Minoxidl and/or Finasteride losing effect?

[YL]

Hi all. Just signed up to this forum today as I have had a few concerns as of late.

 

Just to give a brief background, I'm a 26 year old Asian male. First noticed my hairline receding circa Jan 2005. In March 2007, I decided to do something about it and my GP recommended a combination of minoxidl and finasteride. My daily routine is 2ml of minoxidl which I apply a couple of hours before bed and 1.25mg of finasteride, which I also take before bed.

 

Since starting the treatment, I re grew significant amounts of hair particularly in the frontal area. I never really lost too much hair around the crown region, but I am confident in saying I grew more hair in that region as well. It seemed as though I had more hair than most of my friends who weren’t going bald and even my hairdresser often mentioned how thick my hair was. During the first 4 years, I had a couple of sheds that lasted 2-3 months at a time, but then re-grew to its previous glory. Life was good…

 

December 2010, I first noticed that my hair was thinning ever so slightly. My first thought was that I was going through another shedding phase. As the months went by, I noticed that the frontal area of my scalp was getting thinner and thinner, and it was becoming harder and harder to style my hair the same way I had done so in the past. I started to monitor my hair growth (or lack of) much more closely around May 2011. Since then, I haven’t really noticed any regrowth in the frontal area of the scalp. I had my hair cut short in August and I could clearly see just how much hair I had lost. The crown seemed to be fine, but I was shocked to see just how thin it was at the front. I now look worse than the period prior to starting my treatment. During this 5 year period, I haven’t made any significant lifestyle changes. My diet is fairly healthy and I exercise regularly. Don’t smoke but do have a one or two drinks on the weekend like most people. I take my medication religiously, however I have skipped the odd night due to being too tired or hungover :\ which I’m sure many people do.

 

I’ve gone through a few forums and have heard that the effects of minoxidil and finasteride may wear off after a few years. I was not made aware of this until recently and it’s really starting to worry me. I have heard of people in this situation increasing their dosages of finasteride to 2.5mg which has worked for them, but I’m thinking even if that does work, chances are it’s only a matter of time before that wears off.

 

I’m just wondering if people have gone through something similar and if they have any advice. Would love to hear from you guys.

 

Muchly appreciated.