10 Years on Finasteride (With Before and After pics)

[Lolrus]

Hey all, I started taking finasteride in April 2011, when I was 22 going on 23, after about a year of denial that I was receding. I wish I jumped on it sooner, as maybe I would have a better head of hair than I already do. I've taken 1.25 mg generic (cut from 5mg) up until last year when I switched to a 1mg generic instead for convenience. I also use Minoxidil in the front part of my head 2x a day, which I started in 2013. I used Nizoral 2% shampoo irregularly along the way but never on a consistent basis. These new photos I just took of my hair was after a Nizoral wash which always makes my hair feel brittle and dry.

All in all, I'm actually quite happy with the job the meds have done over this long period of time. I was only hoping to make it until 30 before I got to the stage where my hair loss would be super obvious, and at this point I'm still holding fairly strong. I feel like I've only lost a little bit of hair since 10 years ago, and mostly in the front area. I'm apparently thinning from front to back, my crown and top may have started to go a little bit, but overall I still have strong coverage there. The photos of my crown and top were taken under harsh lighting which is exacerbating it. Just by grabbing my hair in different areas, it seems like the further back I go, the thicker it is, and that goes for my crown. Vertex balding doesn't seem to be an issue in the males in my family, at least not before the front half is already almost gone. I believe it's begun but the front part of my head is a bigger fish to fry.

I'm at a bit of a crossroads here, I'm thinking about adding in some RU to my Minoxidil next. I'd rather not mess around with any internal stuff as I feel finasteride seems to be doing it's job without giving me any negative side effects. I recently got into lifting and I'm taking creatine supplements along with it, so I'm a bit worried as to whether that's going to adversely affect my hair.

I've considered maybe doing a transplant as I can afford it now, but I'm really scared to pull the trigger on something like that because I've seen so many terrible jobs done that I'd rather just go bald normally than have something that looks like an obvious transplant.

Any thoughts comments or opinions are welcome, I hope that this will give some young guys out there some hope that by sticking to a solid regiment they can at least age a little more gracefully.

The image titled "Capture.PNG" is from April 2011 (Age 22) , and the rest are from about an hour ago (Age 32).

 

[Hephaistos1002]

Nice hair dude !

 

[NickyA]

Thanks for taking the time to write here, as a 23 year old guy who started his regimen 3 months ago, this gives me a ton of hope. I hope my story ends up like yours!

You seem to have maintained pretty well all these years. Some dermmatch at the front or a hairstyle that covers your hairline would probably look good, so I don't think a transplant is necessary yet.

Regarding creatine, it mat raise DHT a bit, and some studies link it to hair loss in test subjects, but we're still unsure whether these subjects' hair loss was due to creatine, genetics or other substances they were taking, such as steroids. I stopped taking it because to me a slight increase in athletic performance isn't worth the chance to end up with less hair.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Hey all, I started taking finasteride in April 2011, when I was 22 going on 23, after about a year of denial that I was receding. I wish I jumped on it sooner, as maybe I would have a better head of hair than I already do. I've taken 1.25 mg generic (cut from 5mg) up until last year when I switched to a 1mg generic instead for convenience. I also use Minoxidil in the front part of my head 2x a day, which I started in 2013. I used Nizoral 2% shampoo irregularly along the way but never on a consistent basis. These new photos I just took of my hair was after a Nizoral wash which always makes my hair feel brittle and dry.

All in all, I'm actually quite happy with the job the meds have done over this long period of time. I was only hoping to make it until 30 before I got to the stage where my hair loss would be super obvious, and at this point I'm still holding fairly strong. I feel like I've only lost a little bit of hair since 10 years ago, and mostly in the front area. I'm apparently thinning from front to back, my crown and top may have started to go a little bit, but overall I still have strong coverage there. The photos of my crown and top were taken under harsh lighting which is exacerbating it. Just by grabbing my hair in different areas, it seems like the further back I go, the thicker it is, and that goes for my crown. Vertex balding doesn't seem to be an issue in the males in my family, at least not before the front half is already almost gone. I believe it's begun but the front part of my head is a bigger fish to fry.

I'm at a bit of a crossroads here, I'm thinking about adding in some RU to my Minoxidil next. I'd rather not mess around with any internal stuff as I feel finasteride seems to be doing it's job without giving me any negative side effects. I recently got into lifting and I'm taking creatine supplements along with it, so I'm a bit worried as to whether that's going to adversely affect my hair.

