Category: Drugs

I’m almost 26 years old and been using Fin 1.25mg for exactly 4 years for early hair loss. Since starting fin my hair loss ceased completely, I still look the same like 4 years ago! For the past few years I also saw way less hair shedding.

For the past 2 months I see a much bigger increase in hair shedding including weak hairs. My hair length is always the same (medium long) and I been using the same hair products gel & mousse all the time. When fin loses effects is increased hair shedding the first sign? So far my hair still looks the same but I’m definitely very worried.

I have said this over and over here on BaldingBlog: There is no way to completely stop hair loss (your genetics win out in the end).

Finasteride (Propecia) will help, but everyone is different in how they respond and how their genetic predisposition will work out. There is no sign that indicates finasteride is not working, but it is more about how your genetics is winning. It might just be semantics, but I want to be sure everyone is clear. If you see the loss start up again, finasteride is still working, but your genetics are winning out. It doesn’t just stop working.

I can’t explain your recent increase in hair loss, but if you’re concerned you should pay a visit to your prescribing doctor for a follow-up exam. If your doctor made bulk measurements before you started the medication, he could tell if your hair loss has picked up again. Get some good measurements of your hair loss so that in the future, you can tell what is really going on.

hello, sorry for disturbing you. i have used propecia for hair thinning and hair loss. i have seen great results just in a month. hair loss totally stopped from the first week and hair became very thick just with in 30 days of use. but i stopped using the medicine. after some days again my hair started shedding and thinning.

after five months again i started taking the medicine. i have completed one month on the medicine but still my hair sheds a lot and hair appears very thin. it is not working as it worked before. what might be the problem? is my body showing tolerance towards the medicine? should i continue or discontinue the medicine? please tell me…..

I have a hard time believing the Propecia caused your hair to become very thick in just a month. Maybe it was a placebo effect. Propecia usually takes about 6+ months to start working to that degree. It works on the new hair that is growing out of the skin, which grows at about 1/2 inch per month. Regardless, why did you stop after a month and then decide 5 months later to restart? The medication has to be continued daily for it to be effective, but I can’t tell you whether you should take a prescription medication (I am not your prescribing doctor).

Please follow up with your doctor who prescribed you the medication and discuss these issues to determine your next course of action. You need a good solid diagnosis of your hair loss and measurement of a baseline (miniaturization study, photographs, bulk measurement, etc).

What happens when a drug like finasteride loses its effect?

I read somewhere that when finasteride loses its effect, you will actually advance to the stage you would be at if the drug was never used in the first place. Does this apply only for the hair that was regrown, or for the hair that was maintained as well.. so that if you started using the drug at a nw2, you could rapidly become a nw4 when it loses effect?

I also read that the reason it loses effect is because the body starts producing more dht, if this theory and the above is true, wouldn’t you be even worse off than if you didn’t take anything at all, in other words completely bald before you should’ve been? I realize this might just be a crazy theory, but I would appreciate you giving a shot at it anyway.

I feel like I answer this type of question on a regular basis. The questions have little twists in them and are asked in different ways, but the answer remains the same. Male pattern baldness (MPB) or androgenic alopecia (AGA) is due to genetic causes. Men who are born with the gene will be susceptible to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Controlling the DHT levels will not stop the balding forever, since genetics will have the final say.

In the grand scheme of things your genes win out over any drug; however, I have seen some men on finasteride for 13 years and have had complete reversal of the balding in the crown without any loss of effectiveness of the drug over this period of time. If you are going to lose your hair, it will happen. Drugs such as Propecia (finasteride 1mg) will prolong the inevitable, but as we don’t always know the timeline (as in the cases where a 13 year history is available), there’s no way we can really know how long you’ll see cessation of the hair loss. So it isn’t really about finasteride that stops working, but more about you aging and the gene(s) expressing its fate. Also note that everybody responds differently to drugs.

People also ask if the body produces more or less DHT to counteract the finasteride. In an article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology in 1999, they studied this very question and found that DHT levels went down under finasteride treatment at varying doses.

