I am a current propecia user who is currently 23 years old. For the longest time I was scared to death of taking this medication because of the horror stories I read all over the internet. About a month ago I finally decided I’d go for it after researching it more and listening to your take on it. Well so far it has been working great and I have not experience any of the potential sides except a large increase in my sex drive. It is so much so that I have to masturbate at least once a day just to relieve myself. With your patients is this fairly common? It seems like most people experience the opposite.

I have found that this is not an uncommon finding with Propecia, but most people who experience it report that it returns to normal levels after a few months. I hope, for your sake, it is something you want along with the hair you save. Thanks for writing and sharing this with our readers.

I have been on Propecia for 11 months now and on rogaine for about a 6 months. I have found that it is harder to style my hair after using the rogaine foam due to it making my hair stiff. Due to this, I started using the rogaine foam only at night. I have recently gone back to using the rogaine twice a day and just putting up with the difficult styling. The problem is that I have seen more and more hairs on my hands after applying the rogaine foam after a shower then before. Is this due to the change in using the foam once a day to twice a day? Also, do you have any recommendations for a doctor in Washington D.C./Northern Virginia area?

Thanks!

Some people report not liking the Rogaine Foam for the same reasons. Having never used it, I can not comment on your complaint. It should be the same when comparing liquid and the foam with regard to results. Twice a day use should be better than once a day use, but you may have accelerated the cycling, which in the long term should be fine for you.

I don’t have any specific recommendations in the DC area, but Dr. Robert Bernstein is in New York and does work that I have seen, approved, and I therefore can recommend him. It is worth the trip to NY. Or better yet, come visit me in Los Angeles and you can see Disneyland or Universal Studios as part of the trip.

Dear Doctor,

I hope you are fine. I have a weird problem.

I am losing hair since last 4 years and I shave off my hair (completely bald) once in 4 months. Few years back, my dermatologist mentioned that I had Androgenetic Alopecia and I was thus placed on that medication for quite some time. After taking medication and doing relevant tests, it was found out that my DHT levels are low. But for some reason my hair still falls out!

Looking back at my history, my hair grows long for 3 months (and I dont lose much hair in these three months – 4-5 per day) and they start falling out rapidly in the fourth month (20-25 per day)! In the fourth month they become so weak that if one would gently smear on the head, my hair would come out on his hand!

My question is why does the hair keep falling out when it grows long, in spite of me being on the medication – dutasteride (0.5mg per day), rogaine foam (twice daily) and nizoral (thrice a week).

Doctor, my hair loss worries me quite a lot. In the last four years, you can actually notice that the density of hair on my head has reduced drastically!

I will be grateful for your advice and help.

Hair growth is unpredictable. Contrary to the cycle of hair loss and growth that you report, I am skeptical that you can see it in 4 month cycles. Measure it by mapping out your hair for miniaturization and then you can prove it either is happening or not.

Using all of the medications like a shotgun won’t get you more hair growth, and although not likely, it’s possible that your hair loss is from causes other than MPB and thus medication wouldn’t help anyway. Perhaps seeking out another dermatologist for a second opinion might be worthwhile. Also, it’s normal to lose around 100 hairs a day.