Propecia Effectiveness and the Propecia Poll. Important!

[jambri]

Here's a very important question:

Every time someone here complains or is worried about Propecia, they are outweighed by rebuttals from supposedly calm, experienced individuals expressing that you should "ride it out", and stay on the drug. Apparently, if these people are to be believed, the hair will return.

All good so far.

The question is, why should we believe these people? Are their opinions based on actual experience of taking the drug rather than simply stuff they have read from Merck or FDA trials? If their opinions are in fact based on experience, then why does the Propecia poll unanimously reflect the notion that Propecia users will never see regrowth nor maintenance?

You can find the poll here:
http://www.hairlosstalk.com/discussions ... hp?t=21675


Look at the number of votes in the poll, and compare it to the number of people here who regularly talk about Propecia working. Something clearly does not add up. I believe in common sense. Either most people who defend Propecia are merely spouting out FDA/Merck claims, or they have bizarrely decided NOT TO VOTE.

I am betting the former scenario is highly likely.

 

[Uni Student]

I've been using it 2 weeks. Read enough negative feedback about it here and experienced shedding first hand. Seriousely considering cutting my losses now and considering other treatment rather then experience serious shedding for several months which is far worse then I ever experienced before taking the drug...

 

[Aplunk1]

39 votes from users on the forum... The poll needs to be larger to even consider your statement as having a foundation.

 

[jambri]

39 votes from users, but how often have you seen people saying "ride it out" for example? As far as I'm concerned that far exceeds the total votes in the poll. As I said, it does not add up.

 

[Bod]

I think the main reason why there are not more positive results is because most people who Propecia has worked for no longer bother to come back to this forum as they now have their hair back, if you look at most people on here most of them have only been on their regime for less than 6 months and as its been said on this forum time and time again it normally takes Propecia a year to work.

 

[Aplunk1]

Yes, there are few Propecia-veterans who post here. The only Propecia-veterans who do post here weren't successful with it, either.

You cannot make assumptions based on this.

 

[Aplunk1]

Most people in here are not even capable of judging their own results. It takes a doctor. Most people are expecting great results, therefore, almost any poll here for "regrowth" will be skewed.

 

[jambri]

If there are so few Propecia veterans here, then why are there so many insistent people spouting the virtues of the drug? Are they simply reading out FDA or Merck claims rather than speaking from experience?

 

[techprof]

jambri, if you stop propecia you might become NW5 or NW6 or worse.
Propecia is a must to keep what you have.

 

[jambri]

Looking at your profile, I notice you yourself stopped taking finasteride. Would this be because of nasty side effects? Or because you did not notice improvement or noticed things getting worse?

I hope it was for some other reason.

 

[techprof]

I did not stop taking propecia. Just switched from Generic to Merck.

 

[Siberian]

If there are so few Propecia veterans here, then why are there so many insistent people spouting the virtues of the drug? Are they simply reading out FDA or Merck claims rather than speaking from experience?

It absolutely, positively worked for me. I took it for 5 years and gained hair. I don't remember any shedding, but I didn't obsessively watch my progress either. I didn't really think about it until my parents showed me some older photos of myself one day, and I couldn't believe how balding I looked (before Propecia) back then. Considering how fast I was balding when I started taking it, the fact that I GAINED anything was a damn miracle. I SHOULD be NW4+ by now. My brother was bald by my age. My father was bald by my age. I'm not. The only difference is that I took Propecia.

I also stopped taking it about a year ago, and LOST some/most of the hair I had gained. Again, I wasn't obsessively checking for hair loss, I just suddenly noticed it around month 9 or so (off the drug) and freaked out. I'm back on it again, and looking forward to recovering most of my losses in about 8 months.

I take Propecia, I grow hair. I stop taking Propecia, I lose hair. It's pretty much that simple. Of course I'm just some guy on the internet. No reason to trust me really. But I'd REALLY hate to see people not take it because they were scared off for no valid reason. Propecia offers the best, most-proven, most consistently-effective hope of keeping or recovering your hair.

 

[techprof]

Siberian,
Actually I am happy that lot of guys in the forum are catching their hairloss early (Norwood 1. 5 or NW2 or just some temporal recessions). What we need to understand is that no matter what we do, one cannot go from Norwood 1.5 to NW1 unless you are an extremely good responder. However, if you take propecia (if you are NW1.5) you are probably likely to stay at Nw1.5 or NW2 for the next 5 years. If you don't take propecia, you could and likely become NW5 or more depending on genetics.

 

[jambri]

Siberian, did you vote in the poll?

 

[Siberian]

Siberian, did you vote in the poll?

Nah, but only because I didn't shed on Propecia during that first round five years ago - at least not that I remember.

I didn't shed this time either (started again 3 months ago), though I did seem to continue slowly losing hair until very recently - which is to be expected. Things should only get better now for the next 9 months or so, reach a peak, then slooooowly start losing again until 2012 when the world ends.

 

[jambri]

I used to know someone who firmly believed the world would end in 2012. So much so that he bought an underground bunker somewhere. There have been documentaries made about him David Icke also thinks the world will end in 2012. Who knows!

 

[camobear777]

After 14 months of treatment on Propecia I went from a NW1 to a NW2. I hope that year two of treatment will be better. I am almost a NW2.5 now after my shed this past December. I am hoping for the best but so far no regrowth. For those who have been on finasteride for more than 12 months, was year 2 better? or has it just slowed down the effects of male pattern baldness.

Cheers

 

[incubusor]

If there are so few Propecia veterans here, then why are there so many insistent people spouting the virtues of the drug? Are they simply reading out FDA or Merck claims rather than speaking from experience?

Better question - Why are there so many people crying about shedding and propecia's uneffectiveness when there are sticky'd threads and articles stating that you need to ride out the first year of treatment to make a legit conclusion on whether the drug is working or not?

Also, many of those who are spreading the shed and "it doesn't work" panics are not providing photos to actually show that their hair has gotten as bad as they make it sound - "I've lost 50% of my hair" "My hair that was shed isn't growing back" (they had to be at one of the advanced stages of miniaturization for that to happen, which makes me think some of these guys are slick bald and hoping for a miracle?)

This is where people come for help. Those who do not respond to treatment, or are over dramatic about a shed - tend to be more active on the forum because they are looking for answers and for comfort.

 

[incubusor]

As for the poll data. It won't ever be considered legit the way it is now.

We need photos, more importantly - we need valid photos w/ dated forum threads. Meaning if someone starts treatment in March, they need to put up a thread with a photo of their hair IN MARCH. Then after the 1 year mark they can show a new photo, and participate in the poll.

Problem - we'll never know for a fact if the participant was consistent with his treatments throughout the year. It will have to be an honor system in regards to that.

 

[techprof]

incubusor, i hear you. people are expecting propecia to give their 13-year old look.
And they expect to go from NW2 of NW1.5 to NW1 which is not gonna happen. That is not what propecia does or claims to do. It will save them from becoming NW4 or completely bald.

The sheds etc don't make any difference or sense (mostly physological). Unless the users prove with photos (they are losing 50% hairs) their posts don't reflect their true situation.