Approaching five yrs on finasteride -- what now?

[ropcat]

Hi everyone. I was a somewhat frequent poster and visitor on HairLossTalk.com back in 2000 and 2001, when I was in college and started completely freaking out over the first signs of male pattern baldness.

This is my first post in three or four years. I haven't been to the site in a long time because I'm a success story in most ways, I guess. After starting 1.25mg finasteride in summer 2000, my hair has stayed pretty much the same for 4-1/2 years. No regrowth on my mildly thinning vertex, and the front has deteriorated a tiny bit -- but basically I've maintained what I had.

Now I'm closing in on five years on finasteride. Things are -- very very slowly, bit by bit -- getting worse. Nothing dramatic at all, but I'm getting a little bit scared again, just like when I was 21 and this awful business started. For one thing, I know that finasteride loses its effectiveness after five years, which is making me glum...

I wonder if anyone can give advice on what to do here. First of all, how much does finasteride effectiveness fall after five years? Is my hair really going to go down the toilet after I pass the five-year mark? Second, any thoughts on switching to Dutasteride? Is it super expensive or is there a cheaper way to get it these days? (I haven't been following for awhile.) Would it do much good or have I basically used up the period of time for which DHT-inhibitors are gonna help me? Or should I just stand pat and see what happens with continuing on finasteride?

If anyone can send some advice my way on the next move (or whether there should be one), I'd really appreciate it! This site educated me and helped me keep sane through early male pattern baldness and finasteride-related shedding. I'm hoping you all can help me out again! Thanks.

Ropcat

 

[The Rock]

Well, first off......r u still on .25.....perhaps if u are bump it up and start on rogaine this cold give you an other 5 years if u do both....and obviously nizoral if ur not

 

[ropcat]

Hey Rock - thanks. I've been using Nizoral for sure. What I meant was 1.25 mg finasteride (now corrected above). (One quarter of a Proscar pill.) I've thought of bumping that up, maybe to 2.5 (half a Proscar). But then I looked at the finasteride charts and it seemed like the amount of DHT that gets inhibited is almost the same whether you're on 0.5 or 5.0 mgs. Maybe I'm missing something though. Have you tried higher finasteride doses?

 

[too bald too furious]

Hi everyone. I was a somewhat frequent poster and visitor on HairLossTalk.com back in 2000 and 2001, when I was in college and started completely freaking out over the first signs of male pattern baldness.

Was there HairLossTalk.com.com in 2000??

 

[flux]

rop, there really are not very many people here who have been on finasteride that long. We ourselves are often left wondering what the future holds for us once we get to that point. I truly am sorry that it is starting to go. I dont think I will ever take dutesteride. It really does not seem worth it. If I were you, I would continue taking 1.25mg finasteride, and add a topical treatment such as spironolactone or something of that nature.

Good luck, mate. I really hope you find something to give you another five years (at least)... lord knows we're all going to reach that point in time.

 

[ropcat]

Thanks Flux. It's not going fast enough that I feel pressured to make any decisions immediately. Maybe I'll start a long process of vetting transplant docs, although at age 25 and with most of my hair, I'm probably jumping the gun. I was on spironolactone for a little while, about four years ago, but that was before it came in a cream -- back then it was an awful alchohol formula that smelled like rotten eggs. I'll think about trying again. If you run across anyone who's been on finasteride for a long time, send them my way! 8)

Nexus81 wrote:

Was there HairLossTalk.com.com in 2000??

Yup. I found out about it in May 2000, although I don't have a clue when it started. For finasteride there was like one super-long thread that got archived whenever it reached a couple-hundred posts.

 

[Guest]

Proxiphen?

 

[too bald too furious]

Nexus81 wrote:

Was there HairLossTalk.com.com in 2000??

Yup. I found out about it in May 2000, although I don't have a clue when it started. For finasteride there was like one super-long thread that got archived whenever it reached a couple-hundred posts.

Well, HairLossTalk.com and Admin are the oldest users on this forum and I see their join date is in mid 2002. :?

 

[chewbaca]

Hi everyone. I was a somewhat frequent poster and visitor on HairLossTalk.com back in 2000 and 2001, when I was in college and started completely freaking out over the first signs of male pattern baldness.

This is my first post in three or four years. I haven't been to the site in a long time because I'm a success story in most ways, I guess. After starting 1.25mg finasteride in summer 2000, my hair has stayed pretty much the same for 4-1/2 years. No regrowth on my mildly thinning vertex, and the front has deteriorated a tiny bit -- but basically I've maintained what I had.

Now I'm closing in on five years on finasteride. Things are -- very very slowly, bit by bit -- getting worse. Nothing dramatic at all, but I'm getting a little bit scared again, just like when I was 21 and this awful business started. For one thing, I know that finasteride loses its effectiveness after five years, which is making me glum...

I wonder if anyone can give advice on what to do here. First of all, how much does finasteride effectiveness fall after five years? Is my hair really going to go down the toilet after I pass the five-year mark? Second, any thoughts on switching to Dutasteride? Is it super expensive or is there a cheaper way to get it these days? (I haven't been following for awhile.) Would it do much good or have I basically used up the period of time for which DHT-inhibitors are gonna help me? Or should I just stand pat and see what happens with continuing on finasteride?

If anyone can send some advice my way on the next move (or whether there should be one), I'd really appreciate it! This site educated me and helped me keep sane through early male pattern baldness and finasteride-related shedding. I'm hoping you all can help me out again! Thanks.

