Hi all,

Given the side effects of continued use of finastride, my doctor has said he would take me off finastride next month and I can continue with only minoxidil after that.

I've been using minoxidil and finas together for the last 10 months and have managed to recover quite a lot of hair.

But since I have to go off finastride now, I was wondering if any of you have used minoxidil alone and found it effective by itself.

If I were going to bet you lunch, I'd bet that the propecia is the bigger saviour of your hair. You will know quite soon if this is true now that you are stopping propecia. SO, give it a month or 2, if you don't lose any significant hair, you will know the Rogaine is really helping. If you lose a bunch, you and your doc will need to revisit the pros and cons of propecia.

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

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William H. Lindsey, MD, FACS
McLean, VA

Dr. William Lindsey is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

Thanks for your response, Dr. Lindsey.

What is the minimum time for which a person can use finastride without experiencing any of its notorious side-effects?

I know most people say this issue has been blown out of proportion, but we can't know about the side-effects and still continue using them, right?

Not that I'm happy to go off finastride either. It's just something I can't avoid.

So I'm really in a fix here.

I don't know. But it gets "in your system" or out of your system within a few days. So my "guess" is that if you are on it for a few weeks and have no side effects, you probably are unlikely to develop any significant libido issues.

When I was on it, by 2 weeks I was out shopping for curtains and fabrics....

No, in all seriousness, I had THE side effect intermittently from week 3 til I quit at 11 months; and was side effect free 2 weeks later.

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

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William H. Lindsey, MD, FACS
McLean, VA

Dr. William Lindsey is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

So did your hair hold up after you stopped taking finastride?

My doc says that the impact of DHT is often reduced after using finastride for 9-10 months, after which minoxidil alone should be enough.

But after reading this forum, I'm pretty darn confident he's just saying that to keep up my spirits.

Anybody here using finastride for 1+/2+/3+ years without any problem?

Am still waiting to hear from a few more people about my original question also.

I've been on Propecia for 7 years and doing fine.

I had diffuse thinning over a large part of my crown area when I started minoxidyl. They did not have finisteride back then and it was all I was using. It did a great job of restoring all of my crown hair for about 3 years until it lost its effectiveness and I ended up back where I started. I stopped using it and I did not experience any shed as a result.

I started using finisteride by itself when it came out and it also did a great job of restoring all my crown hair. But like minoxidyl, it lost its effectiveness after about 4 years and I ended up back where I started. I stopped it's use and did not experience any shedding or increased hair loss rate after I quit.

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My Hair Loss Web Site - Dr. Ron Shapiro