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No progress on finasteride + min. Help needed

B

Baldinho7

member
I have been taking finasteride 1.25 mg once per day for 14 months now, dermastamp 1.5 mm once per week for 1 year and topical minioxidil for almost 3 years and I haven’t seen any progress yet. I don’t see a lot of hair on my pillowcase like before when I wake up, but when I shower or wet my hair, I lose a lot. Also, a few hairs fall randomly during the day. I feel like my crown and mid scalp are more visible now than before and my temples are worse. It looks really bad when my hair is wet. I really don’t know what to do. Dermatologists where I live have no idea how to treat hair loss. I only found out about finasteride online. Oral min isn’t available where I live so it’s not an option. Should I wait for 3-6 more months to see if there’s any improvement or should I switch to 0.5 mg dutasteride? Ive uploaded a few photos. Pics 1-3 are 2 years ago when I was still using min only. Pics 4-9 were 14 months ago exactly before I started finasteride. Rest of the pics were taken in the past month. Any advice/opinions would be really appreciated.

1 year before fin 1.jpeg
1 year before fin 2.jpeg
1 year before fin 3.jpeg
before IMG_6044.jpeg
before IMG_6048.jpeg
Before.jpeg
before IMG_6049.jpeg
before IMG_6051.jpeg
before IMG_6056.jpeg
After 1.jpeg
After 2.jpeg
After 3.jpeg
after 4.jpeg
after 5.jpeg
after 6.jpeg
after 7 wet.jpeg
after 8 wet.jpeg
WhatsApp Image 2025-12-01 at 17.09.45 (1).jpeg
WhatsApp Image 2025-12-01 at 17.09.45 (2).jpeg
 
Dr Bicer’s Consultant

Dr Bicer’s Consultant

Valued member
Hello @Baldinho7 , to a certain extent it is not just about the hair shedding daily, but a balanced hair cycle. That said, there are conditions such as telogen effluvium that interrupt the natural growth cycle and cause an increase in shedding, this is mostly over brief time periods, due to stress, health issues and more.

We normally have around 90% of our hair in a growth phase, and when a hair follicle enters the dormant stage hair grows back, keeping a head of hair balanced. If male pattern baldness begins, slowly the hair cycle changes as the follicles atrophy and eventually stop growing hair. The amount shedding may not change a great deal.

Minox and Finasteride work in quite diverse ways as a result using both is ideal. No specific result can be promised with treatment, it can thicken a head of hair, improve the quality and growth. However, the cosmetic change can be far less, but it does stabilise or massively slow down the receding or thinning of the hair. It should also be noted that expectations play a role in what you would like from treatment and what treatment can do for you.

It is also important to consider stopping treatment, this will likely result in an increase in hair shedding over the coming months. This shedding is the result of the hair follicles not having the benefits of said treatment and going back into the natural hair cycle, often not regrowing any new hair. Basically you risk taking you to the stage you would have been if you had never started treatment in the first place. This makes it hard to change to a new treatment, stopping one to start another, especially as you have no way to know how you will respond to a new treatment.
 
B

Baldinho7

member
Dr Bicer’s Consultant said:
Hello @Baldinho7 , to a certain extent it is not just about the hair shedding daily, but a balanced hair cycle. That said, there are conditions such as telogen effluvium that interrupt the natural growth cycle and cause an increase in shedding, this is mostly over brief time periods, due to stress, health issues and more.

We normally have around 90% of our hair in a growth phase, and when a hair follicle enters the dormant stage hair grows back, keeping a head of hair balanced. If male pattern baldness begins, slowly the hair cycle changes as the follicles atrophy and eventually stop growing hair. The amount shedding may not change a great deal.

Minox and Finasteride work in quite diverse ways as a result using both is ideal. No specific result can be promised with treatment, it can thicken a head of hair, improve the quality and growth. However, the cosmetic change can be far less, but it does stabilise or massively slow down the receding or thinning of the hair. It should also be noted that expectations play a role in what you would like from treatment and what treatment can do for you.

It is also important to consider stopping treatment, this will likely result in an increase in hair shedding over the coming months. This shedding is the result of the hair follicles not having the benefits of said treatment and going back into the natural hair cycle, often not regrowing any new hair. Basically you risk taking you to the stage you would have been if you had never started treatment in the first place. This makes it hard to change to a new treatment, stopping one to start another, especially as you have no way to know how you will respond to a new treatment.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. SO what do you think I should do? Should I add dut once or twice a week and see if it will make a difference? So fin 5/6 days and dut 1/2 days. Or should I just keep using fin?
 
Dr Bicer’s Consultant

Dr Bicer’s Consultant

Valued member
Baldinho7 said:
Thanks for your reply. SO what do you think I should do? Should I add dut once or twice a week and see if it will make a difference? So fin 5/6 days and dut 1/2 days. Or should I just keep using fin?
Click to expand...

We can´t recommend combining finasteride and dutasteride, you already take finasteride 1.25 mg once per day, which is higher than the recommended dose for a hair loss treatment. You increase the risk of side effects, and there is little research into combining the two. You should really have an in-person assessment before consider changing what you are doing now, as that combination is well tested and researched.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Everyone loses X amount of hair on a daily basis. Your regimen is probably maintaining your hair, not everyone will see improvements. You could have your Vitamin D levels checked, if it is low supplements ay help.
Your hair is still in pretty good shape.
 
MrPierre

MrPierre

member
Your hair looks really good. There seems to be a shift in view online about derma-rolling / stamping which may be damaging your hair. It is a shame you can't source oral minoxidil. This combined with Finasteride could be the solution.
 
M

mania

member
If you're seeing no progress with Finasteride and Minoxidil, it's fundamental to consult your medical doctor to rule out inconsistencies, reassess timelines (consequences take 1+ yr), explore including microneedling/PRP, or reflect onconsideration on stronger selections like Dutasteride or hair transplant,
 
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