Ok I'm sure this question has been asked a million times but what is everyone's opinion on Avodart? Anyone been on it for over a year and seen good results? I think I would like to just say f*** all the topicals and just get one pill that would do the job that the Propecia and others are doing in tandem. I know it is still fairly new and side effects are a bit of a concern but you could always stop it if you experienced them, and from the initial reports it looks really freakin promising. I just hate having to deal with topicals etc. I would rather just do the one pill a day and be done with it. I'm just hoping to maintain until hopefully technology fixes the rest. I'd like to hear anyone's experience on it, as well as whether it was more effective than Propecia and the rest of their regimen.
Avodart
- Thread starter hexedd
- Start date
Your dilemma sounds a bit like the one I was facing a couple of months ago. Therefore I will post an e-mail correspondance with the doctor that assisted with my hair transplant this summer. He really knows a lot. The mail contains both information about Avodart and also some alternative solutions for you. His replies are highlighted
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First of all I want to thank you for your genuine concern.
Secondly, I am very happy that you write to me now as I am in I
middle of a "crisis".
My hair is beginning to grow now (though they are quite thin at
the moment, but they are getting thicker all the time), so that
part is good.
Good to hear.
After the surgery I have grown my hair out "long" (the last two
years I have shaved my head) and it's now pretty obvious to me that
Propecia hasn't done me anything good in the front region. This is
very depressing, so I switched to Dutasteride aprox. a month ago.
I also added Nizoral 2% to my regimen. But I must admit that
Dutasteride is giving me major headaches, and I'm not sure they
will subside over
time.
As a result I have gone down to taking them every other day, but
that doesn't seem to help.
A couple thoughts on Propecia. First, finasteride takes at least 5
months to take action (that you can see). I advise propecia only
regrows hair at a rate of 1% per month and I like to encourage patients to give at at least a year before switching to dutasteride. Dutasteride triggers a chain of pharmacological actions different than finasteride. I know many patients that switched and had worse results with dutast. Now dutast supposedly inhibits more 5-ar than Propecia so in theory the results should be better. But the body is a complicated machine and our logical theories don't always pan out.
I know many patients that switched to dutast only to switch back to
finast.
My concern with Dutasteride is also that I have read that it
increases
Testosterone levels in the scalp (since it isn't converted into
DHT) and that is causing frontal loss.
It's possible. To be honest, I'm afraid of dutasteride because it's
so potent.
Will I take it some day? Sure, if Propecia completely stops working
I'll try it. I'd like to see long term studies as well. Last time
I checked they
couldn't account for how 50% of the dutast was metabolized by the
body.
Where
is it going? Now that's a little scary. We're talking world
leading chemists have no idea where this drug is going in the body.
I am considering my options now, and I'm thinking of going back to
Finasteride, only this time I will go for Proscar (the Merck
version)in order to save money so I can add something else to my regimen. I am thinking of Revivogen and/or spironolactone or Minoxidil. I am very
reluctantto use the latter though, as I have tried it in the past and my skin
was flaking like hell!
How long did you try Propecia? did you give it at least a year with
photographs taken before and after at the same hair length? That's
the only way to measure the results of finasteride. I would trim my hair to 1 or 2 cm then take photos and compare. that's the only way to analyze propecia (same quality photos, same hair length/style etc.) Pretend you're a doctor and analyze yourself.
I've been on propecia 9 months. At month 7 everyone said they noticed
the bottom of the crown was thicker. It took 7 months before anyone could see visual improvement. That's normal and expected.
I love Dr. Proctor's formula Proxiphen. It's expensive which is too
bad but it sure works. There is no flaking (almost never anyway) with
proxiphen as the minoxidil is compounded in a cream base.
I have read that spironolactone should convert the surplus Testosterone in
the scalp area into Oestrogen.
What do you think, I really hope you can help me out here.
Spironolactone is an antiandrogen that works in two ways. Primarily
it slows down the production of androgens in the adrenal glands and
ovaries (for women obviously if taken orally). Secondly it blocks the action of androgens (i.e. T and DHT).
Since men can only apply this topically it's not as potent as we'd
like, sadly.
In a review article written by Dr. Vera H. Price in The New England
Journal Of Medicine September 23, 1999, she writes
that "Spironolactone is a weak competitive inhibitor of the binding
of androgen to its receptor, and it decreases the synthesis of
testosterone as well.
It has some efficacy in the treatment of hirsutism. It seems to have little
efficacy in women with androgenetic alopecia, but no control studies
have been done and there are no data on hair count or hair weight, nor are there any photographic data."
