hi, i want to ask if there is any evidence that dutasteride would more effective than finasteride for frontal hairloss
None that I know of. I haven’t seen a study comparing dutasteride and finasteride in frontal hairline effectiveness.
Hair Loss InformationAfter 3 Months on Finasteride, I Saw Hairline Growth – Then I Started Shedding All Over My Scalp – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
I have been taking generic finasteride for almost 5 months. The first 2 months I didn’t see much of anything then almost on que at the beginning of the third month hairs began to sprout throughout my hairline and continued to grow throughout the month. Then again almost exactly at the beginning of the fourth month i started to feel as though i was starting to shed throughout my entire head. The shed has continued as i am approaching 5 months. Is this a good or bad sign?
I can not tell you that this is good or bad, since I really do not understand it. If I measured your hair bulk and mapped your miniaturization prior to starting the finasteride, I might be able to give you an idea on what was happening. Did you get such baselines? Regrowth at the hairline is quite rare to begin with, but diffuse shedding after 4 months of taking it is unusual.
Finasteride is a prescription medication, so I’d book an appointment with your prescribing doctor immediately and try to get to the bottom of what is happening.
Hair Loss InformationTaking Larger Dutasteride Dosage Once a Week – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
I understand that you don’t prescribe Dutasteride and that taking it is something one should carefully consider. However, I was wondering if you could answer a question about the half life of the medication. I have read that the half life of Avodart is 5-6 weeks and this got me thinking; if you were to take 3.5mg once a week as opposed to 0.5mg daily, would there be more dutasteride in your system and thus more chance of maximizing its benefits and having side effects? Or, would both dosage methods amount to the same thing?
I do not prescribe it because it is not FDA approved for treating hair loss, there are more sexual side effects with this medication, and the sterility reports are more numerous and maybe irreversible when it happens.
With the long half life, less frequent dosing should be adequate, but there is no dosing information available to guide the doctor on how to prescribe it for treating hair loss. So while it might sound logical to take a larger dose once a week, I don’t know how that plays into side effect risks or safety.
Hair Loss InformationRash and Swollen Face After Using Minoxidil 5% – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
I have been put on minoxidil 5% a week ago. Broke out with rash and now my whole face is swollen and I have a lymphanode at the back of my head that popped out. Prior to this I had been using minoxidil 2%. l am a 34 year old female.
You should see a doctor. You could have had a reaction to the higher strength drug and may have to stop it. This is a known severe allergic reaction of minoxidil (see here for more).
Hair Loss InformationFinasteride Stopped Working and My Doctor is Too Busy To See Me – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
Good Afternoon!
My doctor prescribed Propecia 1 mg per day, 3mg per day of Biotin Forte and wash my hair 3 times a week with Ketoconazole shampoo in 11-6-03, follow up was one yr later 04. I started generic Finasteride 5 mg to save $ 6 months ago. I break the tablets, everything was great until June of 2011. I have had recent rapid hair loss on the crown & back of head.My doctor is too busy, takes months to get appt. Any referrals? Suggestions maybe closer to AZ? No side effects except I have a sore left Testicle for about 3 yrs now, my doc cant figure out why its sore? Im now 51. Thx!
I think that if your doctor does not have the time for you, you need to find a doctor who does. I don’t have a referral for you in Arizona, but you can check out the physician search at ISHRS.org.
As for the recent hair loss starting after switching from name brand Propecia to generic finasteride — I really don’t know. It should be the same medication, just different doses. Are you breaking the 5mg tablets into 4 equal parts? Did you get the generic from a legit pharmacy? What was the maker of the generic? Have you talked to your pharmacist about perhaps trying a different generic brand?
Hair Loss InformationI Think My Sperm Count is Lower After Using Propecia for 5 Weeks – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
It has been 5 weeks since i started propecia, i think my sperm count and density as well might have decreased a bit, should i keep on using the medication? No loss of libido though.
A known side effect of finasteride (Propecia) is a reduced volume of ejaculate and this occurs in somewhere between 10-20% of patients, but all of these men will have a normal sperm count when tested for their actual count. You may be confusing ejaculate volume (which is often lower when taking the drug) to sperm count (usually range is in the 15-60 million per cc). There is more to sperm being present that is important. One looks at the health of the sperm (morphology), the motility of it, the sugar (fructose) in the fluid, etc.
If you want to know if you have azoospermia (no sperm in the semen) then you can get your doctor to recommend that you be tested. There are some rare reports and concerns that finasteride can reduce the actual sperm count and even produce sterility if the azoospermic counts go down to very low numbers. When this happens, the process often reverses when you stop taking finasteride.
