Does Finasteride works at all? My feelings

[KornelPL]

Dear All,

My name is Kornel, I'm 37 and I'm from Poland. I have male patern of baldness - with scheme as attached in the picture. For approx. 3 years I use finasteride and I think it doesnt work for me. Why do I think so?

1) I can take 1 mg per day or even 5 mg per day (like for prostate issue) and nothing happens - no side effect in memthat or sexual issues, I think I could eat such pills like candies with no side effect

2) I think that baldness is still in progress - or maybe it's just incorrect impression

3) In places where I lost my hairs (front) skin scalp is oily as f***. Men, I cant stand this - its oily, greasy, and itches a lot

4) My hair/ scalp skin in oily, greasy in general - I must wash my hair everyday and even with that, without using hair lac that rises up hairs and protect them agains sebum, my head would look like covered with lard.

For places were I lost my hair, I would use transplantation but since still I have worries that finasteride doesn't work I'm afraid that I would do transplantation and lost my rest of hair in front. What to do ?

 

[losingbattle88]

It dont work for everyone. Not even dutasteride worked for me but I get sexual sides from finasteride and dutasteride.

 

[KornelPL]

Hi there,
So, at the end - what kind of solution you have choose?

 

[losingbattle88]

Hi there,
So, at the end - what kind of solution you have choose?

Just doing natural stuff to fight it. Beats giving up entirely.

 

[JWM2]

Dear All,

My name is Kornel, I'm 37 and I'm from Poland. I have male patern of baldness - with scheme as attached in the picture. For approx. 3 years I use finasteride and I think it doesnt work for me. Why do I think so?

1) I can take 1 mg per day or even 5 mg per day (like for prostate issue) and nothing happens - no side effect in memthat or sexual issues, I think I could eat such pills like candies with no side effect

2) I think that baldness is still in progress - or maybe it's just incorrect impression

3) In places where I lost my hairs (front) skin scalp is oily as f***. Men, I cant stand this - its oily, greasy, and itches a lot

4) My hair/ scalp skin in oily, greasy in general - I must wash my hair everyday and even with that, without using hair lac that rises up hairs and protect them agains sebum, my head would look like covered with lard.

For places were I lost my hair, I would use transplantation but since still I have worries that finasteride doesn't work I'm afraid that I would do transplantation and lost my rest of hair in front. What to do ?

Some things to consider:

Add ONE capsule of 0.5 mg dutasteride a WEEK to your daily finasteride (dutasteride is very strong, and many, including myself, do better on lower doses), and give this at least one YEAR to assess.

I would also consider adding 2% Nizoral a few times a week along with topical minoxidil once a day. Good luck!

p.s. I think your hair looks pretty good for a guy who is 37.

 

[Jakejr]

I have tried about everything.. & have not found one pill or protocol that works… The male scalp seems to have inflammation which tightens the scalp especially in the front & on top..
There are several ways to deal with this..
1) To manually push pull press pinch ghe scalp so it starts to move better than it is..
(My scalp feels like concrete in some areas)
2) Microneedle once a week for 15 minutes..
3) This should be the starting point
Anything else is a plus..

 

[thatslin]

Tried topical finasteride for 8 months, then oral finasteride for 2 years. None of those worked for me. Not even maintenance.

 

[losingbattle88]

Tried topical finasteride for 8 months, then oral finasteride for 2 years. None of those worked for me. Not even maintenance.

Same. Was on duta for 1.5 years. Oral and even added it topically at times. All I got was sexuall side effects and continued thinning and faster. Its best to not mess with the hormonal balance. Been off dutasteride years ago and finasteride for months and my hair has stopped thinning.

 

[Itsabaldbaldworld]

Worked for me but for around 6yrs or so, hair was thick and dense, then started to slowly shed more and only noticed it was back to baseline during the pandemic, worse actually, not sure if would have happened anyway, but I had zero thinning on the back of my head before finasteride, even had to use thinning scissors sometimes, and now it's so much thinner.
We really need studies to try to understand in detail why it doesn't work or stops working for some people.

Some things to consider:

Add ONE capsule of 0.5 mg dutasteride a WEEK to your daily finasteride (dutasteride is very strong, and many, including myself, do better on lower doses), and give this at least one YEAR to assess.

I would also consider adding 2% Nizoral a few times a week along with topical minoxidil once a day. Good luck!

p.s. I think your hair looks pretty good for a guy who is 37.

I tried just that, kept my finasteride routine 1mg EOD and added 0.5mg dutasteride a week, year and half later less hair and scalp seems much oilier all over, sides used to be very dry, now they are oily too. Worst of all I think it worsened my dry eyes a lot to the point I'm gonna quit taking it.

 

[RXShopMD_Team]

Hi Kornel, several things in your post are worth separating, because the oily, itchy scalp may be a big part of the problem (RXShop.md pharmacy editorial team, general information only):

• "No side effects" does not mean "not working". Most men on finasteride have no side effects at all. Whether it works is judged by hair counts and photos over time, not by how you feel.
• Is it really progressing? Compare photos from before you started (3 years ago) with now, same light and angle. Many men on finasteride slowly lose a little over the years but much less than they would have without it. If the loss is clearly continuing at the same speed, finasteride may not be enough for you; about 1 in 10 men respond poorly.
• An oily, greasy, itchy scalp every day strongly suggests seborrheic dermatitis. It is common with androgenetic alopecia, and the inflammation can increase shedding. It is very treatable: ketoconazole 2% shampoo 2-3 times a week (leave it on 3-5 minutes), alternating with zinc pyrithione or ciclopirox, and a short course of a prescription lotion for flares.
• Next steps if finasteride is not enough: add minoxidil (topical or low-dose oral, which has nothing to do with DHT), or ask a dermatologist about switching to dutasteride. Please do not take 5 mg finasteride on your own; it does not give meaningfully better hair results than 1 mg.

A dermatologist visit with trichoscopy would answer both questions at once: how much active loss there is, and how inflamed the scalp is.