Category: Drugs

Dear Dr. Rassman,

Just a quick note. I’ve been an avid reader of your site for some time now, so, firstly, I’d like to congratulate you on your blog, to thank you for taking the subject of male pattern baldness so seriously and for answering the questions readers have posed over the years so professionally.

I’m 30 years old, I’ve been taking Propecia for 16 months now and while my hairline has continued to mature (which can only be expected), I have found that with the help of Propecia my hair loss has stabilised. However, one side effect that I wasn’t expecting is the thinning of my arm hair! Can I take this as proof that Propecia is indeed blocking DHT (and therefore working)!?

Many thanks in advance

Yes, loss of body hair is a known rare side effect with finasteride. Hair on various parts of the body does seem to be dependent upon the presence of DHT (more in some individuals than others). I wish it had that impact on my body hair also.

I’d say that if your hair loss stabilized that the Propecia is indeed working.

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Hi,

I recently started minoxidil topical (3 months ago) and have considerable dry residue on my scalp. I’ve been using a comb to scrap the residue off before washing with Nizoral. Am I doing any damage to my hair by scraping my scalp with the comb?

I’ve considered trying the foam, but changed my mind because of the bad feedback Ive been reading on the internet.

Thankyou for your help.

A good set of washes should remove all residue from your hair. The foam has alcohol in it and may not leave residue, but I do not have any other suggestions other than trying the foam. I am not sure what bad feedback you are getting over the internet, but if you try it and don’t like it, let it go.

I’m 9 1/2 months into Propecia 1mg a day treatment and everything is about the same since I started. I’m currently a NW2 but under miniaturization I have a NW3 with mid anterior thinning. Right now I have early frontal loss all I needed is thickening of miniaturized hairs and that would give me a way fuller look. I’m 22 1/2 year old guy and started Propecia only like 4 months or so after I noticed I’m losing hair so I would be a candidate for reversal but now it looks slim because I’m close to hit that 1 year mark! Is there a still a chance? The reason I want to have those hairs thicken because I’m very worried if Propecia would lose effectiveness and MPB will start again those hairs will be gone before I know it but if they would thickened up I could at least spot it that I’m losing hair again and do something about it and also I want to do different hairstyles!

Sorry to break this to you, but there is no cure for male pattern baldness (MPB) and no guarantee that Propecia will work on you. There’s a new genetic test to determine if finasteride (Propecia) will be of benefit to you — HairDX Tests for Finasteride Response.

Propecia does work, but it is not the cure and will not completely stop hair loss. The drug very rarely reverses hair loss in the frontal area, but you should be able to retain the hair you had (which is what it sounds like it’s doing if you say everything is the same 9 months later). You need to sit down with your prescribing doctor and have a discussion on realistic expectations.

I have read that rogaine promotes hair re-growth by enlarging the hair follicle. I have also read that propecia doesn’t do as well with hair re-growth but maintains hair by preventing excess DHT from shrinking the hair follicle.

Will propecia prevent the shrinking of a hair follicle that was enlarged by rogaine? So that you could use rogaine to get re-growth, but then stop using the rogaine as long you continue with the propecia?

Or will the new growth hair fall out when you stop using the rogaine even if you continue the propecia?

You are attempting to make a logical conclusion to things that we just don’t understand (at least I don’t). This is a far stretch of logic. It’s been my experience that once you stop using Rogaine (minoxidil), the Propecia will not retain those hairs (and vice versa).

Hi Doctor, I’m moving to Japan shortly for several years, I’ve read some contradictory information about green tea interacting w/ propecia as well as soy products. Since Asian cuisine uses much soy as well as green tea on a daily basis, I’m wondering if this will effect the benefits of propecia. I do enjoy green tea & would like to drink it & use soy products, do you think either of these natural can be consumed regularly while still receiving all the benefits from propecia? Thanks.

I have covered this before, so it is best to refer you to these past posts:

• Soy and Propecia
• Could Green Tea Counteract Propecia?

To sum it up, I don’t believe there’s been any proven links to soy and green tea causing problems with Propecia (finasteride 1mg).

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I have dissolved 5mg minoxidil tablet in about a tablespoon of propylene glycol. massage into scalp. Morning and night. Any reasons why this wouldn’t be as good as Commercial stuff ie.Rogaine. or as good as oral admin? I take 1gm finasteride. Thinking of also dissolving an extra 1gm finasteride into mix.

cheers for any advice.

I’m not sure the formulations are equal, but the ingredients you’re using are the same as the commercial version of liquid minoxidil (the hair loss treatment everyone is familiar with). Experimentation is good, but why experiment with an unknown impact when going the commercial route is a known process with known benefits?

As for dissolving finasteride into it, topical finasteride hasn’t been proven to have the same effects as oral finasteride, so you might end up just wasting it.

Snippet from the article:

Christian Ellis Hageseth, III, of Fort Collins, Colorado was sentenced to serve nine months in county jail and pay the Medical Board of California over $4,000 to reimburse the cost of its investigation of him. Hageseth also was placed on supervised probation for three years.

Medical Board investigators identified Hageseth after receiving information that while not licensed to practice medicine, he prescribed an antidepressant for the treatment of major depressive disorder to a 19-year-old male in California. The man committed suicide fewer than 60 days after receiving the drug. Hageseth prescribed the medication after reviewing information provided by the customer over the Internet.

The Medical Board referred the case for criminal prosecution and Hageseth was charged with violating Business and Professions Code section 2052, a felony, for practicing medicine in California without a license.

Read the full text — Former Colorado physician sentenced in case involving death of Californian to whom he illegally prescribed drugs over the Internet

This crime is far more widespread than most of us realize, as doctors try to make money from their ability to write prescriptions. Shameful.