Anyone ever try the idea of cycling hair loss drugs?

I know from my old anabolic steroid days, this is a very common method by bodybuilders/power lifters of prolonging the effects of drugs. Over time the body's receptors up-regulate and down regulate in response to any drug you take. By diminishing or stopping these drugs in cycles you never allow the body to adjust to them. By cycling properly you minimize losses you have gained while keeping the body receptive to further gains.

Since it is pretty well documented that over time the current hair loss drugs loose their efficacy and we ultimately end up giving back a good portion of what hair we have gained, it seems likely this could be a viable alternative. There are a number of methods employed by these bodybuilders such as pyramiding in various ways to accomplish this. Seems to me since we are very limited in the number of proven drugs they are currently offering us, this might be a way of extending their effectiveness.

For example, ever hear of guys using Rogaine, Propecia or whatever, having to stop for a short time, then going back on them and seeing renewed growth? It's just an idea, but I think it is something that has a basis in science and should be looked at.

I doubt any of the drug companies would advocate stopping or cutting back on their use periodically, after all that would mean less sales and profits for them, even if it was more effective. Even if they believe this, I do not think they would spend millions of dollars to prove the theory of less is better.

Any thoughts ??

Cousin,

I think that cycling is a very interesting and logical scenario. I also believe you are correct that the drug companies would rather you not cut back or stop use for short durations to increase its effectiveness.

I thought I read somewhere that propecia would be just as effective in a .5mg dose as 1mg, at least starting out. If that is true, why take the higher dose? Maybe these larger than needed doses reduce the effectiveness of the drug in the long term.

Anyway, I think the cycling idea is interesting and would love to see an independant study done.

Buzz..

I doubt any lab out there will test out this theory, afterall it takes money to get such a trial going. I know with the anabolic steroids, it was the users that did all the experimentation. So I guess if we want a better way to take this stuff it will be up to us to figure it out.