Dr. Rassman,
Thank you for maintaining this blog, its great to have a free trustworthy resource in a world full of scammers and misinformation.
I’m a 24 year old man and have been experiencing loss since age 18. I started on Propecia at 20 and was able to maintain my hair and score some regrowth. Unfortunately I stopped taking the drug for 10 months starting about two years ago. I started back on Propecia last May(2009).
My problem is that in the past 10 months, while back on Fin, I have experienced significant loss. My hair has gone from a solid norwood 2.5 with full density in the mid scalp and mild thinning in the crown to a norwood 3v with profound diffuse thinning all through the pattern. I have added Nizoral shampoo and some multivitamins to my regimen a few months ago. Still, my hair is getting progressively thinner. Do you think my situation is attributed to the catch-up loss phenomenon or could it be that my body has stopped responding to Propecia…or something else?
Thanks for your advice.
Thank you for following the site, but unfortunately, I really cannot give you a definitive answer.
You are likely losing hair due to genetics, but the degree of your balding is yet to be determined. Maybe you are destined to be a Norwood Class 3V and will stop there. Maybe it’ll get worse. I really couldn’t say. The key point I want you to understand is that there is nothing to stop your genetic fate at this point. Propecia will only slow things down, but I don’t believe your body stopped responding to it nor do I believe it necessarily stopped working. In fact, you may have experienced “catch-up” hair loss after stopping Propecia for 10 months. You could’ve experienced a shedding after restarting the medication or it could just be coincidental timing as the progression of your hair loss was in full swing.
In the end, I would suggest you follow up with your prescribing doctor and continue on with the treatment plan (Propecia).
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