Did I Lose Part of My Hairline Because I Stopped Propecia for a Week?

hi doc,

A few months ago i was studying for exams, which was obviously stressful. Around that time i ran out of propecia for a week, suprise suprise, i then realised my left hairline had taken a beating which wasnt there before. my question is, is it possible that i lost hair by stopping propecia for a week? if i lost hair because of stress when can i expect to see it grow back?

thank you

It does not quite work that way. Just because you stopped Propecia for one week does not mean it caused the loss of your frontal hair. I wouldn’t expect you to notice much loss in benefits from a week off the medication. Moreover, Propecia isn’t really as effective for treating frontal hair loss and works best in treating crown/top hair loss.

Now there are rare occasions where medication does provide some regrowth at the hairline, but these are very rare and it most likely won’t regrow. There is no medication that can prevent or reverse this with any level of certainty.

As well, stress-induced hair loss in those men with genetic hair loss will likely not regrow. Perhaps your hairline is maturing?