Month: January 2023

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Is Propecia Shrinking My Penis?

Dear Doctors:

Thanks for all your help and responding all the posts in this site that has been so useful to me in the last 2 years.

I am 33 years and since 25 I started to lose my hair and 2 years ago I decided to get a hair transplant in Miami with Dr. Bernard Cohen and it really changed my life for good I had amazing results and at at the same time I started to take Propecia so my results are really amazing and I am very happy. But I am concerned because after 2 years of taking propecia just in the last 3 or 4 months I have noticed my penis to shrink in the flacid state. And the morning erections dispaear since i started but that really was not a problem at all. I read in your archive that some other persons are experiening the same: Is DHT Essential for Genital Function?

I dont have problems getting an erection and I have a very active sexual life no complaints, but it worries me that I have the same simpthoms of this guy in the post and really I did not have any troubles in almost year and a half. I dont want to leave Propecia, but would you recommend to stop for a week and see how it goes?? would that make any damage to my good results over 2 years??

Please advice.

The symptom of a decreased penis size is not a reported side effect of Propecia and I have no experience with it. I’ve certainly never had any patients tell me about this, and frankly, I’ve been taking the medication for years and don’t have that issue. Are you in a colder climate? Feeling a lot of anxiety? See Genital retraction syndrome at Wikipedia for some other possible causes for your thinking.

The lack of morning erections is a known problem with Propecia, but if you are not having erectile dysfunction (ED) problems, then I do not believe that you need to consider stopping the medication, especially if the results from it are good and your goals at stopping the hair loss is working for you.

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Is Propecia Mandatory After Hair Transplant?

Hi,
I have looked into hair transplants time and again but have been scared off by the horror stories of bad HTs. FUEs sound good to me. Where do I go to get evaluated? I am losing hair in my temple areas and am 36 years old. Also, do I have to be on Propecia? I was on it for a year, didn’t see any results in hair but did notice problems with sexual activity (i.e. hard to keep an erection) I like it a lot better without it. So, if I had a HT, would I have to be on propecia?

You do not have to use Propecia after a hair transplant. However, by not using this drug you will not have any protection against the progressive nature of hair loss, assuming you are still losing hair and not totally bald. With regard to your sexual problems, almost 40% of men of your age have some difficulty maintaining an erection. One of the erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs can solve that. Taking Propecia for your hair and ED pills for your erection may give you both a better sex life and hair at the same time.

You indicated that you are based in Colorado. I would be happy to evaluate you for FUE, but my offices are in California. To find a FUE surgeon in your area, please visit ISHRS.org, but please note that there are not many of them out there that have the reputation and experience you may want.

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Is Propecia Making Me Lose My Quick Wit?

Two questions here,

  1. Can Propecia be taken before bed at night instead of, say, in the morning, or during the day?
  2. I saw some post about someone mentioning grogginess as a side effect of taking Propecia. I consider myself a pretty silver-tongued guy, sort of along the lines of Dane Cook. I speak relatively fast and somewhat witty, I’d hope. When I take Propecia I feel like I trip over my words more, thereby causing me to lose some of that quick wit. Does this make any sense or not?

Dane Cook

  1. Once a day, anytime, will work for Propecia (finasteride 1mg). I generally suggest to take in in the morning when testosterone is highest in men, but I really do not have any figures on that, just my logical mind.
  2. There have been some reports on depression with Propecia, but I don’t know if your quick wit can be dulled by the medication. I haven’t had any reports from my patients about feelings of disorientation or foggy-headedness, but I had one person that I can recall wrote in a while ago saying they felt a little foggy when on Propecia (though it is unsubstantiated).
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Is Propecia Less Effective After Prolonged Use?

Dear Doctor
I have been using proscar tablets(5mg)instead of propecia,quartering the 5mg tablet & taking 1/4 tablet a day.This has worked 4 many years but now it has lost it’s effectivness & I am shedding hair rapidly. I have found many articles on the net were doctors suggest that patients increacse the dose to 2.5 mg to stop shedding & the risk of side efects will rise only slightly. What do u think ? Please respond,I am really depressed. Avodart is not available in Australia & regain liquid burnt my scalp & the foam isn’t available in Australia either.
Thanks in Advance.

You need to speak with your own doctor about this. I can not advise you over the internet. Generally, some people will go into accelerated hair loss in cycles and that may look like Propecia is not as effective, but it probably means that your balding process is more active than before. As far as Avodart (dutasteride), the studies on this medication are not available at this time. Experimental work is presently going on in Korea under the US FDA guidelines that may eventually answer your questions.


2007-05-07 13:31:50Is Propecia Less Effective After Prolonged Use?

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Is Propecia Causing Kidney Issues?

I’ve been taking Propecia for over a year now and had a blood test recently done. It shows that my serum creatinine is in the slightly above normal zone which is an indication of possible kidney dysfunction.

Can propecia cause kidney damage? If not, can I still continue taking it?

As I’ve written before, there is no documented adverse effect of Propecia on the kidneys.

Elevated creatinine is something that you should understand. I’ve written about that before as well, here. What I generally do is first repeat the test in the case that the lab test is in error. Then your doctor will dive into it more deeply. Ask your prescribing doctor if you should continue taking the medication, as I cannot give personal medical recommendations.

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Is Propecia Causing Gynecomastia After 2 Weeks — Or Am I Imagining Things?

I am a 20-year-old male and I have asked a few questions before but this one is really bothering me. I began Propecia about two weeks ago. I think I am seeing some breast growth. I may be imagining things but I don’t know. I have read so many web forums that I know the side effects so I may just be freaking myself out. I have looked up gynecomastia online and see that it is actually breast tissue growth. Is the Propecia side effect increased breast tissue or just in increase in fat in the breast that could be fixed with exercise?

