Real Value of Propecia?
shoRt sHanKs said:
Shedding at month 9 here...when I shed at month 3...and month 6, people told me the same exact thing however the hair hasn't come back thicker and fuller it just stopped falling out for a while. You don't have much choice other than to keep at it really. Continue your meds so you at least have a CHANCE at this elusive regrowth(at least for me its elusive! :x )
This is my impression as to what is going on with some of us; it is not a prognosis. Just something I'm trying to piece together, based on the anecdotes on the board. It is my impression on P's cosmetic value, and not a statement on anything else.
Propecia seems to trigger episodes of Telogen Effluvium very quickly in patients, hastening the loss that you might have experienced more gradually over time. It is true that it is hair you would have lost anyway. You just lost it quicker.
If this is the case -- losing hair you might have lost
more gradually -- then the value of Propecia becomes obscure. The whole point is to maintain a level of cosmetic experience for as long as you can. Propecia may actually be accelerating a degree of hair loss, because there is no assurance that any of that hair you lost through Propecia-induced Telogen Effluvium will grow back.
This suggests to me that you might have been better off waiting to take P until you reached a point where hair loss is unacceptable to you. This is where I am beginning to disagree with the CW. Taking it sooner might not be better from a cosmetic standpoint. Shedders may actually be "negative responders."
The problem with this entire post is obvious. Since no one can predict what is going to happen, you don't know if it makes sense to keep taking Propecia or not. Based on the percentages Merck quotes, it does make sense. An 83% chance of staving off the inevitable is better than none. However, this does not remove that daily question we all face: Is it really working? Or am I just fucked?
These are not trivial questions, because the answer is one year away. You can't say for sure whether it is working or not until that one year is up. This puts you in a state of continuous doubt for a period of one year. One year! For those of us who are acutely sensitive about our appearance, this degree of doubt becomes unbearable.
Again, this is just an observation. I am not suggesting that anyone quit therapy. What I am trying to do is balance things. What is infuriating is that I cannot seem to get any professional perspective. The doctor I spoke to doesn't seem to know that this early Propecia-induced Telogen Effluvium is going on. Nor did he seem to care.
