Propecia Not Working after 6 years - Starting Avodart -

[Scott Ryan]

Hello folks, new on here. Really need some advise!
I've been taking Propecia for 6 years, it worked very well. Itching and tingling on the scalp went away from the day I started taking it. It saved my social life and my confidence. It was really "the miracle" .. very little side effects.

It has stopped working over the last 2 months. Hair has become really stringy and lifeless, scalp tingling not only on crown but only on crown but also the front temples of which tingling and itching has never happened before. My whole scalp is greasy and I am shedding heavily. Absolutely heartbroken ...

So I started crushing up 2 tablets of Propecia and dissolving it in liquid Regaine - shaking hard and then pouring over my head every 12 hours and massaging in gently in addition to taking 1 X oral Propecia every 12 hours. That stopped the itching and the tingling and the shedding. Regaine alone with 1 X oral Propecia did not stop the shedding and tingling. I've been doing this for 3 weeks.

I Thought, ok this is working but it's a hell of a regiment to keep up and quite a lot of Propecia. This may not last long ... So I thought, to hell with this, I am going to bite the bullet and try Avodart.

I went to a a private doctor in Harley St and tried to get him to understand my plight - 300 pounds later after a 45 min consultation he offered his assesment "have you tried wearing a hat".

So I ordered Avodart online from The Independent Pharmacy in Bristol U.K - packing looks bona fide so I popped one.

Once I popped one within a few hours I felt the old left ball ache, which I took as a sign that it's doing what it is supposed to do (I haven't had any ball aches taking Propecia apart from the first day or so 6 years ago).

TIngling and itching has stopped within a few hours of my first dose of Avodart. I know this seems crazy but the same situation happened when I took Propecia - the tingling and itching stopped almost within a day.

Please can anyone tell me their experiences in migration from finasteride to Du and what regiment they went with.

Ive heard of folks taking 1x Propecia and breaking the Avodart pills and massaging into scalp for topical treatment as first point of call

i am 47 years of age and take this very seriously - please any advice / experience is welcome - especially topically application of Avodart as a first port of call.

I've had appointments with hair transplant surgeons to assess my crown loss - I can attest that their are many many sharks operating in the U.K - so I am resigned to working this out and keeping further shedding at bay with meds until the U.K transplant market becomes more ethical.

Thank you

 

[DoctorHouse]

Hello folks, new on here. Really need some advise!
I've been taking Propecia for 6 years, it worked very well. Itching and tingling on the scalp went away from the day I started taking it. It saved my social life and my confidence. It was really "the miracle" .. very little side effects.

It has stopped working over the last 2 months. Hair has become really stringy and lifeless, scalp tingling not only on crown but only on crown but also the front temples of which tingling and itching has never happened before. My whole scalp is greasy and I am shedding heavily. Absolutely heartbroken ...

So I started crushing up 2 tablets of Propecia and dissolving it in liquid Regaine - shaking hard and then pouring over my head every 12 hours and massaging in gently in addition to taking 1 X oral Propecia every 12 hours. That stopped the itching and the tingling and the shedding. Regaine alone with 1 X oral Propecia did not stop the shedding and tingling. I've been doing this for 3 weeks.

I Thought, ok this is working but it's a hell of a regiment to keep up and quite a lot of Propecia. This may not last long ... So I thought, to hell with this, I am going to bite the bullet and try Avodart.

I went to a a private doctor in Harley St and tried to get him to understand my plight - 300 pounds later after a 45 min consultation he offered his assesment "have you tried wearing a hat".

So I ordered Avodart online from The Independent Pharmacy in Bristol U.K - packing looks bona fide so I popped one.

Once I popped one within a few hours I felt the old left ball ache, which I took as a sign that it's doing what it is supposed to do (I haven't had any ball aches taking Propecia apart from the first day or so 6 years ago).

TIngling and itching has stopped within a few hours of my first dose of Avodart. I know this seems crazy but the same situation happened when I took Propecia - the tingling and itching stopped almost within a day.

Please can anyone tell me their experiences in migration from finasteride to Du and what regiment they went with.

Ive heard of folks taking 1x Propecia and breaking the Avodart pills and massaging into scalp for topical treatment as first point of call

i am 47 years of age and take this very seriously - please any advice / experience is welcome - especially topically application of Avodart as a first port of call.

I've had appointments with hair transplant surgeons to assess my crown loss - I can attest that their are many many sharks operating in the U.K - so I am resigned to working this out and keeping further shedding at bay with meds until the U.K transplant market becomes more ethical.

Thank you

First of all Propecia does not "stop working". It's not a cure. It will block DHT but if your hair follicles become more sensitive to even small amounts of DHT, it won't do as good of a job. Our bodies genetically want to bald if our genetics dictate it. I have never seen too many cases where switching to dutasteride significantly made a difference. I tried it too and it made almost no difference other than giving me more sides. You can try it as you may be the unicorn who responds way better on it. Secondly, your age is a huge factor. Most men who are full heads all their life and have the balding gene will eventually show hair loss by the time they hit 40. So even with taking a DHT blocker there is no guarantee you will be able to stop this from happening. I truly think after 40, hair loss become very hard to slow down.

