My Experience With Finasteride After 14 Months (photos)

[The Balding Cat]

Hi all,

Since I'm considering getting a hair transplant I decided to start finasteride despite its infamous side effects.

I thought finasteride was working on everyone to some extent, at least slowing down hair loss, at best inducing little regrowth.

But after 14 months I must say I'm very disappointed. The side effects I was worried about did not really bother me (I think my sex drive has decreased a little but it's still manageable, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm not getting the first signs of gynecomastia...) but the worst part is that my hair loss got a lot faster on the frontal/hairline area during that period (I can't say for sure it's due to finasteride but it happened while taking it), 8 months after starting. It's hard to say if it had an impact (good or bad) on the other areas...

A couple of months ago I met with one of the best hair transplant surgeon in Belgium/Europe and when we talked about my progress with finasteride he told me it was normal, that it does not have any impact on the hairline and only works on the vertex area (what?!) and he told me he thought my vertex and "bridge" (I think that's how he called the area between the vertex and hairline) was a little more dense than at the beginning. That's not obvious at all to me.

Anyway I'm considering stopping finasteride. If it has not showed any clear signs of efficacy after 14 months, I doubt it ever will. This is not good for anyone's body and if it does not help at all I don't think it's worth taking risks.

I'm 37 by the way. I think I will explore other options to maintain my hair as finasteride does not seem to work on me. I’m already taking Minoxidil since 2006. I’m planning on trying dermarolling and RU58841.

I would be curious to hear your comments, advice on my case.

Do you think finasteride can be the cause of my accelerated loss on the hairline area?
In your opinion, has my vertex/bridge area improved/worsened?
Is there a chance I can get clear positive results after 14 months?
Should I stick to it or stop it?

Time line:
April 2017: started Finasteride
December 2017: massive hair loss from the frontal/hairline area
June 2018: it seems that my chest is becoming slightly larger and pointier...

 

[MorningGlory]

Finasteride may have decelerated your hair loss and you could see dramatic losses if you stop taking it. If it’s not causing side effects and you can afford it why not just keep taking it? You’re taking an unnecessary risk of setting yourself back.

 

[Retinoid]

Controlling the different lighting factors and brushing of the hair it seems to have maintained but not grown. Maybe there is slightly more hair on the crown area.

One thing that people with moderate/advanced balding might find helpful is intense scalp massage daily to increase blood flow, decrease fibrosis, etc.

Also you can add low dose oral Minoxidil, in the range of like 1-2mg a day.

 

[The Balding Cat]

Thanks for your answers, that's helpful.
Do you think it's possible that finasteride does not work on the frontal part (or even makes things worse) but still maintains the crown area?

 

[MorningGlory]

Do you think it's possible that finasteride does not work on the frontal part

It’s possible it won’t work at all, but it certainly can work on the frontal area. Nearly 13 months in (1mg daily) I think my forelock and temple points are strengthening faster than my crown, which is the opposite to what I expected. I’m not complaining though!

 

[Retinoid]

Thanks for your answers, that's helpful.
Do you think it's possible that finasteride does not work on the frontal part (or even makes things worse) but still maintains the crown area?

It certainly can. Minoxidil and Finasteride do not work as well in the front for most people, most likely because that is the first to go and people wait too long for treatments (for most people it is the first to go, for me it has always been the crown) so there is more damage there and fibrosis. The skin is usually tighter in that area and the temples so blood flow could be an issue which is why many people seem to benefit when massage and derma rolling is introduced.

 

[el_duterino]

i think you started finasteride too late for it to be able to save the already damaged weak hair

that is the common cause for many guys around here . Some very young guys got lucky still but this is the exception

it works on the hair line but only on healthy strong hair - my Doctor told me that in 1998 when i started on finasteride as a NW2 and to this day this proved true

 

[el_duterino]

Still I dont see how finasteride can make hair loss worse

what happened is that the weak hair continued to die while the healthy hair maintained so you should definitely continue finasteride to preserve those

 

[The Balding Cat]

Thank you guys for your comments!

Still I dont see how finasteride can make hair loss worse

Me neither but while doing some research on this forum I saw a few posts reporting something similar, usually around the same period (8-10 months). As you said it might only do that on hair that's already dead, but still, it's the opposite of regrowth!

 

[TK421]

It doesn't look like your hair got worse. In fact it looks like you actually made gains. But even if you didn't, at the very least it looked like you maintained. If you think you're getting side effects maybe you should look into topical finasteride.

 

[abcdefg]

I dont see much of a difference, but if anything the 2018 picture looks very slightly better. Propecia is not a growth treatment. If its working you will see little or no difference that is what it does it maintains the hair you still have. You cant take an AA and expect to wake up with a ton of more hair it doesnt regrow hair.
Its worth the risks if you have enough hair you want to keep

 

[Cue Bald]

it looks like you made slight gains to me also. without finasteride you may well be Norwood 6 by now.
all finasteride does is stop DHT damage to the follicle. any regrowth is a bonus

 

[The Balding Cat]

Thanks for your insights guys. I know it doesn’t really show on the photos but the frontal part is way worse than when I started, believe me! And it looks like it got worse faster than if I had not been on fina.
I know regrowth with finasteride is only a bonus which occurs only for very few lucky patients but I’m complaining about that severe loss on my hairline, not about not having gained hair.

it looks like you made slight gains to me also. without finasteride you may well be Norwood 6 by now.

Well no. I have been losing hair for 20 years, and I don't see why I would go from NW4 to NW6 suddenly in just one year.