Does Propecia make hair grow faster on other parts of my body?
I have seen reports that Propecia may increase body hair, but so does aging. On the other hand, there are reports that Propecia can decrease body hair in some men. As for the speed of body hair growth while on the medication, I do not know the answer.
2011-12-13 08:48:592011-12-11 10:30:30Propecia and Body Hair Growth
Hi Dr: I am a 36 year old male. I have experienced hair loss and I would like to try Propecia (Finasteride). However, I am a heart patient and I take Toprol, Altace, Zetia, Plavix, Lipitor. Will the propecia interact with any of these? I have read that it may interact with blood pressure meds.
Thank you
If you are taking finasteride at the 1mg dose (Propecia), I would not worry about cross-reactivity. The official site does not mention a problem with the medications you listed. Minoxidil on the other hand, is an anti-hypertensive agent so if you mix it with the anti-hypertensive medication you take, you could drop your blood pressure further. For general information on drugs and pharmacologic vs. Toxic Effects, see: https://www.hpisum.com/downloads/Downside.pdf
2006-08-07 13:31:182006-08-07 10:37:05Propecia and Blood Pressure Medication
I have been taking Propecia for about two years. It has always worked fine until roughly six months ago when certain side effects began to appear. My lips were swelling quite frequently and I would get hives on my body. I was able to combat this with a daily dose of claritan. I am worried though that these effects could be dangerous to my body, even though the hives never appear while taking claritan and the lip swelling is only a few times a month at most. Also, I was curious to know if there is any correlation to these side effects and the ineffectiveness of propecia. I have noticed an increase in hairloss over the past six months, but still nowhere near as bad as before I went on the drug. Any light you could shed on this matter would be great. Also, I thought I would add that I have experienced no sexual side effects.
Thanks
You need to have a good dermatologist take a look at you. Although some of the symptoms are reflective of a drug allergy, you may also have some other medical problem. Don’t play doctor. There is an old adage: a person who treats themself has a fool for a doctor. Adhere to good common sense and have a professional look at you.
Dr. Rassman here’s my question. I am 40 years old and started to bald when I was about 36. Around then I bagan taking propecia and have encountered good results. Most of my hair has regrown. Anyway, here’s my question. From time to time I think about a hair transplant and I think about this as a means to stop taking Propecia. Am I fooling myself. Will I still be on Propecia after the hair transplant? Thanks.
With the good results you’ve reported, you should not consider stopping the Propecia. Hair transplants should be looked at as a way to augment the results, if you feel that the results now do not meet your objectives. If you stop the Propecia, you will go back to square one and lose all of the benefit you recieved from it in a matter of a few months. You need to sit down with your doctor and work this into a Master Plan for your present and future hair loss.
2006-02-21 08:31:502006-02-20 20:59:59Propecia After a Hair Transplant
Hi Dr Rassman,
Im looking for a bit of advice, i think i have been fooling myself into believing i was going bald genetically and that my hairloss was due to Seb Derm/Inflammation and Traction loss. I believe some of it has been caused by my scalp picking and itching, but i have noticed i am starting now to recede and have lost hair diffusely through the top and also on the sides of my head.
I have been diagnosed lately with a Prolactinoma and low Testosterone so dont know how much that could be affecting my loss if any ? if im just going bald DUPA what would be youre recommendation for halting and regrowth, and would it conflict with my Cabergoline im using to shrink my Pituatory Tumor ?
Thanks
You’ve got a lot going on. The excess production of the hormone prolactin can possibly cause hair loss, but I do not have a lot of experience in this area. I can’t give recommendations for you, as I don’t have enough information and you’re under the care of a doctor that you should be getting your info from. Cabergoline doesn’t list hair loss as a side effect, and I’ve written about a similar problem before here.
I’ve recently read that prolactin can potentially cause hair loss. Do levels have to be exceptionally high for this to occur, or can even moderately high levels contribute to thinning hair?
An abnormally high level of prolactin (hyperprolactinemia) is a condition characterized by elevated serum levels of the hormone prolactin in non-pregnant individuals. Hyperprolactinemia may cause progressive pattern hair loss due to an indirect effect on increasing free testosterone level.
2007-04-02 09:34:502007-04-02 09:34:50Prolactin and Hair Loss
Doctor, you mentioned in one of your recent posts that you supply one bottle of Progaine Shampoo to your patients after the surgery. I use Progaine a lot but can only find the Progaine Volumizing Shampoo available. The other Progaine products do not seem to be available at this time over the internet or in stores. Do you know why only one Progaine product is available at this time? When would the other products under the brand name be available again? If you could provide any information, it would be appreciated very much!
