Timeline

The shed, and everything after it.

Pick your week and see what is normal. Losing more hair in month one is the number one reason people quit the thing that was working.

Where are you?

Pick your week. See what is normal.

Week 1Month 3Month 6Month 12

Week 4

Why it happens

Old hair has to leave before new hair can grow.

Every follicle cycles: growth (2 to 6 years), transition (weeks), rest (about 3 months), then the old hair drops and a new one starts. Minoxidil shortens the rest phase and pushes thousands of follicles into growth at once. Each of those follicles still has an old hair sitting in it. To grow a new one, it drops the old one. Thousands at the same time is the shed.

The hairs you lose are thin, short and wispy, the miniaturized ones you wanted gone anyway.

2 to 4weeks in, shedding starts4 to 6weeks in, it peaks8 to 10weeks in, it is over

Normal or not?

Normal shed

2 to 3 times your usual hair in the drain
Thin, short hairs
Starts week 2 to 4, fades by week 10
Scalp feels fine or a little dry

Not minoxidil. See a doctor.

Clumps, or smooth bald patches
Red, painful, scaly or scarred scalp
Still heavy at month 4
Shedding with fatigue, weight change, cold hands (thyroid, iron)

What to do during it

Keep applying. Stopping mid shed means you lose the old hair and get no new hair.
Wash normally. Washing collects hairs that were already loose. Skipping washes just piles them up.
Cover it. Fibers make thin spots disappear while you wait.
Photos, monthly. Same light, same angle. Day to day you see nothing. Month to month you will.
Do not restart from zero. Stopping for weeks and restarting triggers another shed.

Never shed? Some people do not notice one. That does not mean it is not working. It usually means fewer follicles were resting, or the shed blended into normal loss. Judge by month 6 photos, not week 4 feelings.