Does Scalp Pain Mean Propecia Is Ineffective?

[doggfather]

I've been using Propecia for about 13 months now and Nizoral and Tgel for 6 months and about a month ago I had itching and irritation on the hairline area where I am receding. Once I started to apply spironolactone in the morning and Revivogen in the evening my irritation in the hairline area pretty much disappeared, but the weird thing is I've gotten scalp pain and some itching in the crown area. Any possible guesses on what's going on? Has my body adjusted to Propecia and therefore Propecia isn't effective anymore? If so, should I drop Propecia and just start using spironolactone/Revivogen instead? Or has my hair just become ultra-sensitive to DHT and so I have to block even more DHT from forming or binding to androgen receptors? The weird thing is my hairloss was never in the crown area only receding hairline.

 

[socks]

doggfather,

1. Dont' even think about dropping Finasteride

There is no evidence to show Finasteride loses its ability to inhibit the 5ar enzyme over time.

2. The itching can be the result of scalp inflammation due to the autoimmune system attacking the altered DHT hair follicles and/OR it may the result of the topicals you are using (including shampoos, hair styling products etc etc etc).


Ok, now there is the possibility that your hair is naturally becoming more sensitive to the DHT (that is after all why we lose our hair ). It may be that your hair is especially sensitive due to your genetic predisposition. That may be causing the hair in the crown to start to becoming damaged and thus attacked by your autoimmune system (just conjecture on my part).

If that is the case the most logical thing to do is inhibit as much 5ar as you can. The best way to do this, reasonably, is to use 1mg of Finasteride, Nizoral 2% every 2nd day (first wash with a regular shampoo, rinse, then apply the nizoral 2% 10mins before rinsing), and also use a topical such as Revivogen or Crinagen (if money is an issue look into zix w/ azelaic acid).

THEN directly attack the inflammation with some Folligen spray for the hair and rub some Folligen lotion into the hairline. This, along with Nizoral, is a good way to head-off the inflammation from the autoimmune system.


Good luck!

 

[bombscience]

I have had this assumption in the past as well.

My scalp itched when 11 months on finasteride and no topicals. My scalp itches "less" 4 months on Dutasteride *with* topicals.

 

[kevin5er]

i have the same problem. i've been of finasteride for almost 9 months. about 3 months into the finasteride i added 5% minoxidil and nizoral. AFter about 4 months with the minoxidil, my scalp started to itch, burn and throb. So i added folligen. This made things worse. In the mean time my thinning was getting worse, so i panicked and stopped the minoxidil and folligen. The itch burn and throb didnt go away so i went to a dermatologist. I was prescribed loprox shampoo, and this seems to be making things better. It also seems like my thinning has slowed down as the itch and burning has dissipated. My suggestion is go to a dermatologist and see what they say. Good luck.

 

[bombscience]

i have the same problem. i've been of finasteride for almost 9 months. about 3 months into the finasteride i added 5% minoxidil and nizoral. AFter about 4 months with the minoxidil, my scalp started to itch, burn and throb. So i added folligen. This made things worse. In the mean time my thinning was getting worse, so i panicked and stopped the minoxidil and folligen. The itch burn and throb didnt go away so i went to a dermatologist. I was prescribed loprox shampoo, and this seems to be making things better. It also seems like my thinning has slowed down as the itch and burning has dissipated. My suggestion is go to a dermatologist and see what they say. Good luck.

Did you use regularly formulated Minoxidil? Some people have a reaction to the 50% Propylene Glycol in Rogaine forumlated minoxidil. There are other minoxidil solutions that are less harsh on the scalp.

It took me over 4 weeks for my scalp to heal after this type of reaction.

 

[doggfather]

kevin5er,
What is this Loprox shampoo you are talking about? Can you only get it with a prescription? And how long have you been using this shampoo? Really need to get rid of this scalp itch/ache. Drives me nuts. Any other people had dermatologists prescribe/recommend something that worked for scalp itch/ache besides Nizoral or Tgel which I already use.

 

[doggfather]

Went to a doctor to see if he could find what's wrong with my scalp and after looking at the affected scalp area (rear top) with a flashlight he said my scalp looks perfectly healthy. No rash, no bumps, no red spots, no signs of any dandruff so he said he couldn't refer me to a dermatologist because he couldn't find anything visibly wrong with my scalp. Anyone have any suggestions on what i can do to get rid of this ache?