I Don’t Take Propecia Consistently, So What Would Happen If I Quit Taking It Completely?
Hello! I’m 27 years old. I’ve been taking Propecia on and off since I was 20 years of age. When I say on and off, I mean that it’s not always every day. I have had times where I was lazy and didn’t refill it for a week or two at a time. Sometimes I forget to take the pill every day. Sometimes I purposely take it every other day. I probably refill my 30 day pill bottle once every two months, on average. In October of 2009, I actually didn’t take it for about 4 weeks straight.
I know, I’m sure you’ll say it’s silly that I’m doing this (and I’d likely agree!). My question is this: If I were to stop taking it completely, is it likely I’d experience much loss as a direct result of stopping? I still have a good amount of hair (although a hairline that is back about 1 inch from when I was a teenager). I know that if people stop taking Propecia, they’ll lose any hair they have gained on the medicine…BUT since my usage is so spotty, and sometimes I only take it once every 2 or 3 days, is it likely that my hair loss might be minimal because my hair gain might also have been minimal thanks to my random usage of it?
If you don’t take medication (any medication) as directed, then it will not work as it is meant to work. If you are taking Propecia every 2 to 3 days a week when it is meant to be taken 7 days a week, it will not be much benefit. You might as well not take it. It probably isn’t doing much for your hair loss or hair gain. It probably is more of a psychological treatment.
Have you actually had a proper diagnosis of male pattern balding? As if the only change in your hair is a one inch recession from a teenage hairline that doesn’t sound like balding – it would be natural maturation of the hairline. Not many men keep their teenage juvenile hairline and it might not even be worth taking propecia at all.
This answer is completely different to what I’ve read on several websites which basically say that:
– finasteride has flat response – increasing dosage from 0.5 mg daily to 1 mg gives only slight benefits
– it takes at least a few days for the DHT levels to return to its baseline after finasteride intake is discontinued
I agree that everyone should take drugs according to their doctor’s prescription, but saying that “You might as well not take it” is misleading
I agree. If we say the blood plasma half life of finasteride is 6 to 8 hours, then this is largely irrelavent when we are discussing DHT levels. The 5 alpha reductase enzyme takes up to 7 days to regenerate, with DHT rising correspondingly. Their are graphs in numerous studies that confirm this.
Why is this never discussed on here?