Hair loss after coming off propecia

[gh05]

Does it all really just disappear within 12 months (catch up balding)? Or does balding just resume at the rate it would have? i.e. propecia has delayed your balding by years even though you've come off it)

btw, this question to me for a number of reasons: -

- I may have side effects and needs to come off the drug.

- I may become concerned about it's long term effects and also the fact that I have prostate cancer in my family history and propecia masks the symptoms of prostate cancer making it quite dangerous in this sense

- I may want to have children ...while infertility isn't a common side effect of propecia, it has been said by fertility doctors that it can do some damage. Also, while trying to conceive I wouldn't be able to use the drug because of potential effects on the child, and also for the whole time my partner was pregnant I wouldn't be able to use it.

Comments on any of this appreciated.

 

[Cassin]

Sad to say it goes away from 12 to 24 months and you're where you would had you never started.

 

[cristi2011]

There's a fine point in what gh05 said.
Let's say you take propecia for 5 years. When you quit:
a) your hair will continue balding, starting from the 5 years ago state,
so after 1 year, you will be as 4-years ago if you wouldn't have taken propecia, etc
or
b)your hair will rapidly get in the state you would have if you
didn't take propecia at all, and continue balding from there.

I remember reading somewhere that the true situation is (a).
Because DHT damage is progressive , it needs time to destroy the follicle.
While it's inhibited, the damage is not done.

 

[Cassin]

There's a fine point in what gh05 said.
Let's say you take propecia for 5 years. When you quit:
a) your hair will continue balding, starting from the 5 years ago state,
so after 1 year, you will be as 4-years ago if you wouldn't have taken propecia, etc
or
b)your hair will rapidly get in the state you would have if you
didn't take propecia at all, and continue balding from there.

I remember reading somewhere that the true situation is (a).
Because DHT damage is progressive , it needs time to destroy the follicle.
While it's inhibited, the damage is not done.

Yeah...but you're being a little too specific IMO. I don't think there is anyway to be so specific.

Officially...according to the website for Propecia, "if you stop taking it, your results will gradually go away over 12 months." So thats kind of vague and only takes into account the effects of what finasteride did for you. How your own natural male pattern baldness plays into that is a wild card.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

A lot of us started to see deterioration as soon as a month or two went by without finasteride.

 

[gh05]

So did you view this as all of the hair which would have gone in that time just falling out in one (catch up balding) or just a resumption of balding?

What I'm trying to get at is whether taking Propecia for say 5 years could mean that even if I come off it at the age of 30, I will still have the hair that I would have otherwise had at 35, and then at 40 - the hair I would have otherwise had at 45. Do you see what I'm saying?

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

When you come off of propecia, the balding process returns. What this means is the hairs that have been kept alive by propecia will start to shed\miniaturize again, and the hairs that had not yet miniaturized but WOULD HAVE if you hadn't started finasteride will also start to decay again.

It will be entirely different for each person depending on your balding pattern and level of balding. Your hair might last an extra 2 months or it might last an extra two years.

 

[Rawtashk]

About the prostate cancer thing....

finasteride can actually help reduce the instance of low-grade prostate cancers. True, it can mask the higher grade ones, but just inform your doctor that you're on finasteride and it will help him to read the results better and lead to a correct diagnosis.

 

[gh05]

About the prostate cancer thing....

finasteride can actually help reduce the instance of low-grade prostate cancers. True, it can mask the higher grade ones, but just inform your doctor that you're on finasteride and it will help him to read the results better and lead to a correct diagnosis.

True, but it has also been shown to increase the incidence of high grade cancers. Maybe because it actually masks the symptoms so by the time you realise anything is wrong it has already spread. My dermatologist told me that you basically had to be off propecia for 6 months before they can test for prostate cancer so it is a serious risk.

Rawtashk ...you're obviously pretty much the biggest advocate of propecia I've seen on these boards - if you ever want to have kids will you come off the drug while you're trying to conceive and while your partner is pregnant? Assuming this catch up baldness is real (and it seems it is) then it almost seems pointless taking finasteride if you're going to need to come off it for so long.

and if you don't come off it then imagine panicking about things like kissing your partner after you've swallowed a tablet while she's pregnant....even the slightest trace can damage the baby. Has to be a concern for all younger finasteride users.

 

[Rawtashk]

I don't believe that the amount of finasteride in semen would be enough to harm the fetus, and I swallow my pills....I don't use them as chapstick

I've read of many many people that have fathered completely normal kids while on finasteride. However...my mind is not made up on that subject. Trust me, I will do exhaustive research when I feel like we're ready to start a family.

 

[gh05]

I don't believe that the amount of finasteride in semen would be enough to harm the fetus, and I swallow my pills....I don't use them as chapstick

I've read of many many people that have fathered completely normal kids while on finasteride. However...my mind is not made up on that subject. Trust me, I will do exhaustive research when I feel like we're ready to start a family.

From what I've read it says even the very slightest trace is dangerous. If it can be absorbed through the skin then other things surely have to be a concern. And i think the actual advice is to come off them at least while trying to conceive.