Balding Blog

I have been on finasteride for over 2 years with good results, but I’ve been dealing with pretty bad sleep/energy/anxiety issues the last ~18 months. (No sexual sides, though.)
I’ve made a lot of lifestyle changes to try to address those issues, but nothing’s really worked. I’m beginning to wonder if the issues are finasteride-related.
I’m thinking about cutting down from 1mg/day to 0.5mg per day for a month or two. Depending on how that goes, I might stay there or continue tapering off.
Is there any general advice regarding lowering/tapering off finasteride dosage?

Reducing your finasteride to half the dose may not have an impact on your hair; however, the more you cut, the greater your risk of losing the hairs you retained. If that happens, you might not get it back. I have seen many patients stop the drug for a couple of months and then lose ground so bad that they never get back to where they were before stopping it. Reducing the dose to every other day or every third day still keeps the drug effective above 50% of the full dose, so this is a reasonable approach if you think that your symptoms are drug-related.

I call that catch up hair loss which means that you lose all of the benefits and revert to what would have happened had you never taken the drug

I have been on finasteride for more than 10 years, then I decided just recently to stop it. I lost basically everything in 3 months when I stopped min/fin. I started back 30 days ago is it possible to regain everything?

It is possible that some or all of the hair is still there. Good luck with a potential reversal. Let me know in 3 months so I know. I always want to be educated by the men who are balding and dealing with such problems.

Stopping finasteride after 8 years will create ‘Catch-up Hair Loss” which means that the gains will be lost and the hair you would have lost over the past 8 years might all occur in 3-4 months. Scarry!

I’ve been taking generic finasteride for around 5 years (since I was 25) and I’ve maintained the hair that I had when I started taking it. I also only had a minor side effect (orgasms seem to be a bit weaker, not too much but enough to notice) but the plus of keeping my hair outweighed this negative.

I read a scientific paper yesterday about the long term effects of neurosteroids and 5a alpha reductase inhibitors and it got me a little worried. Then I went down the rabbit hole of posts on places like Medium and Vice about how the drug ruined their lives and it was difficult for me to get some sleep last night and I was seriously considering just going cold turkey but even there you get people saying that stopping finasteride could give you PFS symptoms as well.

Not really sure what to do now, as much as I like having my hair I don’t want to screw up my brain and body over the long term.

Currently, I’m thinking of dropping down from 1mg to 0.25mg a day as I saw a graph showing that DHT inhibition only goes from 68% to 62% but what do you think?

Almost all of my patients who were on finasteride for years and who have stopped the drug for man y reasons, have often seen significant hair loss and regretted stopping the drug.

I figured I would offer my opinion here since the reader asked for a reply from somebody who had a similar experience and the response doesn’t really answer the question. I used Propecia about a decade ago and developed general sexual dysfunction (not just ED) that continues to this day.

Unfortunately nobody can provide you with the reassurance that you say you desperately need. You won’t know for sure if the side effects will be permanent unless you stop taking the drug. The doctor highlights that you risk “catch up hair loss” which provides an incomplete picture to the decision you need to make. On the other hand, if you continue taking the drug you risk “catch up side effects” because the side effects can get worse than they are today. You need to think about what is most important to you and how much you value your general health versus your hair in order to make a smart decision. There is uncertainty in making a decision like this which is stressful but the right decision is different for everybody.

Hi doctor, if I want to drop finasteride for cognitive reasons, is it better to slowly ween off of it, or drop it cold turkey? I’m 4 months in. I’m doing proscar 1.25mg every other day.

Just stop it! If you had benefits, you will see the benefits disappear in up to the first 3 months

My dutasteride ran out on september 25th, so its been almost 2 months. My libido hasnt gotten any better since then. Considering the halph life of 5 weeks, i should have some significantly higher libido now. But i dont. I was okay with having no libido for a time, but sooner or later i would prefer it to come back.

There is no way to predict the reversal of sexual side effects on Dutasteride. I would hope that within 2-3 months the drug will be completely out of your system

I used Rogaine for 1 year. I thought it wasn’t helping and my shed picked back up 8 months in. I quit Rogaine this last December and about the last month have had huge shed. Sometimes 300-400 hairs. I am a 45-year-old female with FPHL. Should I go back on Rogaine? Will that decrease shed, and can I take Fin as I have had a hysterectomy? My temples and sides are the worst – losing density.

Going back on Rogaine may return the hair, and it may not. A Hair transplant is a reasonable option that will absolutely put the hair back where it was lost.

hi doctor im 30 years old and took propecia for 3 years with amazing results. Prior to propecia my hair was horrible, thin, and was losing it. Then I started propecia and after 3 years my hair was amazing, thick, looked like when I was 20 years old again. it looked thick and amazing, it was like a miracle drug. A year ago I stopped it because I didn’t know I had to take it6 everyday forever and stupid me didn’t even consult my doctor. worst mistake I ever made. and my hair loss has picked up and looks thin and just like it was before propecia and even worse. I went to my doctor and got a script and started again last week. My doctor said it should help again and I should gain back what I lost but he is a regular family doctor, and I want an experts opinion. Will I get the same results again now that I have started taking it again? I hope I get the same hair I had a year ago back. In your opinion from your experience people who have stopped and re started does it work and bring you back to before? or all that beautiful hair I hair on propecia is gone and will only keep what I have now?

I can’s say what will happen in your case. Chances are that there will be some advantages to go back on it, but the full benefit you had will be a touch challenge. This is the reason that having a good doctor and keeping an eye on your repose is so important. You must have had yearly renewal requirements that this would have been saving you all of this grief.