Propecia Recently Has Lost Its Benefits — Should I Consider Avodart?

Hi Dr,

I’m a 41 year old white male who began to lose hair (rapidly)before the age of 28. I suffered through it until Propecia became available in January ’99. I had great success with it for several years. So much so that people thought I had a HT. Well, I eventually did have a procdure done, actually three,in ’01, ’02 nad most recently in November ’06. Most recently, Propecia has lost most of its’ benefits for me and my hair loss backward slide has led to the need for the 3rd procedure. Here is my question: Should I seriously consider Avodart?

Propecia has its maximum benefit after being taken on a daily basis for 1-2 years. It still has benefit by slowing your hair loss process. No drugs available today (Propecia or Avodart) will predictably reverse hair loss. It will only slow the process down with some predictability. You need to see a doctor who can discuss the risks and benefits of different medications. Generally speaking, we do not usually recommend Avodart because its long term side effects are not well studied and it is not FDA approved for the treatment of hair loss, but some of the reports coming out do show better results with Avodart when compared with Propecia.