Regular Member KHT2 Posted July 5, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted July 5, 2021 Hello, I've been on Finasteride for probably over a year and I'm not sure about the results. I take 1.25mg of Proscar (so a quarter of a Proscar tablet) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm not sure if the rate of hair loss has decreased but I still see small hairs on the pillow everyday and more so while I'm showering. Is it possible that the treatment is not working for me? Previously KLHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted July 5, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 5, 2021 When you say “probably” does this have anything to do with missing any of your scheduled days?…IMHO, it appears that your regimen should be sufficient although you should discuss this with a doctor…the doctor may advise you to take 1 mg daily for awhile to see if that makes a difference. Two questions: Did you have any side effects?….Did you experience an initial shed when you first started taking the medication? Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member KHT2 Posted July 10, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 10, 2021 Hi Gillenator, I've barely missed any of my scheduled days. It's probably one or twice every 4 months. As for your other questions - I don't think I have side effects. If I do, they're very minimal and not worth mentioning. I dalso on't think I've experienced an initial shed. I've been losing a lot of hair so I don't really remember. I'm almost a NW6 now with one hair transplant to the frontal third + mid-scalp. Thanks for the feedback and let me know what you think. Could it be that I'm not responding to finasteride? Previously KLHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted July 10, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 10, 2021 You are so very welcome my friend…the reason I asked about a shed when you first started finasteride is because many times an initial shed is a good sign that the drug is working favorably. The good news is that you are not having side effects so you might want to try taking it daily to see if that might make a difference…please understand that this is not medical advice since I am not a doctor but only underscoring the clinical trials that Merck performed to establish optimal efficacy at 1mg daily. Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member KHT2 Posted July 24, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 24, 2021 Thanks for feedback. I'm considering taking it 5 times a week (so on weekdays only) and having a break on weekends. Do you think it might make a difference? Any one had a positive experience with this? Previously KLHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted July 24, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 24, 2021 It certainly could make a difference…only time will tell…please keep us advised and wish you well. Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Rolandas Posted July 25, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 25, 2021 Most studies are done on 1mg/day dose where they say you can expect more improvement up to 2 years. It also highly depends on how severe your hair loss is. There's a 10 year Japanese study suggesting that up to NW5 you can expect continuous improvements every year, but if you're NW5 and over, you will plateu in the first 2 years. From my personal experience, I've seen most improvement AFTER 14 months of being on 1mg/day. Less shedding (to the point I don't see any), more regrowth (nothing crazy though) and hair thickening. Keep in mind I'm NW5a. I actually did a video recently on this subject if it's of some interest for you 2 1st FUE - 28/01/2020 - 3659 grafts - Dr. Bruno Ferreira 2nd FUE - 03/06/2021 - 2881 grafts - Dr. Bruno Ferreira Follow me on YouTube I'm not a medical professional, thus any information given by me is my own observation and should not be treated as professional advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member KHT2 Posted August 28, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2021 (edited) On 7/25/2021 at 7:23 PM, Rolandas said: Most studies are done on 1mg/day dose where they say you can expect more improvement up to 2 years. It also highly depends on how severe your hair loss is. There's a 10 year Japanese study suggesting that up to NW5 you can expect continuous improvements every year, but if you're NW5 and over, you will plateu in the first 2 years. From my personal experience, I've seen most improvement AFTER 14 months of being on 1mg/day. Less shedding (to the point I don't see any), more regrowth (nothing crazy though) and hair thickening. Keep in mind I'm NW5a. I actually did a video recently on this subject if it's of some interest for you Hi @Rolandas, thanks for your feedback and apologies for the delayed response. I've been following your journey since your first hair transplant with Dr. Ferreira (so for quite a while now) and it has been very helpful. I got in touch with him around a year and a half ago after seeing your videos and I'm planning to go for my second hair transplant if and when my hair loss stabilizes. The hairs that I am losing (in big amounts although my hair loss is very advanced) are extremely short so they seem to be either very miniaturized ones from the crown or the donor area (the transplanted hair on top is quite long so I'm ruling those out). I started to believe that Finasteride isn't working for me but I'll stay on it for another 6 months-1 year and see if there is any improvement. