Hi,
I have been viewing this site and a couple of others for a few months now and have found a lot of info on hairloss. I've been losing my hair for the last 2 and half years and didn't really start researching what to do about it till fairly recently. There are so many different treatments that I have been finding it hard to pick what I want to use.
I've read the regimen of the editor of this site and others and have decided to start using some of the proven stuff like minoxidl and propecia, but I read somewhere that the effects of propecia wear off after something like 5 years of use. I'm sure some of you may have heard this. Does anyone know if this is because of drug tolerance? Or is it because the body just starts to get more sensitive to less dht? Any research or articles on this topic would come in handy. I guess I don't know if I should start it if its only going to make my hair more sensitive to dht in the long run and possibly cause MORE hairloss than if I never used it. I mean, can this happen?
I'm losing hair in the front and on top of my head in the typical balding pattern.
Any help would be appreciated.
Martin C.
Propecia effects wearing off?
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HairLossFight.com
- Site Admin
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- Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:24 am
- Hair Loss Type: Androgenetic Alopecia (Male Pattern Baldness)
- Norwood Level: Norwood III Vertex
- Have you had a hair transplant?: Yes
Martin, welcome!
Thanks for your question. It's a good one. Actually it doesn't make any sense to not take Propecia for fear of losing MORE hair than you would have had you not taken it. The opposite is the case. Yes it's true that after 5 years you get diminishing returns from it, and on average the hair counts are less than the original bounce in hair counts you receive in the first year or two of use, BUT the trend is FAR worse if you DON'T use Propecia during this time. That is, you're still going to be better off, probably much better off, if you use Propecia than if you don't after five years.
Now, as for the study that you read, I've read that study as well. At this point nobody knows why the hair counts are less after 5 years of use than in the first year. It could be a number of things. Perhaps non-responders -- people who don't respond to Propecia -- are dragging down the averages. Maybe there's just a natural tendency to have lower hair counts as we age regardless of hair loss. I mean by this that maybe people who do not have androgenetic alopecia have a natural thinning of hair over time as they age, and that's what the study is showing. There just isn't enough data to explain the effect. However, it is absolutely clear that if you use Propecia, chances are you will be a lot better off after 5 years of use than if you do NOT use Propecia (or Proscar, or Finpecia).
In the end, I totally recommend using either a topical or internal DHT inhibitor (or BOTH!) as a part of your regimen.
Regards,
Sam
Thanks for your question. It's a good one. Actually it doesn't make any sense to not take Propecia for fear of losing MORE hair than you would have had you not taken it. The opposite is the case. Yes it's true that after 5 years you get diminishing returns from it, and on average the hair counts are less than the original bounce in hair counts you receive in the first year or two of use, BUT the trend is FAR worse if you DON'T use Propecia during this time. That is, you're still going to be better off, probably much better off, if you use Propecia than if you don't after five years.
Now, as for the study that you read, I've read that study as well. At this point nobody knows why the hair counts are less after 5 years of use than in the first year. It could be a number of things. Perhaps non-responders -- people who don't respond to Propecia -- are dragging down the averages. Maybe there's just a natural tendency to have lower hair counts as we age regardless of hair loss. I mean by this that maybe people who do not have androgenetic alopecia have a natural thinning of hair over time as they age, and that's what the study is showing. There just isn't enough data to explain the effect. However, it is absolutely clear that if you use Propecia, chances are you will be a lot better off after 5 years of use than if you do NOT use Propecia (or Proscar, or Finpecia).
In the end, I totally recommend using either a topical or internal DHT inhibitor (or BOTH!) as a part of your regimen.
Regards,
Sam
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ZXVFR
- New Member
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:57 pm
- Hair Loss Type: Don't Know
- Have you had a hair transplant?: No
Hello Martin,
By no means am I an expert but I can offer my experience and I also have the same question for others about propecia's long term ability to prevent hair loss. From my early 20's until about 30, I had three hair transplant sessions. When rogaine first became available I used that but never found it to do much and I eventually stopped using it. When propecia became available, I used that and for about 5 yrs, my hair was relatively stable. Unfortunately in March of '03, I made the mistake of stopping the propecia. I didn't realize the consequences and about six months later, I had a massive shedding of hair, literally about 30% of my density, including hair in my temples and around the back of my head. I now know that stopping the propecia will cause all the hair that was "saved" to eventually fall out. As soon as this happened, in September of '03, I started on the propecia again and about 2-3 months later, the thinning stopped. About 8 months later, my barber commented on how he thought the crown was filling in again. Then in July '04, I had another massive shedding of hair. This was the first time this had occurred while taking propecia. The thinning continues to this day as if I am not even taking the propecia. Needless to say, I am in panic mode because my transplants from years ago are becoming visible and due to poor donor supply, additional transplants are not really an option. In any case, the propecia (as well as rogaine that I'm using) do not seem to be doing anything at this point. Can anyone else who has used propecia for 5 yrs or so comment on their experiences?
By no means am I an expert but I can offer my experience and I also have the same question for others about propecia's long term ability to prevent hair loss. From my early 20's until about 30, I had three hair transplant sessions. When rogaine first became available I used that but never found it to do much and I eventually stopped using it. When propecia became available, I used that and for about 5 yrs, my hair was relatively stable. Unfortunately in March of '03, I made the mistake of stopping the propecia. I didn't realize the consequences and about six months later, I had a massive shedding of hair, literally about 30% of my density, including hair in my temples and around the back of my head. I now know that stopping the propecia will cause all the hair that was "saved" to eventually fall out. As soon as this happened, in September of '03, I started on the propecia again and about 2-3 months later, the thinning stopped. About 8 months later, my barber commented on how he thought the crown was filling in again. Then in July '04, I had another massive shedding of hair. This was the first time this had occurred while taking propecia. The thinning continues to this day as if I am not even taking the propecia. Needless to say, I am in panic mode because my transplants from years ago are becoming visible and due to poor donor supply, additional transplants are not really an option. In any case, the propecia (as well as rogaine that I'm using) do not seem to be doing anything at this point. Can anyone else who has used propecia for 5 yrs or so comment on their experiences?