Category: Drugs

Hey Doc. Does the catch up happen straight away though – or does it slowly fall out at the pace it previously was falling out at.

If you stop taking Propecia it might take around 3 months or so for the loss to “catch up” to where your hair would have been if you’d never taken the medication in the first place. Then again, some men have reported to me that it took 6 or more months before they saw anything noticeable and others have reported they see the start of the loss within weeks. Each hair is in a different part of its cycle, so I suspect that each hair that is prone to genetic hair loss will react differently. This does not mean that by taking Propecia you made your hair loss worse, but for those who experience catch-up hair loss when they stop the drug, it can be dramatic to a point where I have seen men cry.

im 24 year old male, started balding around the age of 21. the crown started thinning about 2 years ago. ive been taking propecia for about a month. would it be uncommon for me to see results now? or is it just my mind playing tricks!

thanks for all your help!

I guess it depends on what you’re seeing. As much as I do believe in Propecia, I would doubt that you’d see much in just a month. Hair grows at a rate of about 1/2 inch per month so that the most you might see is better hair growth from the new hair that appears. This generally gets better over time. Most people can see an almost immediate improvement in daily shedding from genetic balding causes. But I am happy to hear your are doing well.

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I want to start off by thanking you for acknowledging and attempting to help people in what can be such a stressful and consuming problem for people.

My question is in regards to the possible mental side effects of finasteride. I understand that you have touched on this in the past, but I was wondering if you could say based on your experience if you believe these claims have any merit. I took finasteride for about a month a few months ago, and thought that I noticed these symptoms(stuttering, etc) upon quitting. I really believe in the drug in the battle against hairloss and want to start again, but these claims and my possible experience with it prevent me. I am 32 years old, but I believe that my hairloss(mostly crown area) is in its early stages and I could benefit greatly from this drug.

P.S. I would try minoxidil, but am afraid of the experiences that I read online(bloated face, wrinkles, shedding, etc)

When a formal drug study is done it is carried out on thousands of people and the side effects are reported. When the drug is actually used by millions of people, I am sure there are rare side effects that were never reported that will come to light.

I do not mean to dismiss or invalidate the unusual reports such as yours. In my practice since Propecia has been introduced into the marketplace, I have seen this complaint once (while the patient was on the medication, not after he stopped it), but I generally do not see or hear of these issues other than on Internet forums. The one experience a patient had does not prove anything statistically. It is also very difficult to pinpoint if there really is a direct cause and effect relationship, as there may be other factors.

For example, it is conceivable that men who take Propecia are also taking other medications with other medical issues (such a blood pressure or depression). Certain blood pressure lowering and anti-depressant medications are well know to cause decreased erections and libido. Certain anti-depressants can even cause stuttering (Ritalin, Prozac, as an example). Certain medical conditions which you may not be aware of can also cause stuttering. So I really cannot even begin to say what your particular cause of stuttering may be. I would discuss your issues with your doctor and see if there are other issues at hand as well.

I find it rather interesting that you were more scared of minoxidil’s side effects than Propecia’s side effects based on what you read on the Internet. The web can be a scary place when researching medical issues, as most users with positive results won’t spend their time telling people about it, but those that feel slighted will try their best to alert everyone. Again, go see a doctor for medical questions and get your answers in person, where a doctor can evaluate your case better without the back and forth delay of emails.

Hello!

Congratulations for the great insight that you give with your blog.

I’m probably hopping on the Propecia bandwagon and would like to know your clinical experience with it concerning side effects. Do many patients discontinue it after some time? I know the whole debate about Propecia’s safeness, for me it’s probably more of a psychological issue, becoming dependent of a drug is not high on my list, but I’d like to keep my hair hoping that some effective topical or surgical treatment comes out in the meantime.

Thanks!

Propecia does not completely stop hair loss forever, nor does it cure hair loss. It slows the process down, usually for many years. If you stop taking it after a period of use, the hairs that you gained or kept from falling our will disappear. Your hair loss will catch up to where you would’ve been had you not taken the medication in the first place, which is why I refer to it as “catch-up” hair loss.

There is no dependency issue. Like all medication if you stop taking it, the benefits are gone. Propecia is meant to be taken for life, much like cholesterol medicine, blood pressure medicine, etc. Most of my patients do not stop taking the medication.

Article on Propecia and the author’s excellent response to it within 6 months of using (with photos)

Link: Unveiling the bare facts of hair-growth treatment

A 44 year old journalist for The Mainichi Daily News took finasteride and his before/after photos are at the link above. It’s great to see some positive things posted on the internet once in awhile. The results look good, and may even get better if he continues the medication beyond his 6 month test.

Thanks for sending!

Sir: I have a prescription for Proscar, and have been using with great reults for many years. Recently, due to forgetting my proscar pills, I purchased 1mg Luxfil Brand Finasteride in Mexico (appeared to be a legitimate pharmacy). Bottle appears legitimate (based on online comparison photo), consisting of Lot #, expiration date, sealed top, cotton ball, etc. However, there are no markings whatsoever on the pills. When I look online for photos of how the pills should look, they look the same (orange in color), but it appears as if there should be some writing or mark on each pill. My question is: Do you have any familiarity with this brand of finasteride and should I be cautious since there are no markings on the pills?

Any thoughts will be appreciated, since this Luxfil is all I have until I return to the US. Thank you.

There are so many different generic brands of finasteride out there, but I’m not familiar with Luxfil. So I did some digging online and the best I could find was likely the same photo reference you found (see image at right).

The medication could be real, but you might wish to contact SBL Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Luxfil, to see if the lot # and dates match up to their records. SBL seems to be a fairly newer company with sales limited to Mexico and limited information available online, but their contact info is here.

In non-hair loss news:

Sure, Pfizer’s wonder pill has side effects such as headaches, facial flushing, upset stomach, erections lasting more than four hours, bluish or sudden loss of vision. There’s one more risk to the pill that grants erections: Hearing loss.

Research published this week in Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery showed an association between long-term hearing loss and Viagra.

This side effect is already acknowledged by Viagra – especially after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration forced this labeling changes for oral erectile dysfunction medicines known as PDE5 inhibitors in 2007.

Read the rest of the article — Viagra associated with hearing loss

Interesting. All medications carry some side effect risks, regardless of rarity… but there are some medications, like Viagra, where many of the side effects are well known. It got me to think about how many millions of people still take Viagra despite those side effect warnings, including sudden loss of vision and now apparently hearing loss. Yet the pills still sell incredibly well and men (even those without erectile dysfunction) are eager to take it!

And then think about all the men who worry about Propecia’s sexual side effects, which occur in 1 to 2% of men (which are reversible) and are afraid to even try it. I guess it is all about perspective. I suppose we’d rather be bald, blind, and deaf than to not have sex!