Been on propecia (or generic finasteride) for over 5 years. Looking back on photos of me from the past 5,6,7 years, I've had some minor recession but fairly slow. However in the past year, more specifically the past 4-5 months it seems to have gotten worse. I'm now noticeably shedding and my hair thinning has become more diffuse and noticeable, at least by me at this point. I want to prevent it from getting worse and asked a derm who recommended that I keep up with taking propecia and in addition add rogaine at least once per day to my regimen. He says minoxidil (rogaine) along with propecia works well as a combination in dealing with male pattern baldness.
I do think Finistride seemed to have worked well for me over the past 5+ years with slowing my male pattern baldness and a DHT blood test a few months ago put my range in upper single digits (very 'abnormally' low as it should be on finasteride, but not exactly zero). So obviously all those years the finasteride/propecia was still there doing what it was designed. W
hy I have what seems to be more rapid diffuse thinning is a mystery as I'm in fairly good health, have some stress but nothing out of the ordinary that I haven't experienced before. I went ahead about 2 weeks ago and doubled down on my propecia (2mg instead of 1mg). I did start to also use Nizoral 1% at least once-twice per week but that has been the only change to my regimen prior to increasing propecia. So far no side affects but no change in my hair loss although I'm aware it's too early to tell.
Also I have noticed more oily scalp and itching which I thought could be SD (part of why i started Nizoral) which can temporarily cause shedding or hair loss from my understanding.
Some opinions would be:
...If you were me would you even bother upping propecia dosage? It obviously "works" at 1mg strictly based on blood DHT tests but my hair loss is probably progressing. Many say the dose response curve is too flat to matter but anecdotal accounts on places like HairLossTalk.com seem to indicate it might make a difference in some. I mean, how low of DHT should I aim for, more importantly?
...Should I go ahead and add rogaine/minoxidil? I think I've been concerned about adding it because of the dreaded shed or fear that it could accelerate my loss or make it worse. If it will help thicken or stop/slow the loss I would do it but I'd like to get a few more years with a decent hairline still in place.
I do think Finistride seemed to have worked well for me over the past 5+ years with slowing my male pattern baldness and a DHT blood test a few months ago put my range in upper single digits (very 'abnormally' low as it should be on finasteride, but not exactly zero). So obviously all those years the finasteride/propecia was still there doing what it was designed. W
hy I have what seems to be more rapid diffuse thinning is a mystery as I'm in fairly good health, have some stress but nothing out of the ordinary that I haven't experienced before. I went ahead about 2 weeks ago and doubled down on my propecia (2mg instead of 1mg). I did start to also use Nizoral 1% at least once-twice per week but that has been the only change to my regimen prior to increasing propecia. So far no side affects but no change in my hair loss although I'm aware it's too early to tell.
Also I have noticed more oily scalp and itching which I thought could be SD (part of why i started Nizoral) which can temporarily cause shedding or hair loss from my understanding.
Some opinions would be:
...If you were me would you even bother upping propecia dosage? It obviously "works" at 1mg strictly based on blood DHT tests but my hair loss is probably progressing. Many say the dose response curve is too flat to matter but anecdotal accounts on places like HairLossTalk.com seem to indicate it might make a difference in some. I mean, how low of DHT should I aim for, more importantly?
...Should I go ahead and add rogaine/minoxidil? I think I've been concerned about adding it because of the dreaded shed or fear that it could accelerate my loss or make it worse. If it will help thicken or stop/slow the loss I would do it but I'd like to get a few more years with a decent hairline still in place.