One thing I've noticed since jumping off propecia...

[KANGA]

I've been clean of finasteride for just over a month now (sounds like a drug addiction), and I've become sluttier. Let me elaborate: my libido has skyrocketed and random erections are much, much more frequent. The girl I'm seeing loves it. Since jumping off finasteride i feel a bit more positive in life; coincidence? Shame that I feel this way, and even more shame that I feel that my crown is getting thinner. Maybe it's all in my head.

Off to try some SE with minoxidil (never tried minoxidil before, wish me luck!)

 

[Petchsky]

You need an anti androgen, something like 5% spironolactone cream or Fluridil, proxiphen...none of these will give you any sexual side effects, so you can bang your girlfriend to you're sore, or she's sore.

 

[KANGA]

Cool, was looking into prox; looked kind of expensive but I guess hair comes at a price!

 

[CCS]

Prox does have spironolactone in it. I believe proctor about that much. Though he also says it has minoxidil in it.

 

[KANGA]

Yeah that formula looks pretty tempting. Maybe I'll order some and have some nice locks by summer :hairy:

 

[Nevis]

hey Kanga, how long were you on before getting off? I just got off too (~1mo) and I'm definitely noticing the same effect.

 

[Eureka]

I noticed a boost as well when I came off it, but it eventually leveled out to where it was almost the same as it was while on propecia.

 

[RadioMopTopHead]

im noticing it too, but i can feel my crown dying.

 

[sruhel]

I noticed a boost as well when I came off it, but it eventually leveled out to where it was almost the same as it was while on propecia.

Hey Eureka,

When you say the same as it was while on propecia, do you mean lower than usual?
How long before everythings back to normal?

 

[Nevis]

a short P.S. here, to coincide with the side-effect warning label on this thread:

I thought a few years ago that i was getting side effects from dutasteride (low libido, weak erections). Turns out I was just really really not into my girlfriend. We broke up, I went back on the market, and had no problems at all. I'm not denying a side effect---correlation is not causation---but just tossing the psychological side/emotional side in there. Of course, DHT suppression might augment those sides too (connections through the "brain fog" mentions)

 

[KANGA]

hey Kanga, how long were you on before getting off? I just got off too (~1mo) and I'm definitely noticing the same effect.

The first run of finasteride was 4 months; 2nd run was just over a month.

The thing is, I was splitting proscar into 1/4 (1.25mg), so potentially there's more side effects.

I'm thinking about going back on finasteride at a reduced dosage; .5mg or something easy to cut. Maybe 1/6?

As soon as I do, though... I plan on getting on minoxidil as well, as I've seen from numerous "successes" here that starting both around the same time has had quite the regrowths.

 

[Nevis]

As soon as I do, though... I plan on getting on minoxidil as well, as I've seen from numerous "successes" here that starting both around the same time has had quite the regrowths.

from looking at your pics I wouldn't be so jazzed about minoxidil. I thought the same way you are about 6 years ago and really wanted to get some regrowth. I eeked some out, but in the long run my hair is, IMHO, (cosmetically) worse for it. I gauge that off my younger brother, who had the same start of male pattern baldness that I did. I got him on finasteride at the first sign, and he's done SUPER, now 8 years in with no additions. Just popping his daily pill. His hair is certainly better than mine, who "played" with my regime, hoping to get that extra follicle or two. I started finasteride a bit later in my progression then he did, so this is certainly not a perfect comparison/laboratory, but a bit more realistic than some other speculations...

I'm not trying to discourage you from minoxidil, but from your pics you might be just as well off long run w/o the hassle. Of course, short run you might get that kick of regrowth...No easy answers, but just be clear with yourself about your goals.

 

[KANGA]

As soon as I do, though... I plan on getting on minoxidil as well, as I've seen from numerous "successes" here that starting both around the same time has had quite the regrowths.

from looking at your pics I wouldn't be so jazzed about minoxidil. I thought the same way you are about 6 years ago and really wanted to get some regrowth. I eeked some out, but in the long run my hair is, IMHO, (cosmetically) worse for it. I gauge that off my younger brother, who had the same start of male pattern baldness that I did. I got him on finasteride at the first sign, and he's done SUPER, now 8 years in with no additions. Just popping his daily pill. His hair is certainly better than mine, who "played" with my regime, hoping to get that extra follicle or two. I started finasteride a bit later in my progression then he did, so this is certainly not a perfect comparison/laboratory, but a bit more realistic than some other speculations...

