Month: March 2010

Dr. my hair loss started when I was 23. At that point I started researching my options. I’m now 27. My hair loss has progressed at slow pace (thank god). I tried propecia based on my research, a lot of which came from your blog. Right around the 3rd month I really felt like the loss at least stopped where it was at and if I would have kept taking it possibly could have had some regrowth. I was deployed to Iraq at this time. When I came back I came into your office for a consult. Where I saw Dr. Pak. My hair loss was determined to be I beleive the 4a pattern. (can’t remember for sure)

Anyway to get to the point. someone had pointed out to me that that my chest was getting kinda big. I definitly had some breast enlargement which I ended up having reduced by lipo suction. (Very happy with the results by the way incase anyone else has this issue) I’m not sure if the enlargement came from propecia or a combination of bad diet and heavy heavy drinking. My question is whats your opinion on me trying propecia again? and when there is enlargement from taking propecia is it fat deposits as mine obviously was or is it actual breast tissue like a female would have? As this could possibly answer where my enlargement came from propecia or something else. I am not sure how fast I got the enlargment. It could have been very gradual which is why i didn’t notice myself or maybe sudden when I was taking the propecia. I would really love to stop my hair loss. what do you think I should do?

Thank you very much for your time!

I would try the Propecia again and follow closely what happens. While it is possible you experienced gynecomastia from the medication, a poor diet with weight gain could also cause the same symptoms. I wouldn’t be able to determine if it was just the medication, just your weight gain / poor diet, or a combination of everything. I believe the medication (as rare as the side effect is) would cause the mammary glands to enlarge. This is mostly composed of fat, so it’s difficult to visually distinguish if the enlargement was caused by diet or medication. That’s one of the reasons I’m skeptical about a lot of the reports I’ve read on various forums. People might be seeing it, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it was Propecia.

Coincidences happen all the time. At least you recognize that. I’m glad your liposuction was successful, and if you’re in the LA area and would like to come in again, we can get a good baseline on your chest size before restarting the medication.

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Since starting propecia 7 months ago, my hair loss has become significantly worse. In the 3 to 6 month period, my temples and mid-anterior scalp became noticeably thinner. Although “shedding” in these frontal areas slowed down/stopped at the 6 month stage, my crown is now thinning even though I had not noticed any hair loss in that area before beginning propecia. I have 3 questions:

1. is it possible that propecia is making my hair loss worse-has this ever happened to a patient of yours before?
2. is it possible that this shedding is a positive sign because I am young and in the early stages of hair loss i.e. as the drug has a lot of hair to act upon? Doctor Bernstein states on your website that shedding is fairly common and can be a positive sign.
3. is it common for propecia to take over 6 months to yield noticeable effects i.e. stopping hair loss and/or creating regrowth, or should I stop the drug and save my money?

Thanks

1. Your hair loss on Propecia probably has nothing to do with the drug, but rather the progressive nature of your genetic hair loss which (based on what you wrote) seems to be aggressive. Shedding at 9 months is not a good sign.
2. At 1-2 months shedding can be a positive sign as we interpret this as an acceleration of the normal hair cycling, but that acceleration should not occur over 9 months. Most people will see a reduction in shedding by the 4th month.
3. It generally takes about 6-12 months to see the difference after starting the medication. So you’re still in the time frame and I wouldn’t suggest stopping the medication at this point unless you have experienced any side effects that you can’t deal with.