Advice On Switching From Finasteride To Dutasteride?

[real kombo]

First, a bit of back story:

I started going bald at 16 ( ruined my confidence ) and I will be 20 very soon. I was taking 1mg finasteride and 5% minoxidil for a year and a half, then paid for a PRP session, while switching to a custom prescription of 10% minoxidil and 0.2 Finasteride, which I am still taking to this day along with 1mg finasteride. I went through hell with shedding at the beginning, hit a boom last year where my hair was at it's best since I started banding, and now I'm starting to get desperate again.

I have a hairline that has been receding MASSIVELY But I keep my hair long to try to hide it with moderate success.

Anyways, I found a dermatologist who may be opened to the idea of prescribing me dutasteride, should I go for it? Another shed would give me a panic attack, but if the end result is better I'm willing to do it. Also, I'm looking into another PRP session, maybe even stem cell.

I know most of you are older than me by at least a few years, keep in mind that I'm willing to so what it takes to keep what I have left a few more years, but I don't think I am bad enough yet for hair transplants?

Any experience with switching from finasteride to dutasteride would be GREATLY APPRECIATED


Both temples receding badly...

 

[dralex]

Your hair looks a lot better than you think. Clearly responded well to finasteride if you started balding at 16 and your hair still looks like that. I am not sure switching to dutasteride is a good idea if you are responding well to finasteride. I think it is a good option for those not responding to finasteride. I've heard horror stories where people were doing well on finasteride, but wanted to get some extra regrowth on dutasteride and ended up shedding a lot of hair. It is extremely unlikely to regrow hair on dutasteride after being on finasteride with success. If you are not using minoxidil I would recommend that as you can get significant regrowth if a good responder.

I am on dutasteride .5mg 4 days a week. I am using it because finasteride did absolutely nothing for me, and I continued to lose hair for 3 years at an extremely fast rate. I've been on it 2 months, so hard to judge so far (definitely no regrowth tho). If you decide to take dutasteride you can drop finasteride completely. Some people believe in a loading phase of dutasteride to get it in your system faster, but that comes at a higher risk of side effects. I would keep taking finasteride for your first week of duta, and then switch over to duta only at .5mg daily or EOD (your choice). When switching over to dutasteride many people experience a shed, possibly from telogen effluvium.

Also if your dermatologist won't prescribe it, you can get a script from Medical Wellness Center and have it sent to your local pharmacy for pickup.

 

[Pephair]

These are questions that my hair transplant Dr. (Sara Wasserbauer) answered for me regarding the drug. 3 days ago, I stopped finasteride1 mg, and began taking dutasteride 0.5mg. No tapering.

1. Would it be just as effective to add dutasteride 0.5mg once a week while continuing my 1mg finasteride? I have read doctors prescribing this dosage on realself.com.


No one knows. The only head to head study that was done was for daily use of these medications (https://californiahairsurgeon.com/news/dutasteride-vs-finasteride/). No one has yet done a study on Dutasteride 0.5mg once weekly either alone or in conjunction with finasteride.


2. I have been maintaining my hair with finasteride for the past 2 years. But I am slowly seeing more thinning and miniaturization. I've had no side effects from finasteride. Would I have a better chance that I should respond/not have side effects with Dutasteride? Or is it just the luck of the draw?


Another good question. There is no way to predict who will have a side effect and who will not. All we know is that the side effects seem to resolve with time.


3. Do I taper off finasteride or just stop completely one day, and add dutasteride 0.5mg the next day?


No need to taper. These medicines have a different “pharmacokinetics” than something like a steroid (which you would definitely have to taper). You can just start the dutasteride in place of the finasteride whenever you want.


4. I noticed a few hours after taking it a mild pressure on my head (a fog-like feeling). This pressure was lessened yesterday, and lessened more today. No other side effects.

Nope, no “pressure" reports. However nonspecific symptoms like that are very common whenever a patient takes a new medication.

 

[real kombo]

What about taking finasteride daily as I have been doing, and adding a single 0.5 mg dutasteride tablet per week? I heard people were doing this with success. Also, I have read reports of finasteride losing it's effectiveness after a while, so it can't be just me. Yes, i'm using minoxidil

 

[Pephair]

What about taking finasteride daily as I have been doing, and adding a single 0.5 mg dutasteride tablet per week? I heard people were doing this with success. Also, I have read reports of finasteride losing it's effectiveness after a while, so it can't be just me. Yes, i'm using minoxidil

There are only anecdotal reports saying there has been success. No study has been done, therefore "no one knows", as what my Dr. said above.

 

[WestEast]

I've been on dutasteride for slightly over a month now with no side effects (didn't get any on finasteride). So I can see some very small hairs coming through but I can't be sure.

 

[ScaredOfBalding]

What do u mean temples receding badly? There is hardly any recession.