Quitting Propecia

[jeff2007]

I have been taking Propecia for 7 years. It has been completely effective for me, and although I haven't experienced drastic side effects, I am becoming increasingly uneasy about taking it.
My question is, has anybody quit taking this, and switched effectively to another treatment, like Rogain? If I quit completely, do I resume hairloss at the same rate, or will it be faster?

 

[stampede]

You'll lose all the hair you would have lost over those seven years. And I'm betting that's a lot of hair.

At this point, I wouldn't quit propecia unless you are okay with shaving your head.

 

[hairsucks]

Why after 7 years with no sides would you start feeling uneasy taking it?

 

[chef3]

I have been on propcia for 5 years with great results. I quit and started using rogaine foam. After 7 months I started to notice a very real rate of hair loss. I am convinced that if I had not re=started Propecia, I would have lost all of what I regrew in 12 months.

I do suffer from side effects. So, currently I am taking 1/2 pill to see if there is a difference. You have no sides but want to quit because of uneasiness? I wish I was that lucky.

 

[Pondle]

Are you sure? i thought propecia stops hairloss? if this is true propecia doesnt stop hairloss at all , it only masks it like rogaine..But soon as you stop using it your hair is gone.

Propecia is just a treatment, not a cure. It only halts hair loss for as long as you take it. Once you stop taking it, DHT levels rise again and the balding process resumes.

 

[Pondle]

Yes i knew that , But i was under the illusion that propecia actually stops hairloss , And once you stop using it your hairloss would start again but no catch up hairloss would occur. By what is being said in this post , It seems propecia only masks hairloss like rogaine.

I think 'masking' is the wrong term in the context of Propecia... minoxidil provides a growth stimulus which temporarily overrides the progression of balding - I guess you could call that a masking effect. Propecia halts or slows the progression of baldness by drastically reducing the prime causal agent, which as we know is DHT. So it is actually interfering with the biochemical process that leads to Androgenetic Alopecia, not simply 'masking' it.

 

[Pondle]

so that means when you stop using propecia your hairloss should be unchanged ? it will only start again but there will be no catch up?

You mean will there be a temporary acceleration in the rate of hair loss after stopping Propecia, followed by a return to slower 'normal' rate? Yeah I think that is possible, looking at the 5yr trial chart - note how the men given Propecia for a year, then switched to placebo, had a sudden fall to just below baseline at the end of year 2. Meanwhile the group given placebo for 5 yrs has a gentler loss curve... until year 3.