Category: Drugs

If my hair is thinning out and i start using Propecia which takes 6-12 months, will my hair keep thinning out like normal and then stop after 6 or so months? or will propecia slow it down as soon as i start taking it?

As for Rogaine i hear you can lose a lot of hair using it(which is apparently part of the process). So do you keep losing hair from rogaine and then hope it does something? or is hair loss a sign that it is working?

You need to wait 2-3 months for the Propecia to take effect. It may impact some of the hair growth instantly, but there is little you can see initially. Twelve months is the minimal time you need to take it to see what you are going to get from it.

Rogaine shouldn’t cause you to lose hair, but some people do experience a shedding phrase. See this old post — Hair Loss Worse After Rogaine.

Under what circumstances would you consider prescribing dutasteride? I am a 23 year old male and a current NW 3. I am thinking about asking my doctor about dutasteride, but I would like to know my risks. I have been on propecia for 5 years and I have had great results, but now I am noticing more thinning. I did not have any sides effects from finasteride. Do the results from the Korean study reveal any substantial risks? Is there any indication that Avodart is seeking FDA approval? If someone were to experience sexual side effects can you discontinue and retain sexual performance?

As far as I’m aware, results from the 6 month clinical trials in Korea have yet to be made public, so I don’t know what risks were revealed. It is a phase 3 study, so I assume that means they want the drug to go to market as a hair loss treatment. The phase 1 and 2 trials were stopped for unknown reasons, though. I don’t have the answers to your other questions, as I was not a part of the study and am not privy to any results.

If it eventually is FDA approved for the treatment of genetic male pattern hair loss, I’d guess that GlaxoSmithKline (the maker) will release the dutasteride under a different brand name from the Avodart name and possibly with a lower dosage, much like Merck did with Proscar/Propecia (both of which are finasteride, but in different dosages). This is all speculation though, and the medication might never be approved as a hair loss treatment. I find it interesting that the phase 1 and 2 trials were stopped and would like to know why the phase 3 trial results are taking so long to be released.

Dutasteride is three times more potent than finasteride inhibiting the type II enzyme and 100 times more potent than finasteride inhibiting the type I form of the DHT producing enzyme. Dutasteride is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of Male Pattern Hair Loss and is approved at a dose of 0.5 mg a day for the treatment of prostate enlargement. While both the type I and type II enzymes are found in the hair follicle, there is a recent study which shows that type I is present in the human brain. The function of this enzyme in the brain is still unclear.

Would you say that finasteride is clearly the better option as it doesnt block the type 1 enzyme that is present in the human brain. Also Dr.Rassman would you say that the chances are that the messages you have got from people saying they are loosing their wit and stumbling over their words are true. Their is clearly a link between a drug blocking an enzyme thats present in the brain and brain related symptoms such as stumbling over words and loosing their wit.

I really do not know anything about the brain impact of DHT blocking medications and I certainly can not place cause and effect together. Your questions are good, but most of the work in this area is done in animal models which may not extrapolate to humans. What you think is clear, I think is not. More research needs to be done before I could answer your question with any confidence.

I know it’s normal to lose 100-150 hairs a day. I have MPB and been losing about this much maybe more but I don’t think so. I always saw those clumps in the shower and tons of hairs during styling. But in the end I think they were those 100-150 hairs. I been on Propecia for almost 5 months and for several weeks now I don’t see much hairs during styling and almost nothing at showering. So if it’s normal to lose hairs even without MPB how come I see very little shedding now?

Appreciate your circumstances. You are probably losing hair during the daytime without realizing it… perhaps when the wind blows, when you run your fingers through your hair, scratch your head, etc. It sounds like Propecia is working well to control your hair loss.

You always say at the 8th – 9th month mark you should see Propecia’s regrowth/thickening of hairs. If you haven’t seen anything by then does it mean there is no possibility of thickening of miniaturized hairs or regrowth after that? I read that Propecia can take up to 1 year to see it’s benefits, so what’s the deal here?

I do not believe I said Propecia will make your hair thicker or regrow new hair all the time. Medication works differently for each person, so I couldn’t guarantee that. You must understand that there is no magic cure for hair loss and all drugs have limitations. As such if you are not noticing growth, you may notice less hair falling out. Less hair falling out still means it is working.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Dear doctor
I have been using finasteride since 7 years and planning to use dutasteride now.Can I use both of them together in order not to lose what I had from finasteride ?

As dutasteride is used off label for treating hair loss, I rarely prescribe it for various legal reasons, but if your finasteride is not working to maintain your hair like it once was, then a trial of dutasteride might be a reasonable idea based upon information provided in this study. In that case, I would stop finasteride when using dutasteride. The mechanism of action is similar between the two medications, so benefits from finasteride should carry over if taking dutasteride. It’s not like when stopping minoxidil to switch to finasteride, where you will lose those minoxidil benefits (or vice versa), since the drugs work in entirely different ways.

Remember though, you do run a greater risk of significant side effects with dutasteride, like reduced sex drive and sexual performance issues. And the drug stays in your body for much, much longer than finasteride, so if you do see any of those side effects it’ll take quite some time for you to get rid of them. You should discuss your plans with your doctor.