Dutasteride And Hairline - What's New?

[drascol]

About 7 weeks ago I started dutasteride .5mg because of reading about how superior it was to finasteride. I've been on finasteride (1mg) for about 5 years now, still using, and I assume it's been good for me.

Sure enough, about 6 weeks on Dutasteride I started getting that crazy shedding I've heard about. While that was scary, I kept taking it because I've been told it's normal and that's the way its supposed to be. When I look in the mirror, my hairline looks just abit more receded, and while I didn't know if it was my imagination or not, I'm hearing all over online that dutasteride hits your frontal hairline hard and you do NOT get regrowth in the front after the shedding phase like your crown.

Most of what I've read about this has been ancidotal, but have I fucked my hairline pretty good by using dutasteride without researching this? Do you get frontal regrowth after a few months? If I stop now, will I get some of my frontal hairline back? Should I tone my dosage back? Has any doctor with some authority spoken on the frontal loss phenomenon with dutasteride? Is this all my imagination?

 

[dralex]

Would have to post pics to see if its in your head or not.

 

[drascol]

Would have to post pics to see if its in your head or not.

I didn't take "before" pics unfortunately. Guess I'll take some today.

What I can say is that my frontal temples look much thinner. The hair in those areas used to be abit spotty, a few thick hairs and the rest a carpet of thin soft hair. Now the thick hairs seem to be far fewer and it's just a consistant thin carpet.

 

[dralex]

Regardless it is possible it made things worse. If you were responding well to finasteride I would just switch back.

 

[drascol]

Regardless it is possible it made things worse. If you were responding well to finasteride I would just switch back.

right, but I've heard dutasteride has a high chance of some regrowth and is generally superior:
http://www.hairlosscure2020.com/new...hair-count-at-24-weeks-on-dutasteride-0-5-mg/
If I switched back now, I worry all I accomplished is just hurting my hairline and nothing else. I'm trying to accomplish some small regrowth, not just hang onto what I have and slow its loss. Finasteride is kind of losing potency I feel.

 

[arnoldd]

Broh, im almost 8 weeks on duta. Same of you. The front is destroyed. Duta is the most effective drug against hair loss and works better on front. If you quit now is really a big mistake. Patient and wait 6 months

 

[zetta98]

I've been on dutasteride for 17 months and I can say that my hair has thicken up everywhere but the hairline. In fact I started rogaine before dutasteride and it regrew and thicken my hairline tremendously. Then I started on dutasteride. After the first dutasteride shed my hairline took quite a hit and has been shedding/receding ever since. I don't know why it destroys the hairline but it's destroyed mine.

 

[arnoldd]

I've been on dutasteride for 17 months and I can say that my hair has thicken up everywhere but the hairline. In fact I started rogaine before dutasteride and it regrew and thicken my hairline tremendously. Then I started on dutasteride. After the first dutasteride shed my hairline took quite a hit and has been shedding/receding ever since. I don't know why it destroys the hairline but it's destroyed mine.

When your shedding start ?
Im almost in my 2 month and it destroyed my front and temples..however i feel like other areas are more thick and healthy..

 

[zetta98]

Shedding started about 4 months in. Been having periodic shedding ever since. Mainly the hairline. I would wait a year and see where you are at. If you are still receding then I would consider other options like RU. Because either a) your hairloss is just too aggressive for dutasteride to even work or b) you are not a good responder to anti androgens. Or like I said before. Dutasteride hurts the hairline in which case there's only first hand accounts and no actual proof of this. But there's enough people saying it and I'm quite possibly a victim of it. The fact that rogaine did more than dutasteride so far has is why I'm thinking it does destroy the hairline. Of course there's that off chance that your hairloss treatment just takes more time than others. Clinical studies focused more so on 2 year results. I'm gonna stick it out for the full two just in case I'm a late responder and all this shedding at the hairline simply means my hairs need longer to recover there since they were first to be affected.

 

[WMQ]

Shedding started about 4 months in. Been having periodic shedding ever since. Mainly the hairline. I would wait a year and see where you are at. If you are still receding then I would consider other options like RU. Because either a) your hairloss is just too aggressive for dutasteride to even work or b) you are not a good responder to anti androgens. Or like I said before. Dutasteride hurts the hairline in which case there's only first hand accounts and no actual proof of this. But there's enough people saying it and I'm quite possibly a victim of it. The fact that rogaine did more than dutasteride so far has is why I'm thinking it does destroy the hairline. Of course there's that off chance that your hairloss treatment just takes more time than others. Clinical studies focused more so on 2 year results. I'm gonna stick it out for the full two just in case I'm a late responder and all this shedding at the hairline simply means my hairs need longer to recover there since they were first to be affected.

I think if you don't feel any itch around the hairline then you have a chance to recover. However according to multiple stories I've read this is usually not the case when people's hairline gets destroyed on dutasteride. Weird, huh?

The popular belief is that some people's hairline hair being extremely weak against androgens might be sensitive to not only DHT but also testosterone, which dutasteride increases. I'm not convinced by it since AFAIK your body simply has one type of androgen receptor and it doesn't "recognize" different types of androgens. Just different binding affinities. DHT has several times higher binding affinity than T and logically one's hair being sensitive to that bit of increased T while 90% of DHT is killed just doesn't make sense at all.

 

[zetta98]

Couldn't agree more. I don't understand it either. As for the 90% suppression of DHT, is that true? I've heard and seen postings of different studies saying it's only 50%. While others say 70%. I take .5 mg dutas everyday. For putting a hard pharmaceutical drug into my body. I expect some kind of results even if it meant just halting my hairloss. Not escalating it by eating up my hairline.

 

[drascol]

I've thought about it, and I've got no proof one way or the other, but I'm still on dutasteride and what I think might be happening is that the shedding in general is just so noticeable you see it immediately on the front. I don't think it's worse in the front, it's just noticed there, but of course I could be wrong. I think people have anxiety about the front more than other areas and maybe they kinda "see" what they fear.

My shedding has somewhat slowed down. Was a big burst at first. Maybe it'll come back, but it's gone back down just abit, and I think I freaked out abit too much about my hairline, which I think looks OK.

 

[zetta98]

I've thought about it, and I've got no proof one way or the other, but I'm still on dutasteride and what I think might be happening is that the shedding in general is just so noticeable you see it immediately on the front. I don't think it's worse in the front, it's just noticed there, but of course I could be wrong. I think people have anxiety about the front more than other areas and maybe they kinda "see" what they fear.

My shedding has somewhat slowed down. Was a big burst at first. Maybe it'll come back, but it's gone back down just abit, and I think I freaked out abit too much about my hairline, which I think looks OK.

Well that's why you need to take before and after pics. Your eyes can deceive you definitely but pictures from before and after gives you a clear image of what's going on. I know you don't have any but you are very early into treatment still. Hair cycles takes months. This is a slow process. I wish you luck man.