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I'm new to this forum and thought I'd ask for advice and share a cautionary tale. (One which is partially my fault, but anyway, lemme tell it.) I'm 36, I have no hair loss in the back, but I have a badly receding forehead (Norwood 3 or 3A).
My grandfather on my mother's side was bald, so I was always worried about hair loss, throughout my 20s. I basically had a high forehead with receding temples in my late 20s, and in my early 30s, I started to take Propecia, prescribed by a doctor in San Francisco. I took Propecia regularly from age 30 to 34. I had sort of a psychological pattern: whenever I was in a steady relationship and feeling good, I wouldn't worry about my hair (although I'd continue taking Propecia). When I had just gone through a breakup, I would worry about my hair and I'd usually find myself asking my 'hair doctor' about something else I could take -- implants, or Rogaine, or whatever. I briefly tried Rogaine during one of these periods, for about six months, but then I stopped because I got in a new relationship and, well, I was too proud to let my girlfriend at the time see my putting Rogaine on my hair twice a day. (Why isn't it sold as a dang conditioner? Sigh...)
Anyway, my hairline stayed more or less steady until I was 34. At this point... shortly after my 34th birthday, I went through a really bad breakup. I found myself going to my hair doctor more and asking him if he'd consider putting me on that new medication, Avodart, that I'd heard of? -_- He said "We *could* put you on Avodart, but I don't think you need it yet. The problem with Avodart is that you take it and then go off it, Propecia won't work for you anymore, and you'll lose lots of hair. Just keep taking Propecia and check in with me in a few months."
The problem came when I checked in in a few months, just to make sure I was 'holding the course'. My doctor said, "Oh, you've lost some hair." He asked if I had been through any stress recently and said that stress could trigger permanent (he actually said permanent, I almost wish he had lied and said temporary, so I wouldn't have freaked out so much) hair loss. Well, I was still stressing out about the breakup a few months previously. I knew in my mind that I'd never be 'less' stressed again, so I had no choice but to get on stronger medication. So I asked him to PLEASE put me on Avodart.
Anyway, I went on Avodart. After eight months in on the Avodart, my hair was holding steady, and (purely coincidentally, since she didn't know about any of my crazy hair nonsense, of course) I was back together with my ex-girlfriend.
Then.... the Avodart made me impotent.
Let me tell you: it sucked. If I had been straight-up suddenly unable to have sex, that would have been one thing; but the GRADUAL loss of function, in which I spent months with my sex life collapsing without realizing the reason for what was going on, was the worst.
Anyway, as soon as I realized what was going on, I went to my hair doctor and asked him to take me off Avodart. He reminded me that "if I went off Avodart I'd lose lots of hair," and instead he gave me a prescription for Viagra. My thoughts were basically, "Great. Now I am stuck taking TWO medications. This is ridiculous. No way I'm going to be stuck taking fricking Viagra at my age."
Then my girlfriend dumped me for the second time. The impotence had been a factor in the breakup. (I'm sure my own psychological issues as expressed in this post were a factor too, of course, but...) I was so annoyed that I went against the doctor's advice and went off Avodart. I mean, I simply *couldn't* stay on Avodart, even in a reduced dosage; it was associated in my mind with my breakup. And I could never be *sure* that I wasn't suffering sexual side effects unless I went off it completely (I had never had impotence problems with Propecia). I was sure I could handle whatever hair shedding might happen. So I cut off all ties with that doctor and got another doctor to proscribe me Propecia.
Unfortunately my first doctor's advice was correct, and I lost a *lot* of hair. At first I would wake up, wash my hair and think "Well, my hairline looks OK... the shedding is probably over by now... I guess going off Avodart wasn't a problem..." but then as the months went on, I thought, "Oh crap. I'm still losing hair." and "I'm STILL losing hair." In fact, although I've been taking Propecia consistently since then, I don't even know if the Propecia is having any effect anymore; my ex-doctor said that Propecia generally doesn't work on people once they've taken Avodart, I guess because their body has built up a resistance to the stronger drug. I basically walled myself into a corner: the Avodart made me impotent, but I couldn't go off it without losing hair. And so I went off it, and lost hair. I thought that having a working penis was worth any amount of hair loss – and frankly, it is – but it's hard to live with the knowledge that if I'd never gone on the stupid Avodart, I would have both a working penis *and* about an inch more hair on my forehead.
So, in short: my experience with Avodart was horrible. If you are luckier than me and you don't experience any sexual side effects, then more power to you. But for me, it sucked.
Of course, I have only myself to blame for asking my doctor to put me on it, but I'm still mad at my doctor for freaking me out by telling me I was suffering stress-based hair loss, and again for his crappy non-solution of prescribing Viagra.
