Propecia issue

[BDSander]

I have been on propecia for a little over a year and two months and while on it I have had very negative results. Propecia is really eating my hairline. I am now receding very badly since I've gotten on it. I am trying to decide if I want to stay on propecia or try something different. I am just worried that if I get off propecia I will lose even more hair then I currently am, but at this rate I think it is a risk I need to take because my hairline looks horrible. I have also heard people talk in the past about how propecia sometimes takes up to 2 years to start working. So I guess a part of me wants to ride it out, but I am not sure if it will be worth it. I also use Nizoral and I briefly started to use rogaine, but I got nervous that it would eat my hairline even worse so I stopped using it. Has anyone had a similar experience to mine? Also, can anyone please recommend any products, tips, or advice that could help me out.

You can see my before and after pictures here. My hairline has gotten even worse since the current pictures were taken back in May.
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=43013&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=20

Thanks,
Brian

 

[DoctorHouse]

Brian, I know how you feel. Since you started noticing your hair thinning in your twenties, you are better off staying with Propecia. It may not halt your balding but at least slow it down. You have to remember Propecia is not a CURE but a Control drug for balding. It can only control it so much. You cannot be sure if Propecia is making it worse or not. I have felt Propecia may have caused more damage than good for me too but I have no idea for sure. I cut my dose and after 3 months I felt things seem to be getting worse so I went back to full dose again. Now I am shedding again more. Its kind of like diabetes, you can take insulin all your life but its not going to cure diabetes. Some people take insulin then their sugar is still high and they have to shoot up more insulin to control their sugar. They may say that the insulin is making them more of a diabetic but we know insulin controls diabetes. Well for many years we have been told Propecia controls male pattern baldness. So we have chosen to take it in order to keep our hair. Its not curing baldness so do not expect all of sudden for your balding to stop completely. You could get more drastic and try dutasteride but with its unknown long term side effects, I wont take that chance. Plus dutasteride is NOT a cure either. Hair transplantation is all you have as a pseudo cure for your hairline but as the balding proceeds the hair behind the transplant will still bald. Until and if a cure comes along, Propecia and Rogaine is all we have to CONTROL this unfortunate event that can happen at any age.

 

[dresden]

yeah i agree with doctorhouse. i cant see how would finasteride make the hairloss process get worse, unless you dont have male pattern baldness.

 

[BDSander]

Thanks for the feedback. It is comforting to know that I am not the only one who has had a negative experience with propecia. Not sure if I want to go the dutasteride route yet. The reason I use propecia is because it is so convenient to get and simple to use. What I mean by that is I don't have to purchase it over the internet and all I have to do is pop a pill rather then go through a whole routine. When I first met with my doctor he had been a propecia user and claimed he had great results with it. He also mentioned that it most likely will not grow back hair, but it will maintain the hair I have. After hearing this I was sold on it, because at the time I had a decent set of hair and I thought if I can maintain my hair for a couple more years that would be great. Unfortunately a year and a few months later my hair has digressed very badly and it has gotten 10 times worse then before. I do not feel it is slowing down my hair loss one bit. I have never experienced sheds like I experience now. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that my male pattern baldness got really aggressive at the same time I started taking propecia. For the record I have never been diagnosed with male pattern baldness. However, I am pretty sure I am destined to go bald though, because my father is bald and my grandfather on my mothers’ side is bald as well. I have recently got my blood work done and my testosterone levels were normal, so I do not know whether to attribute that to male pattern baldness. I will now continue to take propecia in hopes that it will “maintainâ€￾ my current hair or at least slow down my hair loss.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[BDSander]

I am still uncertain on whether I should stay on propecia. I am trying to get a feel from other board members personal experiences on finasteride(propecia or proscar). Is there anyone out there who has fallen into any of these catergories.

1. Someone who had negative results with propecia or proscar at first, but then saw good results after being on it for awhile?
2. Someone who had negative results with propecia or proscar then got off it and had even worse results.
3. Someone who had negative results with propecia or proscarand then got off of it and had better results.

I have been on propecia for well over a year and I feel that it has destroyed my hairline. My main goal is to figure out how my hair will be affected in the future by my decision on whether to stay on propecia or get off it. I know that everyone is different, but I would like to get some feedback from board members experiences and then come to a conclusion on what to do.

Thanks!

 

[BDSander]

bump

 

[bubka]

If you are taking legit finasteride, I do not see how there would be a difference

 

[BDSander]

I am not saying there is a difference. I am just trying to get a broader audience by including proscar. I am currently on legit propecia, which I purchase from nation chain pharmacy.

I am just trying to figure out if anyone has falling into the scenarios i listed above.

 

[beaner]

You have receded, no doubt, but the rest of your hair looks considerably better/healthier in my opinion, so I wouldn't say your experience has been negative. It just seems that it didn't work on the front and you continued to recede. If you stop now, you risk the rest of your hair going to crap.

 

[BDSander]

Thanks for the feedback beaner. I guess I am going to stay on propecia for a while longer and pray that I can maintain the hair I have. I will see where I stand after the two year mark.
Regarding my hair looking healthier in the more recent pictures I am not sure how much truth there is to that, because unfortunately the lighting in my before and after pictures is very different, so that may give it the illusion that my hair is thicker looking in the most recent pictures then it actually is. I will try to take pictures with more similar lighting.

 

[Tikimik]

I actually just talked to my doctor about this 2 days ago when I switched to Propecia from avodart.

Basically regarding the hairline he said that it is more likely that people are taking the drug, and what happens is that since the hairline is the hardest area to stop the balding process, some people respond enough to regrow through the crown and sides of the scalp, but it is not close to as responsive for the hairline.

So basically by association when one part of the scalp starts growing and the hairline keeps receding, people blame the product when really it is actually still helping and not directly affecting the hairline.

He said that from the studies he's read and his knowledge of DHT, medically there is no reason he can see why propecia or avodart would affect the hairline in a negative way, and the rest of the scalp in a positive way.


I'd just take it as propecia has got your back, but the front lines almost always take a hit.

 

[BDSander]

I would imagine this maybe the case for some people, but for me I don't feel it is. I have been on propecia for over a year and before I was on propecia I was slightly receding however nothing too serious, but after being on it for 15 months my hairline has receded big time. I don't know what else could have caused such a drastic change. Maybe it is just a coincidence that my hair loss drastically kicked in at the same time I started taking propeica. As far as my crown I never have had an issue with that and after doing comparasion it has stayed about the same. It is just very weird why all of the sudden my hair would start receding so much once I got on propecia. I can tell it is going to get even worse, because my hair is starting to get thinner and thinner further back around the sides. Another thing that is very frausrating is that it seems like I am constantly shedding. Everytime I run my hand through my hair a few times like 20 hairs will fall out. Has anyone experienced an excessive constant shed?

Please forgive all of my bitching.