Propecia stopped working after about 8 years

[kal-el1975]

I've been taking Propecia (1 mg daily) for about 7 or 8 years. I started losing my hair behind the hairline and further back around the age of 23-24. It was thinning drastically. Got on Propecia and after about 1 year I had significant regrowth and thickening back up of my hair. Recently i am thinning again (I'm now 32) and at times feel I am getting back to as bad or worse than I was before. I am considering adding Rogaine to the regimen and already added Saw Palmetto (figured couldn't hurt). I am going to go back to my derm and discuss options. Guess I should be happy for the 7-8 years I got on Propecia, but no one ever said "Oh by the way, it will stop working or lose its effectiveness after some period of years and you will be back to where you were years ago but have dumped this drug in your system the whole time." Who knows would I have even started? Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Peter88]

Try minoxidil and switch for Avodart if you have no side effects with Propecia

[Yogi's Dad]

I've been on Propecia for 10 years. At that time my vertex was just beginning to thin out a little.

 

My hairline had been receding 15 years before I started Propecia.

 

My vertex hairloss has been minimal over the last ten years (since Propecia). My hairline gradually continued to recede over the last 10 years from a NW 3 to a NW 4.

 

For me, Propecia has helped my vertex considerably. It has helped slow my receding hairline minimally (at best).

 

Changes in effectiveness with Propecia over time? I dunno. I'd be interested to see what others have to say.

 

Good luck!

[Curious_George]

Originally posted by kal-el1975:

I've been taking Propecia (1 mg daily) for about 7 or 8 years. I started losing my hair behind the hairline and further back around the age of 23-24. It was thinning drastically. Got on Propecia and after about 1 year I had significant regrowth and thickening back up of my hair. Recently i am thinning again (I'm now 32) and at times feel I am getting back to as bad or worse than I was before. I am considering adding Rogaine to the regimen and already added Saw Palmetto (figured couldn't hurt). I am going to go back to my derm and discuss options. Guess I should be happy for the 7-8 years I got on Propecia, but no one ever said "Oh by the way, it will stop working or lose its effectiveness after some period of years and you will be back to where you were years ago but have dumped this drug in your system the whole time." Who knows would I have even started? Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

A respected HT surgeon posted this here and it makes sense: for your first 7-8 years, you got hair growth from Propecia (in addition to hair loss prevention). So you were on the 'up curve'.

 

Now, re-growth has stopped and you are seeing thinning again. So you are on the 'down curve'. If you stop Propecia, that down curve would become a downward slide.

 

So what do you do - keep taking it. And maybe at 35, you can consider a HT.

[kal-el1975]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I would like to try Advodart as I had very little side effects from Propecia. However, being that I live in the US, Advodart (DUT) is still not approved for hair loss, so I don't think my derm would give me that. I will go talk to her and see what she says. Yes, I will consider a HT in the near future. Also any more thoughts on Minox? Is it worth it to add at this point? What really sucks is that if I was balding in the crown or from the front to back I might be able to live with it. It sucks to have a strong hairline, but this patch of thinning behind it. Looks like a damn hole there in the center of my hair.

[kal-el1975]

Thanks HT55, thinking of adding Rogaine Foam as well to give it a shot. Might get more growth again for a few years.

 

Curious_George - the "curve" theory you posted is interesting. I guess because I

1) started taking Propecia young when the thinning only started

2) had very little side efects

3) had really good results for many years

I thought I might have halted the process and it would stay that way if I stayed on the drug religiously. But our bodies do adapt very well to stuff including drugs and I find it possible that my body has gotten used to/adapted past its effectiveness.

 

One point I was thinking of though was the fact that if I understand Hair Loss correctly it is caused by the DHT in the scalp killing/choking the hairs. DHT is a product of the body converting testosterone. You would think that if the drug worked all through my 20's and into my early 30's, then it would continue working as it was or have an easier time working as testosterone decreases past 30 in men. It would seem to me the drug would have less DHT conversion to block and therefore work as good or better. Just my own incoherent thoughts.. :0)

[Byehair]

I had 7 really good years on Propecia and then things changed. It sucks because I also thought I had pretty much stopped it.

Now three years later I have moved from a NW2 to closing in on a NW4.

Still taking Propecia, but definitely not the same result.

[dabuski]

One point I was thinking of though was the fact that if I understand Hair Loss correctly it is caused by the DHT in the scalp killing/choking the hairs. DHT is a product of the body converting testosterone. You would think that if the drug worked all through my 20's and into my early 30's, then it would continue working as it was or have an easier time working as testosterone decreases past 30 in men. It would seem to me the drug would have less DHT conversion to block and therefore work as good or better. Just my own incoherent thoughts.. :0)

 

Yeh Kal the deeper mysteries of Hairloss eh?

