Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nancy79 on March 31, 2017 at 7:06am

When I got FFA and had terrible reactions to what the doctors prescribed for me I went to my local medical university library to do research on what might help. The research I read said that dutasteride 0.5mg daily had a 50-60% chance of halting the disease where it was and would prevent new follicles from becoming inflamed.  It is a similar drug to finesteride, just more effective. Now it comes in generic form and costs me $10 per month at Costco.  I have had no side effects but the drug has side effects for men.

It has been 3 years now and I do not have new follicles becoming inflamed. The rate of hair loss slowed considerably to the point I was not watching it anymore.  Recently I tried to reduce the drug to every other day and immediately saw an increase in hair loss so I went back to taking it daily. I plan to be on it the rest of my life. For me, the drug slowed hair loss to a crawl but the follicles that were originally involved in the attack continue to very slowly fall out. It does not generate new hair growth. No new areas are becoming inflamed. This is the best outcome I could hope for according to the research. I hope this helps you..

Permalink Reply by Nancy79 on March 31, 2017 at 8:34am

Doctors are no better here. That is why I did my own research. I wanted help without side effects that were worse than the hair loss. Do not let them do Kenolog injections in the scalp or put you on drugs that can permanently damage your eyesight. These have been shown not to be effective for the most part.. Finesteride can work 30-40% of the time if I remember correctly. Dutasteride 0.5 mg was 50-60% chance of success so it was an easy choice to go with that.  Good luck.

Permalink Reply by Dee on March 31, 2017 at 8:45pm

My derm prescribed finesteride.  After taking this for 2 weeks I had severe shedding all over my scalp so I stopped immediately.   

Can any of you who are taking the dutasteride (avodart) experience additional shedding in the beginning?  I'm not sure if I would get the same side effect as I really do not understand the difference in finesteride and dutasteride.   If you are taking dutasteride and did not experience additional hair loss after taking, can you tell the dosage you started out on and continued on?

Thanks for your help.  Still trying to find a solution to slow down the hair loss.

Permalink Reply by Christi Q. on March 31, 2017 at 11:10am

I am also taking Dutasteride.  On my third month of it.   I am also doing Rogaine once a day.  The Rogaine actually gives a LOT of body to the hair and gives the appearance of more hair.  Too early to tell how well I'm doing on both right now.  Good luck to you!