So I started FIN when I was 19 (28 now). My system took to it well and the balding/hairline hasn’t gotten worse since. However my beard hair never became terminal since I started so young. I have pretty decent coverage of beard hair but I can’t grow them out because it looks too soft and fuzzy. I guess that’s the vellus hairs? Is there any chance I can go off FIN for a bit and get those beard hairs to turn terminal? If so how long do you think that could take? Curious if anyone has done something similar. I don’t mind loosing some hair because I have too much anyways. I have naturally very thick coarse hair, to the point where I actually struggle getting good haircuts and it’s been a lifelong struggle to the point where I just wear beanies most of the time anyways.

Concerns: Just want to make sure that I jump back on FIN and can stop any shedding in its tracks again.

Men who don’t get beard growth, blame finasteride as the cause; however, finasteride does not prevent bread growth, it may slow it down, but not prevent it.  Treat your beard loss with (1) waiting a few years for more beard development, (2) add minoxidil to your beard area, (3) consider a beard transplant, something offered by many doctors today. 

I know this is just a weird question, but I’d like to know since I plan to try out microneedling and get back into my morning jogs. I figured I ask since with microneedling you’re pretty much inflicting small incisions, and when working out your blood will be pumped much faster than usual.

If you wait at least 30 minutes after you microneedle, you can probably jog without much problem.  Then, go into a shower and wash your scalp along with everything else to be sure that the scalp is clean.  By that time, the bleeding should have stopped. 

I gained some of my hair back with the help of 5ar inhibitors and minoxidil, but it is not in perfect. So I really want to do hair transplant surgery to get more fuller hair, but the doctors I see keep turning me down.  Why is that?

If you got a hair transplant and had a lot of miniaturized hair, what you might lose could equal your hair transplant gain. You could be worse off. That is why I can only tell you a little about your situation, as I need to examine you. When doctors transplant a patient for genetic balding, they like to see PATTERNED hair loss not unpatterned hair loss like you have. Unpatterned hair loss means that the surgeon may not be able to achieve specific goals for specific areas where your problem is worse.

You are receiving a cumulative dosing of 0.25mgs/day, which, according to Merck’s study, is 50% as effective as the 1mg dose. If I were you, I would increase it to daily use if that works for you. That gets you 100% effectiveness for this drug. 

Was I overharvested? It is now 9 months after my hair transplant.

I don’t know if you were over-harvested. How many grafts did you get? These scars are not atypical for FUE if the back of the head is shaved. Most men don’t see them because they let their hair grow out, often covering these scars with longer hair. A solution if you want to keep your hair short is SMP, and I have written extensively on its use otherwise, let your hair grow out enough to cover the scars.

I am 20 years old and have been taking 0.5mg of finasteride every other day since mid October. I have been starting to freak out since I have recently been noticing that a lot of longer hair strands have began to fall out in the shower and in the floors around my house. I am losing around 35-40 hair strands in the shower alone. I find my hair just falls out sometimes without even touching it. I also have short hair so it seems like it is a lot for me. I also noticed that you can easily see my scalp through my hair causing me to worry even more. I also feel the hair is thin and fine on top of my head. Does this mean my hair is diffuse thinning on top of receding backwards? I tried 1mg but switched back to 0.5mg out of fear since I noticed I could barely get an erection and I had low libido. I don’t know if this has anything to do with it but I recently switched my hair style from being slicked back to forward and having a fringe. I also have started using a styling powder for my hair and crunch it up with my fingers in order to have that textured fringe look, could this have anything to do with it or is there something else at play? What should I do or is this just a shed? I am becoming extremely worried

It takes time to see the full impact of finasteride on hair loss, especially in young men. I often talk about a TUG OF WAR between hair loss and drugs like finasteride to slow or stop it. In any TUG OF WAR, either side can win. With loss of libido and erectile dysfunction, this drug is probably not for you.

Two points: (1) 4100 grafts have used up easily half of your donor supply, so what will happen if you continue to bald to a more advanced pattern? (2) some white people retain redness in the skin. Your doctor can treat it.  I am against harvesting too many grafts for such a small area of your head.  This doesn’t allow for long-term planning.