Why am I shedding more after starting treatment?Updated 17 hours ago

Why It Happens

At any given moment, most of your follicles are in the active growth phase and a smaller share are resting. When you start a real regrowth protocol, whether ARB™, minoxidil, or a DHT blocker, you're not just protecting existing hairs. You're triggering dormant follicles to wake up and re-enter the growth cycle. For a follicle to start growing a new, stronger hair, the old, weak hair has to come out first. That's the shed.

Those hairs were on their way out anyway. They were being produced by miniaturized follicles and would have fallen out over the coming months regardless. The protocol pulls that shedding forward and replaces those hairs with stronger ones. Customers who experience a noticeable shed often go on to see the best results, because it's evidence their follicles are responding strongly.

What It Looks Like

More hairs in the shower drain, on your pillow, and in your brush, and possibly a temporarily thinner appearance for 4–8 weeks. For most customers it peaks around weeks 2–6 and tapers off by weeks 8–12. By month 3 you're usually past it and starting to see the early signs of density change.

What to Do About It

Mostly, hold steady. The shed is normal, common, and temporary, and the single most important thing is not to stop the protocol while you're in it. Stopping mid-shed sends your follicles back to where they started, which means you've done all of the work and collected none of the reward. There's also no need to change your protocol mid-shed; your physician can review at 90+ days, and by then the shed will likely have resolved on its own. If you can hold steady for 8–12 weeks, you'll typically come out the other side with reduced shedding and the first signs of new growth.

When to Talk to Your Provider

The dread shed is normal. But message your Adegen provider if:

• Shedding is severe enough to cause visibly bare patches
• Shedding hasn't slowed down by week 12
• You're shedding alongside any other concerning symptom (significant scalp irritation, redness, pain)
• You're worried and want a reassurance check-in, which is a totally valid reason to reach out

What if I Didn't Have a Dread Shed?

Not everyone does, and that's fine too. The absence of a shed doesn't mean the protocol isn't working. It just means your follicle response didn't include a synchronized shed.

A Founder Note

This one phenomenon causes more people to quit than almost anything else in the industry, because nobody warns you about it before you start. We want to be the company that does. The shed is the protocol working, and the people who push through are the ones who get results.