I'm not trying to discourage you from minoxidil, but from your pics you might be just as well off long run w/o the hassle. Of course, short run you might get that kick of regrowth...No easy answers, but just be clear with yourself about your goals.

Would you say that minoxidil made your hair loss worse? I'm definitely going to do an ultra low dosage of finasteride (.5mg perhaps).

 

[Nevis]

Wow, tough question, but mostly because it's totally subjective on my part. So with that caveat, I would say no, it has not been for the worse. But, I do know that I am very minoxidil dependent now. I haphazardly quit minoxidil 2 Falls ago and my christmas photos looked like my hair took a turn for the worse. Similar to what you would expect looking at Vera's 1999 (thanks Bryan) results when quitting 5% minoxidil cold turkey. But, jumped back on minoxidil and my christmas photos this year look similar to before I quit.

I wasn't a big responder though to minoxidil in the first place. It thickened up the areas where I was only starting to thin (vertex) but that low level of "growth-offset" didn't do much in the cosmetic sense for my more of a "baldspot" crown area (which was and is my main concern). It just wasn't enough. So then I was on "The Big 2" and not enjoying the results I wanted...I could have just stayed slightly thinner, been hassle free, minoxidil-independent, and (subjective alert) "happier."

I wish I had pics to share from those stages, even just for my own recollection. But my feeling is if I could post them, people here would say "decent response." But, the slight cosmetic change would not have stopped anyone else (read: non balding people) from saying "Hey, he's losing his hair, getting a little thin." I realize this is a high hurdle to set for a primary endpoint for hairloss these days, but that's what I was aiming at. And now that I'm older and going for a "level of loss that I can live with" instead of full regrowth, I'd be perfectly happy with what I think (from gauging off my brother who had the same age of onset and same exact pattern loss) finasteride alone would have done for me these years.

On the other hand, minoxidil foam is not as big of a hassle, and if you get a decent response to it, maybe you'll have "hairloss you can live with" through the next 5-7 years which could (who knows!?) be the bridge to the next big thing?

So, probably didn't help you make your decision there did I? Let me know if I can be more specific.

 

[KANGA]

LOL, well, you're fence sitting, but rightly so. Basically, "don't put all your eggs in one basket".

I guess I'll learn from your mistakes (or more nicely put, 'life lessons' ) and don't rely solely on minoxidil, and throw a lower dosage of finasteride into my regimen.

Which also reminds me that I should do update pics every so often, as well! Its hard, especially when it comes down to hair, to be your own judge.

 

[Nevis]

agreed! i wish I had pics because now, after so long, I find it really hard to say anything definite about my regimen(s). Except that it was, for the last 10 years, by and large stable with only narrow and largely non-cosmetically noticeable flux. With the dearth of actual study data, everyone here relies de facto on tales of others' experiences. So I wish I could turn my experience a bit more concrete with photos! Then, at least you could take a look and make your own conclusions instead of relying on my hearsay. Sorry I'm on the fence and couldn't give you a straight up or down.

I'd certainly like to re-incorporate finasteride into my regime myself. It did so well for so long. And I was perfectly happy with my hair 90% of the time (or at least had come to accept it!) Sucks to have to change your regime and go back into the worrying phase about whether you're going up or down! Makes you realize how much stability in hairloss means, even without regrowth. Just knowing that in a year you won't look significantly different! (Someone warned me here that changing my regime can be as bad as "throwing away the toupe"...that's not a pleasant thought!) Really wish we had more data on topical finasteride too. Anyway, keep me posted on how re-incorporating low dosages does for you. All the best!

 

[helpmyhair]

Nevis, why exactly did you quit finasteride?

 

[Nevis]

libido questions. not sure if they were the finasteride's fault or stress/life stuff. but after 9 years, wanted in any event to give my body a little rest. happy to report 2 months in i'm feeling fine and all systems go. Can't see any hair changes either. using fluridil as a temporary anti-androgen, then will re-start finasteride after some off-time.

 

[helpmyhair]

So you're saying that after being off it for 2 months, your libido has returned to how it was pre-finasteride?

 

[Nevis]

I don't want to fence-sit here either, but you do have to, in my case, qualify the "libido before finasteride." I got on finasteride when I was 19...10 years ago. And no, i do not have the libido now of a 19 year old.

But yes, removing finasteride has had a positive effect on my libido, and I have not had any of the problems that made me wonder in the first place if I was getting finasteride sides.