I Want to Take Propecia Temporarily Before Surgery

Dear Dr. Rassman

you mentioned before “Some of my patients do not take Propecia (finasteride 1mg) by their personal choice. It is your choice as well. The risk is that you may have increased shock hair loss without taking Propecia before surgery. Shock hair loss is common in men under 30 years old or those who are losing their hair actively when they have a hair transplant. Propecia will prevent this complication in most men” …

Well i used propecia before for 9 months and had great results. but by the 8th and 9th months it killed my libido and impotence although i was 26 years old only.. but as you said shock hair loss is really scary. so if i wanted to use finasteride just to avoid the hair shock loss post surgery, how many months you advice me to take it temporary, definitely im not willing to go on with it…

thanks doc…

Stopping the finasteride after a hair transplant has been done with a few of my patients with success. The risk of shock loss is mostly in the first 4-6 months, and those that stopped it after the transplanted hair grew out did not have a problem with shock loss. Of course, they had the benefit of hair transplants to cover any new loss of the original hair, so they may have lost some hair without knowing. This may be a better route than not taking the drug at all, but you will still face the natural evolution of your hair loss over time without the drug on board.