After Taking 5mg Finasteride For Years, Has Cutting the Dosage Caused Hair Loss?

I have been taking finasteride 5mg for 6 years and it has done a good job. I started cutting the pill in half and over the course of 5 months since I did so, I lost an incredible amount of hair. Do you think this is because I cut the dosage?

I think if you were taking finasteride at 5mg strength daily for genetic hair loss, you were likely wasting your money and over medicating yourself. Did your doctor prescribe this to you for treating hair loss or do you have prostate issues? The recommended dose is 1mg daily for treating hair loss. Taking more just gives a higher chance of side effects. As far as I’m aware, more finasteride doesn’t mean more hair… so cutting the drug dose from 5mg to 2.5mg daily shouldn’t mean less hair.

I do not know why you are losing more hair. It may be that your genetic predisposition is taking its normal progressive course. You should follow up with your doctor for their assessment and recommendation.

Just understand the big picture here: There is no drug (no matter how high of a dose) that will stop hair loss completely and forever. Finasteride slows it down or even temporarily reverses hair loss to some degree, but over the course of years (and your lifetime) your genetic fate will win. If you are destined to lose your hair, it will happen. It is not related to the drug dosage. It is more related to time.