Product dependence?

[cobey60]

You become entirely dependent on minoxidil and finasteride/dutasteride. In saying that I mean that if you stop using them for a few months you will lose everything you gained by using them and be in the same position as if you had never used them. Is this correct?

Can the same be said for the following products?
Tricomin
RU 58841
Topical spironolactone
Revivogen
Proxiphen-N
NANO Shampoo
Nizoral Shampoo

Or are these products (albeit some of them of questionable effectiveness in the first place, eg: revivogen) effective at delaying male pattern baldness without you becoming dependent on them (i.e. you could stop using them without suffering a massive shed)?

 

[bubka]

i think you are missing the point of being dependent on them, dependent in that you need them to continue your gains, and or maintenance, or you will return what nature had in store for you

now every thing on that list is like that, if you don't continue to use it, you will revert back to mom nature

shedding is related to often hair switching back to a different stage from the effect of treatment

 

[cobey60]

Yeah i know what you mean. But I guess what I am trying to establish is which products really do delay male pattern baldness altogether (if any), so that for example if you are Norwood 2 now at age 25 and would be Norwood 3 at age 26, but you use a product from age 25 to 26 to maintain nw2, THEN if you stopped using the product you would only reach a Norwood 3 when you turned 27. In other words a product that adds a full year delay to the male pattern baldness cycle. Do they exist?

In contrast it seems that with minoxidil and finasteride/dutasteride if you stop using them you more or less instantly lose all the hair they allowed you to retain, so that in the example above if you used them from age 25 to 26, then stopped you would revert to Norwood 3 and a bit by age 26 and a bit. Do you know what I mean?

I guess the reason I am asking is that circumstances (eg: side effects, changing life circumstances) may arise which mean that you have to cease using certain products for periods of time. Obviously retaining the hair you have for some time is better than not at all but I don't particularly fancy the idea of getting on a product regime only to lose all gained/retained hair if forced to cease the regime at some time...

Or is it generally accepted that once you start using ANY hair treatment, you should plan to stay on it for the rest of your life (at least until HM or something else arises)?