Need Help: Been On Generic Finasteride For Almost 3 And It's Not Working

[Ollie]

Dude the difference in finasteride vs propecia in negligible in results. You're currently doing everything you can do. The pills aren't magic and for MOST people all finasteride does is maintain your hair. Lucky ones get thickening, and very lucky ones get regrowth.

 

[bc1]

Your hair looks good i dont think anyone is trolling. The pictures look basically the same there is a part in your hair as it is long. Your hairline is fine.

If your on finasteride oral and not getting sides then I agree with everyone else and stick with it.

I wouldn't go change anything unless you notice things getting worse. Or have side effects. In which case speak to your doctor/clinc.

Hey, thanks for the input. Just an update for you & everyone else who's commented. This is what my hairline looks like now. There's no question that the density is completely shot & the hairline is thinning. Thoughts?

 

[BMax]

Ok so you think things are getting worse?

Hows the crown going?

Have you spoken to your clinic / doctor?

How long have you been on the drug for?

Are you also on minoxidil?

 

[INT]

3 months is way too short for results in most cases

 

[fffalling1]

Your scalp is like mirror dude,i dont think even transgender drugs work on you.

Just have a good shampoo,biotin and get out of here

 

[bc1]

Ok so you think things are getting worse?

Hows the crown going?

Have you spoken to your clinic / doctor?

How long have you been on the drug for?

Are you also on minoxidil?

I'll try to contact a derm for a scalp biopsy but it's proven to be difficult so far...

just over 3 months now on finasteride, not gonna touch minoxidil :/

 

[bc1]

Your scalp is like mirror dude,i dont think even transgender drugs work on you.

Just have a good shampoo,biotin and get out of here

Hahaha nice one, I know others have it worse than me man, but that doesn't mean I don't have hairloss lol. I've definitely lost a lot of density & i think it's quite obvious that my scalp IS visible in some places where it wouldn't be if no hairloss had occurred. Still, I appreciate the advice. I use Nizoral rn

 

[fffalling1]

Use Finasteride for this hair its like burn a home because of a spider,and yes Finasteride makes bad hairline at begin for a moment but like i said you dont need it for now and already your beard is not complete are you sure ?

 

[BMax]

A lot of people shed and look worse the first 3 months. My hair looked worse when i started topical fina and minoxidil (was near when i transplanted though so not sure what caused the shedding)

Why not minoxidil?

 

[bc1]

Use Finasteride for this hair its like burn a home because of a spider,and yes Finasteride makes bad hairline at begin for a moment but like i said you dont need it for now and already your beard is not complete are you sure ?

I think I'll stick it out, I haven't noticed my beard being too affected although the first couple of weeks it was shedding like crazy. Thanks for ur advice man

 

[bc1]

A lot of people shed and look worse the first 3 months. My hair looked worse when i started topical fina and minoxidil (was near when i transplanted though so not sure what caused the shedding)

Why not minoxidil?

Yeah I'm hoping I fall into that category tbh. Just don't want to touch anything else (other than nizoral that I use a few times a week) unless I'm sure my current regime isn't working.

 

[BMax]

Yeah I'm hoping I fall into that category tbh. Just don't want to touch anything else (other than nizoral that I use a few times a week) unless I'm sure my current regime isn't working.

Good idea, interesting you went for finasteride first. Minoxidil is not my favourite thing either, it has absolutle zero interval effect (nether does finasteride which i dont understand but thats another story) but it does help to create new hairs WHILE using it daily, finasteride doesn't do this. So its a good combination.

These drugs are like the dark side though , if once you start down the path, forever will it dominate your destiny, remember that because its true you may not be 100% happy with your hair but any treatment you start you can not stop.

You dont look like you need to be on it though, so i agree with what you are doing.

Is it just the hairline you are worried about?

 

[bc1]

Good idea, interesting you went for finasteride first. Minoxidil is not my favourite thing either, it has absolutle zero interval effect (nether does finasteride which i dont understand but thats another story) but it does help to create new hairs WHILE using it daily, finasteride doesn't do this. So its a good combination.

These drugs are like the dark side though , if once you start down the path, forever will it dominate your destiny, remember that because its true you may not be 100% happy with your hair but any treatment you start you can not stop.

You dont look like you need to be on it though, so i agree with what you are doing.

Is it just the hairline you are worried about?

I'm diffuse thinning so I've lost density all over my scalp but I suppose it's most noticeable at the hairline, yeah

 

[bc1]

Posting an update. It's been more than 1 year on finasteride and I've definitely lost ground. Hair is wet in these pictures.
Hopefully the idiots who tell users they're not balding until they're literally nw3 will piss off now. Any advice is welcome. I haven't been using nizoral for a few months if that's relevant.

