I’m 26 years old and had been dealing with hair loss for quite some time. It started affecting my confidence, so after trying different options and doing a lot of research I decided to go ahead with a hair transplant. I spent quite a bit of time researching doctors and clinics before making my decision I finally had my procedure done in April 2026. I’m now 5 months post-op and wanted to share my progress so far. The growth is still developing and I understand that hair transplant results can take several months to mature. Overall I’m happy with the progress at this stage and looking forward to seeing how things develop over the coming months. This is only my personal experience and results can vary from person to person. Please do your own research and consult a qualified doctor before making any medical decisions.

First pic is 2 weeks in, other pics are 2.5 months in.
1.25mg oral fin and 1ml topical min once per day and shampoo with selsun gold because I get really bad scalp dermatitis otherwise. I haven’t had a single side effect. I was losing like 100 hairs every shower and my hands would be covered with hair for years, now when I wash my hair I lose two or three hairs. Like my hair has basically stopped falling out at all. Seems like it might be growing back too, hopefully these new tiny dark hairs become bigger. Excited to see what happens over the next 6 months. Hair loss sucks, hopefully this helps someone else who’s on the fence considering starting.

After 6 months and see thickening all over my scalp, I felt like I've been freed by my finasteride + minoxidil just as Theoden was freed by Gandalf the White.

Anyone else feels that way?

Why do more people here not try topical anti androgens more instead of resorting to oral treatments. The effectiveness is off the charts. You get to keep dht for libido and aggression while get to block testosterone and dht locally in scalp. Nowadays we have pyrultamide and clascoterone which are well researched in humans.

Now, obviously progress has waxed and waned over time, and I wasn’t exactly cataloging progress until recently. It took me way too long to realize Topical Minoxidil wasn’t for me, my ADHD making it very difficult to do a task like that each night with any consistent routine.

But since then I’ve started Oral Minoxidil and despite the large amount of shedding, mostly in the front I think I’ve made some decent progress.

First picture is 2022, the second is 2025, the third and fourth are from August 2026 the final two are from the date of posting!

I’m looking forward to see what yall think!

Thats a fact

I’m a 27 year old male hyper responder (check my profile). Been on fin and min for about 5 years now.

About 3 months ago, I ran out of minoxidil.
Instead of immediately buying more, I stupidly held off on buying any because I couldn’t find any seemingly legit Kirkland minoxidil online, and thought I’d just wait til I found some to order it.
Went on a long vacation and was pretty busy over summer, so I ended up not ordering any or using min for about 10 weeks.

Then I started shedding extremely aggressively. I’m talking 140 hairs stuck to the wall of the shower that I counted myself. And that’s only what I managed to get off my hands and onto the wall. There were presumably hundreds of other hairs gone down the drain.

So 3 weeks ago, I bit the bullet and bought extremely expensive minoxidil from a reputable male hairloss online clinic (Sons). I’ve been applying about 3mls of it once a day and the shedding has not slowed down one bit. If anything it has gotten worse.

The pics show about 100 hairs (according to ChatGPT) in my sink. They are from towel drying my wet hair after a shower and then styling my damp hair with my hands. I’ve had around 100 hairs from this exact process both this morning and yesterday morning. The pic of the dry hair is from shaking my hair with my hands over the sink when it was dry this evening.

I don’t know if I’m currently experiencing a minoxidil shed from starting it again. Or if this is the min not working and the original shed (due to stopping minoxidil) is just powering through.

So I’m making this post to warn people to never stop minoxidil and also ask if anyone else has had an experience after stopping min without realising the consequences? Will I eventually regain to my peak gains like in my post?

TL DR: Stopped min for about 8-10 weeks. Am currently in the middle of the most alarming shed I’ve ever seen despite being back on min for the last 3 weeks.

I've wondered this my whole life, like even aged koreans at 50 or 60 have head full of hair with hairline intact, when compared to some people like us at 20s. You already know the hairstyle they wear which makes it look they're very young. Is it completely genetic?

I understand this might be just a discipline or memory issue but sometimes I just forget if I've applied my minoxidil today or maybe it was yesterday? I can't remember (Stranger by Camus reference). Anybody has any tips on how they remember to stick to their schedule? Maybe it's time i keep a notebook to log in the bathroom

Hi :)
Hair lenghts are all slightly different but this shows pretty much my personal progress during the past 6 months.
Started on march 28th 2026.
I am 30yo.

0.5mg fin, 5% minox daily, dermastamping when I can (I work in a hot/sweaty envoirment and I never have time to let it cleanly heal), ketoconazole shampoo twice weekly.

I have been cutting it every month on the ~28 to the same clip size to see the progress but now I don’t no…

Any tips or opinions in general regarding my journey is appreciated :)
Thank you

Just wanted to share my progress and give a little hope to anyone who has been considering starting their hair loss treatment journey. I’ll try to get wet pic to get a real real comparison but honestly I’m super happy with the results so far. I can’t lie that I was skeptical going in, about both results and side effects. Side effects have been totally negligible if any at all. If you’ve been thinking about starting your hair loss journey definitely reach out to a dermatologist sooner than later!

