CatInTheHat Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 (edited) Hi all, I recently found this network and was hoping to ask you all for your advice. I’m 36M and have been on finasteride for almost 5 years. I was a thinning overall in the frontal region mostly, crown has looked ok, maybe NW2+ when I started and my overall goal was to preserve what I had and hopefully get some regrowth around the hairline specifically. I’ve been getting my medication through Keeps, so it’s a reputable generic 1mg, and I had really a great response originally. My hair maintained and I would say even improved to a thicker level than I had seen in a long time and peaked around the 2 year mark. In the past 9-12 months I’ve noticed that I’m slowly losing ground again and it looks like I’m not far off from how it looked when I decided to start the finasteride. I considered adding Minoxidil but took the Daniel Alain minoxidil response test and that came back negative so I won’t be a responder for it. I’m highly considering getting a HT soon (have a consult scheduled later this year) but was wondering what else I could possibly do to help fight this?! I understand based on the studies that finasteride doesn’t completely halt MPB for everyone and it looks like I’m one of the unlucky ones. Would dutesteride be my only next option? My local derm won’t prescribe it so I’m waiting until my consult to ask about whether a dut RX makes sense. Does it even make sense to get a HT if finasteride is no longer effective/as effective since I’m not able to determine how my native hairs will remain in the future? Any insights are appreciated! Thank you Edited September 4, 2023 by CatInTheHat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor A_4_Archan Posted September 4, 2023 Valued Contributor Share Posted September 4, 2023 @CatInTheHat Dutasteride is ofcourse more potent than finasteride and can help you with this ,however the side effects are also considerable so don't start this on your own...its better if you consult a doctor who has more experience with hairs, preferably a hair transplant surgeon ,who can guide you through this in a better way. Its always better to get a HT done once the hairloss is stabilised or at least slowed down significantly..if your hairloss progression isn't stabilised than there is a high chance that you will be chasing hairs Check Out My Hair Transplant Journey --> My Thread 3611 FUE Grafts With Dr Kongkiat Laorwong | Norwood 5 | 2nd May 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BackFromTheBrink Posted September 4, 2023 Regular Member Share Posted September 4, 2023 On minoxidyl - have you considered oral rather than topical? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatInTheHat Posted September 4, 2023 Author Share Posted September 4, 2023 4 hours ago, BackFromTheBrink said: On minoxidyl - have you considered oral rather than topical? Weird I thought I responded but it’s not showing. I had tried oral minox for a week a little while back but unfortunately started experiencing chest pains, increased heart rate (very high right after taking), and some migraines. I stopped and the sides went away but was upset because I really wanted oral minox to work. Also would oral even work if I’m not considered a responder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BackFromTheBrink Posted September 4, 2023 Regular Member Share Posted September 4, 2023 Just now, CatInTheHat said: Weird I thought I responded but it’s not showing. I had tried oral minox for a week a little while back but unfortunately started experiencing chest pains, increased heart rate (very high right after taking), and some migraines. I stopped and the sides went away but was upset because I really wanted oral minox to work. Also would oral even work if I’m not considered a responder? Yes, that's the point - you don't need the enzyme you were tested for when taken orally. It sounds like it's not the medication for you, unless you were to microdose and that didn't give you the same side effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatInTheHat Posted September 4, 2023 Author Share Posted September 4, 2023 4 hours ago, A_4_Archan said: @CatInTheHat Dutasteride is ofcourse more potent than finasteride and can help you with this ,however the side effects are also considerable so don't start this on your own...its better if you consult a doctor who has more experience with hairs, preferably a hair transplant surgeon ,who can guide you through this in a better way. Its always better to get a HT done once the hairloss is stabilised or at least slowed down significantly..if your hairloss progression isn't stabilised than there is a high chance that you will be chasing hairs Thanks for your reply! Yes I was planning to discuss dut with my HT surgeon in a couple months and certainly wouldn’t just switch from fin to dut without discussing with an expert. And while Fin has certainly slowed down the receding