 

[20YearsOnFin]

Im not going to look or comment on your pictures, but over the last 20 years of using different brands of finasteride (both Merck & Generic), Accord (Intas pharmaceuticals) Is one of the brands that gave me sub optimal results, as such I would never personally take that brand again. If you feel that it isn't working in your case, I would swap to Proscar (1/4) for 6 months and see if it makes a difference. Cipla have also been producing finasteride for decades and perhaps would be my second choice, but ideally try and source some Proscar if you can find it.

 

[bc1]

Im not going to look or comment on your pictures, but over the last 20 years of using different brands of finasteride (both Merck & Generic), Accord (Intas pharmaceuticals) Is one of the brands that gave me sub optimal results, as such I would never personally take that brand again. If you feel that it isn't working in your case, I would swap to Proscar (1/4) for 6 months and see if it makes a difference. Cipla have also been producing finasteride for decades and perhaps would be my second choice, but ideally try and source some Proscar if you can find it.

sub optimal how exactly? what were the differences in results between the brands?

 

[20YearsOnFin]

I used the words 'Sub optimal' as I was trying to avoid simply saying it doesn't work, Intas pharmaceuticals who manufacture the Accord Brand is a large company who distribute products worldwide, no doubt there are people who use their finasteride products and feel they achieve satisfactory results, From my personal experience when I am on an Finasteride that I consider to be working optimally, my hair is what I call stable, I have no excessive shedding, if I run a comb through my hair, there is no stray hairs in the comb, washing my hair vigorously results only a few extra lost hairs, and although my hairline has receded, along the front of my hair there is still a row of fine /vellus hair that softens my hairline. When I take some brands of finasteride Accord being one of them the opposite happens, my hair sheds continually without touching it, the middle/top section of my head diffuse thins and the row of fine vellus hairs disappears, so this is what I mean by suboptimal. the Accord finasteride is doing 'something' but its not able to replicate the results that I have been able to achieve on other brands of finasteride. The problem with alot of the generic finasteride, is that you are actually buying a product that was formulated, costed and manufactured to be affordable to people in India on extremely low incomes, that is the original purpose of the Indian Generics Industry, the drugs were only meant to be originally available in India, where a philosophy of ''close enough, is good enough'' rules supreme. The industry has been so successful that India now exports generic medicines all over the world which is great for them, but it doesn't change the fact that when you buy accord you are actually buying rebranded Finalo or one of their other ultra low budget local products, that's been repacked and price hiked for the International market. I don't know if Accord is the only brand you have tried ? but at some point it might be worth asking yourself how many more years are you prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt? before you think its worth trying a different brand just in case it does make a difference?

 

[bc1]

I used the words 'Sub optimal' as I was trying to avoid simply saying it doesn't work, Intas pharmaceuticals who manufacture the Accord Brand is a large company who distribute products worldwide, no doubt there are people who use their finasteride products and feel they achieve satisfactory results, From my personal experience when I am on an Finasteride that I consider to be working optimally, my hair is what I call stable, I have no excessive shedding, if I run a comb through my hair, there is no stray hairs in the comb, washing my hair vigorously results only a few extra lost hairs, and although my hairline has receded, along the front of my hair there is still a row of fine /vellus hair that softens my hairline. When I take some brands of finasteride Accord being one of them the opposite happens, my hair sheds continually without touching it, the middle/top section of my head diffuse thins and the row of fine vellus hairs disappears, so this is what I mean by suboptimal. the Accord finasteride is doing 'something' but its not able to replicate the results that I have been able to achieve on other brands of finasteride. The problem with alot of the generic finasteride, is that you are actually buying a product that was formulated, costed and manufactured to be affordable to people in India on extremely low incomes, that is the original purpose of the Indian Generics Industry, the drugs were only meant to be originally available in India, where a philosophy of ''close enough, is good enough'' rules supreme. The industry has been so successful that India now exports generic medicines all over the world which is great for them, but it doesn't change the fact that when you buy accord you are actually buying rebranded Finalo or one of their other ultra low budget local products, that's been repacked and price hiked for the International market. I don't know if Accord is the only brand you have tried ? but at some point it might be worth asking yourself how many more years are you prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt? before you think its worth trying a different brand just in case it does make a difference?

thanks for being so thorough, I appreciate it. I'm going to start looking into other brands for my next batch.

 

[MrSnow]

we are almost the same age, I am 19 years old and I have been taking finasteride for almost 3 months:



I really hope this drug will have very good effects on me