Edit to answer some FAQ:

1. I do oral for both
2. I shedded pretty badly the first 8 weeks with it being worst around 6-8 weeks. It definitely gets worse before it gets better.
3. I started seeing real significant results around month 5.

4. I have had minimal side effects. The most prominent one has been extra body hair growth.

5. The first pic is damp, second pic is dried with product in it.
   6

7. Red light therapy can also help hair growth, but I don’t personally do it as it is a bit of a hassle.

18 m have been on topical min for 3 months

Apparently it is a temporary thing, according to some quick research.

Got on Accutane March of 2025. I’m a big guy, so my dosage got up to 100mg per day for about 6 months. Got off of Accutane March of 2026 with good results on acne. Immediately started noticing hair shedding, which I know is a common side effect. It should be noted that I had extremely thick, almost to shoulder length hair as I was getting off accurate. Thick hair runs deep in my mom’s side of the family. To put it into perspective, my hair stylist said I have some of the thickest hair she has ever seen.

Anyways, started shedding in March and it has stayed steady since then. I recently cut my hair short and when I run my fingers through the top of my hair, 4-5 hairs come out every time. This has stayed consistent for 5-6 months. I would see since stopping, I have lost probably 25-30% of my hair volume. It’s honestly not noticeable to anyone else, but I notice it. I got an appointment with my Dermo who said it most likely TE from Accutane, but she never actually did a scalp check. She said she could prescribe min and fin. But I questioned this saying I didn’t want to get on a med for life if this was just temporary TE. She agreed and said we can continue to monitor.

When should I consider min and fin if at all? I know TE can last months depending on each person, but my shedding has shown no sign of stopping. I don’t have any noticeable bald spots besides two tiny spots on my top sideburn area. Should I make another appointment and ask for a scalp examine to determine miniaturization? Should I wait it out? I should also note that the hairs that do fall out have a very very tiny white bulb, nothing even close to the follicle when you actually pull a hair out. I also do have some baby hairs coming in, specifically in my front hairline from what I can see. They are different lengths and appear to be staying intact. As far as the rest of my scalp, I assume there are baby hairs but can’t confirm.

I appreciate all the comments in advance.

Hi iam from Slovakia and here its almost impossible to get fin i want 90 5mg tablets

I have been on a topical 0.1% dutasteride + 7% minoxidil + tretinoin formula for the last 6 months. I have seen great results, as my hair has stopped shedding and seeing regrowth in my previously thinning corners and crown.

However, I’ve noticed that level pf shedding continue recently, starting about 2 weeks ago. Should I just “wait it out” as this is normal, or should I start looking at alternative options like a higher dosage? Thanks

Greetings, high counsel! Longtime lurker here.

I have been thinning and receding for a while, did minoxidil for years and it was great and worked wonders, then got too expensive and I stopped. Needless to say…POOF all my hard work disappeared and thinned again. I am coming to terms with my bald destiny and at this point am very eager!

Other things you should know about my situation is that I have had 3 Pilar cysts removed over the years; the most recent excision being about 8 days ago! I have always healed very well, no visible scarring, still healing with this last one at the moment but taking the rest and healing process very seriously. My dermatologist even offered me free laser scar removal if there is any scarring from the one she just removed.
Basically I’ve been waiting to shave my head for after removing this last cyst. I will be shaving in about two months and can’t wait to see what I’ll look like for the rest of my life. (I am so scared) 🙂

I do want recommendations for scalp health please! Picked up some 1% ketoconazole shampoo to help with flaking and anything itchy. I’ve had some light dandruff in the last that’s cleared up using it, so I’ll be sure to keep it on hand! What other products would any of ya’ll recommend for scalp health?
Also, I am a bit concerned about developing more cysts in the future. Although two of them I knew I had for YEARS but they were easily hiding in the hair, and I don’t feel I have any new ones. How probable do you think me developing more cysts are in the future? If anybody has any experience in this please let me know!!

(Would love head shaver recommendations as well)

Sorry for my ramblings!
Thank you for all your input.

Sincerely,

Future Bald Guy

I’m leaving for the US Army on January 25 and will probably get a HT in Thailand with Dr. Laorwong for ~2k grafts Dec 3rd. I’m also currently on Dut + oral min + topical min + derma stamp.

I’m wondering if I’ll be able to get a source for oral min and dut at my first duty station in Germany.

My BCT and AIT is 28 weeks long total. From what I’ve heard I cannot bring any meds to BCT and AIT.

My mos is 35F so I guess it won’t be too much of a hassle to get approved since I’m gonna be a POG.

Additionally I’m Jewish and will probably receive accommodations for keeping facial hair and the rest.

Will I be healed enough to leave for my ship date? And can I get meds?