My 9 month results: finasteride + minoxydil

[jay1965]

Norwood 3 vertex here. Course of treatment was 1/2 (0.5mg) finasteride (Propecia) tablet per day, which was half of the prescribed dose. Also, topical minoxydil 5% (Rogaine) twice daily, though I have gone down to once daily on some days now. Also, my early widow’s peak is slightly less pronounced now, though I don’t have any shots of that. I showed very early stages of developing “the island” up front, but that is no longer as discernable. That would have to be due to the Propecia, since minoxydil is supposed to be effective only for the crown, though I did apply minoxydil up front for awhile. I guess I'm not really a good scientific "control" experiment-wise. I also started off taking 1/4 finasteride a month after I started minoxydil, then bumped up to 1/2 at some later point. I may go back to 1/4 if I experience what I perceive to be any side effects.

 

I get generic finasteride online from Canada and generic minoxydil from Costco. Color differences are because I dye my graying hairs and possibly because of different lighting/cameras :-)

 

I'm surprised this has worked at all since this has been slowly developing over about 10 years...kind of past the point where you're supposed to get regrowth.

 

Edited July 21, 2010 by jay1965

[RCWest]

Good results for only 9 months! Keep it up!

[jay1965]

I'm pretty happy with the results and if I only just maintained this level for the rest of my life I would be perfectly happy I think. Does this treatment typically continue improvement past 9 months? I'm kind of doing this on my own, but of course have a Propecia prescription from a derm, however without much info or monitoring from him.

[RCWest]

Propecia is supposed to improve for up to 2 years. You are just now getting into the "sweet spot". ;