Taking finasteride for LIFE?

[NicholasLim]

Hi , i have been taking propecia for 3 months now and it is now maintaining my hair well ( no more itching and less hair loss ) however , i am very unsure whether to drop it or to continue it

There is no aggressive male pattern baldness that runs in my family ( my father side has no male pattern baldness , my mother side has male pattern baldness but it isnt aggressive ) That makes me wonder if taking propecia at the age of 20 is appropriate.

I definitely would like to keep my hairline until the end of my life but that means i will have to constantly take this drugs for the rest of my life .I might have to stop it due to adverse sides anytime along the treatment . Even if there isn't any adverse sides ( there will be some minor sides no matter what considering it is a hormone altering drug but i value my hair more than these minor sides ) , how long can i be dependant on this drug ? 30 years on propecia until i hit 50 years old and is unfit to continue on propecia ?

Someday i really hope that i can switch identity with my friends who has no male pattern baldness and never have to worry about this . it is such a burden that any choice i make is a painful one

 

[Pondle]

Some men have probably been taking Proscar since 1992...

I doubt you'll have to take Propecia for life. Although it seems like we are always being promised new treatments "within 10 years", it's highly likely that Propecia will be made obsolete sometime within the next couple of decades. Check out the "New Research" subforum.

 

[SoThatsLife]

I love it when you say "the next couple of decades" unk:

 

[paximperia]

I'm 21 and been taking Propecia for a year. I've had the same concerns, but it helps to know that people who have a 5-a reductase type 2 deficiency (basically the same effect as Propecia) live full healthy lives.

 

[philly]

...

 

[bubka]

yes, although I personally theorize that after an older age when T and thus DHT drop off, the DHT levels will be low enough to no longer cause male pattern baldness

kind of like why you see a lot of half bald men... they do not continue to progress until they die... my theory anyways

 

[NicholasLim]

Hey , Bubka

If your theory is right , all we need to do is just to take finasteride until our DHT lvl is low enough to not cause male pattern baldness and have a full head of hair forever?

 

[bubka]

yeah, thats pretty much what i believe, but what age would that be? I believe T levels really start to drop down around 55, to where they were pre male pattern baldness... ??? :dunno:

 

[cal]

IMO, future advancements will obsolete Propecia within 20 or 30 years for sure.

There will probably be alternative/concurrent options to fight the accumulation of DHT damage in some way within 10. Maybe even HM within 10 too.



But it's worth pointing out that the debut of HM may not totally eliminate the need for DHT/AR inhibition on the spot.

HM's current situation is to get all your scalp hairs to be just as DHT-resistant as your best ones. However, that doesn't mean that your "best ones" from the donor area can't still be mildly affected by DHT. Some old-age thinning happens even in the donor areas.

 

[abcdefg]

how do we know old age thinning isnt just related to dht, testosterone, or some other hormone exposure simply over a long period of time?

 

[cal]

That's exactly the point.

Age-related thinning IS just more androgen-caused loss to a great extent. It's just way, way less severe than what you were experiencing in the balding areas.

HM will hopefull render all your hair as DHT-resistant as the best hairs on your head. But even the best hairs on your head will probably benefit from being assaulted with less DHT over the years too.