Why doesn't the combo of Dutasteride and Minoxidil hault hair loss?

[All_The_Above]

I take .5mg every night and apply a ton of Minoxidil to my scalp while it is still damp and the problem is in no way improving or standing still. I thought that Dutas decreased serum DHT by like 90 percent. So why does my hair seem to get thinner and thinner each passing week. The area that is thinning is also increasing. It used to only be my front that had diffused thinning and now it is occurring all over my head. I have been on Dutasteride for 4 years, so this is not some early shedding. I have seen pics of my father when he was my age and his hair seems to be at about the same place as I am at now and he never used or even had access to Dutasteride or Finasteride.

 

[jgray201]

How old are you? I had very aggressive frontal hair loss, i took dutasteride for almost a year and experienced aggressive thinning - perhaps the spike in testosterone is too much for your hair follicles to handle? Have you thought about adding a topical anti-androgen such as topical flutamide or RU?

 

[chicknlittle]

I'm in the same situation.... Could be the reduction in dht at the scalp level isn't enough (higher dutasteride dose needed?) or that ur testosterone is still very high (could check this level) or that the androgen receptors are too sensitive or numerous ( consider spironolactone, flutamide, fluridil, ru... Or pgd2 blockers if/ when available). I sympathize

 

[All_The_Above]

I'm 34. I started noticing major thinning at my temples around age 18 and got on Propecia. Propecia worked for me until about I was 29, 30. My hair did not change at all during this time, but after twelve years of success on Propecia, I noticed my hair starting to miniaturize and push back a little at the hair line. That's when I changed over to Dutas and added Minoxidil and Nizoral. It seems that eventually male pattern baldness catches up with us all. Hair products are no longer able to mask the thinning. It is truly a harrowing thing to go through.

Indeed their seems to be a link between facial and body hair and the hair on the head changing. I definitely started growing more hair on my chest and the hair on my face got thicker at around the same age that the Propecia stopped working.

 

[chicknlittle]

I'm 34. I started noticing major thinning at my temples around age 18 and got on Propecia. Propecia worked for me until about I was 29, 30. My hair did not change at all during this time, but after twelve years of success on Propecia, I noticed my hair starting to miniaturize and push back a little at the hair line. That's when I changed over to Dutas and added Minoxidil and Nizoral. It seems that eventually male pattern baldness catches up with us all. Hair products are no longer able to mask the thinning. It is truly a harrowing thing to go through.

Indeed their seems to be a link between facial and body hair and the hair on the head changing. I definitely started growing more hair on my chest and the hair on my face got thicker at around the same age that the Propecia stopped working.

Ive been through the same steps, and same escalations... Just started at an older age than you did... The delay of male pattern baldness by 10+ years is a gift, but the fact that Im older (44) really doesnt make a feeling of pending inadequacy of coverage any easier to swallow... I guess the choice is accept the change, or escalate with no assurance that that will make a difference... I am trying to escalate (max dutasteride, minoxidil, anti-androgen topicals), but do feel that chances of having reasonable coverage without significant backsliding in 5 years is looking less than likely. Then I will face the shave vs hairpiece decision... It may be a satisfying relief to eventually have a really plush wig... Ill get to have the 70's curls/perm I always wanted : )

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

Well in 5yrs there will be other things availabe...such as Histogen! But I'm sorry to hear you seem to be out of weapons. Have you thought about more experimental stuff such as RU? Or stronger minoxidil? Just add something to your regime?

 

[All_The_Above]

No, I hadn't really considered upping my regimen, but it is something I should look into. What would you guess would be the additional monthly cost to add RU and change from Kirkland liquid minoxidil to a stronger Minoxidil solution be? My budget is somewhat limited at this point.

 

[abcdefg]

I have wondered also why dutasteride does not stop male pattern baldness completely I mean in theory if it nearly completely stops that 5-ar 2 enzyme then your hair loss should at least stop.

