Propecia Halted My Hair Loss, But My Doctor Said Avodart Has Better Results

I’m a 24 years old been on Propecia for 2 1/2 years. Dr. Bernstein told me back then I have early frontal loss. I’m a NW2 but the corners & center of my hairline and my mid anterior are thinning. Ever since being on Propecia my hair loss remained exactly the same as then. So it halted it completely at least to my eyes.

I’m thinking of getting on Avodart since it has usually better results my dermatologist said, but I’m worried if I were to get side effects and get off and go back to Propecia, will my hair return to the way it was on Propecia (if I gain more hair on Avodart that is) and will the side effects go away or will I need to stop a DHT blocker completely? I have zero side effects on Propecia except I remember the first week I had a super high sex drive which passed!

In my practice, I rarely recommend Avodart (dutasteride). It’s not FDA approved for treating hair loss, and there is the potentially higher risk of negative side effects, such as libido loss and erectile dysfunction, than that of finasteride. Plus, we are still unclear about sterility issues with Avodart, as there are suggestions that this may be a problem in a small number of patients. If you’ve seen good results with no side effects from Propecia, why push it by taking a much stronger medication like Avodart?

I don’t know for sure what would happen if you switch from Propecia to Avodart and then back to Propecia (or vice versa). I’ve received emails about it over the years, but each person is different.