Stopping Finasteride for Now

[TakingThePlunge]

Spanker,

 

Thanks! I'm really quite happy with my hair at this point although I do dream about slightly lowering the hairline a bit more and adding overall density.

 

You're right, pretty much my entire frontal third is transplants. I've had no crown work and, although my crown is thin, I'm pretty comfortable with its appearance at this point.

 

I think all of the differences you see in my photos are just combing and angles. That's why when I present my own photos, I normally try to capture my hair in its natural state. As I mentioned, the pics I shared today were taken straight out of bed.

 

I'm thinking about getting my hair buzzed to about a #4 soon. If I do that I'll try to get some higher resolution pics to share.

[aim4hair]

I have continued to use Rogaine Foam twice daily and Nizoral twice weekly.

 

Thanks for the update, are you talking anything other than rogaine foam and nizoral ?

Do you think those 2 things could work if someone decides not to take propecia ?

[TakingThePlunge]

aim4hair,

 

No, I'm not taking any supplements, vitamins or anything at the moment. I quit everything aside from topicals when I was trying to rid myself of acne.

 

Honestly, I do not believe that Rogaine and Nizoral are effective replacements for finasteride and I would always stress to any guy wishing to do all he can to retain and regrow hair that finasteride is the best medical option, period. Minoxidil and perhaps Nizoral are great complements to finasteride and, like most guys, I feel strongly that adding all three to your hair loss regimen is the best option. Of course, if you have no intention of using Propecia then you should, at the very least, use Rogaine.

 

I truly can't say if or how much Rogaine has done for my hair. Maybe I'm just lucky but my crown is holding up pretty well despite stopping finasteride 9 months ago. I was prepared for the worst and I still am. But, I just had no choice but to quit.

[bigonefive]

I also stopped Finasteride several years ago because my wife and I are also trying to conceive. I've read some studies that show a difference in sperm motility, population per ml, and morphology that theoretically could have an effect on our chances. We struggle with infertility as well, so although it may be safe, I want to remove all the variables that could be going against us. We're going through IVF right now, and I want to make sure my sperm aren't affected in any way. I'm a NW2.5, and the only difference I've seen is that my hairline hairs are not quite as thick as they were. But I'm pretty religious with 15% minoxidil and Nizoral, so it's holding up ok. Once our kids are here, I may start back up on it.

 

Good luck to us both for keeping as much hair as we can!

[gasto]

Your hair is still looking great even after 9 months without finasteride regimen.

[TakingThePlunge]

Thanks gasto! *knock on wood* Hope it stays that way for a long time to come.

[swedgeman]

I had a HT around 6 years ago for receding hairline..great results. Was prescribed propecia and took it for past 6 years. I bought generic propecia from online pharmacy. All worked and have fathered 2 beautiful boys..so no probs in that area. I decided to come off propecia as I did not want to stay on it for the rest of my life. I have been off it for 3 months now and have started to notice my hairline and crown thinning. This is no problem for me as I have decided to have another HT in February. One thing I have noticed is that since I came off propecia I have lost fat around my midriff..which had been a bear to shift... as well as around my face. I have lost in total around 7 pounds of fat and looking and feeling so much better for it. I did not consider myself fat or even chubby as I work out ( boxing, power lifting) so I am in reasonable shape. I just couldn`t shift the belly fat, which I have now done. Long story short, propecia did not have an adverse effect on my sex life or ability to conceive but did seem to make body fat cling around my midriff.

[ratt57]

I had an HT almost four months ago and started on propecia - and Rogaine - almost immediately; after reading some of the postings on this board as well as others, I've stopped it. I'm experiencing some pretty substantial early hair growth which my doc has told me is unusual, and am wondering now if it's from the surgery or the medications... I guess time will tell. I'm going through some major job changes and looking back over the last month, have noticed that I'm a lot more easily stressed/frustrated than I have been in the past; in addition, I'm noticing some slight gynecomastia and have stopped doing chest presses at the gym because it seems to be making it even more pronounced. Sexually I was starting to experience partial erection problems, but the desire was certainly there. The prescription is also pricey. It's been a little over a week since I've stopped it, and I'm already noticing a change in my mood as well as sexual side effects slowly diminishing. I am concerned I'm going to lose a lot of hair, however; I'm curious if anyone has ever seen a major amount of hair loss after coming off the drug. I'm staying on the Rogaine foam, although it does tend to dry my scalp out a little.

[gasto]

I have substantially lost a lot of hair due to the cessation of propecia and Minoxidil %5 application.

 

I experienced much better mood after cessation as well. Let alone the other known side-effects.

[Raymond2013]

Hey TakingThePlunge,

 

Could you be so kind as to update this thread? Did your hair start to thin again or is it still holding up to stopping the propecia?

[TakingThePlunge]

Raymond,

 

Sure thing. I'll try to get some pics in the next day or two. I don't feel that I've had any substantial loss since quitting but I've not really taken any photos for comparison.

 

It will be interesting to compare.

[gasto]

Is that a sign of craftsmanship from your surgeon?

[TakingThePlunge]

Sorry for the delay. I wanted to dig up some pics of my crown from several months prior to my first procedure and taking hair loss meds. Here's a quick time line for reference.

 

01/02/2009 - First hair transplant; 2516 grafts

01/11/2009 - Started finasteride and Rogaine Foam

04/26/2010 - Second hair transplant; 1833 grafts

10/25/2011 - Stopped finasteride

 

All in all, I took finasteride for 2 years and 9 months. During that time, I experienced what I would consider very mild sexual side effects such as watery semen, less frequent and softer erections as well as a lack of morning erections.

 

I've been off finasteride now for 1.5 years. I'll be turning 45 in August.

 

The worst part for me was that several months after starting, I slowly began to suffer from cystic acne. While I had fairly severe bouts with acne as a teen and into my twenties, my complexion had been perfectly clear for a decade before this started. The only change in my routine was the addition of finasteride. I believe that the finasteride awakened some hormonal problem and I've been dealing with it ever since to varying degrees. This was one of the reasons I quit.

 

The other reason I quit was because I got married and my wife wasn't keen on the medication. We had planned on starting a family and she didn't want to conceive while I was taking finasteride. As it turns out, she is pregnant now and our daughter is due in August. I'm currently considering a return to finasteride but still concerned about my complexion.

 

The photos below show what my crown and top looked like in March of 2008 (left) and today (right). Sorry for the poor quality.

 

As you can see, my hair has continued to thin slowly. The worst area seems to be in the midscalp, directly behind the area of transplantation.

 

The last one was taken a couple of weeks ago with longer hair.

Edited May 13, 2013 by TakingThePlunge

[gasto]

Thanks for the information. This is very valuable.

[CAMPBELL]

Very useful thread. Thanks!

[uribo]

This should be a sticky.