Post HT Finasteride Duration in Years

[Carl24]

Hi,

I am currently 52 and had a very successful transplant in 2007 with about 3500 strip procedure by Dr. Feller. I started finasteride about 6 months before surgery and have continued a 1.25 dose since and currently take it 4-5x per week.

Is there any long term data on finasteride efficacy or is most of the long term information anecdotal?

I do not have any major issue taking it long term as long as I have an idea that it is likely to be effective. What have other HT veterans experienced? Thanks.

[haircut]

I have been on finesteride for 15 years - post HT. I started loosing some temple hair about 2 years ago. I visited a couple of the top doctors on this forum who both suggested that I increase my finesteride dosage to 2.5mg per day. That seems to be working. Most people do not experience this problem. I suppose that I was one of the lucky ones :-)

 

My suggestion would be to take it every day. That is the proper way to use it per the manufacturer who did numerous studies with the medication.

[mahhong]

I believe the official study was conducted over 5 years and found the vast majority of finasteride users (specifically Propecia, as it was a Merck commissioned study, though the results are likely true for all brands) saw either no further loss or minimal loss in those 5 years.

 

Long term data isn't well documented and is pretty much anecdotal, though there are many individuals that claim finasteride has maintained their hair for many years over the 5 years studied - such as haircut above! I have read a fairly mixed bag of comments from people who have taken fin for 5+ years - some claim it has lost its efficacy the longer they use it, others say that have been on the drug a decade or more with no appreciable change.

 

I think so long as you're on the drug and happy, you might as well continue to use the drug for the long term. Finasteride works by lowering DHT so if you stop using the drug your DHT levels will return to normal and any further hairloss will probably happen much sooner (even if ultimately it was going to happen anyway). With any luck finasteride will continue to work flawlessly for you for many years to come!

[Carl24]

Thanks for the update. Dr. Feller told me that I could take it indefinitely. I did have some side effects so I take 5x per week (exclude Friday & Saturday ) so I can have a normal sex life

Perhaps one day there will be some 10 year data on it's longer term efficacy.

My insurance covers my finasteride prescriptions and each 5mg month supply last 4 months which is great.

[Spanker]

Of course I am not a scientist but I think a lot of it depends on genes and how strong your baldness is....

 

Your DHT is lowered taking it longer to kill your hair if you are on fin, but it does not change the fact that your hair is sensitive to this and will still be afftected eventually. I know that this is a simple way to look at it but in a simple way, that is how I see it.

 

I do not believe that fin is a lifelong treatment of keeping my hair, I believe that it is a lifelong treatment to help me keep it longer.

 

As a few docs have said, keep taking it til something better comes along.

[mahhong]

Of course I am not a scientist but I think a lot of it depends on genes and how strong your baldness is....

 

Your DHT is lowered taking it longer to kill your hair if you are on fin, but it does not change the fact that your hair is sensitive to this and will still be afftected eventually. I know that this is a simple way to look at it but in a simple way, that is how I see it.

 

I do not believe that fin is a lifelong treatment of keeping my hair, I believe that it is a lifelong treatment to help me keep it longer.

 

As a few docs have said, keep taking it til something better comes along.

 

Yes, this is very true. In some ways I think a good analogy is ivy and a tree in a forest, with a tree being a hair follicle and ivy being DHT. If you reduce the amount of ivy in the forest then the trees have a chance to stay healthy and grow properly for longer. They are, however, still being strangled by the ivy that's left and that means in time they will succumb to the ivy all the same. Finasteride works on a similar principle; it reduces DHT and therefore allows hair to grow stronger and for longer, but it's arguable and in fact somewhat inevitable that the DHT will win out eventually. For most men this is perhaps not an issue; it's possible the DHT will be kept at bay for so long that they'll spend the majority, if not the rest of their lives, seeing at best minimal disruption to their hair. Some men, by contrast, find finasteride barely works at all for them; their hair is so susceptible to the negative effects of DHT that even reducing it does very little for them.

 

To that extent finasteride is, unfortunately, a makeshift (but nevertheless effective) treatment of MPB. It's really about symptom management rather than having any sort of curative intent, but it has offered a lifeline to many men and is probably the best recognised drug we have for hairloss.

[Carl24]

I guess your analogy makes sense and why not take it until another option becomes available. I am very happy in my result and want to keep as many hairs as possible.

Do most surgeons advise taking finasteride indefinitely?

[mahhong]

I guess your analogy makes sense and why not take it until another option becomes available. I am very happy in my result and want to keep as many hairs as possible.

Do most surgeons advise taking finasteride indefinitely?

 

I believe most surgeons would tell you to take it indefinitely so long as you don't have any adverse side effects or problems with taking the drug. I know of some surgeons who have personally used the drug for a decade or more and will continue to keep using the drug, so I would imagine they would offer you the same advice.

[mattj]

I don't think any surgeon would tell you not to take it indefinitely, put it that way.

 

Thanks for the update. Dr. Feller told me that I could take it indefinitely. I did have some side effects so I take 5x per week (exclude Friday & Saturday ) so I can have a normal sex life

Perhaps one day there will be some 10 year data on it's longer term efficacy.

My insurance covers my finasteride prescriptions and each 5mg month supply last 4 months which is great.

 

It's interesting that you would notice a reduction in that side effect by merely skipping a dose on the day. To me it seems unlikely that this would happen as the drug stays around in the blood, and those who've had to quit Finasteride altogether because they couldn't tolerate the side effects have reported normalization often a longer period of time.

I don't want to completely dismiss your experience, but could it perhaps be some kind of placebo effect?

[finaxz]

I would like to know if anything is known as to what is a better time to take Finasteride , that is during the day or before you go to sleep and also anything else like empty stomach or after a meal ?

 

Who knows may be DHT production is more at a particular time of the day ?

 

I have been talking a 1 mg Finasteride for few years and of late my hair have started to fall again at a high rate, so I am considering to take a higher dose for a month and see if that brings about a change .

 

From where I am we only get a 1 mg , 5 mg , 10 mg dose , so if I took half a tablet of 5 mg would that be considered like taking 2.5 mg ? Is that how it goes ?

 

I am considering taking a 5 mg though . I am 34 yrs old and rest of things about me you can read from my profile page ..

 

Thanks for you comments , suggestions ..