Category: Drugs (Cause Hair Loss)

Dr.Rassman

Although I started noticing small vellus hairs growing at my hairline when I started taking minoxidil. I thought everything was working out perfectly, but then I also started noticing hair loss a couple months after I started taking minoxidil. Is this normal, I thought most of the shedding would happen earlier on like within the first month not after that?

I’m surprised you saw hairline regrowth from using minoxidil. There are some reports that the short term use of minoxidil will cause shedding of hair and that this is a reversible process once you get out 3 months from the time you started it. If you are not seeing this, go to a specialist on this.

Hi Doctor. I am slightly confused. I have visited several balding forums looking for information about rogaine. Some members seem to be under the impression that rogaine accelerates hairloss by increasing blood circulation and therefore the amount of DHT that can reach hair follicles to miniaturize them. This seems rather counterproductive for a FDA approved product that is suppose to regrow hair…

can you please provide some knowledge and insight on this conundrum? Would taking Propecia for a couple months beforehand prevent this problem?

You’re not alone in being confused about this. I have rarely heard of this complication and have learned that it exists by my extensive reading on the internet. I see more reports online about minoxidil/Rogaine shedding than I’ve seen in my own patients.

Some say that it accelerates the anagen stage in the hair loss cycle, which means that it first has to go through telogen (hair loss phase). I really don’t have confirmation of this, though.

Dr Rassman,
minoxidil is the worst product ever in the world. I started using it 1 and half month ago and then my hair loss reached a shocking amount .I quit minoxidil 15 days ago. My hair loss reduced but still there is some shedding. Now I am look like really bald. I am really worried about it. My social life also is affected. I dont wanna go outside or do something with people. I am really depressed. At the same time I am using propecia but as I said I am bald right now.

My questions are, will my lost hairs be replaced? If it will,how long it will take? I am 20 years old and my hair is really important to me. please help me.

Hair is really important to a lot of men, so you’re not alone. I am sorry you are experiencing hair loss. Unfortunately, hair loss is mainly due to genetic causes and many men in their late teens or 20s will go through what you are going through.

There have been cases of initial shedding from minoxidil use, but this is usually temporary. I can’t say for sure how long it’ll persist or if those shed hairs will regrow. I do not know anything about you (e.g. age and family history). Please follow up with the doctor who prescribed you Propecia and discuss further options.

I have been taking minoxil for roughly 8 months and have had decent results in the hairline area, especially the corners. I’m going to start finasteride soon however I have a question about shedding. As I understand it, the shedding that can happen on finasteride is due to the follicles that are DHT damaged shedding the hair to grow back stronger.

My question is: is hair grown back solely with minoxidil more likely to be shed when starting finasteride?

The initial shedding is noted with the use of Rogaine (minoxidil) way more often than Propecia (finasteride). I’ve only rarely seen this problem in patients after starting finasteride, but I am seeing growing concerns from readers about it. It’s interesting how various claims can be given so much acceptance when it’s not something widely noted in large scale studies or amongst doctors with patients on the drug.

So unfortunately I don’t have an answer to your question, since I don’t have enough of a patient history that have experienced it.

I have been taking generic finasteride for almost 5 months. The first 2 months I didn’t see much of anything then almost on que at the beginning of the third month hairs began to sprout throughout my hairline and continued to grow throughout the month. Then again almost exactly at the beginning of the fourth month i started to feel as though i was starting to shed throughout my entire head. The shed has continued as i am approaching 5 months. Is this a good or bad sign?

I can not tell you that this is good or bad, since I really do not understand it. If I measured your hair bulk and mapped your miniaturization prior to starting the finasteride, I might be able to give you an idea on what was happening. Did you get such baselines? Regrowth at the hairline is quite rare to begin with, but diffuse shedding after 4 months of taking it is unusual.

Finasteride is a prescription medication, so I’d book an appointment with your prescribing doctor immediately and try to get to the bottom of what is happening.

Dear Dr Rassman,

I am a 21 year old male and have been aggressively losing my hair for just over 2 years. Since February, I have been taking Propecia daily to combat the loss. However, after about 1 month on propecia I have been heavily shedding my hair and this has been confirmed by a dermatologist who said I had a strongly positive pull test and a very high amount of telegon hairs. He stated that I may have finasteride induced telegon effluvium as well as accelerated phase male pattern balding considering my very heavy hair loss (have gone from a norwood 2 to norwood 4 in about 9 months).

Do you believe this could explain this heavy loss and is there anything else I can do to combat such such aggresive balding at such a young age? After 6 months on the drug, Propecia appears to make me lose more hair, minoxidil causes an inflammatory response on my scalp and a transplant is out of the question given my loss and age. I am at a loss as to what to do and it is severely impacting upon my life.

Many Thanks for your time

I would have to see and examine your scalp to understand what you are reporting. This could be just rapid hair loss from your genetic pattern and have little to do with the drug. Or it could be a shedding process that some people have reported after starting Propecia. It is a rare occurrence, but we’ve written about it before.