Long Term Use Of Finasteride And Minoxidil - What Are The Prospects

[Umber]

After reading some threads here from people who've been on finasteride - and often minoxidil as well - for a long time, often more than a decade, who suddenly start losing hair again. These people have previously had successful results from the medications with almost no hair loss whatsoever for more than a decade before it just won't work anymore. That got me thinking of what you can expect from long-term use of these medications.

Say you're in your mid-20s when you start suffering from male pattern baldness and immediately get on the medications while still a NW1,5 or so. These medications have the average effectiveness that one can expect from them (not one of those wizard cases you see every once in a while when a NW5 turns into a NW1 and flies into the sunset). How long can you expect to remain a NW1,5? Forever? 10 years? I've read several stories on how minoxidil starts losing its effect after 2-3 years of use.

Is there anyone who knows what the long term prospects of finasteride + minoxidil can be for the average Joe?

 

[countjulian]

According to the published studies, you should be good for at least 5 years, 80%+ success rate. After that the data gets thin. Anecdotally you should be good for about 10 years if you're not unlucky.

 

[Finjunkie]

Good on finsteride if you're in the 80% of lucky ones. Longest study was ten years and almost 80% were still above baseline on finasteride alone. Bit over 5 years here and hair looks basically the same as the day I started

For minoxidil all the studies show effectiveness dropping off a lot after a few years

 

[Umber]

So basically if you start at 25 you should expect resumed hair loss by the age of 40?

Another question I've been thinking about. Finasteride is considered to usually not lead to regrowth of lost hair, but mostly just helping to keep what remains. Meanwhile minoxidil, as far as I've understood it, helps regrowth to some extent. What would happen to the regained hairs if you go off minoxidil after a few years but continue with finasteride. Will it be retained due to the finasteride or is finasteride without effect on hairs regrown by minoxidil?

 

[Finjunkie]

So basically if you start at 25 you should expect resumed hair loss by the age of 40?

Another question I've been thinking about. Finasteride is considered to usually not lead to regrowth of lost hair, but mostly just helping to keep what remains. Meanwhile minoxidil, as far as I've understood it, helps regrowth to some extent. What would happen to the regained hairs if you go off minoxidil after a few years but continue with finasteride. Will it be retained due to the finasteride or is finasteride without effect on hairs regrown by minoxidil?

Resumed hairloss, no. The longest studies are ten years and most guys were either still stable or gaining hair at that point. I don't know why this is such a common belief, probably random speculation on forums. Those that respond to finasteride well (around 75-80%) gained hair or lost nothing over ten years. The curve is either flat or still increasing for those guys, I don't see why it wouldn't continue for life.

Finasteride maintains for most guys, and causes a noticeable gain for maybe 15% according to studies. Minoxidil has poorer results by every metric including hair gained. Again the difference is probably due to forum speculation not scientific studies. Some people seem to respond better to one than the other, which is why some people recommend using both. I have no idea if hair gained on minoxidil can be retained by finasteride, I don't think anyone does.

Basically I'm urging you to take your information from the scientific studies on finasteride and doctors, not forums. The info on forums is so innacurate it's almost useless. The forums are filled with poor responders, those with side effects, and other outliers.

Google "finasteride package insert" and read the summary of known studies, talk to a Doctor, and decide for yourself