 

[Scott Ryan]

Appreciate your response and thank you for your reply - I am very open to everyone's two cents on this ...

 

[debyne]

First of all Propecia does not "stop working". It's not a cure. It will block DHT but if your hair follicles become more sensitive to even small amounts of DHT, it won't do as good of a job. Our bodies genetically want to bald if our genetics dictate it. I have never seen too many cases where switching to dutasteride significantly made a difference. I tried it too and it made almost no difference other than giving me more sides. You can try it as you may be the unicorn who responds way better on it. Secondly, your age is a huge factor. Most men who are full heads all their life and have the balding gene will eventually show hair loss by the time they hit 40. So even with taking a DHT blocker there is no guarantee you will be able to stop this from happening. I truly think after 40, hair loss become very hard to slow down.

Your hypothesis about reaching 40 may be correct in some cases, but it's not in my case. I started finasteride at 32 at 1mg daily (because I started losing my hair at 30) and I'm 45 now. I also do min 2x daily. This regimen has absolutely saved my hair to the point where it looks like I haven't lost anything (although I have some minor thinning that's visible only when wet). Because of research that lower doses of finasteride can work almost or just as well, I dropped my daily dose to 0.5mg daily about 3.5 months ago. I did notice that I felt slightly better and more alert after 2 weeks of the dosage adjustment, so I must've been used to minor sides all those years. I'm planning on staying at this reduced dosage as long as my hair doesn't take a turn for the worse.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Your hypothesis about reaching 40 may be correct in some cases, but it's not in my case. I started finasteride at 32 at 1mg daily (because I started losing my hair at 30) and I'm 45 now. I also do min 2x daily. This regimen has absolutely saved my hair to the point where it looks like I haven't lost anything (although I have some minor thinning that's visible only when wet). Because of research that lower doses of finasteride can work almost or just as well, I dropped my daily dose to 0.5mg daily about 3.5 months ago. I did notice that I felt slightly better and more alert after 2 weeks of the dosage adjustment, so I must've been used to minor sides all those years. I'm planning on staying at this reduced dosage as long as my hair doesn't take a turn for the worse.

I am glad you are the exception. I think using minoxidil twice per day versus once per day can make a difference too for some. I dropped my dose to 0.5mg too around the same time as you and I did notice feeling better too but for some reason it seems my hair got worse. I would be curious to see your situation, do you have photos with before and after?

 

[debyne]

I am glad you are the exception. I think using minoxidil twice per day versus once per day can make a difference too for some. I dropped my dose to 0.5mg too around the same time as you and I did notice feeling better too but for some reason it seems my hair got worse. I would be curious to see your situation, do you have photos with before and after?

Unfortunately I don't have photos. I do like the way I feel on 0.5mg daily, so I probably won't go back up to 1mg even if my hair thins a bit more. I'm trying to strike that balance of risk vs reward.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Unfortunately I don't have photos. I do like the way I feel on 0.5mg daily, so I probably won't go back up to 1mg even if my hair thins a bit more. I'm trying to strike that balance of risk vs reward.

You don't have any current photos either?

 

[Scott Ryan]

Keep the answers coming ..

 

[debyne]

You don't have any current photos either?

I haven't taken any but I will tomorrow since it's late.

 

[dehoha]

I had a similar experience with dutasteride so I can reflect on my experiences. When I took Avodart, I experienced ballaches, which never occurred with finasteride. I also had some tightness and discomfort in the chest area. Tingling and itchiness went away almost ASAP. However, as the day went by, my hairs were thinning quite a lot and they were becoming wimpy. Also, I was shedding a lot more hair as the effects from finasteride was wearing out. I stopped taking dutasteride on day 24 after switching and went back to finasteride for now. For people who start with finasteride, I am not sure if it's possible to transition to dutasteride "smoothly." What you have gained from finasteride will be lost, albeit temporarily before you see any gains. Some people also lose more on dutasteride and never recover, which is why MANY people are scared of switching to dutasteride from finasteride. In my experience, starting with dutasteride from the get-go seems like a better idea than messing with finasteride, if you are very serious about hair loss and risk tolerant.

 

[Scott Ryan]

Thank you for your response - as I am on day 4 of Avodart and the following is happening : slight left ball ache (no problem), tingling and itching has gone, no shedding, the hairs are actually standing almost upright and vertically where as before they were stringy and wilting. I would really appreciate any stories on how people view these changes and if anyone had any long term "results" of any note. I am not looking for regrowth, just looking to keep what I have, the crown is bald but the front is holding strong,

 

[Manochoice]

Hello folks, new on here. Really need some advise!
I've been taking Propecia for 6 years, it worked very well. Itching and tingling on the scalp went away from the day I started taking it. It saved my social life and my confidence. It was really "the miracle" .. very little side effects.

