I just read Dr Rassman's blog and he said Propecia and minoxidil never "stop working". It depends on how aggressive your hair loss presents. He has seen cases where men with very slow progressing male pattern baldness maintain with both treatments well over 5 years. However, if your genetics are too strong, then those medication can only "slow" things down that will eventually happen anyway. And when your hair goes from a NW2 to a NW3 even on the medications, it does not mean the medications are not still working. It means they can make the transition from a NW3 to a NW4 much slower than without them. For me, my hair loss is very slow so with using the medications, its going to be even slower to the point it may just help me keep from ever reaching a NW3 or until maybe there is a better treatment.