Been on Propecia for 12 or 13 years

[icedawg]

Hey all,

I've been on Propecia for about 12-13 years (started at age 20 or so). I started because my parents at the time noticed a small baldish spot at my crown, and they were concerned b/c my dad started to lose his hair at 18. I went to a hair transplant doctor at the time, and he agreed there was some thinning there, took some photos, and started me on Propecia.

While on Propecia, I've never really noticed any side-effects, save for loss of morning erection, and ejaculations have a slightly different sensation. I didn't notice any regrowth over that spot while taking it, but also didn't notice any loss. A few years ago I could have sworn the spot got larger (depending on lighting, or styling, it just looks worse sometimes). I went back to that doctor, he reviewed my original photos, and said there was essentially no change and that I should stay on Propecia. The spot is somewhere around 1.5-2 cm or so, and there is thinning anterior to it on the top of my head, but I think it has always been there; I believe he may have said I have 50% density there, but I honestly can't remember.

I've been wondering whether I was ever actually losing my hair, or if perhaps for whatever reason, the thinned density on the top of my head is normal for me. I read that stopping Propecia for 6-12 months should cause the loss of all the hair it had prevented from falling out; I also read that it apparently takes 3 months for it to start working once taking it. So, I stopped it for about 6 months back in 2011, and then restarted it, thinking that would create a time period of about 9 months for loss to occur. Didn't really notice any loss though. Also, I've never noticed a change in the front hairline.

I decided to try stopping it again in June of 2012. I just restarted it again this March, so I stopped for 9 months this time, thinking if it takes 3 months to start working, that'll be a full 12 months. I resumed taking it because again, it just sometimes looks like the spot is larger to me, or that the surrounding hair has thinned. Before I stopped it this time I took some initial photos, but looking at them now, the quality and lighting aren't so great and I only took a couple. It does really look to me like the spot has gotten larger, but again, I've thought that before, so I just don't know. If I actually had been losing it at age 20, then now, 13 years later, shouldn't I noticed some dramatic hair loss after stopping Propecia for 9 months?

So maybe this is a dumb question, but how do you KNOW for sure that you're losing your hair? The only time I see a lot of hair loss is when I put gel in my hair--but I use strong spiking gel (Got2Be); I've tried counting the individual hairs stuck to my hands afterwards, and that can range from in the teens all the way to in the 40's--but it does not seem to vary whether I'm on Propecia at the time or not.

Any insight you guys can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[frankJ]

Hey man. Let me start off with "I'm not a doctor or anything." But anyways, I don't think the scenario about how you believe propecia works is correct.
First of all, Propecia isn't a medication that stimulates hair growth. What it does is block the formation of DHT. DHT inhibits hair growth, by attaching to the hair follicle, and over time shrinks it.
So, propecia begins working soon after ingesting your first dose. The day after your first dose, your DHT levels will be reduced, and as long as you keep taking it, your DHT levels should remain low. When people say it takes ~3 months or so to work, they really mean, before the rate of hair loss to slow or stop, and maybe grow some more hair. Although DHT is lowered immediatly after starting propecia, there is already DHT attached to your follicles that will remain for some time, and continue doing damage. Also you might notice new growth at this time that would be there otherwise.
Also, as the idea that when you stop propecia all the hair that propecia saved will soon fall out sounds like nonsense. The propecia isn't holding it in place or anything. When you stop propecia your DHT levels will increase and hair loss will continue probably as before. I've stopped propecia for 6 months to a year a couple of times and the loss wasn't that dramatic. A caveat to that though is that when you stop propecia that your DHT levels might go higher than before. Or, the fact that while taking propecia a fraction of DHT remains in your body, so it might be doing damage to your follicles, and when you stop propecia and the DHT levels shoot back up, the follicles that are already "weakened" will experience quicker loss. I don't really know.
I'd keep taking it if I were you though. I intend to.

[Soxfaninfl]

Hey man. Let me start off with "I'm not a doctor or anything." But anyways, I don't think the scenario about how you believe propecia works is correct.
First of all, Propecia isn't a medication that stimulates hair growth. What it does is block the formation of DHT.

This is wrong. Propecia does stimulate regrowth for some. My temples got thicker after they started to thin. I've been on the medication now for 1 year.

[frankJ]

I don't think the propecia "stimulated" you hair growth.

Think of it this way. If you chop your balls off does that stimulate hair growth?

[Soxfaninfl]

I don't think the propecia "stimulated" you hair growth.

As measured by hair counts, in a 5-year study of men with mild to moderate hair loss, 2 out of 3 of the men who took 1 mg of finasteride daily regrew some hair. In contrast, all of the men in the study who were not taking finasteride lost hair. In the same study, based on photographs that were reviewed by an independent panel of dermatologists, 48% of those treated with finasteride experienced visible regrowth of hair, and a further 42% had no further loss.

[25 going on 65]

I think you guys are possibly just using different words to describe the same thing (increased hair growth when using finasteride)

[Soxfaninfl]

Propecia did allow me to regrow what I had lost since I started so early on the medication and didn't have to regrow much. Otherwise I was headed towards a NW7. My hair was rapidly falling out. My dad started to lose his hair at 35 (I started at 36). By the time he was 50, he was a NW7. That was probably where I was headed at the rate of my loss. I got on fin quickly because I was losing so much.

[Gandolf]

Also, as the idea that when you stop propecia all the hair that propecia saved will soon fall out sounds like nonsense.

I agree. Being on Propecia for 12 or 13 years means that you were preventing or greatly slowing the damage to the follicles that would have been caused had the DHT levels been left unabated. Even if you stop, it's not like your hairs are going to experience the equivalent of 13 years of damage all at once as soon as you stop.

[icedawg]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I restarted Propecia a couple months ago, and I took piles of pictures at the time, so I should be able to better assess whether I'm losing hair when I stop Propecia again in the future. Like most people I just don't want to take a drug if I don't have to!

And thanks for clarifying that I shouldn't expect all my hair to just fall out after stopping the drug for 6-12 months.

[jamesj]

@Icedawg - Did you determine whether you were losing your hair in the first place? If you are still taking the medication how is your hair holding up?