As a side note, that's how nizoral works. Ketoconazole (active
ingredient) inhibits the sythenesis of ergosterol which is the same
pharmacological action that inhibitis the synthesis of DHT. Basically, both of the these products seem to compete with DHT and that's why they work.
If you're on finast T levels in the scalp only rise a small amount
(still within norms) so there's nothing to worry about. That's why adding spironolactone to the scalp is another weapon.
revivogen has free fatty acids and saw palmetto which may help. i
would only add it after you are using everything else (propecia, nizoral, spironolactone, minoxidil)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
First of all I want to thank you for your genuine concern.
Secondly, I am very happy that you write to me now as I am in I
middle of a "crisis".
My hair is beginning to grow now (though they are quite thin at
the moment, but they are getting thicker all the time), so that
part is good.
Good to hear.
After the surgery I have grown my hair out "long" (the last two
years I have shaved my head) and it's now pretty obvious to me that
Propecia hasn't done me anything good in the front region. This is
very depressing, so I switched to Dutasteride aprox. a month ago.
I also added Nizoral 2% to my regimen. But I must admit that
Dutasteride is giving me major headaches, and I'm not sure they
will subside over
time.
As a result I have gone down to taking them every other day, but
that doesn't seem to help.
A couple thoughts on Propecia. First, finasteride takes at least 5
months to take action (that you can see). I advise propecia only
regrows hair at a rate of 1% per month and I like to encourage patients to give at at least a year before switching to dutasteride. Dutasteride triggers a chain of pharmacological actions different than finasteride. I know many patients that switched and had worse results with dutast. Now dutast supposedly inhibits more 5-ar than Propecia so in theory the results should be better. But the body is a complicated machine and our logical theories don't always pan out.
I know many patients that switched to dutast only to switch back to
finast.
My concern with Dutasteride is also that I have read that it
increases
Testosterone levels in the scalp (since it isn't converted into
DHT) and that is causing frontal loss.
It's possible. To be honest, I'm afraid of dutasteride because it's
so potent.
Will I take it some day? Sure, if Propecia completely stops working
I'll try it. I'd like to see long term studies as well. Last time
I checked they
couldn't account for how 50% of the dutast was metabolized by the
body.
Where
is it going? Now that's a little scary. We're talking world
leading chemists have no idea where this drug is going in the body.
I am considering my options now, and I'm thinking of going back to
Finasteride, only this time I will go for Proscar (the Merck
version)in order to save money so I can add something else to my regimen. I am thinking of Revivogen and/or spironolactone or Minoxidil. I am very
reluctantto use the latter though, as I have tried it in the past and my skin
was flaking like hell!
How long did you try Propecia? did you give it at least a year with
photographs taken before and after at the same hair length? That's
the only way to measure the results of finasteride. I would trim my hair to 1 or 2 cm then take photos and compare. that's the only way to analyze propecia (same quality photos, same hair length/style etc.) Pretend you're a doctor and analyze yourself.
I've been on propecia 9 months. At month 7 everyone said they noticed
the bottom of the crown was thicker. It took 7 months before anyone could see visual improvement. That's normal and expected.
I love Dr. Proctor's formula Proxiphen. It's expensive which is too
bad but it sure works. There is no flaking (almost never anyway) with
proxiphen as the minoxidil is compounded in a cream base.
I have read that spironolactone should convert the surplus Testosterone in
the scalp area into Oestrogen.
What do you think, I really hope you can help me out here.
Spironolactone is an antiandrogen that works in two ways. Primarily
it slows down the production of androgens in the adrenal glands and
ovaries (for women obviously if taken orally). Secondly it blocks the action of androgens (i.e. T and DHT).
Since men can only apply this topically it's not as potent as we'd
like, sadly.
In a review article written by Dr. Vera H. Price in The New England
Journal Of Medicine September 23, 1999, she writes
that "Spironolactone is a weak competitive inhibitor of the binding
of androgen to its receptor, and it decreases the synthesis of
testosterone as well.
It has some efficacy in the treatment of hirsutism. It seems to have little
efficacy in women with androgenetic alopecia, but no control studies
have been done and there are no data on hair count or hair weight, nor are there any photographic data."
As a side note, that's how nizoral works. Ketoconazole (active
ingredient) inhibits the sythenesis of ergosterol which is the same
pharmacological action that inhibitis the synthesis of DHT. Basically, both of the these products seem to compete with DHT and that's why they work.
If you're on finast T levels in the scalp only rise a small amount
(still within norms) so there's nothing to worry about. That's why adding spironolactone to the scalp is another weapon.
revivogen has free fatty acids and saw palmetto which may help. i
would only add it after you are using everything else (propecia, nizoral, spironolactone, minoxidil)
