what is the best option

[bond79]

Hi all,

First of all, thank you for covering such an issue with humuor.

I am 28 year old guy started to lose my hair a couple of years ago. My hairline has not receded much but the problem with the corners and crown area is noticeable now.

Last year, I started tu use Rogaine and the change was amazing. I had as much hair as I did almost in high school after three months. As I did not see a doctor or made an investigvation on internet, I thought that I got rid of losing my hair and started to apply it once evry other day and in smaller amounts. You could not berlieve hox fast I lost the regained hair. N?±w, I started to use it once more properly and started to regain hair.I know that this can only help me buy some time. In two months, I will see a doc and investigate options about finasteride. I am very sceptical about it because of side effects I heard so far?§ Howver, I think that it is the only way, to fight atthis level. I still think that it is very early to consider HT.

What would you suggest?Awaiting your comments.

[bond79]

Hi all,

First of all, thank you for covering such an issue with humuor.

I am 28 year old guy started to lose my hair a couple of years ago. My hairline has not receded much but the problem with the corners and crown area is noticeable now.

Last year, I started tu use Rogaine and the change was amazing. I had as much hair as I did almost in high school after three months. As I did not see a doctor or made an investigvation on internet, I thought that I got rid of losing my hair and started to apply it once evry other day and in smaller amounts. You could not berlieve hox fast I lost the regained hair. N?±w, I started to use it once more properly and started to regain hair.I know that this can only help me buy some time. In two months, I will see a doc and investigate options about finasteride. I am very sceptical about it because of side effects I heard so far?§ Howver, I think that it is the only way, to fight atthis level. I still think that it is very early to consider HT.

What would you suggest?Awaiting your comments.

[pushing 40]

Try propecia for at least 6 months. The whole side effect thing is blown way out of proportion. Most people have no problems.

[bond79]

Member

thanks pushing,

by the way, this brings me to another question.

What happens, if I use propecia for about 1 year. After I stop using it, will it lose its effect. I mean, do I have to use it for the rest of my life to benefit from it or is a f.e 1 year usage sufficient for longterm protection.

[hairbank]

Yes..........Propecia (Finasteride) will help you only as long as you take it. If you quit, anything you've kept or gained because of it will fall out in short order. It is truly a lifelong commitment.

[calvinmd]

Question:

I've never quite understood this issue of "losing everything as soon as you quit the drug."

 

I understand it perfectly when we're talking about anti-inflammatory drugs like Minoxidil. Minox will only shield the hair follicles from being attacked by the immune system. But the minox can't actually prevent more ongoing DHT-binding from occcurring the whole time. So when you quit using minox the original hair loss pattern resumes, PLUS you have a lot of built-up DHT binding ready to show itself. The DHT had still been binding to the hair follicles during the whole period of minox use, even though the minox had been hiding the evidence of it.

 

But this is not the case with finasteride & other DHT blockers, right? If you quit them, you'll just quickly resume your original hair loss rate/pattern, right? And even if you never use finasteride again, you will still have at least bought yourself the time that you spent on it, correct?

[hairbank]

Originally posted by calvinmd:

Question:

I've never quite understood this issue of "losing everything as soon as you quit the drug."

 

 

 

 

I didn't say lose everything as soon as you quit.............just everything you've kept or gained because of it (whether Finasteride or Minoxidil). In other words, if you would have lost it without the use of the meds, it will quickly disappear when you stop their use. It's likely to be more noticelable for someone who has use the preventatives for a number of years thus keeping much of the hair that would have been lost without them.........then, stops using them and loses much hair at one time.

[calvinmd]

I appreciate the response Hairbank.

 

But I'm still struggling to understand the workings of this issue, at least in regards to the DHT inhibitors like fin/dut.

 

 

Lemme give an example:

 

Let's say I was hypothetically destined to lose 20 hairs to MPB. I was genetically prone to losing 10 hairs per year for 2 years, starting in 2007.

 

But let's say I take finasteride for all of 2007 and it preserves the 10 hairs. I finish 2007 with all 10 hairs intact. Then for the next year of 2008, I stop the finasteride and do nothing.

 

So by the end of 2008, after one year of finasteride and the second year without, I would expect to have lost 10 hairs in total. However I would NOT expect to have lost 20 hairs in total yet, which is what would have naturally happened if I had never taken the finasteride during 2007.

 

I would expect a one-year-long regimen of finasteride to permanently put me one year behind my genetically-programmed hair loss rate, even though I might eventually lose those same hairs later on.

 

Does my thinking sound correct, or am I still misunderstanding the situation?

 

 

------------------------------------------------

[Bill - Seemiller]

calvinmd,

 

I understand what you are talking about...but let me ask you...why would you start the medication and then stop it?

 

In theory, if the medication works for you, not only will you not lose anymore native hair, but dying hairs may strengthen and become stronger giving you a more "full" appearance with the hairs you already have.

 

But yes, it is basically as you said...you will gain a year of hair, but what happens after that is unpredictable, since hairloss is like that. You are also failing to see that hair is susceptible to MPB at different times. If you are destined to be a NW6, it all happens gradually. So let's use this example:

 

Let's say you are a NW3 at 25 and destined to become a NW6 by the time you are 28. Let's say by the time you were 26 you'd go from a NW3 to a NW4 without medication. And by the time you were 27, you'd be a NW5 without medication.

 

Between the ages of 25 and 26, however, you decide to use finasteride and it works for you. Because it works, you remain a NW3. But then you stop. But between 26 and 27, what happens? Not only is the hair that would have fallen out between 25 and 26 going to be impacted by MPB, but now the hair that was destined to fall out between 26 and 27. So it's POSSIBLE you will lose 2 years worth of hair in one year.

 

What it comes down to is this: hairloss is unpredictable. I don't advise you start the medication and then stop. You WILL lose the hair that is genetically programmed to do so if you stop the medication.

 

Bill

[calvinmd]

I see what you're saying about the various NW cases, Bill.

 

The reason I bring up discontinuing meds is because I keep reading more about DHT suppression and I'm not liking it at all. I'm not gonna abandon finasteride without giving it a decent shot, but at the same time I'd probably drop it in a hot second if they ever release HM or a truly effective DHT-blocking topical.

 

I'm not unduly obsessed with the "all-natural" mindset some people have, but my gut-reaction is that finasteride is risky. Way too many people seem to quit this stuff for way too many of the same reasons. And at least some of the people report that the side-effects are still starting/worsening many months & years after they started, so when can I ever really begin to think I'm "safe" with this stuff?

 

 

And just in general, it's my own history. There haven't been many medications that I've ever kept taking for more than a few months or years. (Antidepressants, sleep meds & ADD-related, etc.) Everything just seems to have primary effects that diminish over time and side-effects that don't.

 

 

------------------------------------------------