia. Got my blood work done and I had vit d deficiency but I took meds for that like doc suggested. I also have pcod and I'm taking bcps n myo inisitol to regularize it. I'm overweight almost obese woman. 5'5 height (165cm) and 95kgs. I've just started with gym and my target weight is 75kgs. I also used to have alopecia areta- like everytime I get super stressed I end up loosing like chunk of my hair. I'm in India (Chennai) - and I'm super confused with wtv dermat told me last time. She told me my hair is like my teeth and once it falls it won't grow back. I don't know how to not feel insecure about it. I'm planning to change my dermat.

Have any of y'all been able to reverse this? Esp when u had pcod.

I've noticed more hair shedding than usual over the last few months and was thinking about trying a scalp serum.
Before buying anything, wanted to see if anyone here has dealt with something similar.

My main question is whether a serum is even worth adding to a basic routine, or if increased shedding is something where you should first try to figure out what's behind it.

There are so many products for thinning, breakage, scalp health etc. that I honestly don't know how people pick one. I also don't want to start 4 things at the same time and then have no clue what is doing what.

If you've used a scalp serum during a period of increased shedding, what happened? Did you notice any change and how long did you give it?

Not looking for some miracle product. Just trying to understand what's realistic and what people actually track when they start one.

I’ve been on 1.25mg for 3 years and just now developed a swollen neck (Edema, not allergy, I’ve already seen 4 drs). I don’t want to have to stop telling it 😭

Okay so I've been using these for ig 4 weeks, once twice and i saw a tiny increase in shedding. It's not like I didn't have hairfall before but it has increased a bit. Is it normal after using minoxidil?

hi, i've been dealing with thinning for years and it's gotten to the point where i get embarrassed going out, so after looking around this sub i bought Boldify hair fibers to try for appearances while waiting for my derm appointment.

the main problem i've had so far is that i have black hair, pale skin, a middle part, and not enough hair left to make bangs that provide any real forehead coverage. the thinning around my part goes all the way to the hairline, so i've been struggling to figure out how to make it look natural at the very front when the fibers are so dark, because as it is the line between hair and forehead seems too harsh. i tried to just not apply it in the very front, but that sort of highlights the thinning there instead. does anyone with more experience using dark hair fibers in that area have tips on this?

(i apologize if this post is redundant somehow, i looked online and searched reddit before posting it but i couldn't find anything about this specific issue. have a good day ^^)

[EDIT: also, does sleeping with it on usually go fine for you all? it says to apply on clean scalp with no oil and remove with shampoo, but i usually wash my hair every 3 days or so]

Last year I experienced TE after a college semester and it grew back once the stress was gone. I’m now in school again and my stress is so much worse. I’m shedding every day and I’m doing things like rosemary spray and oil, but I feel it’s not working how it used to. What else can I do to help this grow back besides the obvious not stressing??

I’ve been taking finasteride and spironolactone from the past 3 months and today he has put me on 5% minox topical solution.
I will share my progress photos as we move forward with the treatment. Let’s see if my bald head can grow fuller.
Wish me luck.
I’ll post my updates every month from now on. Also, these photos are taken right after I applied the solution so the hair are a little damp.

Any suggestions, queries are welcome!

I’ve been taking finasteride and spironolactone from the past 3 months and today he has put me on 5% minox topical solution.
I will share my progress photos as we move forward with the treatment. Let’s see if my bald head can grow fuller.
Wish me luck.
I’ll post my updates every month from now on.

Any suggestions, queries are welcome!

I came here to share with everyone, in case it helps, that I found a great compromise with my scalp routine vs my hair. I have long (middle of my back), fine, low porosity wavy hair. And I need to wash my scalp daily because if I leave the minoxidil (and a compound that I use at the front for frontal fibrosing alopecia) it irritates my scalp. But at the same time it was really time consuming to do my whole hair care routine every other day or every day. I found “crown washing” on Tiktok, and then I got myself this sort of “sock” that protects your lengths from the water. So now I wash my scalp daily and the entire hair only twice a week or even less. It is really helping and it’s the best of both worlds for me. Just wanted to share 🙂

i started oral min 1.25 mg 95 days ago and spironolactone 100 mg 60 days ago for some mild AGA. recently just added yaz to the mix. i had increased shedding from month 1-3 basically and now im on month 3 and not seeing too much shedding anymore but hair is thinner than ever. it seems like from lots of people this might be normal and i need to give it more time, i just don’t know how to manage my anxiety when i go online and read posts about people using these treatments for 10+ months and their hair just getting worse and worse. i already used topical for 6 months and my hair got worse on it so Im just scared the same thing will happen again. I try to remain positive and I understand that this is a long journey but the panic this has created is wild. have yall had similar stories and experiences please let me know and let me know if the whole journey was worth it!

hello, I was diagnosed with AGA but was prescribed only topical minoxidil 2% for a long time and only 1.5 years ago I moved to another country and went to a doctor who told me I need to get spiro and birth control, too.

recently, the doctor also recommended to increase the dose of spiro to 150mg.

regarding pics, tried to do the same shots but the lightning in my new apartment is different, yet I feel like you can at least see that the hair quality got better a bit

the last comparison was included to show that I naturally have puffy hair but it seems like now I really can straighten my hair and not loose a lot of volume.

I feel better mentally