Author: Dr. William Rassman

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If I’ll Have Propecia Side Effects, When Will I See Them?

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I’m a 30-year-old male who recently started taking Propecia. My question is, if there are any side effects, how long until the side effects would show up? I haven’t noticed anything, but believe your answer would be a good piece of information to have, regardless.

Thanks!

If a man on Propeica is going to get a decreased sex drive (one in a hundred) they should see that side effect in the first couple of weeks. If you have had no sexual side effects, welcome to the majority of men who have taken the drug daily for years.


2006-10-06 07:27:21If I’ll Have Propecia Side Effects, When Will I See Them?

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If I’m a Norwood 1 in My Late 20s, How Likely Is That to Be My Final Pattern?

Hello,

I am curious about something. I have read several of your blog entries where you write something like “if at this age somebody doesnt look like pattern X, fully advancing to pattern Y seems unlikely”. I would consider myself looking like Norwood 1, perhaps a bit from 2. I have to completely pull back my hair to notice a tiny hint of a corner recession, and I have had that since I was 17 (I am 29 now). Men from the mother’s side all have full hair, men from the father’s side tend to start balding. However, my father started to bald at something like 23, and never had hair as strong as mine. On top of that, I can still see a few (rather thick) hairs left from what used to be my juvenile hairline (which was really low).

Now, I know a definitive needs to be done with scalp mapping and bulk measurement, but statistically, with the hair status I have, how likely is it that my final pattern will be norwood 3 or higher?

At the age of 29, I can not tell you what is going to happen to you over the next 10 years. It’s possible the tiny bit of corner recession you see is actually just a matured hairline. Without photos, I have no way to know what you’re seeing. I don’t have a statistic to give you, but it is possible to remain a Norwood class 1 for years.

The best way to estimate what will happen to you is to look at your family pattern. If neither side has balding and you are presently a Norwood 1, then it would be likely that you will remain without any significant loss for years. But since your father’s side has some balding, you very well could have the genes. That said, I wouldn’t worry about unless you start to see some thinning.


2013-03-08 15:14:49If I’m a Norwood 1 in My Late 20s, How Likely Is That to Be My Final Pattern?

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If I’m Completely Bald, Do I Still Have Follicles?

Im completely bald! I have heard that Curis can stimulate the transition of hair follicles from the resting to the growth stage of the hair cycle.
(line picked up from a proper source). Does this mean it can help grow hair on my bald scalp too?

My question may be silly, but if im completely bald….do i have follicles on my head?

I’ve written briefly about Curis previously.

There are many steps that initiate hair growth in a hair cycle. I have heard that some people believe that there are 200 separate steps. If any one step is impacted by some disease or genetic balding process, the hair may not grow. This suggests that the elements of the hair are present even in the very bald person and there is much research going on to identify each step in the hair growing process and the critical proteins or genes that are needed to fix the process when it goes wrong.

Simply put, the answer to your question is a probable yes. How to get the hair to grow is another process completely. The good news is that there are many people and research groups working on the problem, but at this time there is no answer to each and every defect that has been identified, even in the experimental mouse trials that are being most used.

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If I’m Going to Be Norwood 7, When Will I See Significant Loss?

Hello, I have a question about the different patterns of hairloss in men. My father is a full-blown Norwood class 7. I started losing hair very early (20) and got on finasteride right away. But my hairloss is not diffuse like I would expect a NW7 to bald. I only really have temple recession at this point (21 yrs.old). So my question, Does a NW7 generally bald in a diffuse pattern, or can a destined NW7 start off by losing the temple region?

In other words, do I have any hope that I did not get my father’s hair genes?

Norwood 7You are right to be on Propecia. I can not tell you how you might lose it, particularly with Propecia on board. Ask your dad how and when he lost his hair, as that will give you some possible insight. If I mapped out your scalp hair for miniaturization, there may be some insights into the “end game”.

Most Norwood class 7 balding patterns (see diagram at right) will have considerable balding along that path by the mid to late 20s. You might not have your father’s genetic hair loss pattern, though. Cross your fingers.

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If I’m Taking Propecia, How Do I Know If My Loss Has Stopped?

i was just wondering if i was on propecia for the last three years and my thinning hair has ceased, how do i know if the drug is still at work or my hair has done all the thinning its going to do on its own in my life and i dont need the drug no more. im 54 yrs old.

thanks

Propecia is considered a life-long medication. If you stop taking Propecia you may lose the hairs that it was maintaining.

I just saw a 40 year old man who stopped taking Propecia 8 weeks ago. He reported that his hair started to fall out in handfuls. This is what I call “catch up” hair loss. We have written about this phenomenon numerous times on this site. He asked me if he could reverse it again by starting the drug today and wanted to know if it would work on him now. My answer was to watch the change in his bulk measurement and if he came back in 3 months, this test should show if the hair loss process is reversing or if it just stopped the hair loss. Since everybody is different, talk with your doctor regarding your specific situation and your options.

