For finasteride users - how long before any positive effects?

[Hoppi]

I'm just curious, because people always say finasteride takes quite a long time, but unless 5ar2 inhibition slowly builds up in some way, one would imagine that at least small positive changes should crop up early on.

So erm - reductions in inflammation? reductions in shedding? mild regrowth.. anything at all and how long

(I'm asking this not just because I'm taking it, but also to better understand the drug itself, and male pattern baldness)

Cheers!

Hoppi

 

[Draco88]

Judging from some people's stories on this forum, it seems you get results around the year mark. I've been on it for some ~8months now (started 1mg and reduced to 0.5mg 3 months in) and i can't give a direct answer as to whether it's helped. I see small hairs along my receded temples yet i don't know if they're coming or going :thumbdown2: i've definitely noticed a difference in shedding, sometimes i shed very little, other times more so but it seems to even out. But the thing that's annoying me is that i don't know if it's even maintaing since my hair loss has been rather slow since i was 18.

But if you're taking 0.25mg then i'm not sure if you'll see any significant results with that?

Here are 2 stories i remember reading from the success forum: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=48097 <--this guy had some great results after a year of 1mg finasteride, unfortunately his photos don't seem to be loading anymore, but i do remember him starting off with whispy hair and he ended up with thick hair.

This guy got results in 6 months viewtopic.php?f=30&t=57420

 

[guybrush]

I started and discontinued treatment twice at 0.5 mg/day. First time it took only 4 months to achieve pretty good results (taken along with Epilobium and topical minoxidil) and the second time it took around 6 months to see a similar improvement (finasteride alone).

As I commented in another post, before the first go I was taking epilobium (1g/day) for 2 months, so epilobium might account for the difference. Personally, I do not recommend taking epilobium and finasteride altogether, there is a chance it can boost your T too much.

Now I'm giving it a third try, 102 days into it and nothing to report so far.

 

[beaner]

I noticed an increase in the quality of my existing hair within a couple of months.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

At the 3 month mark my itching stopped, minor side effects went away, shedding has decreased, and small hairs are now growing in the corner of my temples and lots of tiny blonde ones all along the hairline that seem to have some hope of growing longer.

Taking 1.25 mg of Fincar a day.

BTW I do not think that the finasteride "builds up" in your system but that your body simply adjusts to the hormonal changes. finasteride metabolizes very quickly. If you stop taking it even after years of use, it's not going to be in your body after a few days at most, it's just that your body will have to re-adjust hormonally.

I think most of the success is that the DHT "bombardment" on hair follicles eventually stops, and the hair that will regrow starts to slowly but surely depending on how much damage is done.

Some people, rarely though from what I have seen, continue to see their hairline move forward even 4-5 years after taking it.

 

[heynow1234]

Hey man Ive been taking 1mg propecia everyday since jan 09. This is what ive experienced. The first 9 months i would look at my hair one day and say it was getting worse then the next day looking at it and think it was getting better. Then i stopped caring as much becuase i was making myself go insane checking my hair everyday. Now after a year and a half i think i can say that propecia has halted or slowed my hair loss alot. No real regrowth or improvement maybe slight? Not really sure. But my hair looks almost the same as it did when i started give or take a couple hairs? Everyone i know tells me it doesnt look anyworse and they think that finasteride is serving its purpose. In fact i used to keep my hair long but i just got a haircut and people have been telling me how good it looks. I am lucky that i started when i still had coverage, i have like a Norwood 2.6 the front is thin but still can look good when i style it. So overrall im happy with finasteride if it can keep me like this for another couple years. im just about to turn 27 by the way.

PS i remeber someone telling me when i started propeca, to notlook at you hair when you on finasteride, and then at the 2 year mark youll look at your hair and youll say.."wow i still have hair and it looks about the same as when i started, i guess its working." That advice has held very true for me. Good luck

 

[TEDDYRUXPIN]

Positive effects usually occur in the 2 month to 6 months mark. Unfortunately, the only way to consider positive side effects are such things as less hair loss.

Only a small few actually get any hair growth from propecia. Due to this, many people think the drug does'nt work and quit after 10 months.

I always say this drug is only good for keeping what you have!

rule of thumb. If you get side effects, quit! This apply to any other drug etc.

So be smart and not dumb.

 

[Odie]

I noticed significant regrowth in the crown area around the 3-4 month mark.
My hairline is still the same but the crown has really thickended up.

Overall I'm very happy with the results (2 years in and still going strong)

 

[Todd]

I have used propecia for almost 6 years.

I can tell you that after about 6 months I noticed my hair was getting thicker and darker. I regrew some hair at my hairline and a tiny bit at the temples at 12 months. Also a lot of vellus hairs at the temples, wich after 6 years still cling to my scalp.

I have been relatively stable ever since then. I do not look like I'm balding at all. A stable NW2, with thick hair and a mature hairline. I do feel though that my crown and temples have thinned a bit over the years; but propecia seemed to have slowed the balding process down to a crawl.
I asked my wife if it looked like my crown was thinning the other day, and she said she could maybe feel there was less hair, but it was really hard to tell by looking.

At this rate, it will probably not show until I reach my 40s.

Btw, this is the only drug that I'm taking, along with nizoral.

IMO, propecia really stands unrivaled at the top of hair- loss treatment products.