So, you have been using your Finasteride prescription diligently for a while, you patiently waited through those initial months where you can’t see any obvious changes, then you witnessed the exciting progress over the course of months to a year or two, and now you are pretty darn happy with how your hair looks.
You may be noticing a lot less shedding, any thinning areas may have thickened up or at least not gotten worse, and some men may even experience some level of regrowth in some areas.
You may not be seeing any more obvious positive progression after being on Finasteride for a long time, and the results seem to be just keeping everything the same. Is it safe for you to stop using Finasteride now? After all, you like where your hair is at, and everything seems pretty steady.
Below, we will cover the next steps after you have been a seasoned Finasteride user for a long time, and you are happy with your results, including why continued DHT inhibition is key to maintenance, and what would happen if you just stopped using finasteride cold turkey.
There are some medications that you only need to take for a measured amount of time, and then it has done its thing, and you stop it and never have to think about it again (unless the condition returns). These types of medications may apply to bacterial or fungal infections, skin issues, fevers, headaches, etc.
However, this is not the case for hair loss medications.
Once you have achieved your desired result from Finasteride hair loss treatments, the next step is to just keep on using it.
Even if your hair improvements have kind of leveled out and your hair is just staying at the same (treated) state, this is still a very good thing. Even though it may be frustrating to continue using a medication day in and day out without seeing continued improvements, it is important to remember that without continuing the medication, your hair would likely be much worse off.
You are now in a hair loss maintenance phase of Finasteride usage.
The reason behind why you need to continue using Finasteride even after you are happy with your hair has to do with the mechanism that helps it retain and potentially regrow your hair in the first place.
Basically, it’s all about a male sex hormone called DHT.
The root cause of male pattern hair loss is that some men have hair follicles that are sensitive to the damaging effects of exposure to DHT. DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) is a normal male hormone that is produced from an enzymatic conversion of some of the Testosterone in your body. When DHT interacts with hair follicles that are sensitive to it, they can shrink and produce thinner, shorter, and less pigmented hairs over time. Eventually, some or all of these DHT damages hair follicles may stop growing hair altogether.
Finasteride works by swooping in and blocking a good amount of this Testosterone to DHT conversion by inhibiting that enzyme. The end result is your hair follicles are exposed to less DHT, they shrink less, maintain your hair better, and some men may even be able to regrow some hair as long as the follicles have not gone dormant.
Finasteride has a relatively short half-life, so quitting your Finasteride regimen will likely lead to all of the Finasteride being metabolized and excreted out of your body in about a week.
If you just stopped Finasteride after a good run of treatment, you are opening up the DHT floodgates again and leaving those hair follicles open to damage.
Over time, this would likely lead to the hair improvements you have made to revert to their previous state. Also, male pattern hair loss will likely progress even further as time goes on without DHT reduction.
If you like the state of your hair after using Finasteride, the next step is to continue using it long-term to keep those improvements.
Male pattern hair loss is a progressive condition, and losses will begin again if treatment is stopped.
Continuing Finasteride helps keep DHT levels lower to reduce additional hair losses and potentially come along with some level of regrowth in some users.
Here at Strut, we try to simplify the process of getting high-quality and innovative prescription treatments for male pattern hair loss.
We carry the FDA-approved Finasteride 1mg tablets, as well as a novel compounded topical Finasteride formula combined with Minoxidil and Tretinoin. For men dealing with male pattern hair loss that want to think outside of the Finasteride box, we also carry oral and topical Dutasteride formulations to help reduce DHT levels.
If you are ready to take control of your male pattern hair loss, you can have a free online questionnaire and image-based telemedicine consultation with our U.S. licensed doctors in 10-15 minutes. If you are a good candidate for hair loss treatment, your medication can be shipped to your front door with our free shipping.
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