I would really appreciate a response. Thank you

You need an examination of your breast tissue if you think you have gynecomastia. While it is a very rare potential side effect of Propecia, gynecomastia can even occur in young men who are NOT on Propecia. Having only taken the medication for a couple of weeks, it would seem even more unlikely.

That said… what you’re seeing might be real, but I would think it’s more possible that you’re just freaking yourself out after reading web forum horror stories, as you suggested. I’ve written before about the power of suggestion.

Still, if you’re concerned you should have a doctor examine you, or at least talk to your prescribing doctor about stopping the medication or lowering your dosage.


2014-01-26 16:26:11Is Propecia Causing Gynecomastia After 2 Weeks — Or Am I Imagining Things?

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Is Prince William’s Hair Loss Due to Stress?

On the eve of the Royal Wedding I had a quick question regarding anxiety, stress and hair loss.

Recent photos of Prince William reveal a less than regal mane. Unlike his father or younger brother who seem to have strong hairlines William has thinned out considerably in a rather diffuse pattern.

Throughout his life the young prince has been subjected to ruthless scrutiny by the British press. The obsessive gaze of the public and media only intensified as he matured into a handsome young man. Joining the adolescent cult of celebrity William was conferred a heartthrob status, young women the world over screaming his name and fantasizing about the kind of storybook courtship now lived out by Kate Middleton.

Like his photogenic mother before William became the “face” of the royal family – representing youth, optimism and vitality to a world that questioned the very viability of traditional royalty and it’s place in modern culture.

The weight of this, combined with familial expectations and the untimely passing of his mother Diana, must have placed considerable stress on young Williams emotional state. I can only imagine the anxiety this man has had to endure. Should it come as no surprise then that his hair has thinned? Is Prince Williams current hairline a reflection of years of stress?

Surfing the net one would certainly get that impression. Not only has a BP sized oil slick worth of ink been spilt on Wils wispy locks but the reasons behind his follicular crisis as well. Add to that the litany of sources claiming any amount of stress, worry or anxiety is tantamount to a death sentence for your hairline and the “stress” explanation starts to make perfect sense when looking at Williams situation.

I’m not sure what caused the flaxen haired prince to shed but there is little doubt that he’ll breathe a little easier once the crown becomes requisite attire for public appearances- lets hope he’s not a Norwood 6 by that point!

NW6We’ve actually written about this before a couple times (most recently here).

While stress may have contributed to Prince William’s hair loss, genetics are much more likely to be the reason. There is known genetic hair loss in his family tree, and although his father Prince Charles may have a strong hairline, the top of his scalp is pretty barren. Judging from photos, William’s loss looks similar.

From the video that was streaming on all the news networks last week, it appears that Prince William is fast showing a Norwood class 6 balding pattern. The pattern may even extend to a class 7 pattern (see the big dip in the hair at the back of his head). This is a situation which should have been aggressively treated with Propecia, which might have held the hair on his head when he still had a lot of it. Here he is on his wedding day:

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Is Polysorbate a Hair Loss Treatment?

Doctor,
Is polysorbate an ingredient (in a cosmetic creme or lotion) which could temporarily increase the diameter of thin & regular size hairs? If so, how long would the effect persist after a single application? And assuming no commercial product is available could it be compounded by any pharmacist?

I am asking these questions because years back a commercial lotion, supposedly from Norway which (falsely) claimed to be the solution to baldness incorporated polysorbate (I can’t remember if it was polysorbate 20). An employee of a pharmacy who told me he was using the product stated that he had noticed an apparent increase in hair density over a short period of time which could not be from new hair growth. I did not try this product after reading critical comments. But I wonder if one could safely use polysorbate or for that matter other products to improve the apparent hair density.

Thanks in advance

I have no experience with this approach for using polysorbate (80 or 20 or any number) as a hair regeneration treatment. If it really worked, I would suspect I would know about it. I will, nevertheless, keep an open mind and probe it with some of my colleagues.

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Is Plucking Hairs for ACell Procedure Faster than FUE?

Hey doc. I was just thinking. If Acell plucking works would it be fair to liken it FUE on steroids. Similarities being little scaring (or none with Acell), it is non strip, has the same yield except with the added bonus of unlimited donor hair. Also one more question, is the plucking technique faster than FUE per graft.

I don’t look too much into the ACell comparisons with follicular unit extraction (FUE) just yet, as it’s too early to tell. FUE is presently better organized as a procedure than the plucking/ACell. We’ve been performing FUE procedures for a decade, whereas experience has been limited with the ACell. This will change with time if ACell becomes the standard of care, but I believe that this is a long way off.


2011-01-21 08:51:30Is Plucking Hairs for ACell Procedure Faster than FUE?

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Is Platlete Rich Plasma (PRP) valuable and what scientific proof is available?

The International Society for Hair Restoration Surgeons meeting this year was in Bangkok, Thailand. I was on the teaching faculty and almost 1000 people attended making it one of the more successful meetings in the history of this teaching hair restoration society. The subject of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and its value was discussed by Guest speaker Ramon Grinalt). He reported his review of the entire literature on PRP subject material and said he could not find a single study that proved that PRP grew new hair or resuscitated dying hair.

He discussed some of the more well known studies. When PRP was compared with microneedling using saline injections, any benefits that were seen with the PRP injections were comparable to the saline controls, when benefits showed up. Various doctors in attendance did not necessarily agree with this conclusion based upon their personal experience; however, many of these doctors could not prove (beyond a shadow of a doubt) that PRP worked.

In conclusion, I believe that microneedling with saline injections will work as well as PRP, for far less money.


2019-11-17 19:06:03Is Platlete Rich Plasma (PRP) valuable and what scientific proof is available?