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. Thanks! Edited August 28, 2021 by KHT2 Previously KLHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Gatsby Posted August 28, 2021 Valued Contributor Share Posted August 28, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 3:24 PM, KHT2 said: Hello, I've been on Finasteride for probably over a year and I'm not sure about the results. I take 1.25mg of Proscar (so a quarter of a Proscar tablet) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm not sure if the rate of hair loss has decreased but I still see small hairs on the pillow everyday and more so while I'm showering. Is it possible that the treatment is not working for me? The best way to rule subjective bias is to take pics before commencing finasteride and then take pics again after 12 months. Do you have any pics that you could share from when you started the drug to now? All the best! 1 GATSBY 'UNPLUGGED!' 15,671 (3 surgeries) Grafts FUE+BHT Dr. Sethi Eugenix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted August 29, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted August 29, 2021 Good advice! Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member mxm56 Posted August 30, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) Do u have some photo of your hair situation to show? That way we can give u better advices. Edited August 30, 2021 by mxm56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member KHT2 Posted September 2, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 2, 2021 Thank you everyone for your responses. I will try to find an old picture before I started Finasteride and upload it along with a new one to compare. Having said that, I noticed that I easily lose 250+ hairs everyday and I believe this is a lot given that I've been on Finasteride for over a year now and the fact that my hair loss is very advanced. This is what is making me think that Finasteride is not working. For example, whenever I'm showering and running my fingers through my hair, I can see around 20-25 hairs each time I do that. I can also see around 20 hairs on the pillow everyday when I wake up. 95% of the time, they are short ones as I mentioned earlier (so maybe from the donor area or miniaturized hairs from the crown/donor area). Previously KLHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member LaserCaps Posted September 2, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted September 2, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 12:24 AM, KHT2 said: Hello, I've been on Finasteride for probably over a year and I'm not sure about the results. I take 1.25mg of Proscar (so a quarter of a Proscar tablet) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm not sure if the rate of hair loss has decreased but I still see small hairs on the pillow everyday and more so while I'm showering. Is it possible that the treatment is not working for me? If the recommended dosage is 1mg per day, why would you take 1.25 every other day? Side effects? Seems you are not experiencing any as it has already been discussed. Splitting because of the 5mg tab, OK fine. But now Fin is available as 1mg. Costco online charges just over $24 for a 3 mo supply. Perhaps taking the med as prescribed might improve things. There is an important element in all of this. Shedding and hair loss and the ongoing ignorance about the difference. Most will talk, (and freak out), about all the hair they see on the pillow, sink, floor etc. This is normal. The follicle gets tired of producing hair and it goes into a dormant period. 3-4 mo later that hair will return. This will happen randomly to every hair on your head. That hair typically returns. Hair loss is different, you don't see it. Go under a bright light and look at your temporal areas. You'll notice the shaft of each strand. Some thick, some thin, some so thin you can't hardly see them. This is what we refer to as miniaturization. Eventually the hair withers away and disappears. That's hair loss. 250 hairs a day? Most believe 100 is the norm. Stress? Perhaps a coincidental issue you are dealing with that's causing the problem. I would discuss with your doctor. Have you tried adding any other modality to the mix? Patient Consultant for Dr. Arocha at Arocha Hair Restoration. I am not a medical professional and my comments should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member KHT2 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 3, 2021 Hi everyone, Bumping this thread again. Is it okay to take 1.25mg/day instead of 1mg/day? I'm splitting 1 Proscar tablet into 4 pieces and I have some concerns over whether taking more than the recommended dosage is not desirable. Any one has experience with that? Thanks. Previously KLHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member JDEE0 Posted October 3, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted October 3, 2021 2 minutes ago, KHT2 said: Hi everyone, Bumping this thread again. Is it okay to take 1.25mg/day instead of 1mg/day? I'm splitting 1 Proscar tablet into 4 pieces and I have some concerns over whether taking more than the recommended dosage is not desirable. Any one has experience with that? Thanks. It's absolutely fine, look up the dosage curve for finasteride, there's essentially 0 difference between 1 and 1.25 mg. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted October 3, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted October 3, 2021 1 minute ago, JDEE0 said: It's absolutely fine, look up the dosage curve for finasteride, there's essentially 0 difference between 1 and 1.25 mg. Yup just was about to write the same 👍🏽 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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