Choice between finasteride and dutasteride

[Heavyduty]

Today I will be seeing a dermatologist to get a prescription for hair loss.

I have a choice between asking for Finasteride and Dutasteride, and I'm a 21 year old with aggressive hair loss. I personally do not care for the side effects, the main priority is saving what I can of my hair.

Would you reccomend I ask for Dutasteride instead of Finasteride? I have read many horror stories about the latter, and the "99%" maintenance study was on Japanese (or other East-Asians) who tend to respond much better.

The question is simple, which one do I ask for?

 

[br1]

Why not start with Fun.? after all it's been approved for hair loss..

Besides, AR-1 & 3 (blocked by dit) are present in many vital organs.. Who knows what role they play there...

If after at least one year you don't see any improvement... Then consider another route...

 

[MoBishop]

Related to this topic, when do you know when to give up on finasteride and jump on dutasteride? I've seen some posters switch within under a year so I'm not really sure about the threshold for changing meds

As for you OP, I agree with br1. I'd start with finasteride and see how it affects your hair/body. dutasteride is a lot more aggressive, so you don't want to play around with your hormones too much without having an idea of how they react to a dht inhibitor

 

[goingtowin]

finasteride has worked for me

 

[Funkymonk1]

Related to this topic, when do you know when to give up on finasteride and jump on dutasteride? I've seen some posters switch within under a year so I'm not really sure about the threshold for changing meds

As for you OP, I agree with br1. I'd start with finasteride and see how it affects your hair/body. dutasteride is a lot more aggressive, so you don't want to play around with your hormones too much without having an idea of how they react to a dht inhibitor

I've been told by my pharmacist that if you're still losing at about the year mark it's probably a good indicator that finasteride isn't going to work.

 

[Heavyduty]

Just had the visit and I'm not satisfied at all.

Upon entering I mentioned thinking I was losing my hair, and that every male in my family had aggressive easy onset hair loss.

After barely checking my scalp, he decides I have something called telogen effluvium, which I hadn't even heard of until now. He gave me the prescription for a bunch of drugs and topical stuff.

I ask him about the clearly shrinking hair in my temples, which have really receded and now have small thin hairs, which I believe to be miniaturization due to Androgenetic Alopecia and he says he wants to check for this first and to report back on May 10, a whole 2 and a half months from now.

I feel bull****ed, and I know this is androgenic alopecia, every male in my family but me is pretty much bald or seriously balding.

Should I make an appointment to a dermatologist that will prescribe me finasteride or dutasteride? I can have one by the end of the week. I do not want to take any chances with this.

 

[br1]

If you can, yes I would seek a second opinion.

 

[MoBishop]

Just had the visit and I'm not satisfied at all.

Upon entering I mentioned thinking I was losing my hair, and that every male in my family had aggressive easy onset hair loss.

After barely checking my scalp, he decides I have something called telogen effluvium, which I hadn't even heard of until now. He gave me the prescription for a bunch of drugs and topical stuff.

I ask him about the clearly shrinking hair in my temples, which have really receded and now have small thin hairs, which I believe to be miniaturization due to Androgenetic Alopecia and he says he wants to check for this first and to report back on May 10, a whole 2 and a half months from now.

I feel bull****ed, and I know this is androgenic alopecia, every male in my family but me is pretty much bald or seriously balding.

Should I make an appointment to a dermatologist that will prescribe me finasteride or dutasteride? I can have one by the end of the week. I do not want to take any chances with this.

I'm sorry to hear this brah. I really feel that any idiot with at least average intelligence can become a doctor these days if they are persistent and willing to take on the debt!

My dr did a cursory check of my scalp as well and wrote me a script for finasteride; I'm not too familiar with telogen effluvium, so hopefully someone can give you some better insight. The topical "prescription" is a total waste given that you could have saved the cost/time of the visit and went to Walgreens

If I were you, I'd seek a second opinion from a derm who specializes in hair loss. Definitely be sure to google this beforehand; many derms don't know jack about male pattern baldness and yet have the audacity to prescribe treatments. I'm sorry you have to waste your money dealing with fools. I feel cheated just reading this

- - - Updated - - -

One other thing; try to push for finasteride. I was lucky that my Doctor agreed with me, and I talked him into prescribing me generic proscar after he initially wrote the script for the overpriced name-brand equivalent, propecia

 

[Wolf Pack]

I've been told by my pharmacist that if you're still losing at about the year mark it's probably a good indicator that finasteride isn't going to work.

That's also what the trials show too. The first year is indicative of long term results. If you regrow at the one year mark, you have a very low probability of being worse off at 10 years. In fact, you will probably grow some more. I am 15 months in on finasteride and I thickened up a lot in my first year. My hairline was Norwood 2.5 with slick corners but that is slowly regrowing terminals too with many new soft hairs. dutasteride gives much faster results I reckon and better maintenance for some people.

 

[Funkymonk1]

That's also what the trials show too. The first year is indicative of long term results. If you regrow at the one year mark, you have a very low probability of being worse off at 10 years. In fact, you will probably grow some more. I am 15 months in on finasteride and I thickened up a lot in my first year. My hairline was Norwood 2.5 with slick corners but that is slowly regrowing terminals too with many new soft hairs. dutasteride gives much faster results I reckon and better maintenance for some people.

Cool sounds like a success story! Your original hairline sounds similar to mine and I'd be ok with maintenance but obviously I'd love regrowth too. Did you get the regrowth/thickening without Min? When did you first notice an improvement?