What your saying makes sense ,you would think that if you made it through the early high testosterone days then it should be fairly maintainable any Hairloss.

Go figure?.

[Brad Harrington]

I started taking Propecia in 2005 after having 4 years of slowish balding from the hairline back and found that after a year of taking Propecia I had noticeably thicker hair. But since then I have noticed it to be getting thinner again.

 

This doesn't make any sense to me, first of all I thought that perhaps Propecia was just slowing down the balding and the regrowth experienced in the first year was Propecia's affect on the damaged follicles that weren't too damaged to be rejuvenated (in other words some follicles could have been too damaged to be repaired) however if this was the case, as Propecia usually just slows down the balding process which means I've continued thinning a little... surely Propecia would be able to rejuvenate these recently dying follicles.

 

Is it possible that the initial growth spurt that most people seem to have is just caused by follicles that are in their dormant phase being encouraged to grow? so in affect it makes it look like you are having regrowth though possibly all that is happening is more hair follicles are in their growing phase?

 

It's a tricky one because nobody is going to risk stopping just incase it is still doing something!

[Ceasar08]

Kal--

 

If I were you I would add minoxidil asap. There's a chance it'll really do a lot to help your situation and at least buy you a few more years. The medications work very well together.

[krazpumpkinhead]

I'm in the same situation--started 8 years ago, and Propecia seems to be losing its effectiveness now. For years a combination of Propecia and minoxidil 5% regrew hair and seemed to have halted my hairloss. I'm currently a Norwood 1 in terms of hairline, but with underlying thinning I'm heading for a Norwood 5. I may try a "drug holiday"--a break from my drug regimen to see if that allows my body to reset and eliminate its tolerance to the Propecia and minoxidil. If that doesn't work, I'll probably just shave my head. Possibly grow a goatee and hit the gym harder. I don't look too bad buffed up with a shaved head, but it's a very "niche" look that most girls aren't wild about. Last time I did it I found it went over great with Russian and Eastern European girls ha ha. They seem to like that rugged look, unlike homegrown girls who like their men a bit on the pretty side. Anyway, I'll let you know if the drug holiday helps. If I were you I'd definitely try adding the minoxidil to your regimen--shocked you haven't already!

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I would like to try Advodart as I had very little side effects from Propecia. However, being that I live in the US, Advodart (DUT) is still not approved for hair loss, so I don't think my derm would give me that. I will go talk to her and see what she says. Yes, I will consider a HT in the near future. Also any more thoughts on Minox? Is it worth it to add at this point? What really sucks is that if I was balding in the crown or from the front to back I might be able to live with it. It sucks to have a strong hairline, but this patch of thinning behind it. Looks like a damn hole there in the center of my hair.

 

Thats the route I would go! Definitely add rogaine to your current regimen!

[Gish]

Take a look at this thread if you want a but more info.

 

This guy reported a similar experience to your own.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/163398-propecia-losing-its-efficiency.html

[RCWest]

Kal, your genetics is probably catching up to the drug. You would be in a much worse shape by now had you never taken Finasteride. But even if it is losing effectiveness, DO NOT stop it without taking something in it's place.

 

On the subject of Avodart, I took it for a year to see if I could see any gains. Apparently my hairloss isn't aggressive enough to warrant something stronger than Fin, so I switched back. My family doctor had no problems writing it for me, but it is quite more expensive than Finasteride. Luckily my health insurance covers it. As far as side effects I noticed nothing any different than Finasteride.

 

On a side note, you can take either Proscar/Propecia or Avodart with grapefruit juice and get a boost in the serum drug concentration. Go with either 100% GFJ from Ocean Spray or a pure "not from concentrate" GFJ.

 

Good luck!

[seashanty]

Avodart pooped out on me a year ago. I'm still taking it though because I figure that the hair loss would be worse. It's as if my hair has become extra sensitive to the small amour of DHT that there is. I too hoped it would have a life long effect. But there are some mysteries to this. For example more men lose hair as they age, at a time when their testosterone levels are falling significantly. Its one reason i would not trust a hair transplant. So DHT is a big factor but perhaps not the only one. I should be grateful. I started receding at 19 and was so worried I'd be bald by 24 and never get a girlfriend. I'm 45 now but of course I would love for it to have worked until 55. And then 65. Lol