Yes, finasteride can work OK on long-term for some people.
I know a doctor who takes it for 18, in fact 19 years(18 was last year), has maintained since and never had any problems with it.
And there is that guy Spencer Kobren who also said that he takes the drug for more than 15 years now, and as we see he has a pretty decent head of hair.
If you eliminate the levels of DHT below a certain threshold, you will never lose your hair. That's very simple, but it seems that brains of certain people still can't grasp it.
- - - Updated - - -
I 2nd this, the doctor I saw for finasteride said he will "never in a million years prescribe dutasteride for male pattern baldness" which speaks volumes. Sure it will be more effective than finasteride but possibly at enormous costs due to its ability to almost completely eliminate an essential hormone.
My DHT levels on finasteride were BORDERLINE NORMAL. So it is clear that I needed dutasteride. And there may be lots of people with a similar problem. It's the level of DHT that should be taken into account. Not the type of the drug.
- - - Updated - - -
I didn't know minoxidil lost effectiveness over time... Can someone elaborate a bit on that? - So after it losses its effectiveness, my hair gained will just fall out, and I will be returned to pre-minoxidil state?
The effect of minoxidil is dose-dependent. This means that it will never lose efficiacy, if the dosage is strong enough since the very beginning. But the problem is that the only legal option is 5% - and it may be too weak for some people in the long run. By the way, there are people, who have been on 5% minoxidil for 20+ years
http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/...d=90004&STARTPAGE=2&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear
- - - Updated - - -
There was a study on 128 men that had continued growth even after 10 years of using finasteride. I would say the effectiveness of finasteride probably falls somewhere imbetween long-term. But you are correct. Finasteride will work forever is a bold claim. Men that are balding should never count on the fact that their drugs will work indefinitely. They should always be mentally prepping themself to go bald at some point in their life. Which doesn't mean they can't hope that something will come out to cure this disease for us in the future.
You still live in the previous century. If you eliminate the hormone that causes hair loss, how could you then lose your hair? Do women go bald on a regular basis (with their negligible levels of DHT)?
- - - Updated - - -
finasteride works forever for some people. What about dutasteride though ? Is it true that dutasteride lowers DHT lower than that of castrated men? Castrated men never lose their hair, ever. Does this mean it is almost as good as a cure?
The studies that have been done so far show that finasteride is effective in ca. 85% men (but less in the younger ones). Long-term studies on dutasteride aren't available, but the data indicate ca. 96% efficiacy.
Personally, I would strongly recommend dutasteride to young men, because their androgen levels are too high and finasteride simply may not be strong enough.
- - - Updated - - -
Finasteride doesn't work forever. If it was the case, we would already have our cure: finasteride.
Don't make such bold claims on the forums without backing them up.
While you are making defeatist claims that have no scientific support and actually, they are going against the available evidence? That's O.K.?
- - - Updated - - -
Finasteride doesn't work forever. If it was the case, we would already have our cure: finasteride.
Don't make such bold claims on the forums without backing them up.
After nearly 18 years on anti-hairloss drugs, no internet fool will convince me that hair loss can't be controlled.