Propecia Stopped Working... It's Time To Switch To Avodart

[arnoldd]

I also dropped minoxidil last fall because my hairline was continuing to recede. In hindsight I should’ve stayed with that too as it was likely helping me hold on just a bit. I’m really wary of getting back on it but I’ve thought a lot about adding it back as well. I kind of wanted to see what dutasteride would do on its own. A lot of guys seem to be using low dose oral now. Is it worth it? I’ve heard you can get a nasty shed from it.

i swichted from fina to duta and after 1 month there is a big scaring shedding..its just because duta is very powerfull and shock hairs.
Big mistake for you drop minoxidil too, can imagine how dramatic your hair loss was

 

[MKP05]

i swichted from fina to duta and after 1 month there is a big scaring shedding..its just because duta is very powerfull and shock hairs.
Big mistake for you drop minoxidil too, can imagine how dramatic your hair loss was

Where is your hair loss and how severe was it when you switched? How long have you been on dutasteride and what are your results?

 

[MKP05]

I do understand and I am very sorry to hear that it has been so sudden for you. Mine was also very rapid when finasteride stopped working. It’s a shock I know, because we never expect it to happen. I have certainly not been the same since. I am having counselling, which I would recommend, to try to come to terms with what has happened to me, it may help you too.

When you mentioned how you feel about mistakes you made that resonated with me too. It is a common theme on this board. I guess I’m just saying that pretty much all of us have made mistakes with these meds, simply because it’s impossible to know what will work and when you should use it. We are fighting a losing battle and that is going to be hard on us emotionally.
Do give me a shout/ PM if you need any more advice. I think just throw everything you can at it now for your own peace of mind. At least you’ll know you did everything you could

It’s been rough - especially the last few weeks. Just as I was hopeful for finasteride to slow the progression I was equally, if not more, convinced that dutasteride would do the trick. And it still might I suppose. But I’ve crossed that invisible line we all create where we go from a mediocre outcome to a most decidedly unacceptable one. For the time being I can still get away with looking ok when I’ve styled my hair properly. But each day that is getting more and more difficult. And the signs of quickly progressing hair loss are becoming more evident and difficult to conceal. For the previous 12 months of treatment things were getting worse but at a rate where every couple of months you could see some gradual decline. Not acceptable by any means but at least it felt like I was buying time. The last 4 weeks have been drastic, significant changes which seem to occur daily. And it’s made tougher by the realization that I could potentially have mitigated some of this. I understand there’s no point in beating myself up about the decisions I’ve made but I’m typically very pragmatic in my approach to just about everything. So to think that I may have miscalculated is not easy for me to accept. After all I stayed on finasteride for 17 months even though I didn’t have a good experience with it - particularly in the beginning where I lost the most ground and never recovered. I really don’t blame myself as much as I do the medical professionals who seem to lack basic knowledge or understanding around hair loss in general. I agree with you that this forum can be a great resource. There are guys on here that know more about the various pathways to hair loss than most dermatologists ever will. But this forum can also lead you on a fool’s errand and deliver you unrealistic optimism. That optimism is important at times because it allows us to keep fighting. But also makes it doubly painful when we have a setback.

I bring up my twin a lot when discussing my situation because we’re close friends and have always been compared to one another (obviously). To see an approximate replica of yourself - but one which does not suffer from this - is a painful reminder of how things were and how you wish they could be. It’s that little added insult which has made this almost unbearable at times. I feel like I’ve lost some of my identity and the joy I once had. The bad days which were once few and far between are now daily occurrences. I know there are much worse things in life than losing hair and I’m thankful for all I have. I pray for the strength to get past this and not care so much. And yes I probably need to seek some counseling. They’ll have a field day with me. Lol.

Hopefully I’ll be reporting great successes down the road but unfortunately I’m no longer optimistic of that. And that’s hard.

 

[arnoldd]

Where is your hair loss and how severe was it when you switched? How long have you been on dutasteride and what are your results?

Not sure but maybe nw3/4 with diffuse thinning. I did 3 months finasteride and than switched to duta 7 weeks ago.
Some areas are more thicker but others like the front are thinning but at the same time more stronger. I hope this is the initial shedding, i read a lot of guys having tremendous hair loss when they started taking duta.