One of the interesting findings of this study is that the lower doses of finasteride (lower than the recommended hair loss treatment 1mg dose) shows significant reductions of DHT at the skin and blood level. This lends credence to our approach of reducing the dose (but continuing on the finasteride) when sexual or other side effects occur. The drug seems to continue to be effective at lower doses.

hello doctor rassman
there was a study done where finasteride upregulates adrogen receptors in the prostate. here is the link- PubMed

is it possible that a user who takes finasteride for hairloss can have an upregulation of androgen receptors at scalp level? therefore causing more hairloss while on propecia? or propecia not working at all?

I am not a biochemist to give you a clear answer on how this study relates to hair loss. Of note, this was a very limited study in 47 cases in a cell line study.

The big picture here is that people take Propecia for the treatment of hair loss, and the studies of this drug have shown effectiveness for this. The research does not show that it produces hair loss.

I’m a 44 year old male and have been using Rogaine foam for the past 3 months and at the begging of this month changed over to a Generic “Rite Aid” brand of the Foam Rogaine. After using it for a couple of weeks I noticed my finger tips started tingling and feeling numb. Maybe from working it into my head with my fingers? Has this ever happen to anyone and is this a possible side affect?

I don’t remember hearing this complaint before, but tingling hands are a rare known side effect of minoxidil. It could be a sign that too much medication is being absorbed in the body. Are you using the medication at the correct amount and only twice a day? The generic should be the same as the name brand (I wasn’t aware a generic foam was available yet).

Maybe you should also consider using disposable gloves to keep the Rogaine Foam (or generic) off of your fingers.

Hello,

My endocrinologist diagnosed me hypothyroidism a couple of years ago and I’ve been taking levothyroxine every morning to treat it. Since last year my dermatologist prescribes me finasteride to treat MPB. I take both at the same time (first thing in the morning).

Is there any problem about taking them together (poor absortion, etc)?

Thanks.

There are no interactions I know of. Taking levothyroxine should not be an issue with finasteride, but ALWAYS let your doctor be aware of any medications that you are taking when being prescribed something new. You should be asking this to your prescribing doctor and the pharmacist who fills the prescription.

Snippet from the article:

Beware of fake versions of ADHD medication Adderall that are being sold on the Internet, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned.

The agency issued the warning Tuesday after receiving complaints from the manufacturer Teva Pharmaceutical Industries that the 30 mg tablets, which do not even resemble the authentic version, was being sold online under the company name, FDA spokesperson Shelly Burgess told ABC News.

Adderall is approved by the FDA to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and narcolepsy.

Read the rest — Fake Adderall Sold Online Gets FDA’s Attention

While not hair loss related, this is something to remember if you decide to purchase prescription drugs from online pharmacies that don’t require a prescription.

Hello Dr. Rassman!

First of all, thank you for this spectacular blog, it’s amazing.

I’m a 21 year old who has been on propecia for about a year. I’m unlucky in the sense that I started thinning all over except for the sides and back since I was 17. I however decided 2 weeks ago I didn’t want to take propecia anymore because damn it, I don’t care what society thinks. I’ll be bald, proud, and won’t let something like hair stand in my way. I’m a man. I’m not supposed to be pretty, but manly.

My question is, how much catch up hair loss is there likely to be? I don’t feel like propecia did much for me. It seems like my hair’s a bit thicker… but not really, so… Is there any possibility I’m one of those people propecia did nothing more than a placebo to?

Thank you for your time and all the best!

It’s possible that Propecia kept your hair loss from being worse than it is, but it’s also possible that you are a non-responder to the medication. I really have no way to know, as I don’t have any hair bulk analysis to compare before starting the medication and today. You can look into having a HairDX test done to predict your response to finasteride.

If you do see catch-up hair loss after stopping Propecia, I suppose that means the medication was working for you. Your hair loss will eventually catch up to the point you’d be at had you never started the medication. So if the Propecia worked to some degree, any benefits will eventually be gone.