Time To Start Dropping My Treatment

[dralex]

I have been on finasteride and rogaine for over 2 years now. I just recently saw some photos of me from 2 years ago when I started the treatments, and I am shocked. I didn't realize how bad my hair has really gotten over the past 2 years. My hair was sooo thick and my hairline wasn't too bad, except for some temple recession. Looking at the photos, I couldn't tell I had any hair loss whatsoever. My hairline is receding like crazy now, especially in the center, and my hair is starting to thin all over. I will no longer be taking rogaine starting today. I am planning on going to the dermatologist next week to try to get a prescription for dutasteride. If that doesn't work then I am dropping everything. I will keep you guys updated on how my hair changes after dropping these treatments. I am guessing that there will be little to no change, as I don't think these treatments have been effective whatsoever.

EDIT: Update below

 

[[email protected]]

That sucks man. Really does.
I'm almost at 2y on finasteride myself without gain or maintenance. I hope dutasteride works out for you.

You may experience a shed dropping minoxidil. Might be good to try to taper off gradually.

 

[IggyPop]

Sry, to hear about your bad experiences with the treatments. Thanks in advance for keeping us updated, I really wonder how this is possible....

 

[Massive]

Sorry to hear
..
I know exactley how you feel. By the way if you don't get a prescription you can always buy generics online without prescription or buy a dutasteride prescription online from Medical Wellness Center. Plus there are some sites selling brand name avodart for decent prices.
I hope dutasteride for works for you.

 

[michel sapin]

exact same thing happened to me . caught hairloss early, now 2 years on propecia and 8 month on rogaine , i am way below baseline . I have got a script for duta , but too scared to start the stuff . I don't want to add a gyno to my current issue

 

[Agustin Araujo]

Yeah, sometimes treatment may not able to halt balding if your Androgenic Alopecia is really severe. I wouldn't stop treatment though if it's been helping.

 

[Massive]

exact same thing happened to me . caught hairloss early, now 2 years on propecia and 8 month on rogaine , i am way below baseline . I have got a script for duta , but too scared to start the stuff . I don't want to add a gyno to my current issue

It's not just gyno. i shed like a motherfucker when I took dutasteride for 3 months. Never recovered. It's not easy to make a successful switch. Maybe I should have started with dutasteride from start.

 

[jetlife1]

I'm sorry guys but I just don't see how this is possible. If DHT is the cause of your hair loss then finasteride will work for you. Have you been taking finasteride every day? Is it legit finasteride from a pharmacy with a prescription? Do you apply rogaine twice a day? Are you sure you're hair just isn't going through shed cycles to grow back thicker? Are you sure you have androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness)? Have you been consistent with your regimen and have not changed it at all? Have you taken pictures and are sure your hair is worse?

If you can answer yes to all of those that I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you're part of the minority who doesn't respond to treatments or maybe you don't have androgenetic alopecia. Why do I never see pictures of people who claim they are worse than when they started?

 

[JHCL1990]

I have been on finasteride and rogaine for over 2 years now. I just recently saw some photos of me from 2 years ago when I started the treatments, and I am shocked. I didn't realize how bad my hair has really gotten over the past 2 years. My hair was sooo thick and my hairline wasn't too bad, except for some temple recession. Looking at the photos, I couldn't tell I had any hair loss whatsoever. My hairline is receding like crazy now, especially in the center, and my hair is starting to thin all over. I will no longer be taking rogaine starting today. I am planning on going to the dermatologist next week to try to get a prescription for dutasteride. If that doesn't work then I am dropping everything. I will keep you guys updated on how my hair changes after dropping these treatments. I am guessing that there will be little to no change, as I don't think these treatments have been effective whatsoever.

Don't you dare stop ANYTHING. Keep everything but add in dutasteride.

I was on finasteride for ~2 years and rogaine ~1 year and my hair (left temple primarily) was going downhill. I added in dutasteride, got even worse for 2-4 months, but now my hair is noticeably better.

 

[dralex]

Don't you dare stop ANYTHING. Keep everything but add in dutasteride.

I was on finasteride for ~2 years and rogaine ~1 year and my hair (left temple primarily) was going downhill. I added in dutasteride, got even worse for 2-4 months, but now my hair is noticeably better.

I am definitely stopping rogaine. It has been a huge waste of money and time. Not going to drop the finasteride until I make an appointment with my dermatologist to see what he thinks.

 

[michel sapin]

i would like to add duta but too scared of the gyno , my dht level are already too low

 

[dralex]

I'm sorry guys but I just don't see how this is possible. If DHT is the cause of your hair loss then finasteride will work for you. Have you been taking finasteride every day? Is it legit finasteride from a pharmacy with a prescription? Do you apply rogaine twice a day? Are you sure you're hair just isn't going through shed cycles to grow back thicker? Are you sure you have androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness)? Have you been consistent with your regimen and have not changed it at all? Have you taken pictures and are sure your hair is worse?

If you can answer yes to all of those that I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you're part of the minority who doesn't respond to treatments or maybe you don't have androgenetic alopecia. Why do I never see pictures of people who claim they are worse than when they started?

