8 years on 1mg Propecia

[veteran surfer]

I have always used this forum for information but never felt the urge to post as I saw myself as inexperienced and with little to add to current discussions.

However, I think that after 8 years on 1mg of Propecia I should share my experiences.

I saw impressive regrowth for the first 15 months followed by stability up until now.
I have experienced no side effects whatsoever and have a perfectly active sex life. I drink a couple of beers or glasses of wine, stay fit, eat well and indulge occasionally in recreational drugs. So my overall impression of propecia is totally positive.

Since hairloss is not the issue it was to me 8 years ago I have decided to reduce the dose to 0,5mg by cutting my pill daily. I will make a post in 6 months to let you know if this has had a negative effect. If the effect is negative there is a good chance that I will go back to 1mg daily!

My only other mild concern was the reported effects of finestride on the male foetus. That said, having read the study on the intravenous injection of pregnant monkeys with 750mg of finestride (poor guys) and the outcome of no ill effects I would suspect that you are more likely to get eaten by a shark whilst surfing then damage the male foetus through exposing your partner to finestride in your sperm. We are planning to try and have kids in the next couple of years so will keep everyone posted on this.

I also notice that some veteran posters have already had male kids with the partners whilst taking propecia and there have been no ill effects.

Any up-to-date comments appreciated on the 0,5mg of finestride experiment
Any up-to-date comments on the effects of finestride on male foetus study appreciated.

 

[lucy923]

Ahh yet another person with good regrowth and maintenance for 8 years.......I wish some of these yahoos on here that says there is no hope and meds don't work will shut the hell up. There are endless reports like this of good regrowth and maintenance long term which is awesome.

Congrats on the success man and let us know how everything works out.

 

[Packers]

I wish we had more posts like this, they make me feel better. Congrats on the success and good luck. I don't think you should expect any type of drop off switching to .5mg other than saving money!

 

[phish]

there would be more posts like this if the 83 percent of people that respond to finasteride cared to go on hair loss forums. fact is the people that are not losing hair on finasteride arent gona stick around. its the vocal minority that you constantly see bashing the drug. put simple most people that respond are out living their lives and maybe 5 percent that do respond like this fellow chec in time to time to giv people hope thnx bro.

 

[jared_24]

Thats excellent news veteran surfer - we seem to be getting more and more negative posts regarding Propecia. Its really refreshing to read a positive post for a change.

If you don't mind me asking, what stage were you at (on the Norwood scale) before you started taking Propecia, then after?

 

[person]

If you are having success with 1mg I would not reccomend reducing your dose to 0.5mg. The user 'Pondle' has charts to show the effectiveness of 0.5mg and it is basically the same however 1mg is very slightly better; therefore since you have had to adverse effects I advice for you to nto play around with the dosage. May I ask your age and situation of your hair before you started takign Propecia?

 

[Cassin]

Great to hear it man!

But I would not mess with success....why change anything?

 

[klink]

I have fathered two perfect boys while taking 1mg propecia... No issues there.

 

[H/B]

Agreed with Cassin. Do not fix it if it aint broke.

 

[NedFlanders]

You know I almost in a way hate yet congragulate on posts like this. I started Propecia about 8 years ago, but listened to everyone tell me "Its a rip off, it doesnt help hair loss" and stopped using it. I think only if I would have listened to myself I wouldnt be a Norwood 4-5 now.

 

[re-seeding]

Not trying to steal this thread but i'm interested if you've noticed less body hair over the 8 years?

 

[abcdefg]

Have you gotten any blood work or liver tests to just see if everything is in normal ranges? I worry sometimes about liver damage or high estradiol or estrogen and stuff like that. Long term that might add up.

 

[veteran surfer]

Thanks 'Lucy 923', 'Packers' and 'Cassin' for the good wishes. It's thanks to advice on this site that I started started taking Propecia 8 years ago.

I completely agree with 'Phish'. Before taking Propecia I was an obsessive HairLossTalk.com user regularly searching the site for information on Propecia. But once it started to function I would come back only occasionally and in the past 5 years, until now, I don't think I've been back once - which I guess is a shame because success stories should be shared.

In answer to your question 'Jared_24' I was probably about a Norwood 4 - but the loss wasn't quite as uniform as that. I had lost more at the front on the left side than on the right which looked pretty ridiculous. Now I am a Norwood 2 with very slightly thinner hair still on the front left side and slightly thinner in the crown. But generally speaking it looks great and nobody would ever say 'are you losing your hair!'

Thanks for the advice 'Person', H/B and Cassin. I also saw 'Pondle's' report but since I'm not as concerned about my hair these days I figure that a 6-12 month experiment will add to the body of knowledge and save me a few £. Also, as mentioned, if my hair doesn't like it the old vanity will probably kick in and I'll go back to 1mg. I'm 35 years old and, as mentioned above, when I started 8 years ago I was a Norwood 2.

'Klink' - I saw your photos. Congratulations on them and the kids. That's very reassuring.

'Re-seeding' - I wish I had seen less body hair. Unfortunately its business as usual in that department - I've even noticed a couple of grey hairs on the chest which is less than welcome.

'abcdefg' - I have had tests over the years for other stuff - just regular check ups - stds, cholestral etc. and all have come up clear. And considering the booze and other stuff that's a miracle in itself.

Good luck guys. Surfs up this weekend

 

[powersam]

this is what happens when you actually stick with a treatment plan.

 

[jared_24]

Going from a Norwood 4 to a Norwood 2 sounds excellent!!! If i were to get that result I would be ecstatic!! (I'm currently a Norwood 3 - vertex.)

I've just started on Propecia (i'm on my 2nd month) so hopefully, this time next year I'll be well on track to getting the same result.

Shame about the non-decrease in body hair though. That would have been quite a good side effect.

 

[phish]

yeah not only goin from norwood 4 to 2 but havin that 8 years later. huge hope for this generation of 20 year olds if they start real early and dont have to agressive hair loss to retain their hair for a good decade or so.

 

[H/B]

"Thanks for the advice 'Person', H/B and Cassin. I also saw 'Pondle's' report but since I'm not as concerned about my hair these days I figure that a 6-12 month experiment will add to the body of knowledge and save me a few £. Also, as mentioned, if my hair doesn't like it the old vanity will probably kick in and I'll go back to 1mg. I'm 35 years old and, as mentioned above, when I started 8 years ago I was a Norwood 2."


Don't do it man! Its real easy to get complacent when things are going well. Do not forget where you came from. You have been holding back the tide for eight years with a dose that you are adjusted to. If you start losing ground the dammage is is already done. There are no garentees that you will get back to the way you were when one day you wake up and the back of your head looks like a baboons ***.

 

[Pondle]

Now that Proscar is generic, you'd really have to be penny-pinching to want to cut down from a 1mg dose in order to save money. Here in the UK I can get a 15 month supply of Proscar for £100, that's £6.67 a month, about $13.41. I just had an all-day breakfast in a 'greasy spoon' cafe that cost me about same.

 

[veteran surfer]

pondle - is it easy to divide proscar into 5 1mg portions or even 10 0,5mg portions? I'm paying about £35 for 28 tablets of propecia which next to your deal seems outrageous.

 

[TAINTED-MEAT]

Yes veteran just get a pill cutter and divide it into fourths, you'll be taking 1.25 mg a day. [/quote]