Beginning minoxidil and finasteride at the same time

[Felk]

Im wondering about what the consensus is with doing this?

To be completely honest i think it doesnt make a lot of sense. There's the usual argument - that beginning multiple treatments makes it very difficult to see what is working, but what im especially worried about is what happens if i get results, but also sides from finasteride. Then i don't know what will happen if i drop the finasteride or not.

However I've realised that i really want to thicken my hair - it's thinned s quickly and to such a level that i'll do anything to stop it, and i've gone from "ill begin slowly, with topicals, and assess my results later on"
to -
"dear god, i've lost a lot of hair so quickly, I'll do everything i can to get it back!"

So here I am - at the crossroads. I've read the studies and know the deal with minoxidil - not too many men respond to it, and on average they have lost everything they've gained (around back to baseline) by five years. Im also ready for the shed, since its winter here and i can beanie it up for another two months or so.

I know lot's of people here have begun both simultaneously, and was wondering how they viewed their decision now, in retrospect. Chime in my fellows and give me some advice!

 

[ANDREW_J_I]

this is what i did.

 

[hairhaircomeagain]

I started with Min and I have been shedding CRAZILY on it. Hence I have decided to not get on Proscar. Although its sitting on my desk and attracts me everyday I am thinking I wont start on it till the minoxidil shed gets over. If both the sheds start together, it will be diffcult to differentiate and coz extra panic. + ofcourse I am hoping I get no sides.

That said...I think there are many in here who started both together.

Good Luck

 

[Aplunk1]

I started off with Propecia long ago, then 8 months down the road I added minoxidil.

Then two months later, I added dutasteride.


Since adding dutasteride and minoxidil, I have seen results, whereas with Propecia alone, I didn't see much (if any).

If I could turn back time, I would have added minoxidil much earlier to my finasteride regimen.

Without going into complexities about how the two drugs work synergistically, I'll just leave you with my opinion:

The Big 3!

Finasteride, Minoxidil, Nizoral

...or the Great 3!

Dutasteride, Minoxidil, Nizoral

I really think minoxidil should be used in almost every hairloss sufferer's regimen.

 

[Felk]

thanks for the responses guys.

Im just thinking here about longevity. I mean, finasteride should give me some time, (5 years of my current hair on average) then i thought i'd do the same by adding minoxidil and getting another five years or so. Thus i'd stave off my male pattern baldness for 10 years.

I know this is probably the best route to take, but god i want to thicken my hair! Is there any evidence that the two combined work for longer? I know they're recommended together, but it'd be great to know that i'm not losing in the long run in comparison to using them separately.

 

[htownballa]

Felk,

You and me are in the exact same situation. My frontal hair area has thinnged a lot really fast. When i style my hair in a certain way, by putting my hair up in a certain way, you can see an inch of my scalp. I just got on Propecia, and am really considering to add minoxidil 2% once a day. I'm thinking if my hair keeps thinning out I will raise the minoxidil to 5% and then maybe twice a day. I just pray to go my hair can stabilize and thicken soon.

 

[CCS]

Here is how it goes --
DHT labels follicles for attack by the immune system. Minoxidil repairs some of the damage, but not nearly enough to keep up with it in most people on this site. It does, however, multiply the length of the hair compared to what it would be otherwise, giving short term results that are much bigger than the long term repair. Copper peptides are synergistic with this long term repair. However, if the DHT damage would cause the hair to go to zero some day, then zero times anything is still zero, and the multiplier effect does not help you there. The small damage control may give you an extra year or two, but you need finasteride or dutasteride to stop the DHT damage. In places like the hair line where many people's follicles are especially sensitive, you may need a topical anti-androgen as well, though usually only if you are trying to regrow from peach fuzz. Propecia alone might be able to regrow merely thinning hairs.

So if propecia can keep the hairs alive, minoxidil will keep their length multiplied (and help keep them alive to a small extent).

As for worrying about not knowing which one will work, they are both PROVEN in FDA phaseIII trials. It is just a question of how much they will work for you.

My advice is and has been: first regrow your hair, then figure out which parts of your regimen you can cut out and maintain your hair.

 

[shh5455]

I started finasteride 3 months ago. I haven't really noticed any benefits of it yet but I am going to start minoxidil b/c my hair is thinning so fast I can't wait a year for it to work. I know I won't know which one is working so I will just use them both for a while if I see some benefit.

 

[CCS]

as techprofessor has pointed out to me, i should not be advertising folligen to everyone. the correct term is SOD, which is in folligen, tricomin, prox-N, and several other products. i'll try to find all 20+ of my posts and edit them, after I fix my slow browser.

 

[CCS]

I'm starting to wonder if some people actually do respond poorly to minoxidil. i just had such good results that i've been promoting it to eveyone. it just surprises me how many people on this site see side effects or results day to day, and I just notice results in 2 months or more.

 

[techprof]

Felk,
your regimen tab shows you started proxiphen only in May 2006. I am quite confident that it will at the least make sure you are not losing ground.
I would wait at least for 8 months and then add minoxidil.
Though Dr. Proctor believes his prescription proxiphen is better than propecia and minoxidil combined, I believe that spironolactone is only a lousy antiandrogen. So add finasteride to your regimen. If you can't then stick to proxiphen and add minoxidil later on.
(the problem is if you add minoxidil now, and you get results you don't know which one to drop. Trust me you cannot live the next 50-60 years using multiple topicals everyday visiting the bathroom zillion times a day. Definitely not possible after marriage, kids etc).

OTOH, if you don't get enough results in a reasonable time then add whatever it takes to get your results.

 

[Felk]

Thanks for the advice techprof.

Unfortunately i can't tolerate finasteride, i get bizarre heart pains.

My norwood is, at the moment, about a 1, but the temples show a clear pattern of a norwood 2.5 or so, sharp triangles going back into my head. At the moment, those triangles are about halfway receded, but the remaining hair there is thinning significantly. I am trying desperately to stop them going back, but it appears i am still losing ground.

Proxiphen hasn't appeared to stop it, either. Now my computer crashed so my pictures are gone (hopefully it will be fixed and i can check) but I am actually not surprised by this, despite being a big believer in Dr P's proxiphen.

He states that "medical treatment works primarily on the growth, not the loss side." His only tihng against DHT in proxiphen is 2% spironolactone, and its applied once a day. So if proxiphen works well for me, i will most likely continue to lose those temples, but hopefully regrow them later. His leaflet describes something like this in relation to people going bald quickly at a young age.

Either way ive thrown in some spironolactone cream twice a day, only on the hair within those triangles, in an effort to try and save them.

Im hoping minoxidil will be another arrow in my quiver, in saving that hair. If the hair recedes to this pattern, i am really going to have to change my hair style from long curly hair, to shaved/buzzed. And i dont want to, hence my kitchen sink approach.