Propecia and Age

Dr Rassman.Iam 44 years old & thinking of going on propecia to regrow my hair which has thinned out in the crown area.My question is
1. How effective is propecia for a 44 year old ?
2. Would I be facing greater side effects due to my age?
If propecia is not the way to go can you recommend something else that will re grow my hair .
Its genetic ,but my father suffered balding in the crown area much later in life .

thanking you.

Propecia is always more effective when the hair loss is more recent. Men in their 20s get a better response in regrowing hair than men in their 40s, assuming that the hair loss started in the 20s. At 44, you will most probably see ‘stop loss’ effect more than a regrow effect. But on occasion, I actually see regrowth in men into their 70s, although this is not usual.

In your second question, I will assume you are addressing the side effect of a decreased sex drive. I always clarify the difference between sex drive and the ability to get and maintain an erection. Sex drive reduction is less common than an increased sex drive in the men I have treated. Men in their 40s have a 40% chance of having some form of erectile dysfunction (ED). Most men do not admit it (even to themselves) but I always ask men to ask themselves if their penis works as well as when they were 16 so that they focus upon the change in penis physiology that occurs when men get older. When the penis does not work as well as we like, then of course, the sex drive will be reduced. Viagra solves the problem for most men and I believe that the problem is more physiology and psychology than Propecia induced. If you go on Propecia and then ‘think’ that your sex drive is off, then try Viagra (or Cialis or Levetra) and see if that solves the problem. With a good working penis, the sex drive usually gets better, unless you are the 1% of men who do get a reduced sex drive with Propecia. To answer the question, yes older men sometimes get a reduced sex drive which is tied to ED, rather than Propecia.