Hi,mind I if run this question by you guys

I have been taking generic finestride for a 12 weeks now my dosage is 1.5 mg a day. I guess over that period I have forgot to take it maybe 3 times.
Now I have looked at some photo's of directly before taking it, some others around 5 weeks later (just before myhair transplant) a couple more post HT upto some I took last night. the thing is , I still seem to be shedding, I started shedding about 2 weeks into treatment, & have continued ever since,It is tricky to monitor now as i have had 3331 grafts ,but the thing is I only had this done in my frontal region.

The crown (thats the top right ) & around the bit where it swirls seem to have gotten a lot thinner.
I am positive that this is not thinning at a normal rate, it is a dramatic thinning in comparison to how my hair loss progresed before taking finestride.
My question is, could the finestride actually be having an adverse affect on my hairloss. I have read that for many people it is normaal to shed a lot of hair when starting to take finestride & that going through periods of shedding is normal. But is it normal to be having a continual shed from 2 weeks into taking it , uptil now approx 3 months later ?
I am allready having to cope with a very visable doner scar from my HT ( bald patches down to over zealous staple pulling I think ) & that is going to take a little time to grow, also I have shed all my grafted hair, so I am looking a bit odd & dealing with it, but on top of all that this constant shedding of the crown is begining to P*ss me off.
I am definatly hitting a low here (despite my lovely poem).
any advice would be appreciated, I will post some crown piccys for you to compare.
regards
Bytes

[This message was edited by baldbytes on November 27, 2003 at 04:41 AM.]

[This message was edited by baldbytes on November 27, 2003 at 05:21 AM.]

sorry but BUMP

I believe thinning from finasteride is the first sign it's kicking in.

I think the hairs that are just hangin' in there in the follicles are being bumped out by new hair developing. The typical consensus is to wait 6 months to a year to get the real result.

A coworker of mine had a brother that took it and I know for a fact it wasn't a transplant, but that bald spot of his had a hell of an improvement in under 2 years.

Maybe he's not a typical case, as his results were as good as the best photo's you'll see in an advertisement.
He lost lots of hair himself, early on, and almost stopped taking it. His doctor convinced him to stick it out, and I'm guessing he's damned happy. Big improvement.

So even if in the end, you end up "even," odds are you're still gonna at least hold onto the hair. And that means a lot.

cheers Joe

Baldbytes,

Don't worry man! The last thing Finesteride will do is have the reverse effect. I would definitely suggest using the real stuff though. Buy the Merck Proscar 5 mg. And then split it into 4's with a pill cutter, so you get about 1.25 mg. It's super cheap. I have been doing this for 10 months now, and man what a difference! It's been a God send. I went through a similar situation with shedding for an abnormal ammount of time, and was discouraged as well. But no matter what, stay the course.

Cheers,

danger

thanks for the advice Danger , I will stick with it, but to be honest generics are my only option.here in the UK we are totally ripped off for propecia & proscar, way expensive, & after all finestride is finestride , I get mine from cipla in India , there has been much debate about ginerics, but have been told by 2 HT drs that the generics are fine, as long as from a repitable source , & although there outside US law enforcment, Cipla are a massive & repitable company.
thanks for your words though, I will stasy with the treatment

Are you getting Fincar?
That's what I've ordered and am going that route.
I'm getting back onto Rogaine (stopped for a few weeks after transplant), and started taking propecia and saw palmetto (can't hurt, I hope).
It gets costly, along with the price of the hair transplants I'll need, I've only had one so far.

Hi Joe
yup cipla is what I am using, its finestride no different , I chop it into 4