Hair Shedding with Propecia

Many of the patients in this community ask me about the hair shedding that is seen with starting on Propecia (finasteride). Below you can find my answer to one of these patients.

”You are not the only person experiencing this problem with finasteride. Hair shedding after finasteride is seen in many patients to some degrees and it is probably due to the increased recycling of hair, although its exact mechanism is not known. Remember that losing up to 200 hairs per day is normal. Don’t blame it all on Propecia; the hair shedding might have been accelerated as result of the stress that is seen in balding patients. The positive result of finasteride is unlikely to be seen anytime before 6 months after starting the medication and the shed hair is most likely to be replaced by new hair after a few months.

To know for sure whether or not finasteride is working for you, you need to be evaluated with a miniaturization study before and a few months after starting the medication and the result of the two studies should be compared. You can take a deep breath if you see the rate of miniaturization has not been notably changed despite of experiencing the hair shedding.”