Why does finasteride "just not work" for some people?

[123000123]

I see this a lot on the internet. That some people will just not benefit from finasteride. Or that some people lost more hair at the same/faster rate than before they took finasteride. I don't understand this.

I can understand how the extent of hair growth may vary between different people.
I can understand how the length of time to see results may vary between different people.

But how can it just not work in some people? Finasteride reduces DHT in EVERYONE by the same amount. The only reasons I can think of:

1) all their hair follicles have already atrophied, i.e. that person is slick bald and has been for some time.

2) their hair loss is not caused by DHT, i.e. it is not "male pattern baldness"

Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks

 

[sadscalp]

I see this a lot on the internet. That some people will just not benefit from finasteride. Or that some people lost more hair at the same/faster rate than before they took finasteride. I don't understand this.

I can understand how the extent of hair growth may vary between different people.
I can understand how the length of time to see results may vary between different people.

But how can it just not work in some people? Finasteride reduces DHT in EVERYONE by the same amount. The only reasons I can think of:

1) all their hair follicles have already atrophied, i.e. that person is slick bald and has been for some time.

2) their hair loss is not caused by DHT, i.e. it is not "male pattern baldness"

Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks

I've wondered about his too. Seems strange.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Either their follicles are too damaged to regrow from finasteride or their follicles are so sensitive to DHT that even 1% of your normal DHT will cause you to lose hair


It isn't that hard to realize...

 

[123000123]

Unless the follicles have atrophied (they have not produced hair for a long time) a reduction in DHT will result in some improvement after one year. So someone who still has visible hair will see improvement.

Second point is bullshit. If DHT is causing hairloss, a 99% decrease in DHT will at the very very very least, result in a slow down in the balding process.

 

[Kazoocs]

Since starting propecia 8 Months back i have noticed a huge increase in shedding . I went from shedding 10-20 hairs to over 100. I'm not sure if it has been the natural progression of my hair loss or caused by propecia. Luckily I still have a decent amount of hair. I was planning on waiting for that year mark to hit before moving to a topical finasteride. has this been known to happen ? Any advice?

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Second point is bullshit. If DHT is causing hairloss, a 99% decrease in DHT will at the very very very least, result in a slow down in the balding process.

It might slow it down but it doesn't necessarily mean it will slow it down enough to stop balding.

Some people on this forum have used minoxidil, dutasteride and finasteride all at the same time and have not even been able to maintain. Their sensitivity to balding is simply too great.

 

[Chris87]

I dont take finasteride, although i'm hoping to get evaluated soon and possibly start, but, from my experience with reading things from other people on the internet...many many people will start something..have a few months of shedding and will conclude that a certain product makes you lose more hair in the long run..they will then hop on a board like this and say "I took finasteride and it did nothing but make me lose more hair!!! Dont take this medication!!"...you long on..read this..and start to think "oh man, maybe finasteride is bullshit..this guy just lost a bunch of hair" when in reality what happened was..the guy took it..freaked out when he saw shedding..and stopped taking it before it could even work.

So...reading opinions from people like this who have no authority to be making such drastic and firm opinions is only going to make you paranoid

Same with the whole sexual side effects thing... most people who are on finasteride and have no side effects arent going to hop on a board and just post "Hey guys just wanted to let you know, im on finasteride..its working..no sides" because if thats the case then they're not really worried and have no reason to come onto a board like this...a board like this is a magnet for the people who DO experience bad sides (and they may not even be from something like finasteride and could be completely mental at the time)...so if you take the minority of a group and put them in one room and present it as "Here are people who use finasteride"..of course its going to look like "OMG EVERYONE WHO USES finasteride HAS SIDES AND IT DOESNT WORK!!"

 

[Nashville Hairline]

But they could be people that respond to 2mg or 4mg or 5mg. I think they (merck) just came up with the 1mg dose cos it works for the most people and is tolerated the best.

You could be right though, there could be a small % of folks for whom the mechanism of hair loss is not DHT.