 

[Hair-pun]

It’s been rough - especially the last few weeks. Just as I was hopeful for finasteride to slow the progression I was equally, if not more, convinced that dutasteride would do the trick. And it still might I suppose. But I’ve crossed that invisible line we all create where we go from a mediocre outcome to a most decidedly unacceptable one. For the time being I can still get away with looking ok when I’ve styled my hair properly. But each day that is getting more and more difficult. And the signs of quickly progressing hair loss are becoming more evident and difficult to conceal. For the previous 12 months of treatment things were getting worse but at a rate where every couple of months you could see some gradual decline. Not acceptable by any means but at least it felt like I was buying time. The last 4 weeks have been drastic, significant changes which seem to occur daily. And it’s made tougher by the realization that I could potentially have mitigated some of this. I understand there’s no point in beating myself up about the decisions I’ve made but I’m typically very pragmatic in my approach to just about everything. So to think that I may have miscalculated is not easy for me to accept. After all I stayed on finasteride for 17 months even though I didn’t have a good experience with it - particularly in the beginning where I lost the most ground and never recovered. I really don’t blame myself as much as I do the medical professionals who seem to lack basic knowledge or understanding around hair loss in general. I agree with you that this forum can be a great resource. There are guys on here that know more about the various pathways to hair loss than most dermatologists ever will. But this forum can also lead you on a fool’s errand and deliver you unrealistic optimism. That optimism is important at times because it allows us to keep fighting. But also makes it doubly painful when we have a setback.

I bring up my twin a lot when discussing my situation because we’re close friends and have always been compared to one another (obviously). To see an approximate replica of yourself - but one which does not suffer from this - is a painful reminder of how things were and how you wish they could be. It’s that little added insult which has made this almost unbearable at times. I feel like I’ve lost some of my identity and the joy I once had. The bad days which were once few and far between are now daily occurrences. I know there are much worse things in life than losing hair and I’m thankful for all I have. I pray for the strength to get past this and not care so much. And yes I probably need to seek some counseling. They’ll have a field day with me. Lol.

Hopefully I’ll be reporting great successes down the road but unfortunately I’m no longer optimistic of that. And that’s hard.

I think I’m probably in the same boat as you now emotionally. I have also passed the point of no return and it’s killing me to think that I could have done more too. It’s amazing how devastating hair loss can be and i get what you say about your twin. He may well have the same episode in time though.
I definitely felt as you feel acutely in the first 6-8 months but now I am getting closer to the point of acceptance. I read my posts from a few months ago and do feel I’ve moved on from that point, certainly not crying so much! I think we all go through the stages of grief when this happens, so the time will come when you will accept it and it won’t hurt quite as much.
Maybe try concealer- I know it’s not perfect but can give you a bit of a boost to see yourself with better hair. Supermillions is good- better than toppik.

However it works out I wish you well!

 

[Hair-pun]

One more thing to mention is that you look to be a good candidate for a transplant. I am no expert on this sort of thing but from what I’ve seen this would be reparable. Certainly worth investigating- all hope is not lost. I don’t know where you are located but if you’re in the Uk as I am I’ve heard that Dr Ball at the Maitland clinic is fairly good, also for a non-transplant hair specialist Dr Fenton is apparently good

 

[stejames]

i took finasteride (1mg daily) for 20+ years. It worked in the sense that I never went bald which was definitely my path. It slowly lost its effectiveness in that I noticed front unit was starting to thin out.

I started with .5Dut once a week and finasteride 6 days. The shed lasted 6weeks to the day and it was brutal. It literally shed a part down the middle of my head. I stayed on that regimen for 4 months. No gains. I upped to .5Dut twice a week finasteride 5 days. Dont know if I see any gains. Have been on this regimen for 3.5 months. I wont add anymore days. 0 sides ever. Will give full year to judge. Dont seem to be losing hair i think.

 

[jazz1]

i took finasteride (1mg daily) for 20+ years. It worked in the sense that I never went bald which was definitely my path. It slowly lost its effectiveness in that I noticed front unit was starting to thin out.

I started with .5Dut once a week and finasteride 6 days. The shed lasted 6weeks to the day and it was brutal. It literally shed a part down the middle of my head. I stayed on that regimen for 4 months. No gains. I upped to .5Dut twice a week finasteride 5 days. Dont know if I see any gains. Have been on this regimen for 3.5 months. I wont add anymore days. 0 sides ever. Will give full year to judge. Dont seem to be losing hair i think.

That’s awesome did you use legit brand finesteride?

What’s your full regime during 20 years....?

 

[stejames]

That’s awesome did you use legit brand finesteride?

What’s your full regime during 20 years....?

I did. I got it from my derm. Hes here in beverly Hills. That was my regimen. 1mg a day. Inside of that they upped to 1.5 a day, but that lasted maybe a year when studies came out saying that it was no better than the 1mg I was taking.

I was a guy that always had that "receded" look even early 20's. The finasteride kept it like that for most if not all of that time and it kept my strands thick. It was last spring when I started to notice it losing its effectiveness. As noted I cant say i am seeing anything from 2duts a week but its only been 4 months on this particular program.

My derm wanted me to start 2 duts after a month of just taking 1 a week (finasteride still on off days), but because of my shed and wanting to make sure sides didnt creep I waited 4months to jump to 2. Its been 8months total.

