I'm losing faith

[Skaff]

I was having a browse through the 'success stories' section and there is a distinct lack of posts from people who are just using finasteride without minoxidil.

Considering most (or a lot) of people on this site have relatively minor hair loss issues (including myself), I would have expected more of a showing from finasteride-only users.

Here are my thoughts:
*I have a feeling that regrowth from finasteride alone is a whole lot rarer than people generally think.
*And if it does happen, it's practically cosmetically insignificant. Just check out the before and afters on propecia's website...they're hardly drastic.
*I'm particularly concerned at how little success diffuse thinners seem to have...in fact I've never seen any pics to suggest it has worked.

Sorry, I know posts like this come up pretty frequently but I'm keen to gauge your opinions...

 

[Guest]

*I have a feeling that regrowth from finasteride alone is a whole lot rarer than people generally think.

Merck's FDA trial results disprove your assessment.

*And if it does happen, it's practically cosmetically insignificant. Just check out the before and afters on propecia's website...they're hardly drastic.

It depends on the person and their situation. Some people with moderate or even advanced hair loss have had some sick(read: amazing) results on Propecia, but it's pretty rare. Generally the earlier you get on it, the better chance of regrowth I believe.

*I'm particularly concerned at how little success diffuse thinners seem to have...in fact I've never seen any pics to suggest it has worked.

Bubka was diffusing and had recession before getting on finasteride and it reversed his loss. Dutasteride has helped reverse some of my diffusion.

I see that you started minoxidil and then stopped it. If you aren't satisfied with your finasteride-only regrowth, I recommend re-adding the minoxidil. It regrew twice as much hair as finasteride on average. They are a very good combination.

 

[JohnnySeville]

For the most part finasteride is to stop the balding process and maintain. There are those that may seen some hair growth, but usually nothing spectacular. Minoxidil on the otherhand has a greater effect on growth, much more in clinical trials than finasteride or even dutasteride. Ideally you should use them both if you are looking for the max effectiveness.

 

[The Dangerman]

Agreed. I would always look at finasteride's success in terms of maintence. Regrowth is a secondary, bonus feature in my opinion. If you've got quite agressive male pattern baldness at an early age and you keep it for awhile then that, I would say, is "success".

finasteride is attractive for people starting now because it's the right timescale for new treatements to become available by the time finasteride's effectiveness begins to wain. For most people starting now who respond to finasteride, they can realistically expect to keep their hair till at least 2012-2013. One would hope that there will be some more options then for male pattern baldness. And if not? Well you have kept more hair when your young, when I would argue it really matters.

 

[Jasno2]

After 2 years I gave up on finasteride. Seemed like I was constantly shedding. Going to try dutasteride and if that doesn't work, hello bic.

 

[depress]

yeah i agree. Once that 18 year old hairline and texture is gone, all your doing is screwing with hormones for a few little victory hairs, or maybe a little thickness. after the young hairline aesthetics are gone your just growing a few crappy hairs back.

 

[Brokenwall]

yeah i agree. Once that 18 year old hairline and texture is gone, all your doing is screwing with hormones for a few little victory hairs, or maybe a little thickness. .

But if you start at that age or close then its a whole different story

 

[Guest]

Here are my thoughts:
*I have a feeling that regrowth from finasteride alone is a whole lot rarer than people generally think.
*And if it does happen, it's practically cosmetically insignificant. Just check out the before and afters on propecia's website...they're hardly drastic.
*I'm particularly concerned at how little success diffuse thinners seem to have...in fact I've never seen any pics to suggest it has worked.

Seriously?! I always thought that those regrowth stories on propecia.com were anomalies that they chose to feature rather than the norm. Some of those guys were like NW7 with some fuzz and almost came back with all terminals!

Even if it only maintains, minoxidil can regrow so if that's what you want why aren't you on the Big 3?

You also need to keep in mind that some breakthrough treatments of hair loss are only a few years away. If you will maintain those follicles even then there's some hope probably 5 years down the road with OSH101 and HM.

 

[depress]

yeah i agree. Once that 18 year old hairline and texture is gone, all your doing is screwing with hormones for a few little victory hairs, or maybe a little thickness. .

But if you start at that age or close then its a whole different story

very true

 

[Guest]

Yep, I have made a similiar observation. 90% of sucess stories involve minoxidil, hardly any finasteride only stories. that is rather frustrating particularly at an advanced stage of hair loss. When I started I was hoping to regrow my hairline and thicken up the rest of my head. Now I would be glad to go back to baseline..... :cry:

 

[Skaff]

yeah i agree. Once that 18 year old hairline and texture is gone, all your doing is screwing with hormones for a few little victory hairs, or maybe a little thickness. .

But if you start at that age or close then its a whole different story

Yeah, that's what people say...but I've seen nothing to suggest this is true.

 

[Lorenzo_91]

I am a finasteride only user and I think it basically halted my hairloss. I am begining to see regrowth at the 14th month. I feel really good about my only finasteride decision.

Maybe a hair transplant now on temples. Like 600 graphs would be nice. Or is there a minimum?

 

[klink]

I took Propecia from 2002 to Xmas 2006 and I think it slowed down the loss, but if you look at my pics even at 39 I am responding great to minoxidil and the other stuff I am doing. Had I known that Min was the bomb I would have stayed on it six years ago, but like many I tried it for a few weeks and got sick of having greasy hair.