Is Merck exaggerating propecia's successful percentage?

[ecs]

Man I am losing faith on propecia.

My 'shedding' period is like a never ending story, yes it slowed down, my
hair in other parts of body (eye brow, nosal, pubic, etc) grow back after an awful shed period but not the head. At the best I can only say it has slowed down, one thing for sure my hair is fewer than day one I started taking propecia (started propecia in March 2003, quitted in November 2004, picked it up again in March 2005)

I read posts on forums like this from time to time. Seldom do I see 'satisfactory' experience. Its like all(yes ALL, not most) individuals who have one year plus propecia treatment do not have satisfactory result. Yes about 90 per cent of them have hair on head, just not as much as they did at the time they started propecia. Most of these individuals are not happy with the result, however since propecia is the most popular and FDA approved MBP treatment, we are all still paying Merck for a 'really not so effective' treatment.
I know there are very successful case, I saw the amazing before and after pictures on Propecia's offical site. I believe these are the extreme cases and must be much much rarer than Merck claimed.

(Above is based on my observation on hair loss forum in the past 3-4 yrs)

Actually is Merck funding/running many hair loss forums? I always wonder how many of the active posters in these forums are actually Merck personnels.
Man I am losing faith on propecia and many other things

 

[juststarting]

Darn! You caught me.

Merck employee #298443.
Title: Rumor Monger
Department: Marketing, Propecia
Job Description: Post positive propecia comments in hairloss forums across the internet and around the world

 

[juststarting]

Ok, seriously, for the 100th time , forums on the internet are mainly congregation sites for complaining/problems. People with good results don't surf the internet for help, and forums do not in ANY way represent efficacy or lack of for any drug or treatment.

Remember, male pattern baldness is caused by MANY factors.... DHT related is just one science has found. :wink:

 

[doggfather]

ecs,
Why'd you quit in November and did you notice your hair get worse at a faster rate after you quit?

 

[global]

ecs said "one thing for sure my hair is fewer than day one I started taking propecia"

but probably you would have even less if you hadnt been on the drug. Just because it didnt "cure" the problem doesnt mean it hasnt helped, maybe your expectations were too high.

 

[chewbaca]

i can tell u peopecia works....cause my uncle who was almost bald(90%)

saw fantastic results from it.....after 2 years....just take it for at least 2 years and see hows the result.....have been takin git for 3 months already and i can say my hair loss has decreased

 

[Johnny24601]

re:

I agree that forums can sometimes give a more negative spin, but they are at least a good indicator. Sometimes I think Propecia users try to rationalize the effectivness by saying things ike "only people with bad results come to this forum." It is simply not true, most come to the forum for advice first and then a distant second group comes to complain.
I would also say that a large percentage of posters on this site report, at a minimum, that they have had at least a decrease in the rate of their hairloss from finasteride. Do you agree of disagree?

 

[ecs]

People with good results don't surf the internet for help
Remember, male pattern baldness is caused by MANY factors.... DHT related is just one science has found. :wink:

yep that is true i guess..

but probably you would have even less if you hadnt been on the drug. Just because it didnt "cure" the problem doesnt mean it hasnt helped, maybe your expectations were too high.

This is exactly what make up all the frustration and confusion, especially true for those who are not completely bald (i.e most propecia users) No one can tell for sure whether the drug is working or not. It might has helped, just not lucky enough to fall into the 'noticeable improvement' group, again , Merck is exaggerating the good result percentage(66% Maintained 17% Improved???? I dont think so. I didnt expect I will grow more, I just wanted to maintain what i had when I started it, how many of u guys think propecia helped in maintaining ur hair, come on Merck, Maintain means we will have about the same amount of hair as the day we started the drug, not 'there are hairs on ur head, so its working) and suppressing the side effect ratio! (declined sex drive, hardness..etc, 2%??? from what I read in several hair loss forums in the past few years, almost 100 per cent of users experienced these side effects, the good thing is that yes it is pretty much reversible because I quitted once months ago)


read a post years ago, hair cloning should be the ultimate solution, but it could be too distant for me when it becomes available and affordable.