hairline, I can see that Mother Nature is slowly winning the battle, which is why I feel we need to likely implement a stronger DHT blocker. In response to hair loss being stabilized, I guess the question I have is when would anyone truly know that their hair loss has stabilized? I started Fin at 31 and saw noticeable improvements and after a few years 100% was convinced I had it under control/stabilized. However now after five years it appears that it hasn’t been fully controlled. I see many other people getting HTs when they’ve been on meds for much less time so I guess it’s up to every person to determine when they feel they’re ready but it feels like a battle that is constantly moving the goalposts as you age since stabilization is not guaranteed just because it has leveled off a short time. Let me know your thoughts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatInTheHat Posted September 4, 2023 Author Share Posted September 4, 2023 5 minutes ago, BackFromTheBrink said: Yes, that's the point - you don't need the enzyme you were tested for when taken orally. It sounds like it's not the medication for you, unless you were to microdose and that didn't give you the same side effects. That’s a good point although I guess I had incorrectly assumed the lack of enzyme extended to oral. What would you consider microdosing? I had started on a VERY low dose since my derm is a bit concerned about the black box warning on Oral Min so I had only done 1.25 daily. Would microdosing be cutting the 1.25 daily and trying to take it 12 hours apart etc? I believe the migraines I was experiencing could have been caused by something else but the chest pain/increased heart rate felt like a direct correlation at the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BackFromTheBrink Posted September 4, 2023 Regular Member Share Posted September 4, 2023 15 minutes ago, CatInTheHat said: Weird I thought I responded but it’s not showing. I had tried oral minox for a week a little while back but unfortunately started experiencing chest pains, increased heart rate (very high right after taking), and some migraines. I stopped and the sides went away but was upset because I really wanted oral minox to work. Also would oral even work if I’m not considered a responder? I'm not an expert at all, and don't take it myself so shouldn't probably comment. Given you started with a low dose and had fairly severe side effects I'd personally consider it incompatible with your physiology. At the end of the day, it's just not worth risking your heart health IMHO. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatInTheHat Posted September 4, 2023 Author Share Posted September 4, 2023 40 minutes ago, BackFromTheBrink said: I'm not an expert at all, and don't take it myself so shouldn't probably comment. Given you started with a low dose and had fairly severe side effects I'd personally consider it incompatible with your physiology. At the end of the day, it's just not worth risking your heart health IMHO. Yup, that was why I had stopped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor A_4_Archan Posted September 4, 2023 Valued Contributor Share Posted September 4, 2023 @CatInTheHat 1 hour ago, CatInTheHat said: it feels like a battle that is constantly moving the goalposts as you age since stabilization is not guaranteed just because it has leveled off a short time This is true... Hairloss is unpredictable thing and can hit you hard anytime even if you are on medication... Check Out My Hair Transplant Journey --> My Thread 3611 FUE Grafts With Dr Kongkiat Laorwong | Norwood 5 | 2nd May 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Turkhair Posted September 4, 2023 Regular Member Share Posted September 4, 2023 Pictures would help. I am not a fan of generics, had bad experience with them. Propecia is worth a try to rule out its not bad quality of generics before you try something stronger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatInTheHat Posted September 4, 2023 Author Share Posted September 4, 2023 1 hour ago, Turkhair said: Pictures would help. I am not a fan of generics, had bad experience with them. Propecia is worth a try to rule out its not bad quality of generics before you try something stronger Certainly I can post some pics soon. I also agree that there may be some unreputable areas with bad generics but I’m referring to a major company that’s been playing in this space for a long time and the assumption would be that the medication I’ve been taken suddenly got worse over the last 12 months vs my genetics getting the better or finasteride. Studies have shown that 40% of people begin seeing some loss from fin after 5 years which also lines up with my timeline. But certainly I will also my HT surgeon in a couple months about prescribing the original medication as another possibility Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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