If you are planning on quitting propecia eventually should you even start?

[rtpatter]

I just turned 36 and have thinning at the crown and temples. Using rogaine has helped a little but not much. I have been on the fence about propecia. I would really doubt if I could tolerate the drug anyway but the unknown long term effects would definitely keep me from using the drug for life. So the question is if I plan on quitting in 4 or 5 years should I even bother starting.

[CND23]

If someone plans to quit Propecia before they even started it, it might not be for them. Thier's risks and benefits as clinical studies show. If you visit the site it will tell you what to expect and you'll hear it from your doctor also if you start. I've been on it two months now with no side effects (so far) and seems to have completely stopped any shedding. I guess it comes down to the decision of do you really wanna quit losing your hair or quit losing your mind over your hair.. GL

[whyyyyyyyyyyy]

Propecia supposedly starts to lose it's effectiveness by that time, so you'd probably quit by then anyway.

[ohlife]

Also, given the number of companies working on hair loss cures/treatments at the moment, it might pay for many to take propecia for 5 years to 'keep them going' until something potentially comes a long. Whether it does though is another matter.

[rtpatter]

Well from what I can determine that is really the best propecia can offer long term is simply to delay long enough for something better to come out. After a period of years 5 to 7 it seems to lose its effectiveness and you are about where you started. Again if you are in your early 20's that 5 to 7 years could be crucial but for everyone else it seems like a fairly big risk simply to delay the inevitable.

BTW -
when is the next big treatment if Minox was 1987 and Propecia was 1997 shouldn't we have had something in 2007 that was even better than the first 2?

[blakes33]

Propecia supposedly starts to lose it's effectiveness by that time, so you'd probably quit by then anyway.

As far as effectiveness goes - it did NOT lose it's effectiveness after 5 or 6 years for me. 14 years later and "mostly" the same hair as when I started. Yes, I have had more thinning in the last couple of years, but not much!! At the very least propecia will dramatically slow hair loss (for most men) even though it may not stop it completely after a time period.