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

No, I hadn't really considered upping my regimen, but it is something I should look into. What would you guess would be the additional monthly cost to add RU and change from Kirkland liquid minoxidil to a stronger Minoxidil solution be? My budget is somewhat limited at this point.

It is just something that comes to mind. I think RU is not too cheap I'm afraid. It has to be ordered from China and mixing it is a bit of a hassle.
In terms of Minoxidil, there are some products around that have other ingredients too (like Acelaic Acid). There is some science behind them but they are not FDA approved. Still, some people have success with them. Also they should not be substantially more expensive than normal minoxidil. There used to be a guy named Dr. Lee who sold stronger minoxidil before they closed him down (I believe up to 15%) and lots of people swore by him.

I have tried none of these products, I'm just trying to help out. I'm sure you can do some research on Minoxidil variants and maybe (hopefully) some of this will buy you some time...

good luck.

 

[M_Dorsey]

you have to give it some more time to see weather it works or not

 

[All_The_Above]

Well, I've been giving it four years. Actually my hair has been looking a bit thicker in the last few days. It's so bizarre how hair can look thick for a few weeks, look thin a few weeks after that, and then look thick again after that. I have completely cut out Nizoral from my regimen which I am 100% sure was actually thinning my hair. In fact I have stopped washing my hair or even getting it wet in the shower in the morning for the past two weeks. I now put some baby powder on my head in the morning to keep it from looking greasy. The baby powder makes my hair look thicker too. Whenever I wash my hair, it always looks much thinner. Perhaps this is why homeless people almost always seem to have thick heads of hair. Just a theory.

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interac...got-back-my-adolescent-hairline-and-thickness

I don't know if this may help you?

 

[WarLord]

I'm 34. I started noticing major thinning at my temples around age 18 and got on Propecia. Propecia worked for me until about I was 29, 30. My hair did not change at all during this time, but after twelve years of success on Propecia, I noticed my hair starting to miniaturize and push back a little at the hair line. That's when I changed over to Dutas and added Minoxidil and Nizoral. It seems that eventually male pattern baldness catches up with us all. Hair products are no longer able to mask the thinning. It is truly a harrowing thing to go through.

Long-term studies don't indicate it. In fact, in the 10-years long Rossi et al.'s study, only 4% men experienced a loss of efficiacy. 21% men were improving even after 5 years, i.e. the treatment had the better results, the longer it lasted. And only 14% men were in a worse state than at the beginning. But personally, I think that finasteride is a pretty weak drug.

You can't generalize from the posts on hairloss forums. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to go here because of all the negativism that cumulates here. There are plenty of guys with hairloss of uncertain nature, plus various borderline psychotics inventing "side effects" in their sick minds.

By the way, I have been on 2-5% minoxidil for 16 years and except two unhappy experiments with switching treatments, I have kept my Norwood 1 hairline unchanged. And I switched from 2% to 5% as late as in 2008. I think that my result isn't exceptional in any way. The problem lies in the fact that men, who have success, don't post on internet forums. It's virtually only those, who don't have success, who post here. This is why such myths like "finasteride works only for 5 years" come into being.

- - - Updated - - -

I take .5mg every night and apply a ton of Minoxidil to my scalp while it is still damp and the problem is in no way improving or standing still. I thought that Dutas decreased serum DHT by like 90 percent. So why does my hair seem to get thinner and thinner each passing week. The area that is thinning is also increasing. It used to only be my front that had diffused thinning and now it is occurring all over my head. I have been on Dutasteride for 4 years, so this is not some early shedding. I have seen pics of my father when he was my age and his hair seems to be at about the same place as I am at now and he never used or even had access to Dutasteride or Finasteride.

You may not have male pattern baldness at all. And if you really tried to do anything, you would measure your testosterone and DHT levels a long time ago. Otherwise you can't know, what is happening in your body.

 

[RoyD]

I am losing my hair on dutasteride 0.5 mg and 10% Minoxodil. Sucks to be me

 

[smyth01]

Your hair looks pretty good in your picture.

 

[steveo1218]

Get back on propecia and take dutasteride twice a week ?