I’ve Been Using Finasteride for Years and Just Added Rogaine — What Else Can I Do?
Hello Doc,
I’m 27 year old male on finasteride (aprx 1 mg) for the past 3 years. I have thinning in the Frontal and Crown area. Before starting finasteride I use to lose approximately 100 hairs per day (aprx 30 hairs /day now). I don’t see great results with finasteride however I have retained most of my hair. I’m in the same stage as I was 3 years ago which is a good thing.
A year ago I also started using Rogaine liquid and I haven’t seen any results as well. I’m very consistent with my medication and haven’t missed my dose(99% of time). With respect to side effects I can say may be mild to moderate decrease in Libido, lost some hair in my legs but nothing major.
I’m considering hair transplant to the frontal and crown region to add thickness to my existing hair. I hope there wont be any shock loss as I have been on finasteride for a long time and will continue to do.
I was wondering what else I can do to retain all my hair and maybe grow some in frontal/crown/sides/back area as sometimes I feel my side and back region are also thinning.
Thank you very much.
I think you are doing pretty much all the right things. Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil) are the only medications approved by the FDA for the treatment of androgenic alopecia. The next step may (or may not be) a hair transplant, but that would be decided on by a consultation with a doctor.
If the sides and back of your head are also thinning, this isn’t typical of male pattern baldness, so your doctor will have to determine whether you’re even a surgical candidate. Good luck!
Finasteride and minoxidil. Hmmm… How about adding TOPICAL finasteride, and using it together with oral finasteride? Should this hold on to more hairs, or result in more (frontal) regrowth if you already had regrowth with oral finasteride, as it should reduce DHT levels further?
Oh, I believe Dr. R. already answered topical finasteride in a few entries, including such an opinion:
“I’m not sure which Indian paper you’re referring to, but to my knowledge topical finasteride doesn’t have proven value. It would require special formulations for topical use and some drug company would have to push it through the FDA before it was determined safe and effective.”
I went to Bosley and they mentioned that FDA has also approved the Lazer comb so you can give that a try along with the things you are already trying. If you do decide to use the Lazer comb let us know if that worked. Ofcourse the one that the Bosely is selling had Bosley written on it, I am not sure which Lazer comb brand is most effective but my guess would be they are all equally effective since they would need to be approved by the FDA.