Progaine is just a volumizing shampoo like any other volumizing shampoo. It does not grow hair. There were other formulations, but I believe they’ve been discontinued. I just did a quick search online and you’re right -only the volumizing shampoo seems to still be for sale.
But… um… I must’ve had a temporary memory lapse when I said that Progaine was what I give to patients after their hair transplant surgery. I used to provide Progaine, but for years now I’ve provided GraftCyte shampoo (which contains copper peptide to promote better healing). You can find more info about that here. Sorry for the confusion!
2009-06-12 12:34:082009-06-12 12:34:10Progaine Shampoo
Dr. Rassman, I know you get questions about procyanidin b2 every day and I understand enough data is not currently available to determine whether the product is indeed efficient. But my question to you is: is research on it being done by serious, credible institutions? Can we expect to see any YES/NO recommendation that can actually be trusted any time soon? Thanks!
The bulk of research on procyanidin B2 is published by one group of authors in Japan in last few years. Although some of them are published in peer reviewed medical journals mostly on small group of patients, more research with a larger number of patients seems to be necessary for assessing the efficiency and safety of this product.
Dan wrote…
a website called consumer-review.net/hair-loss.html rates a product called procerin higher than propecia, procerin’s website, procerin.com elaborates on their product. I was getting ready to order some procerin, when my wife heard your ad on the radio and I checked out your website, and read about dutasteride. Are you familiar with procerin ? Also could a dermatoligist prescribe dutasteride to patients before it has fda approval ? please advise
The product you described, like many other similar products, adhere to a very loose standard for the health food additives which are naturally found in the environment. There are many natural herbs that are poisonous as well. There is no requirement for any of these products to prove effectiveness or safety, unlike those that go through the rigorous FDA process. This is the reason that I maintain what I believe is a healthy skepticism for these ‘natural’ products. The same is true for my attitude for prescribing dutasteride for hair loss, which has not been shown to be both safe and effective for hair loss. I am familiar with hearsay reports that the libido impact is greater for dutasteride than with Propecia and the drug has a very long half life, which means that it takes months to get out of your system. If you should take dutasteride and develop a libido problem (for example), it may take 6-12 months for it to rectify, while with Propecia is would disappear in days. I personally would not be against prescribing dutasteride, but I have not done so yet. My motto, like any good doctor’s philosophy must be “Above all, do no harmâ€.
Also, it should be noted that the link on that consumer-review.net site you mentioned is an affiliate link to the Procerin site, meaning that Procerin pays that site if people use their link to buy the product. In that regard, it would seem that it’s in that site’s best interest to highly recommend Procerin.
I took a 3 month supply of Procerin for hair regrowth. I noticed a huge decrease in my sex drive about 2 1/2 months into taking the pills and it was obviously hard to perform in the bed room because of this. I stopped taking Procerin as soon as I figured out thats what was causing my problem(about 3 weeks ago). However, my sex drive is still not normal again. I have never ever had an issue with decreased libido or ability to get an erection so will this eventually wear off? Do you have an approximate time frame? Is there anything I can do to reverse it? I am really starting to worry here…..
From the Procerin website:
“Procerin is a proprietary blend of herbal, mineral, and vitamin components. The 17-ingredient formula of Procerin tablets includes: Saw Palmetto Berries, Gotu Kola, Nettles, Magnesium, Zinc Sulfate,Eleuthero Root , Vitamin B-6, Pumpkin Seed Meal, and Muira Puma Root. Procerin XT Topical Serum ingredients include Gamma Linolenic Acid, Grape Seed Extract, Azelaic Acid, Saw Palmetto Extract, Avocado Oil, and Nettle”
Procerin is not a drug; it is an herbal supplement, and as such, it is not regulated by the FDA. Their claims of hair growth or side effects (or lack there of) are not substantiated by any non-biased or scientific authority.
Saw palmetto (serenoa repens) is a small plum plant native to the southeastern United States. It is believed that the medicinal properties of the plant come from its brown-black berries. Native Americans used it as they recognized that it had value in relieving urinary symptoms in older men who had difficulty urinating. Over the years, saw palmetto has become an accepted herbal treatment for symptoms associated with benign prostate gland enlargement (BPH), and is used quite frequently in many countries. It is also used by some to treat low libido, so if it is linked to your problem it seems to be providing an opposite effect.
There is a dosing issue in herbals, as you never know what is really in these pills or the way it is prepared (see VitaminStuff.com). I would suspect that your libido will eventually return, but in the meantime I’d recommend that you see a doctor about the decrease, as it affects many men.
