Finasteride shedding
After a few months of starting their hair-loss treatment with Finasteride, some people notice that their hair starts to shed. Although shedding might seem like the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve, it’s nothing to worry about. In fact, it means that the treatment is working, so you should take it as a good sign.
What if Finasteride isn’t working?
Finasteride isn’t a guarantee that your hair will grow back, so even though many people see results, not everyone will. But if you feel like Finasteride isn’t working after six months, you shouldn’t stop taking it. Speak to your clinician first, because some men only experience real results after at least six months, and it can take even longer than that in some cases. If you stop taking it abruptly, your hair might start thinning and falling out even faster than it was before your treatment.
Can you speed Finasteride up?
No, you can’t speed Finasteride up. You shouldn’t take more Finasteride than you’re supposed to in order to speed up the process, because not only will it not work, it might also give you some nasty side effects.
Finasteride also comes in 5mg tablets, but you shouldn’t take this to speed up the process either. The higher dose is only available for people suffering from an enlarged prostate. Taking a 5mg dose of Finasteride instead of 1mg won’t accelerate the process, and it’s likely to cause you issues if you try to take it for your hair loss.
What happens when you stop using Finasteride?
Finasteride has a very short half-life - meaning that it doesn’t stay in your system for too long after you take it. This means it’s not a long-term solution for hair loss. Once you stop taking it, your hair will return to the level that it was before you started taking it within a few months, so continuous use is your best option.
If you want to stop taking Finasteride because you’re getting some side effects, such as erectile dysfunction, it’s possible that stopping Finasteride won’t reverse this. These symptoms, and a few others that are said to stay with you once you’ve stopped taking Finasteride, are usually referred to as post-finasteride syndrome, or PFS. Post-finasteride syndrome is a disputed condition, and hasn’t been widely verified by the scientific community. What’s more, conditions like erectile dysfunction are very common, and easily treatable with a range of medications, so you shouldn’t need to worry too much.
If you started experiencing erectile dysfunction after you started your hair loss treatment, you can continue your treatment, and use effective ED treatments like Viagra or Cialis alongside it. If you speak to one of our clinicians, they’ll be able to advise you on what could be your best course of action.