Propecia Question

[grumpguy]

I am a 22 year old male. I have always had extremly thick hair, until recently. About 6 months ago I noticed a very small amount of thinning at the back of my head near my part, but no thinning anywhere else. I went to my general doctor and he gave me a prescription for propecia. I took propecia for about 3 months and during that time I began shedding all over my head, especially at my temples and front, which had never happened before. I got worried I was having an adverse reaction to propecia (is that possible?) and stopped taking the drug. It's been 3 months since I stopped taking propecia and the shedding has continued, but at a lesser amount it seems. Is this a normal reaction to propecia? I have read that when you start taking peopecia it causes hair in the resting phase to push out for new hair to come in, but I'm not sure if that is what happened in my case. Anyway, I continue to shed, so I'm thinking about starting to take it again, but of course I'm worried it will cause more shedding. I don't know what to do. My forehead and face seemed to be more oily when I was on propecia and it was very easy to lightly tug on my hair and it would come out. Some of the hair that falls out has tiny white bulbs on the end, while others do not. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Propecia is for male-pattern baldness.  This kind of hair loss starts up front and moves slowly backward; it doesn't start near the back and produce shedding all over the scalp.

I therefore think you should not take Propecia.  Instead, you should see a dermatologist, who can give you a proper diagnosis.  As for Propecia itself causing shedding, I have never seen that, so I don't think you made your situation worse.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff