Does Finasteride Make Things Worse If I Stop It?

Dear Drs,

I’m concerned about the rebound effect of stopping finasteride.

I was having a look at some website, I should stop searching about hair loss as I’ve become so lost, but one website had a comment which gave me some concerns. This is what they had to say about finasteride. Basically it means that whoever takes it and then stops it, will be in a worse situation than if he never took finasteride in the first place. Is that true? If I take it for a year or few years, then decide to stop, would hair shed as it would have naturally or is there be a rebound effect where I would go balder than if I never used finasteride?

Thanks a lot

The internet is a great resource, but it does not always mean it has accurate information… and as you have found out, it can be very confusing.

What you are describing is “catch-up” hair loss from stopping Propecia. In brief, if you stop taking Propecia after months or years of use, you will lose any benefits you saw and go back to what your hair loss “would have been” if you never took it in the first place. So if you never took the medication and were destined to be a Norwood Class 5, then you’ll see a Class 5 hair loss pattern emerge. This does not mean you will be worse off than if you never took it.