First off, I don't believe DHT is the sole cause of male pattern baldness; it is just one of the contributing factors. I have been doing my treatments extremely consistently (propecia daily and rogaine 2x a day), and haven't missed more than a week of treatments total over the course of 2 years because I was so determined to keep my hair. My finasteride is a propecia prescription I got from my dermatologist so it is definitely legit. My hair may be going through sheds, but it is not growing back, and I have been on both propecia and rogaine for over 2 years consistently now. My dermatologist diagnosed it as male pattern baldness and it is in a male pattern baldness pattern (receding hairline). I have plenty of pictures of it getting worse. I have over 100 pictures on my laptop of my hair over the past 2 years since starting treatments. BUT I am not going to post them because I don't know how to photoshop my face out/don't feel like going through the trouble. Why would I post these pictures though? I am not trying to determine whether my hair has gotten worse; I am 100% positive it has gotten significantly worse and has been progressively getting worse over time. Also I don't give a sh*t whether you believe me or not. I will show these pictures of my hair getting worse to my dermatologist if he asks, but he already knows that my hair has been getting worse, because he even said so last time I made an appointment (1 year ago), and said I appear to not be responding to the finasteride.

 

[TD500]

Same boat 2 years for me as well, I dropped minoxidil after the first year because it did nothing just made me lose more hair. Still take finasteride though.

 

[Hangin'on Hair]

I'm sorry guys but I just don't see how this is possible. If DHT is the cause of your hair loss then finasteride will work for you.

It is possible. It doesn't always work.

 

[Samson123]

dralex, I'd be careful about dropping treatments. The fact is finasteride in some people can kick hairloss/miniaturization into overdrive. Thats exactly what it did to me. I don't understand why people twist themselves into knots trying to deny this. I guess it's just tto hard to accept that one has destroyed their hair trying to save it. These pics were taken two weeks apart and the second one was taken after being on .25 mg finasteride for seven days. Now, this is no one's rate of hairloss and certainly not mine and proves without a doubt that finasteride can make hair follicles way, way more sensitive to dht. I was thinning primarily in the frontal third for three or so years before starting finasteride. My crown, midscalp, sides and donor area were still insanely thick. After just nine months of finasteride all of these areas thinned out considerably and all of my hair became a lot finer. Given the rate of my hairloss and considering I had none in the crown/midscalp, finasteride fast forwarded my loss many years. The craziest thing is that some of my thinnest areas are in the donor area. So consider your situation carefully. If you think your hair looks bad now, it can get a lot worse fast.

 

[dralex]

UPDATE:
Wanted to update what I am doing. Went to the dermatologist today (he is one of the best dermatologists in my state for hair loss), and he basically said there is nothing left I can do at my age, and that he wouldn't prescribe dutasteride. He said that I could increase my dosage of finasteride to 2mg daily, but it most likely won't make much of a difference. He also agreed that rogaine could be doing literally nothing for me. He recommended I stay on finasteride at least, and I could cut out rogaine but run the risk of a big shed. After listening to him talk about dutasteride I kind of agree that it is a bad idea. He talked about how it inhibits type I of the isoenzymes (finasteride doesn't), which is greatly present in the brain. There apparently is almost no research done on the effects of dutasteride on young men, but there is plenty of research regarding finasteride. Also the half-life is ridiculously longer so it stays in your system way after stopping treatment. I know I could buy dutasteride online, but after hearing all this I am not going to touch the stuff until there is more research done on the drug. I think I am going to stop rogaine and try 2mg finasteride daily for a while. I may eventually cut everything out, but I am going to just try to stop thinking about hair loss, and most importantly, I am going to stop having faith that things will get better in the near future or that a cure will come out, because the chances of that are slim to none. My plan now is to just accept the genetics I was handed, and work with what I got. Good luck to you all. Going to stop going on these forums as much, because it really just makes me think about my hair loss even more.

 

[hairblues]

First off, I don't believe DHT is the sole cause of male pattern baldness; it is just one of the contributing factors. I have been doing my treatments extremely consistently (propecia daily and rogaine 2x a day), and haven't missed more than a week of treatments total over the course of 2 years because I was so determined to keep my hair. My finasteride is a propecia prescription I got from my dermatologist so it is definitely legit. My hair may be going through sheds, but it is not growing back, and I have been on both propecia and rogaine for over 2 years consistently now. My dermatologist diagnosed it as male pattern baldness and it is in a male pattern baldness pattern (receding hairline). I have plenty of pictures of it getting worse. I have over 100 pictures on my laptop of my hair over the past 2 years since starting treatments. BUT I am not going to post them because I don't know how to photoshop my face out/don't feel like going through the trouble. Why would I post these pictures though? I am not trying to determine whether my hair has gotten worse; I am 100% positive it has gotten significantly worse and has been progressively getting worse over time. Also I don't give a sh*t whether you believe me or not. I will show these pictures of my hair getting worse to my dermatologist if he asks, but he already knows that my hair has been getting worse, because he even said so last time I made an appointment (1 year ago), and said I appear to not be responding to the finasteride.

can you get a biopsy? If you do as them to take 2 samples punch biopsy..

Sometimes you can have multiple things going on inflammation etc