If anyone has had similar experiences going off of Avodart, I'd love to hear about them! It's only been about a year, and I'm still trying to figure out if Propecia will do anything for me anymore.
My grandfather on my mother's side was bald, so I was always worried about hair loss, throughout my 20s. I basically had a high forehead with receding temples in my late 20s, and in my early 30s, I started to take Propecia, prescribed by a doctor in San Francisco. I took Propecia regularly from age 30 to 34. I had sort of a psychological pattern: whenever I was in a steady relationship and feeling good, I wouldn't worry about my hair (although I'd continue taking Propecia). When I had just gone through a breakup, I would worry about my hair and I'd usually find myself asking my 'hair doctor' about something else I could take -- implants, or Rogaine, or whatever. I briefly tried Rogaine during one of these periods, for about six months, but then I stopped because I got in a new relationship and, well, I was too proud to let my girlfriend at the time see my putting Rogaine on my hair twice a day. (Why isn't it sold as a dang conditioner? Sigh...)
Anyway, my hairline stayed more or less steady until I was 34. At this point... shortly after my 34th birthday, I went through a really bad breakup. I found myself going to my hair doctor more and asking him if he'd consider putting me on that new medication, Avodart, that I'd heard of? -_- He said "We *could* put you on Avodart, but I don't think you need it yet. The problem with Avodart is that you take it and then go off it, Propecia won't work for you anymore, and you'll lose lots of hair. Just keep taking Propecia and check in with me in a few months."
The problem came when I checked in in a few months, just to make sure I was 'holding the course'. My doctor said, "Oh, you've lost some hair." He asked if I had been through any stress recently and said that stress could trigger permanent (he actually said permanent, I almost wish he had lied and said temporary, so I wouldn't have freaked out so much) hair loss. Well, I was still stressing out about the breakup a few months previously. I knew in my mind that I'd never be 'less' stressed again, so I had no choice but to get on stronger medication. So I asked him to PLEASE put me on Avodart.
Anyway, I went on Avodart. After eight months in on the Avodart, my hair was holding steady, and (purely coincidentally, since she didn't know about any of my crazy hair nonsense, of course) I was back together with my ex-girlfriend.
Then.... the Avodart made me impotent.
Let me tell you: it sucked. If I had been straight-up suddenly unable to have sex, that would have been one thing; but the GRADUAL loss of function, in which I spent months with my sex life collapsing without realizing the reason for what was going on, was the worst.
Anyway, as soon as I realized what was going on, I went to my hair doctor and asked him to take me off Avodart. He reminded me that "if I went off Avodart I'd lose lots of hair," and instead he gave me a prescription for Viagra. My thoughts were basically, "Great. Now I am stuck taking TWO medications. This is ridiculous. No way I'm going to be stuck taking fricking Viagra at my age."
Then my girlfriend dumped me for the second time. The impotence had been a factor in the breakup. (I'm sure my own psychological issues as expressed in this post were a factor too, of course, but...) I was so annoyed that I went against the doctor's advice and went off Avodart. I mean, I simply *couldn't* stay on Avodart, even in a reduced dosage; it was associated in my mind with my breakup. And I could never be *sure* that I wasn't suffering sexual side effects unless I went off it completely (I had never had impotence problems with Propecia). I was sure I could handle whatever hair shedding might happen. So I cut off all ties with that doctor and got another doctor to proscribe me Propecia.
Unfortunately my first doctor's advice was correct, and I lost a *lot* of hair. At first I would wake up, wash my hair and think "Well, my hairline looks OK... the shedding is probably over by now... I guess going off Avodart wasn't a problem..." but then as the months went on, I thought, "Oh crap. I'm still losing hair." and "I'm STILL losing hair." In fact, although I've been taking Propecia consistently since then, I don't even know if the Propecia is having any effect anymore; my ex-doctor said that Propecia generally doesn't work on people once they've taken Avodart, I guess because their body has built up a resistance to the stronger drug. I basically walled myself into a corner: the Avodart made me impotent, but I couldn't go off it without losing hair. And so I went off it, and lost hair. I thought that having a working penis was worth any amount of hair loss – and frankly, it is – but it's hard to live with the knowledge that if I'd never gone on the stupid Avodart, I would have both a working penis *and* about an inch more hair on my forehead.
So, in short: my experience with Avodart was horrible. If you are luckier than me and you don't experience any sexual side effects, then more power to you. But for me, it sucked.
Of course, I have only myself to blame for asking my doctor to put me on it, but I'm still mad at my doctor for freaking me out by telling me I was suffering stress-based hair loss, and again for his crappy non-solution of prescribing Viagra.
If anyone has had similar experiences going off of Avodart, I'd love to hear about them! It's only been about a year, and I'm still trying to figure out if Propecia will do anything for me anymore.
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