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If I’m Splitting the 5mg Finasteride Pills, Are the Side Effect Risks Greater?

I’m turning 26 years old soon and been on Propecia for 4 years now starting in mid July. For over 2 years I been cutting generic fin in 4 pieces and have saved tons of money. If you are cutting fin you are taking a slightly higher dose can it give you side effects? Because when cutting those pills the dose can be sometimes from like 1mg to maybe 1.5mg it’s hard to cut it accurately! And even if you do you be still taking 1.25mg!

Unless the pieces are perfectly symmetrical and you didn’t lose any crumbs in the cutting process, you probably aren’t getting a full 1.25mg finasteride dose — and like you said, splitting it accurately is difficult.

But let’s assume you’re getting an average of 1.25mg per day. I suppose taking that dose by cutting a 5mg tablet can theoretically give you a slightly higher risk of side effects than taking a premade 1mg finasteride pill (Propecia)… but in practice, we have not seen this.


2012-07-02 11:39:24If I’m Splitting the 5mg Finasteride Pills, Are the Side Effect Risks Greater?

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If Intercytex Is In Phase II Trials, Why Is Hair Multiplication So Many Years Away?

Hello Dr. Rassman,

Intercytex has completed phase I human trials of their hair multiplication product ICX-TRC. The founder of the company, Dr. Paul Kemp, was one of the phase I trials volunteers. Phase II trials have recently begun in the U.K. and may be expanded to the U.S. sometime during 2007. Although there are always roadblocks that can slow progress, they are working towards phase III trials in late 2007/2008 in both the U.K. and U.S. and then the final FDA review for the 12-18 months following. This timeline would bring us to around 2010.

If they have already completed phase I and have started phase II, why do many in the hair transplant community still think it’s many, many years away until hair multiplication is a reality?

I was at the ISHRS conference in San Diego a week ago and more importantly to your question, I was in attendance for the Intercytex presentation at this event. It was stated that the phase II trials will end in 2008. Intercytex’s presentation, while enthusiastic, did not include any human volunteer examples or mention a specific (near future) time line. Anyone can assume and put a guess to a when and if hair multiplication would be a reality. But, considering that the completion of phase II trials is still two years away, it is virtually impossible to state when/if it would become a reality. There are still many obstacles ahead.

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If My Dermatitis is Active, Can I Still Get a Hair Transplant?

(female)
Does contact dermatitis affect my chances of having hair implanted. Over the past two years, my dermatitis has caused my hair to fall out and I want to get implant hair. Can I? That’s the question. Please let me know.

Thank you.

At NHI, we have performed surgery on many patients with dermatitis or even psoriasis. Each and every patient is different and if you are interested in surgery, you need to be evaluated by a competent hair transplant surgeon.

There are cautions with regard to the pretreatment of active areas of local dermatitis or psoriasis for example, as complications do occur with such findings as a Koebner phenomenon in the areas where incisions are made in active areas of psoriasis or dermatitis.

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If Minoxidil Regrew Hair, Could Starting Finasteride Cause it to Shed?

I have been taking minoxil for roughly 8 months and have had decent results in the hairline area, especially the corners. I’m going to start finasteride soon however I have a question about shedding. As I understand it, the shedding that can happen on finasteride is due to the follicles that are DHT damaged shedding the hair to grow back stronger.

My question is: is hair grown back solely with minoxidil more likely to be shed when starting finasteride?

The initial shedding is noted with the use of Rogaine (minoxidil) way more often than Propecia (finasteride). I’ve only rarely seen this problem in patients after starting finasteride, but I am seeing growing concerns from readers about it. It’s interesting how various claims can be given so much acceptance when it’s not something widely noted in large scale studies or amongst doctors with patients on the drug.

So unfortunately I don’t have an answer to your question, since I don’t have enough of a patient history that have experienced it.

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If Minoxidil and Propecia Work Best in the Crown, How Can I Save My Hairline?

I am 33 years of age and my hair line has become considerably thinner over the last year or so. Apart from having a transplant what else can I do to prevent further hairline loss seeing as Propecia and Rogaine only work on the crown?

Also is it possible that hair loss occurs in stages that last a year or so and then slow down?

Hair loss can occur in stages, spurts of hair loss and then a quieter period. Frontal hair loss is difficult to reverse, but Propecia (assuming you have genetic hair loss) does slow the process down. I have seen many men who were losing hair rapidly in the front, then go on Propecia and see the hair loss stop. If they should stop the Propecia (some do for reasons that I do not understand) the hair loss picks up again and makes up for the time the drug was effectively holding the hair there. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization and then consider the Propecia option, if indicated. You may be concerned about frontal loss today, but taking action with the drug Propecia will help you in the frontal area today. Crown loss can be thwarted as well.