I definitely feel it in my system which is something I never felt with finasteride, but its mostly just itchy scalp the day after I take. Plus I never shed on finasteride. dutasteride shed was brutal for 6 weeks.

 

[User707]

@stejames I'm the same as you. Have been on finasteride for 20 years and have kept pretty much all my hair. In the last 2 months I'm noticing it is starting to thin to the front. Can you let me know how you went with the transition from finasteride to DUA. Was it a good decision? I'm thinking of taking the leap, but want to make sure I am making the right decision.

 

[stejames]

@stejames I'm the same as you. Have been on finasteride for 20 years and have kept pretty much all my hair. In the last 2 months I'm noticing it is starting to thin to the front. Can you let me know how you went with the transition from finasteride to DUA. Was it a good decision? I'm thinking of taking the leap, but want to make sure I am making the right decision.

When i started taking 3 duts a week I stopped finasteride. After 6 weeks of stopping my scalp got really itchy, so I take dutasteride 2-3 times a week and back on finasteride on the off days. I don't want to up my dutasteride intake because it seems like it shouldn't matter with halflife being pretty good. Tough to say if I had to do it all over again if I would. IDK I started to lose on finasteride. My front is definitely getting thinner, but when I re-incorporated finasteride about 8months the gnarly itch was gone. I am at the point where I am just sticking to 3 duts+ finasteride until wheels fall off.

When I started dutasteride it was once a week into my finasteride regime. the shed was bananas but resided. I read a shed is a good thing because that means its working. Unfortunately, I don't have any advice. I do have a friend that dutasteride is doing miracle work.

 

[User707]

When i started taking 3 duts a week I stopped finasteride. After 6 weeks of stopping my scalp got really itchy, so I take dutasteride 2-3 times a week and back on finasteride on the off days. I don't want to up my dutasteride intake because it seems like it shouldn't matter with halflife being pretty good. Tough to say if I had to do it all over again if I would. IDK I started to lose on finasteride. My front is definitely getting thinner, but when I re-incorporated finasteride about 8months the gnarly itch was gone. I am at the point where I am just sticking to 3 duts+ finasteride until wheels fall off.

When I started dutasteride it was once a week into my finasteride regime. the shed was bananas but resided. I read a shed is a good thing because that means its working. Unfortunately, I don't have any advice. I do have a friend that dutasteride is doing miracle work.

It seems we are all very different how we respond. I think I'm going to take the leap and do finasteride and DUA 2 times a week and see how I go. As you said DUA has a very strong half life. Fingers crossed

 

[stejames]

It seems we are all very different how we respond. I think I'm going to take the leap and do finasteride and DUA 2 times a week and see how I go. As you said DUA has a very strong half life. Fingers crossed

good luck. remember, everyone I know who has had good and non-reaction to dutasteride all had a shed, so prepare for that.

 

[vondoom]

anyone tried ru with that stack?
i was on finasteride and min for about 4 years, it was still getting worse... switched to dutasteride (0.5) daily and 10mg oral min a year ago (i use adenosine, too... about every second day) and i am still loosing ground on the crown, literally have to use toppik now...

anyone any ideas?

 

[losingbattle88]

anyone tried ru with that stack?
i was on finasteride and min for about 4 years, it was still getting worse... switched to dutasteride (0.5) daily and 10mg oral min a year ago (i use adenosine, too... about every second day) and i am still loosing ground on the crown, literally have to use toppik now...

anyone any ideas?

Same here. I dont respond to meds.

 

[vondoom]

Same here. I dont respond to meds.

i did actually have regrowth from minoxidil, was even quite much on the hairline... but that was about it...
kirkland worked awesome, gave me rashes, so i had to switch... next sh*t i put on my scalp didnt seem to do much, so oral min it is...

well and had to switch to dutasteride...

 

[User707]

i did actually have regrowth from minoxidil, was even quite much on the hairline... but that was about it...
kirkland worked awesome, gave me rashes, so i had to switch... next sh*t i put on my scalp didnt seem to do much, so oral min it is...

well and had to switch to dutasteride...

HAve you started on DUTA yet and if so. How did you?

 

[vondoom]

HAve you started on DUTA yet and if so. How did you?

started dutasteride a year ago... didnt do much i think... of course i wouldnt know how id look if i never tried... but id say its the same as finasteride so far...

 

[User707]

started dutasteride a year ago... didnt do much i think... of course i wouldnt know how id look if i never tried... but id say its the same as finasteride so far...

Were on finasteride for quite a few year?

 

[losingbattle88]

started dutasteride a year ago... didnt do much i think... of course i wouldnt know how id look if i never tried... but id say its the same as finasteride so far...

Ye its not worth it.