I've considered maybe doing a transplant as I can afford it now, but I'm really scared to pull the trigger on something like that because I've seen so many terrible jobs done that I'd rather just go bald normally than have something that looks like an obvious transplant.

Any thoughts comments or opinions are welcome, I hope that this will give some young guys out there some hope that by sticking to a solid regiment they can at least age a little more gracefully.

The image titled "Capture.PNG" is from April 2011 (Age 22) , and the rest are from about an hour ago (Age 32).

You definitely stabilized your situation and most likely will continue as you stay on your treatment. If you could afford it, go with Proxiphen instead. At least Proxiphen is made in the USA and by a dermatologist with a pharmacology degree. You would definitely benefit from a hair transplant more. If you go to one of the top 3, you should get a decent result. I have been researching hair transplant surgery for 12 years and still did not pull the trigger because I don't want to go thru the ugly duckling stage or have to shave my head.

 

[Lolrus]

Thanks for taking the time to write here, as a 23 year old guy who started his regimen 3 months ago, this gives me a ton of hope. I hope my story ends up like yours!

You seem to have maintained pretty well all these years. Some dermmatch at the front or a hairstyle that covers your hairline would probably look good, so I don't think a transplant is necessary yet.

Regarding creatine, it mat raise DHT a bit, and some studies link it to hair loss in test subjects, but we're still unsure whether these subjects' hair loss was due to creatine, genetics or other substances they were taking, such as steroids. I stopped taking it because to me a slight increase in athletic performance isn't worth the chance to end up with less hair.

The only advice I can give is to stick with a reasonable regiment. The big 3 is easy enough to follow and it's seemed to work for me. I think a lot of people here are searching for a magic bullet that will stop all hair loss but it's not realistic. I've seen people around me start losing their hair at a later date than I did and already have worse hair than me or are about nearly bald already.

Most importantly, stop worrying so much about it, I do think that this is key.

 

[jamesbooker1975]

The problem is not how to get long term effects success, the problem is how to have it without having side effects. There is 0 chances that you can work as good with 70 % less DHT .

 

[NickyA]

The only advice I can give is to stick with a reasonable regiment. The big 3 is easy enough to follow and it's seemed to work for me. I think a lot of people here are searching for a magic bullet that will stop all hair loss but it's not realistic. I've seen people around me start losing their hair at a later date than I did and already have worse hair than me or are about nearly bald already.

Most importantly, stop worrying so much about it, I do think that this is key.

Yeah I agree, it's important to find a regimen that works for yourself and stick to it. So far I haven't had much trouble adapting to the big 3, and I'm starting to suspect that I've been lucky enough to be a good responder to minoxidil. Hopefully once I increase my finasteride dosage to 1 mg five times a week everything'll stay alright.

I agree with what you wrote, the mindset front is very important and worrying once one has done his best to treat the problem is detrimental to progress. We'the first generation with a decent way to treat hair loss and a plethora of information regarding treatments, transplants and research, and we should be grateful.

 

[Lolrus]

The problem is not how to get long term effects success, the problem is how to have it without having side effects. There is 0 chances that you can work as good with 70 % less DHT .

Not sure what you mean by this, but I haven't had any noticeable side effects. No erection issues and I still have decent muscle gains from working out, no gyno, etc. I don't really care at this point because whatever small side effects I may have seem to be outweighed by the positives of keeping my hair.

 

[jamesbooker1975]

Not sure what you mean by this, but I haven't had any noticeable side effects. No erection issues and I still have decent muscle gains from working out, no gyno, etc. I don't really care at this point because whatever small side effects I may have seem to be outweighed by the positives of keeping my hair.

The problem is not on erections, it is on libido, orgasm , management of stress, etc. You are blocking an enzyme that is part of many reactions in your body, not just converting T into DHT . I bet you didn't even know this cause Merck never wanted to us to know it .

 

[TurboFixer]

The problem is not on erections, it is on libido, orgasm , management of stress, etc. You are blocking an enzyme that is part of many reactions in your body, not just converting T into DHT . I bet you didn't even know this cause Merck never wanted to us to know it .

but we don't any any effective means of halting loss without it or more powerful compounds

 

[jamesbooker1975]

but we don't any any effective means of halting loss without it or more powerful compounds

Lol, we do , but without all the Propaganda from Merck we had that made propecia so popular. Do you really think that only Minoxidil and Finasteride works for hair loss ? Cause that is what FDA told us , only two approved treatments. You need to read more studies, you need to read pubmed.