OK, I admit I was lamely looking to you all for advice to counter what my intuition had told me two weeks ago. Propecia is poison for me. It may work for other people, but not me. A month ago I had a full head of hair with only the slightest suggestion of some vertex thinning. I had some frontal recession that had actually grown forward about 1 cm with the oral minoxidil I've been taking for two years.
After one month of propecia I have 15% less hair, with loss of all the frontal hair that minoxidil had regrown (which had been stable for two years) I have a more exposed vertex. Moreover my face is oiler than it ever has been in my life, my remaining hair is limp, oily, and lifeless. I have acne on my chest which I've never had in my life. I have seborrhea and constant itiching from my scalp- which I've never had in my life. The stuff is $#iT! I'm surprised there hasn't been a class action lawsuit already. Even if legal measures are a bit extreme, how is it that Merck has no description of a similar constellation of adverse events in their database- when it seems to be a fairly common occurrence. I'm not sure if this is a bona fide "relex hyperandrogenicity" response - in the views of many medical professionals, my dermatologist included, it is controversial whether finasteride even causes such a phenomenon.
Now I'm sure many people are going to berate me for not staying the course for at least 12 months...but there are sufficient testimonials from individuals on this and other sites to suggest that some people are actually much worse off in a years time. I highly doubt this is due to the natural progression of their male pattern baldness. A direct adverse effect of the medication seems a much more plausible explanation.
I'm going to stay with oral minoxidil - I've already increased my dose to help jump start some new hair growth. (Yes I know that minoxidil can cause shedding but it never has for me in the past and at least I KNOW it grows hair) Propecia is utter $#iT. I'm done.
As a last parting comment....I've filed an adverse event (AE) report with Merck and I encourage those who've had a similar experience to do so. Their representative claimed to have to no reports of telogen effluvium or a "reflex hyperandrogenicity" type syndrome - which just seems impossible to me! Instead of carping about the product here, all the people that have legitimate gripes about Propecia should let the manufacturer know so their package insert can be a little more honest. Maybe if I'd seen some real data on adverse events I wouldn't have even bothered with this crap a month ago. Contact your prescribing physician or pharmacist on how to file an AE report with Merck.
Don't even think about responding to me that "sheds" are part of the deal
with effective hairgrowth medications. Don't even go there. This isn't a shed- it's an extermination. A month ago, if I'd coated my head with used motor oil and then pulled out 15% of my hair I wouldn't look worse than I do now.
After one month of propecia I have 15% less hair, with loss of all the frontal hair that minoxidil had regrown (which had been stable for two years) I have a more exposed vertex. Moreover my face is oiler than it ever has been in my life, my remaining hair is limp, oily, and lifeless. I have acne on my chest which I've never had in my life. I have seborrhea and constant itiching from my scalp- which I've never had in my life. The stuff is $#iT! I'm surprised there hasn't been a class action lawsuit already. Even if legal measures are a bit extreme, how is it that Merck has no description of a similar constellation of adverse events in their database- when it seems to be a fairly common occurrence. I'm not sure if this is a bona fide "relex hyperandrogenicity" response - in the views of many medical professionals, my dermatologist included, it is controversial whether finasteride even causes such a phenomenon.
Now I'm sure many people are going to berate me for not staying the course for at least 12 months...but there are sufficient testimonials from individuals on this and other sites to suggest that some people are actually much worse off in a years time. I highly doubt this is due to the natural progression of their male pattern baldness. A direct adverse effect of the medication seems a much more plausible explanation.
I'm going to stay with oral minoxidil - I've already increased my dose to help jump start some new hair growth. (Yes I know that minoxidil can cause shedding but it never has for me in the past and at least I KNOW it grows hair) Propecia is utter $#iT. I'm done.
As a last parting comment....I've filed an adverse event (AE) report with Merck and I encourage those who've had a similar experience to do so. Their representative claimed to have to no reports of telogen effluvium or a "reflex hyperandrogenicity" type syndrome - which just seems impossible to me! Instead of carping about the product here, all the people that have legitimate gripes about Propecia should let the manufacturer know so their package insert can be a little more honest. Maybe if I'd seen some real data on adverse events I wouldn't have even bothered with this crap a month ago. Contact your prescribing physician or pharmacist on how to file an AE report with Merck.
Don't even think about responding to me that "sheds" are part of the deal
with effective hairgrowth medications. Don't even go there. This isn't a shed- it's an extermination. A month ago, if I'd coated my head with used motor oil and then pulled out 15% of my hair I wouldn't look worse than I do now.
