Can Switching Generic finasteride Mess Up My Positive Results?

[vegetableman87]

hey everyone

I was on Walmart generic finasteride 2 years ago and noticed i got amazing regrowth the first year i used it. I was extremely happy and I thought my hairloss was a thing in the past. Well about 6 moths ago I decided to take a pic of the top my scalp (something I was very happy to stop doing) and to my dismay i noticed my hair has thinned out so much. All the positive results I gained were lost, and I returned to below baseline. I originally thought it was the rogain foam because i would skip a day or two from applying so i religiously started using it daily again but it didn't do anything. I stopped using Costco finasteride abd switched back to walamrt finasteride 3 months ago but my hair is shedding like crazy. Like so much hair lately, maybe I'm just looking for every hair that falls out but it seems like a lot more than usual.

Is it possible for one generic brand to be better than others? I'm just so confused because i Intially had such a good response to it for a year than it stopped working and my hair continued to fall. Any insight would greatly be appreciated. I'm 29 years old btw.

here are some photos

baseline
http://i.imgur.com/duLszPR.jpg

about 7 months after baseline
http://i.imgur.com/GJieKMy.jpg

current situation
http://imgur.com/a/WyHsO



thanks!

 

[vegetableman87]

anyone?

 

[DoctorHouse]

I don't think you have changed much from your baseline. So you must be maintaining. I used to use the brand name Propecia and switched to Costco generic and I don't think there is any difference. I would only be concerned if you were buying overseas and not know what you are getting. There is enough finasteride in the generic to work anyway. Remember finasteride is better at maintaining than regrowing. You need minoxidil to get some regrowth.

 

[br1]

I have used generic finasteride (several different brands) for 15+ yrs, with good results.

Never took the brand name.

 

[vegetableman87]

I don't think you have changed much from your baseline. So you must be maintaining. I used to use the brand name Propecia and switched to Costco generic and I don't think there is any difference. I would only be concerned if you were buying overseas and not know what you are getting. There is enough finasteride in the generic to work anyway. Remember finasteride is better at maintaining than regrowing. You need minoxidil to get some regrowth.

thanks for the reply. any idea why my hair density declined so much from the positive results until now? i started minoxidil about about 8 months before i started finasteride. Do you think it's possible the benefits of minoxidil were lost within 2 years? I hope the finasteride is still working, I thought if you were a responder you had at least 5 years of stabilization

 

[DoctorHouse]

thanks for the reply. any idea why my hair density declined so much from the positive results until now? i started minoxidil about about 8 months before i started finasteride. Do you think it's possible the benefits of minoxidil were lost within 2 years? I hope the finasteride is still working, I thought if you were a responder you had at least 5 years of stabilization

I don't think your hair really has declined but it is possible the minoxidil benefits declined slightly. It happened to me too. I think in different lighting your hair will differ slightly. You seem fine or now.

 

[vegetableman87]

I don't think your hair really has declined but it is possible the minoxidil benefits declined slightly. It happened to me too. I think in different lighting your hair will differ slightly. You seem fine or now.

thanks for the reply. One last question, i feel like my hair sheds differently from month to month. Do you know if you are supposed to continue to shed on finasteride? Maybe i'm shedding more lately, or maybe i was losing the same amount of hair daily but i wasn't counting hairs like i am now.

 

[DoctorHouse]

thanks for the reply. One last question, i feel like my hair sheds differently from month to month. Do you know if you are supposed to continue to shed on finasteride? Maybe i'm shedding more lately, or maybe i was losing the same amount of hair daily but i wasn't counting hairs like i am now.

Shedding can mean you are responding well to the medication or you are just shedding normal hair like you are supposed to everyday.