Jeff asked
Hello and thank you in advance for any assistance. I have been on Propecia for 20 years and recently I ran out of the drug and have now been off it for 11 days. I have not noticed any measurable hair loss during that 11 day period. My question is should I go back on the drug or not? Could you possibly share any advantages or disadvantages of each? I realize that I could still experience additional hair loss by staying off the drug. Just wondering what other factors I should be considering. Thanks again.
At a glance
- Propecia is a drug used to treat male pattern baldness. It must be taken every day to see benefits (which are typically seen after 3 months of consistent use).
- After stopping Propecia, you can expect a reversal of its effects within 12 months, but it will be gradual.
- Studies show that 12 months after stopping Propecia, hair volume will likely be less than what it was before you started the drug in the first place simply due to the progression of the condition (male pattern baldness), which gets worse over time.
Answer
Propecia (finasteride) is a drug used to treat male pattern baldness (i.e. androgenic alopecia) and is fairly effective at both reducing hair loss over time and increasing hair count (at least initially).
On average, after starting Propecia, it takes around 3 months of daily use to begin seeing benefits and it must be continued for these benefits to remain.
Your question deals with what happens if you stop Propecia and the answer is, unfortunately, that it stops working.
You likely won't notice anything occurring only 11 days after stopping the drug but over time, your hair will return to what it looked like before you started therapy (and likely even worse since a period of time has passed since the time you started the drug and male pattern baldness continues to progress as time goes on.)
The prescribing information for Propecia discusses this specifically:
