Finasteride and minoxidil.

[too bald too furious]

Hello everyone,
I have a question regarding proscar. I am currently only on minoxidil and nizoral. My goal is to reverse thinning on top of my scalp and regrowth on the hair line and temples. I am thinking of adding proscar to my regimen.
If i start with finasteride today...and suppose after 7-8 years, if finasteride loses its effectiveness..which i guess it should not...or if i stop finasteride...will my hair loss return to the state i have today. What my understanding is that...finasteride will lower DHT levels...so hair will not be affected and grow normally. When finasteride is stopped...the DHT will start to build up again and start affecting the follicles. SO ideally the hair loss would begin again at the same rate ..as to what i have today. I read somewhere....that i will also lose the hair which finasteride was holding for these 7-8 years..while i was on it. But logically it does not make sense. :roll:
Also i have decided to use minoxidil only on temples and hair line...as its a big hassle to apply it over the scalp in the morning and have to wait for it to dry.Plus minoxidil makes hair dependent on it. Stoppage of it will cause severe shedding...so reckon..i probably go for temples and hair line with minoxidil and the vertex and scalp with finasteride as i already have decent hair over the hair..although its thinning a bit.
Will a general physician or a dermatologist or a trichologist...be a good person to see who can advise me on whether im a suitable candidate for finasteride.
I am confused. Please guide me. Any help will be highly appreciated.

 

[shizzel]

I really wonder why no one has responded to this post, either way yes, my clinical doctor told me to consult a dermatologist if I had any questions about what’s really causing hair loss.

 

[Bryan]

If i start with finasteride today...and suppose after 7-8 years, if finasteride loses its effectiveness..which i guess it should not...or if i stop finasteride...will my hair loss return to the state i have today.

Don't you realize what a can of worms you're opening when you use the expression "lose its effectiveness" without specifiying exactly what you mean? Don't you realize that there are various shades of meaning that could be entailed by those words? For example, do you mean that you would be COMPLETELY unresponsive to finasteride, the same as if you didn't even bother to swallow the pills, or do you mean that it's still having SOME effect, although it's only good enough to slow down further loss? I've never heard of the former happening, but the latter is a possibility, I suppose...

Also i have decided to use minoxidil only on temples and hair line...as its a big hassle to apply it over the scalp in the morning and have to wait for it to dry.Plus minoxidil makes hair dependent on it.

Good God...what is this fascination with "minoxidil dependence"?

Hairs that are REGROWN with minoxidil are "dependent" on it (at least to some extent), not other hairs!

Bryan

 

[Bismarck]

If i start with finasteride today...and suppose after 7-8 years, if finasteride loses its effectiveness..which i guess it should not...or if i stop finasteride...will my hair loss return to the state i have today.

Don't you realize what a can of worms you're opening when you use the expression "lose its effectiveness" without specifiying exactly what you mean? Don't you realize that there are various shades of meaning that could be entailed by those words? For example, do you mean that you would be COMPLETELY unresponsive to finasteride, the same as if you didn't even bother to swallow the pills, or do you mean that it's still having SOME effect, although it's only good enough to slow down further loss? I've never heard of the former happening, but the latter is a possibility, I suppose...

Also i have decided to use minoxidil only on temples and hair line...as its a big hassle to apply it over the scalp in the morning and have to wait for it to dry.Plus minoxidil makes hair dependent on it.

Good God...what is this fascination with "minoxidil dependence"?

Hairs that are REGROWN with minoxidil are "dependent" on it (at least to some extent), not other hairs!

Bryan

Bryan, if I regrow some hair with say finasteride and minoxidil in combination. Will only the hair that would be there with finasteride mono-treatment remain after quitting minoxidil?

 

[Bryan]

I think that's most likely what would happen.

 

[Guest]

Bryan

If I drink 10-12 pints of medium strength lager a night and then stop will I remain drunk forever?


thanks for any info


Ty

 

[too bald too furious]

Hey thanks for the reply guys. Bryan...your reply gave me partial answer to my question. First of all, I am not saying that Finasteride will lose its effectiveness after 7-8 years. finasteride has been in use for male pattern baldness sufferers for around 7 years or so, and the very long term effects of this medicine are still not known.
What I meant to say is if today at the age of 23 i had X amount of hair, and if left untreated, after 10 years i will be having X/10 amount of hair. Can finasteride actually SHIFT the hair loss phase. I mean if i quit Finasteride at the age of 33, will i immediately return to the hair loss phase i was pre destined to be at 33 if I did not take it, or will my hair loss start again at 33 at the same rate I have at the moment, but this time I have cheated time and have the lesser amount of age at 43 instead of 33.
As I get old, I would perhaps not be so bothered about hair loss as we see so many old people with hair loss. But yes, like most of us, people in our 20s are really concerned and thats why we are taking these medications.
I hope you understand what i meant by it. I have always been an optimistic believer of these medicines, and even though my hair is in a bad condition now compared to what it was before the start of minoxidil, but i am keeping the faith and waiting for the 6 month mark. and i do not post depressing or negative messages like a couple of guys on this forum cant get enough of it.
Thanks again bryan for your reply. :lol:

 

[klaus]

Bryan

If I drink 10-12 pints of medium strength lager a night and then stop will I remain drunk forever?


thanks for any info


Ty

Bump!!

 

[youngguy_uk]

If i start with finasteride today...and suppose after 7-8 years, if finasteride loses its effectiveness..which i guess it should not...or if i stop finasteride...will my hair loss return to the state i have today.

Don't you realize what a can of worms you're opening when you use the expression "lose its effectiveness" without specifiying exactly what you mean? Don't you realize that there are various shades of meaning that could be entailed by those words? For example, do you mean that you would be COMPLETELY unresponsive to finasteride, the same as if you didn't even bother to swallow the pills, or do you mean that it's still having SOME effect, although it's only good enough to slow down further loss? I've never heard of the former happening, but the latter is a possibility, I suppose...

Also i have decided to use minoxidil only on temples and hair line...as its a big hassle to apply it over the scalp in the morning and have to wait for it to dry.Plus minoxidil makes hair dependent on it.

Good God...what is this fascination with "minoxidil dependence"?

Hairs that are REGROWN with minoxidil are "dependent" on it (at least to some extent), not other hairs!

Bryan

exactly. hit the nail right on the head. minoxidil grown hairs are minoxidil dependent. not all of them. but you may wish to only apply it at the hairline. there have been some arguments i believe from dr lee that stopping recession delays balding at the back, thinning etc. and why use it in places where regrowth aint needed? minoxidil is for regrowth!!

in my opinion, no regimen should contain minoxidil alone. minoxidil provides an extra offset of growth. but the dht is still attacking your follices. while your minoxidil-growing hair is sprouting, your crown etc will still be under the creeping effects of dht. also, your minoxidil-grown hair will still be under stress from dht. i say, go for finasteride and then add minoxidil later if maintenance is the game. if you badly badly badly need more hair now and then are content just to lose slowly, go for the big 3. i say that with confidence.

 

[youngguy_uk]

ps - finasteride never loses its effectiveness. why? because it always keeps levels of dht lower than they would have been had you not taken finasteride because its always stopping the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme from bonding. it just wont keep the hair you have now forever because your balding will progress, and the dht will build up more, your body will produce more, etc. thats why im saving dutasteride + minoxidil for later.

 

[misterium]

So would you say that I am using an overkill regimine?

I have thinning of my crown/vertex, and it started to be somewhat noticable to myself and a few others close to me, around 7 months ago.

I started Propecia and minoxidil at the same time and I have had no notable problems thus far.. it's been a couple months now of using these products.

Do you think I am over-doing it? Should I stop with the minoxidil? My derm told me that the effects of finasteride & minoxidil combined are better... synergistic or something.

I hope I'm not being foolish in my product choices!