Category: Drugs

Firstly, thanks for such an informative website and advice. I’m a 35 yo male with hair receding to the temples and thinning to the top (but not back of the crown). I’ve noticed a few negative posts recently about propecia and my own experience is very far from that (now 2 1/2 years of use). There were minimal negative side effects initially which fully cleared in 8 weeks. I used to shower every morning and literally count hairs up to 100 on my hands. This completely slowed to a negligible amount after 3 months of propecia use and whilst I am sceptical about any substantial re-growth in my case, this drug has made a huge positive effect on my life by vastly slowing down my hair loss. Thanks again for the great site!

Thanks for sharing your experience. It should get better after a year.

I have been on Proscar quartered for 3 months and now in months 4 I started to cut them in half and take one half in the AM and the other half in the PM. Do you think this may be a benefit or not? Also I have been using Minoxidil for almost 2 years. I am 37 yr old male and just went to a Norwood 2 – 2 1/2. I do not have a camera to send you a pic. Thank you for your time Doctor and for having a great forum.

If you are not getting side effects from the high dose of the drug, I doubt that this high dose will hurt you, but you do not need to take it twice a day. Try it just once a day (1/2 pill).

hey doc, im 19 and i just recently started propecia for my thinning crown. Is this too young to start fin? i think that my facial hair is only about 70% in, because im so young will fin effect my facial hair? and will it affect my height if im still growing? will it stop me from broadening out as most plp do in around my age?

its a bit scarely to be losing hair at this age plz help me out

Propecia (finasteride) may affect facial and body hair growth. I do not believe it is a clear published fact, but I have seen and heard anecdotal stories. In women with Polycystic Ovaries where hirsutism (excess body hair) is a problem, finasteride has been tested and is moderately effective at reducing body hair. Based upon this observation, Propecia MAY diminish facial and body hair. While it is my personal opinion that it is a very low possibility because of the thousands of young men I treated over the past 8 years, only one patient reported reduced body hair (he was over 40). If you are concerned about growth of body and facial hair issues, I would advise you to:

1. Talk with your doctor about these concerns
2. Continue Propecia and see if it is an ongoing problem (when you stop it everything should reverse)
3. Consider stopping the Propecia (but the risks of hair loss then have to be balanced in the decision process)

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Dr. Rassman

I’m male, early thirties and in the early stages of hair loss.

I am experiencing extreme shedding and I need your help. I took avodart for 6 weeks in January 2007. Because of the shedding I stopped it, but now it still continues as strong as ever, even thought it’s been almost 8 weeks since I took any. I’ve been losing about 200 hairs every day in the shower. 3 months ago I had so much more hair, what is going on? I heard that shedding can happen, but not like this. Could this have caused telogen effluvium, or something else? Please help doc, I don’t know what to do.

While Avodart (dutasteride) is currently being studied by the FDA for the treatment of hair loss, it is not yet approved for such treatment. I have heard others who have had some increased hair loss after starting Propecia, but as they continue taking it the benefits (more hair growth or stabilization of hair loss) become more evident. You should see a doctor to discuss these issues and get a good diagnosis of your condition before starting any medication regimen.

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Hey doc, Great site!
Here is my background: I’m 30 yrs old; have been on Propecia for about 5 years now; the hair on the crown of my head is full; but I have a pretty good widow’s peak and am starting thin pretty severly along my hairline. I just wanted to fact check a few things:

1. Is Rogaine my only viable option at this point to stop the thinning in front?
2. If I up the dosage if Propecia from 1mg to 2mg will that work? Will it still take 8mos to see new growth given that I’ve been on the product for 5 yrs?
3. At what age would you advise I look into hair transplantation?
4. Should I even consider Avodart since it’s not approved by the FDA? Has it been shown to be more effective with re-growing frontal hair?

Tks for your advisement

The questions that you asked have been answered separately on multiple posts in the pasts, but I’ll briefly answer them here again…

1. Rogaine is recommended mostly for the top and crown area, based on the several studies that were performed on its effectiveness. There is more and more testimony from doctors who recommend it that minoxidil does work in the front and when combined with Propecia shows reasonable results in the frontal area. This is more a subjective call by doctors who know, rather than the type of objective data that the FDA requires.
2. There is no evidence to show higher doses than 1mg can improve hair growth, but trying it at say twice the dose, may be reasonable provided that you do not experience negative sexual side effects.
3. At your age, if you have male pattern baldness and are in stage 3 or above on Norwood classification, you can be a hair transplant candidate.
4. I would probably not consider Avodart. At this point we can not recommend Avodart (dutasteride), because there is not enough medical evidence to show its advantage over Propecia (finasteride), which has much less side effects. Now with that said, it is presently being tested in Korea under an FDA protocol. I would be interested to see the side effects on this drug as well as its effectiveness as reported in scientific formats.

I am 23 old male that has genetic balding;
First Doctor William i am very thankful towards your efforts you are putting in professionally answering the questions on this hairloss related website. I have been using Minoxidil 5% (Tricovivax) for a month and during this month I have noticed an extreme shedding; I have three major concerns:

1. What this shedding cycle stops that is caused from monoxidil?
2. Is spraying 2ml (as a whole and once per day) has the same effect as spraying two times per day ( 1ml in the morning and the other at night)?
3. Is the usage of minoxidil alone without Propecia will resist the balding process (male pattern hair loss; or Propecia targets the root cause of genetic hair loss (which is DHT) thus it is a must to resist the blading process.

1. The shedding that may be noticed after starting on minoxidil could be due to an increase in hair cycling that could be seen with minoxidil or finasteride. It may last a few months.
2. Recommended method of minoxidil use is twice a day based on clinical studies. If you use this medication less frequently, you may not get the optimum benefit from its use.
3. The mechanism of action of these two drugs is distinctly different. Minoxidil may prolong hair cycles once the first cycle has passed. Propecia blocks the DHT, which is one of the main causes of hair loss if genetic factors are in play.

Hello Dr.!
I have some questions about minoxidil. Is normal that you get blond hairs on scalp after using minoxidil 5%. Is this possible Telogen effluvium? I shed a lot after using a minoxidil for 18 days, now i have blond hairs to. What should i do? Thank you for your time.

I do not know if you were a blonde to start with, but new hairs may be more translucent (not usual). Some people report shedding when they start the minoxidil. If this is happening to you, just wait it out for at least 3 months and the shedding should stop.

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