Quitting finasteride

[20sometingtoo]

Been off Propecia for about a week now. Havent had a chance to refil my Rx. Just wondering if I just decide to drop finasteride, what could I replace it with?
I have noticed an increase in shedding over the past few days, but I almost done care anymore.
Anyone else whos dropped finasteride, I'd like to hear your input.

 

[HairlossTalk]

As I have mentioned to you before, the GNC mega man vitamins contain a healthy dose of saw palmetto and can and DO cause excessive shedding that doesn't stop. Same thing seems to happen to those who take straight saw palmetto. I was on the stuff for awhile and shed like absolute hell. It never stopped. By stuff I mean both the GNC vitamins and regular saw palmetto, at different times. In fact it was funny - the only way i realized the Mega Man vitamins contained Saw Palmetto is because of the ridiculous amount of hair i started losing when taking them. Sure enough, the label confirmed my suspicions. How you like that for a good guess?

I also mentioned you should stop taking them unless you are on a seriously heavy athletic regimen. They are WAY too potent for the normal person out there to be taking daily. Some of those ingredients are marked as 1000% the daily recommended dose.

If you're going to drop something, and want to stop seeing shedding, stop taking the GNC Multi's and give your body about 2 months to recouperate from the saw palmetto. Stick with the finasteride.

You kinda also left out some information that ... without it ... makes it impossible to give you advice. Why are you thinking of stopping?

HairLossTalk.com

 

[hairschmair]

Anyone else whos dropped finasteride, I'd like to hear your input

I dropped finasteride about a month ago because I had stopped shedding entirely. Whether that was due to the 6 months of finasteride, the stoppage of finasteride or one of the other things that changed in my life the last couple of months I am not sure.

So I've been off finasteride for a month. I've ordered some spironolactone as a backup but I'm not doing anything till I start losing hair again or that infamous itch returns.

 

[20sometingtoo]

Well, my story is as follows:
Started "losing" my hair at 19 (noticed increased hairs in the shower). I was far from home so my Doctor, without a check up, sent me Propecia. I'm now 23 and have been on it ever since. It seemed to work great for about 2 years. But I have been shedding for the last 2 years and my hair just gets thinner and thinner. The strange thing is that my hairloss has NO pattern and I shed hairs from the top, sides, back, nape, etc.

So... Just looking for an alternative really.

I do have mild gyno and was hoping that dropping finasteride would clear that up too.

 

[jimmystanley]

i also was shedding over my entire scalp...top back sides. i quit propecia about 4 weeks ago....but i can't tell if i've started the propecia shed yet because i have a shaved head...but i do know that i never stopped shedding while i was on propecia for the whole 2 years....so i'm hoping this means that i won't get a post propecia shed.

also, i am using fluridil now...i'm hoping that it does what it claims to do.

best of luck

 

[20sometingtoo]

Well, as an update, its been about 2 weeks now since I've been off finasteride and although I had some significant shedding in the first week or so, it has subsided and I'm no longer shedding. I expected the shed to be much worse. Its encouraging.

 

[20sometingtoo]

Another update, my semen is much whiter than its ever been. It looks healthier, thicker, and whiter. I can only assume this is due to not having finasteride in my system.

 

[Weepy]

Another update, my semen is much whiter than its ever been. It looks healthier, thicker, and whiter. I can only assume this is due to not having finasteride in my system.

PLease keep us updated. I will subscribe to this thread.

 

[pleasegodno]

uh...yea...the shed from quitting finasteride will take longer than 2 weeks to kick in...think more along the lines of 1.5-3 months

 

[20sometingtoo]

Have you quit finasteride already? Because from what I've heard finasteride's half life is a mere 8 hours, leaving a 1mg dose next to nothing after 24 hours of ingestion.

 

[pleasegodno]

no, i'm closing in on 6 months of finasteride. anyway, the half life, while important, doesn't dictate when you will shed; what matters most is the time course of the hair follicle cycle. hairs can remain in the telogen state for months before shedding. if your results from finasteride are diminishing, just up your daily dosage or try dutasteride. quitting it altogether after several years of usage isn't prudent if you have male pattern baldness.

 

[20sometingtoo]

Still off finasteride. Week 3 now.
I dont feel different, I dont look different, so I'll stay off another week until I get some bloodwork done.

 

[joseph49853]

Still off finasteride. Week 3 now.
I dont feel different, I dont look different, so I'll stay off another week until I get some bloodwork done.

I've tried this before. First, you probably still have some Finasteride in your system, enough to be detectable through testing. Secondly, depending on how long you were taking Finasteride, your prostate is probably no where near its normal size. BTW, by the fourth week of quitting, I noticed a huge increase in shedding, so I totally stopped the experiment. When you wake up one morning with 20 hairs on your pillow, where there hasn't been for years, you know something's up.

But why not try reducing the dosage to .5 or .25mg? You get the best of both worlds, maintain your hair with minimal side effects. Only thing I notice is that I still don't get spontaneous morning erections. But I can live with it.

 

[20sometingtoo]

Week 4 now.
No changes in my hair. Havent noticed any increased shedding. Strange, I thought by now that I'd start to see signs of the finasteride-less diet.

 

[vindog124]

As I have mentioned to you before, the GNC mega man vitamins contain a healthy dose of saw palmetto and can and DO cause excessive shedding that doesn't stop. Same thing seems to happen to those who take straight saw palmetto. I was on the stuff for awhile and shed like absolute hell. It never stopped. By stuff I mean both the GNC vitamins and regular saw palmetto, at different times. In fact it was funny - the only way i realized the Mega Man vitamins contained Saw Palmetto is because of the ridiculous amount of hair i started losing when taking them. Sure enough, the label confirmed my suspicions. How you like that for a good guess?

I also mentioned you should stop taking them unless you are on a seriously heavy athletic regimen. They are WAY too potent for the normal person out there to be taking daily. Some of those ingredients are marked as 1000% the daily recommended dose.

If you're going to drop something, and want to stop seeing shedding, stop taking the GNC Multi's and give your body about 2 months to recouperate from the saw palmetto. Stick with the finasteride.

You kinda also left out some information that ... without it ... makes it impossible to give you advice. Why are you thinking of stopping?

HairLossTalk.com

I had no idea that the saw palmetto in Mega Man could cause shedding. I don't take it every day, but now I know to throw out the bottle altogether. What is a good multivitamin to take??

 

[Dick Hyman]

What is a good multivitamin to take??

Have you heard of heroin, my brother?

 

[Weepy]

What is a good multivitamin to take??

I would recomend a simple multivitamin that doesn't go ape over its ingredients. You see a lot of Mega-this Mega-that. Just take a Centrum and plenty of water.

 

[20sometingtoo]

Thought for sure that by now I'd be shedding like crazy. Nothing.
Thought for sure that by now I'd see a difference in my sex drive. Nothing.

I have no explination.

 

[20sometingtoo]

I've reached one month without finasteride.

No changes in my hair. Strange.

However, I have noticed a slight increase in facial hair. I assume my finasteride-less diet and MSM intake has contributed to this change.

I'll keep ya'll updated.

Still dont feel much different.

 

[tpeter]

I've reached one month without finasteride.

No changes in my hair. Strange.

However, I have noticed a slight increase in facial hair. I assume my finasteride-less diet and MSM intake has contributed to this change.

I'll keep ya'll updated.

Still dont feel much different.

yea keep us updated, im curious how things go for you.