Ropcat

Its not logical to jump to conclusion after 5 years...U stated bit bit slowly...its probably cos of 2 things..age related shedding - everyone male pattern baldness or not will go thru this...or...maybe the body increased the androgen receptors/incresed sensitivity ect..the 2nd theory is the fact that at you r current age it reflects the situation if u were not on finasteride....its just that there's a "filter" there...the filter is finasteride...can u see the picture here....its like a filter in a fish tank...as the filter gets older it somehow becomes less effective in filtering dirt particles in the water somewhat losing some of its effectiveness, may not mean it will completely lose its effectiveness...But rightnow i guess my theory is that no one can predict the future....no studies have been done so far on finasteride after 5 years...And give food for this thought....If finasteride inhibits DHT, than it stops hairloss....But how would it just stop working all of a sudden...there must be a scientific theory to prove the fact...Just increased sensiticvity to androgen recptors is not enough..there must be DHT...and also another fact that as one ages, the hairloss could be due to other things like less estrogen ect...there are many possibilities....Well if its in fact true that finasteride stops working after 5 years..then those originally treated for BPH will go back to SQUARE 1..meaning the invention of this drug is virtually useless for BPH just be delaying the sickness and eventually u will get it...

 

[chewbaca]

Well it would be a great benefit if the the "veterans" of this drug who supposedly taken as long as 20 years ago for BPH would come forward to discuss.....

 

[Resultsnottypical]

I know HairLossTalk.com has been around a while, because I posted I think back in 2000 or 2001 under another name (believe it was MacFie or something, one of my handles)...but I couldn't remember the password when I came back.

It looked different from what I recall. So I believe him. I was here really early on too. And I remember some of the names from back then.

 

[Petchsky]

If you look on this website you will find 5yr propecia studies which are positive. For some propecia may slowly not protect your hair as well, although stay on it as it will still be working.

dutasteride is an option that will probably work for you but its one powerful scary drug, to me anyway. If i was you my next step would be 5% minoxidil which, as someone earlier said, give you an extra 5 years maybe.

Proxiphen is also an option like the Ty man suggested.

Your fight is far from over. :yes:

 

[Axon]

Nexus81 wrote:

Was there HairLossTalk.com.com in 2000??

Yup. I found out about it in May 2000, although I don't have a clue when it started. For finasteride there was like one super-long thread that got archived whenever it reached a couple-hundred posts.

Well, HairLossTalk.com and Admin are the oldest users on this forum and I see their join date is in mid 2002. :?

That's the date when the new php based bulletin board was launched.

 

[fallicule]

Every time I see axon's icon i start laughing.

 

[20sometingtoo]

Hey, I'm also a long time user of finasteride (3 years) and I'm starting to experience the same results you are. VERY slowly degressing back to the starting point. I added Nizoral a few months ago and havent noticed any major improvements. If things continue this way, I'll add minoxidil to the mix. But for now, I'm not too worried.
I do, however, have a theory on what is happening. May be wrong, may be right.
Anyway, as we get older, the level of DHT increases in our bodies (or our sensitivity to its effects increases) one way or another, DHT affects us more when we get older, which is why children don't lose their hair.
That said, you might as well just try bumping up the finasteride dosage for a few months and see if that helps. If your DHT levels increase naturally as a part of the aging process, then theoretically you should increase the dosage of its combatant (in this case your finasteride prescription) to help aid the fight.

This is, of course, a completely unscientific theory. Makes logical sense though, I think.

 

[Petchsky]

I'm unsure too, but i know testosterone decreases as you age, so that suggests to me that DHT also does. I think over time DHT just chips away at the follicule and thats why everyone eventually sees some loss of hair.

 

[drinkrum]

It's most likely an increase in your follicle's sensitivity to DHT rather than Propecia not working. Just something you gotta deal with.

D.

 

[20sometingtoo]

It's most likely an increase in your follicle's sensitivity to DHT rather than Propecia not working. Just something you gotta deal with.

D.

Which is why I'm thinking that if you bump up from 1.25mg's of finasteride to 2.50mgs you might be better off.

 

[drinkrum]

It's most likely an increase in your follicle's sensitivity to DHT rather than Propecia not working. Just something you gotta deal with.

D.

Which is why I'm thinking that if you bump up from 1.25mg's of finasteride to 2.50mgs you might be better off.

But 2.50 mg doesn't necessarily inhibit more DHT than the lower doses so it's likely to have any significant impact.

D.

 

[ropcat]

Thanks everyone. Yeah, looking at the Propecia charts seems consistent with what DrinkRum says. The inhibition of DHT is not going to increase that much if I up my dose. I guess the DHT that finasteride isn't inhibiting is continuing to chip away at my hair -- although I suppose I'm lucky that I got a five-year reprieve.

I'm getting more interested in switching to Dutasteride, or a generic equivalent, though. The biggest deterrent until now for me was the price tag. But looking at the prices on imported generics has made me a bit more positive about the idea. I wish I could consult a dermatologist about this, rather than self-medicating. But my derm would never even go into the topic of using a drug not currently indicated for male pattern baldness, much less using an imported generic...

We'll see. I'm putting off any decisions on regimen changes until the summer, and then I'll also maybe start researching surgical options... Good luck to everyone! finasteride DOES work -- just not forever.