Quitting finasteride / propecia and switching to minoxidil?

[themainman]

I've reached the point where I've decided to stop taking finasteride after 2 and a half years of taking a daily 0.5mg dose.

I had very early male pattern baldness - diffuse thinning at the front and some loss on the crown. finasteride did a great job in thickening up the crown to make the thinning invisible and then maintaining what I have. My hair looks great and you can barely notice the thinning at the front with the way I style it.

However, I am worried about sexual side effects. Erections aren't as strong and maintaining erections can be tricky. It still works downstairs but it needs stimulation and thinking my way to an erection hasn't been happening lately. I took my last 0.5mg pill about a week ago.

I am getting married in December and the Mrs has said that if it's a choice between my hair at the expense of self-inflicted damage to my manhood then I have to stop the finasteride - and I agree with her.

So no more finasteride as it's not worth the risk. Here's hoping the DHT levels recover over the next few weeks and the boners return to their pre-finasteride levels.

I now have to decide how to continue.

I have read in other places about trying topical finasteride instead but to me that would still get in the blood stream and would have the same effect as oral finasteride with the added danger that my wife could touch the finasteride in my hair which would be bad for her - particularly when she gets pregnant in the future.

I am considering switching to minoxidil foam. I know that minoxidil without finasteride in the long term is a losing battle but if it works for a few years then great.

I'm not sure if I should start now on minoxidil or wait till after the wedding. The thing that makes me think about delaying starting is the potential for a massive hair shed before the wedding which is over 3 months away.

As I have been on finasteride for so long does that mean I won't have a shed? I didn't have a shed while I was on finasteride so I'm not sure how that influences my decision.

I was thinking that I can just spend the time up to the wedding and hopefully the hair won't start falling out too quickly. I can then use the minoxidil in the new year.

Or should I start straight away? Will starting straight away reduce the chances of a shed? Would delaying reduce my chances of keeping what I have with finasteride?

 

[Notcoolanymore]

Moving from finasteride to minoxidil to fight your hair loss is like successfully fighting a war with the best assault weapons then deciding to scale back and use a sling shot. I understand you have to do what is best for your health, but continuing the fight with minoxidil alone is most likely a losing battle. I am not saying to give up and not try, but I wouldn't expect minoxidil to hold ground for any extended period of time.

Moving on to your other concerns, there is a chance you can experience a shed from minoxidil, so with your wedding so close I personally wouldn't risk it unless you have plenty of hair to spare. I am sure you will never return to this site after a few posts, but it would be interesting to hear how things are going for you in a few months. Maybe minoxidil will help, but for how long?

 

[themainman]

Moving from finasteride to minoxidil to fight your hair loss is like successfully fighting a war with the best assault weapons then deciding to scale back and use a sling shot. I understand you have to do what is best for your health, but continuing the fight with minoxidil alone is most likely a losing battle. I am not saying to give up and not try, but I wouldn't expect minoxidil to hold ground for any extended period of time.

Moving on to your other concerns, there is a chance you can experience a shed from minoxidil, so with your wedding so close I personally wouldn't risk it unless you have plenty of hair to spare. I am sure you will never return to this site after a few posts, but it would be interesting to hear how things are going for you in a few months. Maybe minoxidil will help, but for how long?

It's the old risk / reward calculation. The fact that the wife can live with me losing my hair (or experimenting with hair transplants lol) means it's not such a tough call.

I do have a lot of hair so I am tempted to start minoxidil now but in the interest of not risking spoiling the wedding photos I'll probably hold out till after the wedding!

I have a topic on another forum where I would post updates every few months about how great finasteride had been for me so I will definitely revisit this thread from time to time.

I know minoxidil on it's own won't work in the long term but if it buys me a couple of years then it's better than nothing. Unless somebody has any alternative suggestions?

 

[xetudor]

Are you sure your weaker erections are due to finasteride? When I am stressed I don't even think of sex and it's normal to not have strong erections in those moments. From the clinical trials I've studied, erection problems are higher in the first year but go as low as placebo levels in 5 years. Yes, after 5 years if you're having erection problems on finasteride it's most likely your own body, not finasteride. Even castrated men and people that have no DHT ( I think it's due tot a genetic disease where they don't have the 5-alpha-reductase needed to convert testosterone to DHT ) can get erections.

But if you really feel it's not worth it then it's entirely your call. Finasteride is a treatment for a common prostate issue in older men, how weird would it be if your doctor would put you on it when you're 50? I would drop only it after a doctor recommended it and only after doing some tests or something, not just saying "it's the finasteride, drop it".

 

[GoldenMane]

Your wife can live with you losing hair? That's quite a choice of words! And then you say you aren't actually married yet? What if you break up? Or divorce? And then you're bald and single.

What xetudor said, your regimen is working well for you, you don't have ED, you're just a bit less horny. Giving up hair because your erections require a little more stimulation than before when you don't even know if finasteride is responsible seems pretty silly to me.

 

[themainman]

Your wife can live with you losing hair? That's quite a choice of words! And then you say you aren't actually married yet? What if you break up? Or divorce? And then you're bald and single.

What xetudor said, your regimen is working well for you, you don't have ED, you're just a bit less horny. Giving up hair because your erections require a little more stimulation than before when you don't even know if finasteride is responsible seems pretty silly to me.

Bald and single is better than not bald and impotent. Anyway I'm not worried about our relationship as it has been through some major tests but always held together.

It's more than just a bit less horny. Sometimes it's been a struggle to get any hardness at all with full on stimulation from me and the better half and that's really bad. And I can't remember the last time I had a full on 100% erection.

 

[Mike155]

finasteride

Yeah i been researching some of the stories about finasteride and its scary!

 

[themainman]

UPDATE

So I quit finasteride back in August 2015 after my last posts here.

Boners back to normal within 3 months. Everything was working well.

Of course hairloss accelerated and it started to become a bit noticeable in the crown area. In September 2015 I went on a religious pilgrimage which involved having my head fully shaved. That was the moment I had to decide what to do because as my hair started growing back I wasn't happy with the thinness. I have attached one pic taken in September 2016 shortly after the hair started growing back.

So I briefly tried a bit of 0.5mg finasteride for a bit in September but wasn't happy with the side effects maybe in the head or perceived who knows but I decided to drop it.

I instead shifted to Kirkland Minoxidil foam and started using Nizoral shampoo. The results have been great.

As my shaved hair were growing back it was an ideal time to try the foam as any 'shedding' could be blamed on slow regrowth from the recent shave. For a while I was worried with the obvious thin areas on the crown and the front when the hair was initially growing back.

I was relentless with the twice daily foam usage and all I can say is my hair looks great now. The wife thinks it's better than ever in the 2+ years she has known me. No adverse side effects. I have attached another pic that I took today. Note the baldness doesn't look that bad as it only looks like that in bright light. Of course my hair is longer and if there was any shedding it has had time to recover.

A can of foam is meant to last a month but I am using extra amounts to make sure it hits the scalp so I get through them in 10-14 days. Will it last who knows? But I'm happy for now.

Oh as for the finasteride side effects in case anyone is wondering for the time that I was off it for a year my boners got back to 100% in about 3 months. Today I found out that the wife is pregnant so all is well!

 

[abcdefg]

You have to do what you have to do. Right now its a simple choice take finasteride and risk those sides or dont and go bald slowly. You want to go bald slowly and no sexual sides fair enough. Its not a wrong choice.

 

[michel sapin]

what was your hair situation before quitting propecia ?