It has stopped working over the last 2 months. Hair has become really stringy and lifeless, scalp tingling not only on crown but only on crown but also the front temples of which tingling and itching has never happened before. My whole scalp is greasy and I am shedding heavily. Absolutely heartbroken ...

So I started crushing up 2 tablets of Propecia and dissolving it in liquid Regaine - shaking hard and then pouring over my head every 12 hours and massaging in gently in addition to taking 1 X oral Propecia every 12 hours. That stopped the itching and the tingling and the shedding. Regaine alone with 1 X oral Propecia did not stop the shedding and tingling. I've been doing this for 3 weeks.

I Thought, ok this is working but it's a hell of a regiment to keep up and quite a lot of Propecia. This may not last long ... So I thought, to hell with this, I am going to bite the bullet and try Avodart.

I went to a a private doctor in Harley St and tried to get him to understand my plight - 300 pounds later after a 45 min consultation he offered his assesment "have you tried wearing a hat".

So I ordered Avodart online from The Independent Pharmacy in Bristol U.K - packing looks bona fide so I popped one.

Once I popped one within a few hours I felt the old left ball ache, which I took as a sign that it's doing what it is supposed to do (I haven't had any ball aches taking Propecia apart from the first day or so 6 years ago).

TIngling and itching has stopped within a few hours of my first dose of Avodart. I know this seems crazy but the same situation happened when I took Propecia - the tingling and itching stopped almost within a day.

Please can anyone tell me their experiences in migration from finasteride to Du and what regiment they went with.

Ive heard of folks taking 1x Propecia and breaking the Avodart pills and massaging into scalp for topical treatment as first point of call

i am 47 years of age and take this very seriously - please any advice / experience is welcome - especially topically application of Avodart as a first port of call.

I've had appointments with hair transplant surgeons to assess my crown loss - I can attest that their are many many sharks operating in the U.K - so I am resigned to working this out and keeping further shedding at bay with meds until the U.K transplant market becomes more ethical.

Thank you

First of all that is a lot of propecia u are using. Not sure why as upping the fose iver a certain amount won't bring more benefits.
Second of all you have to understand that DHT is not the problem here. Hair is the problem. Hair being sensitive to androgens. So most likely it's not a matter of Propecia stopping being effective but your hair being sensitive to androgens in general and not just DHT. DHT being taken care of with propecia, you've got yourself some forgiving time in your hair since DHT is a highly potent androgen. Your hair may very well be sensitive to more, most or all the androgens. If that's the case, then the approach would be different and just upping the propecia and adding the duta wouldn't really solve the root issue.

 

[Scott Ryan]

Thank you for your response .. the Avodart seems to have stopped the itching and the tingling and the hair feels more healthy whilst shedding seems to have subsided - can you give me any other information on the root issue "hair being sensitive to androgens" and where to go from there if that's the case? Thank you in advance

 

[Manochoice]

Thank you for your response .. the Avodart seems to have stopped the itching and the tingling and the hair feels more healthy whilst shedding seems to have subsided - can you give me any other information on the root issue "hair being sensitive to androgens" and where to go from there if that's the case? Thank you in advance

I'm not trying to sound smarter than I truly am but it seems that hair sensitivity to DHT is not the only culprit here. As far as I understand, testosterone can also play a pretty strong game in hair loss world. So what I meant is that if down the road Avodart also seems to look like loosing efficacy, it's most likely because of your hair being highly sensitive to androgens in general. There's a whole lot of pharmacology approaches that you can take but much of it it's a trial and error sorta strategy based on your goals, expectations and how far you are willing to go. I think you have already went a step further by nuking a higher percentage of your DHT so maybe give it some time and see how it goes before going a step further

 

[Scott Ryan]

Man thank you very very much for that advice - great appreciated

 

[jazz1]

I hope Dutasteride works, did you change the brand medication when Finasteride declined by any chance?

 

[Scott Ryan]

Always Propecia - never took generic

 

[Manochoice]

Man thank you very very much for that advice - great appreciated

I don't know if you ever watched any before but maybe you wanna try More Plates More Dates channel on YouTube. The guy has a lot of info regarding pharmacology venues you could try depending in how committed and how far you wanna go. Also puts a strong emphasis on why for some men it's not enough to tackle only DHT. I think there's a lot of good info there but be warned: it's like opening the Pandora box Always remember to set yourself some goals and limits and what you value most in this pursuit.

 

[Scott Ryan]

Thank you yes he knows his stuff

 

[shh5455]

I started finasteride 1mg and minoxidil 5 when I was 27. I had pretty decent thinning, but not terribly noticeable. I'm now 43 and I feel like the finasteride is starting to not work as well. I have slacked off on the minoxidil for a long time, used sparingly, but everything seemed OK. I see some thinning now. Not sure if the finasteride I got from inhouse is junk now or what. Thinking about going to the Doctor to get some legit stuff. I didn't want to change it while it was working. Now I think I have to change something.

I'm back on this board after 16 years to figure out what to do next. More finasteride, something else.. ? Glad it's still here!