 

[hairschmair]

People with good results don't surf the internet for help
Remember, male pattern baldness is caused by MANY factors.... DHT related is just one science has found. :wink:

yep that is true i guess..

but probably you would have even less if you hadnt been on the drug. Just because it didnt "cure" the problem doesnt mean it hasnt helped, maybe your expectations were too high.

Merck is exaggerating the good result percentage(66% Maintained 17% Improved???? I dont think so. I didnt expect I will grow more, I just wanted to maintain what i had when I started it, how many of u guys think propecia helped in maintaining ur hair, come on Merck,

u don't think so? Why's that? Have you run some kind of study of your own that shows different results?

 

[Bismarck]

People with good results don't surf the internet for help
Remember, male pattern baldness is caused by MANY factors.... DHT related is just one science has found. :wink:

yep that is true i guess..

but probably you would have even less if you hadnt been on the drug. Just because it didnt "cure" the problem doesnt mean it hasnt helped, maybe your expectations were too high.

Merck is exaggerating the good result percentage(66% Maintained 17% Improved???? I dont think so. I didnt expect I will grow more, I just wanted to maintain what i had when I started it, how many of u guys think propecia helped in maintaining ur hair, come on Merck,

u don't think so? Why's that? Have you run some kind of study of your own that shows different results?

I suggest to have a look at the placebo group of the 1year frontal study

 

[Johnny24601]

re:

"almost 100 per cent of users experienced these side effects"
I have not. Last night I had three "experiences" to completion in about a 5 hour time span. I guess it is actually 99.99%........

 

[GeminiX]

I'm extremely happy with the reults I've had with Finasteride, and it's not even two years yet.

D

 

[Red Rose]

Check it out:-

http://www.geocities.com/bryan50001/finasteride-minoxidil.htm

 

[socks]

Ecs,

I too had great success with Finasteride. I also know, while rare on these discussion forums, guys do get great results of finasteride.

It all comes down to how you define "great results"! For me it was halting my hairloss and giving me some thickening of existing hairs (I was a diffused thinner). For some like ActionPack a visible and photo documented improvement occurred over the period of 15 or so months. Same is true with BHD (one of the mods here)... There are many more examples as well if you actually look for them.

Problem is, many men who are successful with finasteride dont stick around. They move on with their lives while those who dont get success stick around here b*tching and whinning.


Getting back to "how you define great results", too many guys here think they can get all their hair back via treatments... That is just not realistic even to super responders!

Halting or slowing further hairloss is what I called "great success". Anything above that is a big bonus

 

[juststarting]

Ecs,

I too had great success with Finasteride. I also know, while rare on these discussion forums, guys do get great results of finasteride.
...

Problem is, many men who are successful with finasteride dont stick around. They move on with their lives while those who dont get success stick around here b*tching and whinning.

Getting back to "how you define great results", too many guys here think they can get all their hair back via treatments... That is just not realistic even to super responders!

Halting or slowing further hairloss is what I called "great success". Anything above that is a big bonus

Excellent post. 100%. We should add these points to the FAQ.
If I had a $1 for every post that people have to say these things again and again...

 

[Trent]

Problem is, many men who are successful with finasteride dont stick around. They move on with their lives while those who dont get success stick around here b*tching and whinning.

if you want at least some support for this theory, click on the tell your story section of the forum, you'll find hundreds of dudes that quit posting after like three months, never to return.
now don't you think that if things were going to sh*t, that they would be on here a lot, asking for all kinds of help, new treatment options? yes they would! but things were probably going well, so they moved on with their life. but for the unlucky ones, they still need help, or are people that are in the process of treatments (full year is not up yet), these are the people currently posting for the most part. There are exceptions of course, some people just stick around to help out, some stick around because they are bored, and some leave because they just decided to shave their head and be done with it.

 

[hairschmair]

"almost 100 per cent of users experienced these side effects"

Only been on it 15 days now myself, but no side-effects in sight!