How Long Could I Continue to See Amazing Finasteride Results If I Started in My Mid-30s? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
Hi Doctor, Im writing you from Argentina. First Id like to thank you for such great information you provide here. Ive been using finasteride for about a year and a half and the results are amazing. No more hair loss and even some regrowth until the point that no one can tell that I was balding. Id like to ask you, because of your experience, how long do you think I can keep the benefits from the drug, right now Im 37, not planning to quit never!. Thanks a lot from down here!
It’s great that you’re seeing amazing results! I have had some patients taking Propecia for over a decade with good results maintained, but the amount of years that the regrowth will sustain really just depends on the person. Just because you started taking it in your mid-30s doesn’t necessarily mean you have more or less time to see benefits. It depends more on how deep you were into the hair loss progression when you started the drug.
Not every patient will have the exact same benefit over the same amount of time, so I couldn’t tell you how long you’ll continue to see these full benefits. Keep your fingers crossed that you have continued success for years and years to come!
Hair Loss InformationMy Doctor Said I May Have Finasteride Induced Telogen Effluvium – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
Dear Dr Rassman,
I am a 21 year old male and have been aggressively losing my hair for just over 2 years. Since February, I have been taking Propecia daily to combat the loss. However, after about 1 month on propecia I have been heavily shedding my hair and this has been confirmed by a dermatologist who said I had a strongly positive pull test and a very high amount of telegon hairs. He stated that I may have finasteride induced telegon effluvium as well as accelerated phase male pattern balding considering my very heavy hair loss (have gone from a norwood 2 to norwood 4 in about 9 months).
Do you believe this could explain this heavy loss and is there anything else I can do to combat such such aggresive balding at such a young age? After 6 months on the drug, Propecia appears to make me lose more hair, minoxidil causes an inflammatory response on my scalp and a transplant is out of the question given my loss and age. I am at a loss as to what to do and it is severely impacting upon my life.
Many Thanks for your time
I would have to see and examine your scalp to understand what you are reporting. This could be just rapid hair loss from your genetic pattern and have little to do with the drug. Or it could be a shedding process that some people have reported after starting Propecia. It is a rare occurrence, but we’ve written about it before.
I Am Worried About My Results After Switching from Name Brand to Generic Finasteride – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
Hi Dr.Rassman,
I am a 35 year old man. I used propecia for two and a half years, three months ago I switched to 5 mg generic finasteride because of the cost. The generic finasteride that I use is manufactured by TEVA and I bought it at walgreens. I have a few questions.1) is this a genuine medicine? or should I change to name brand of finasteride (proscar)?
2) The reason I asked the question above is, I am cutting the 5mg finasteride into four peices and take one piece a day, I have noticed that the four pieces are not exactly the same size. However my concern is I ‘think’ my hairline is receding and my hair is thinning after switching to generic finasteride. is it a negative placebo affect? I would love to keep using the generic finasteride because of the cost but on the same note I dont want to lose my hair either.
Thanks
If the drug is not counterfeit, splitting the pill into quarters should not product a problem. You bought it at Walgreens, so I’d expect the medication is fine. Teva is the largest generic pharmaceutical maker in the world.
Cutting a 5mg tablet into 4 pieces would make each part 1.25mg, which is a little more than 1mg Propecia. That shouldn’t be a problem though, as you’re probably not going to get a perfect cut each time and will even lose a crumb or two in the process. It’s much easier to cut into 4 pieces than it is to cut into 5. If you’re concerned though, speak to your prescribing doctor or pharmacist about a different generic finasteride brand.
Some Men Still Want to Take Propecia “Just In Case” – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog
Say if, hypothetically, finasteride would be effective for me between the ages of 20 and 30, would starting propecia at the age of 30 mean that it’d be effective until I’m around 40, or would the age of 30 just be the definite age where the drug stops working? I was wondering because I am unsure if I am losing hair or not, but thought that taking propecia would be a good precaution. However if it turned out I wasn’t experiencing any hair loss, but then later in my life started to thin out, would I have wasted my ‘effective propecia years’?
I have had some patients on finasteride (Propecia) for more than 13 years with benefits that still haven’t subsided since they first began. There’s no definitive timeline that you’ll see benefits, but the best time to start it is when the hair loss is in the early stages. Some men notice some hair loss again sometime after the 5th year of taking Propecia, and maintaining all of the regrowth for a decade or longer isn’t guaranteed… but each person is different. If you took the medication for years, saw benefits, and then stopped the medication once you thought it wasn’t working anymore, your hair loss would accelerate to the point that you would’ve been at had you not taken the drug at all.
If you are uncertain if you are balding, you should see your doctor. Propecia is a prescription medication, and your doctor will be able to determine if you’re losing hair and are a candidate for the medication. Otherwise, taking a hair loss drug if you don’t have balding makes no sense to me. You shouldn’t take it for preventive measures.