Hey guys -

Would love some free medical advice...I'm 25 and have thinning hair (temples, crown)and I've been on Propecia for almost 6 months now. I experienced some shedding but overall Propecia has slowed down the thinning process. However, since I'm fairly young, I would like to hold on to what I've got for as long as humanly possible. Would I be better off moving to Dutasteride? I heard it blocks more DHT than finasteride. Is there really that much of a difference? Are the side effects harsher? Has anyone switched smoothly and successfully? Will there be another "shedding period" if I do switch? Thanks guys, It's great to have this forum.

Stay on the finasteride. Some people have switched and it was a disaster. Search for Justin's posts and read about his experiences.

Thanks for the reply. Those posts are scary...However, has anyone had great success with Avodart? Everything I've heard seems to make it out to be damn near crippling - emotionally and physically.

Poet said he is getting good results from Avodart, and there are certainly others too.

But it seems premature to switch now, after only 6 months of Propecia. Give Propecia more time to work, IMO. Only switch to Avodart out of real necessity.

If you are doing okay on Propecia I would suggest staying with what has been working so far. If it aint broke- don't fix it. It's still too early to decide that Propecia is "broke" for you.

You can always switch later.

I have done more and more research on this and it seems that younger guys that switch to Avodart seem to have the same accelerated frontal thinning rather than older men due to higher testosteron levels. I was on Avodart for three months and my testosterone levels spiked into unhealthy levels for a 25 yr old male. If I were a little older, it may not have been an issue because my levels would have been further down to begin with. My suggestion is to stay away from Avodart for now and stick with Propecia/Proscar. I have regained most of the losses from when I quit the Avodart 2 months ago. Just my advice...

Appreciate the help guys.

Justin - Your shedded hairs grew back? I had temporal shedding with propecia and was wondering if it would come back...I'm happy to here you have recovered.

THe shedded hairs will return. It may take about a few months, but they will return. Don't worry, it sucks, but they will return!

I have gotten nice results from Dut, primarily thickening of existing hair and definite cessastion of any further loss. Strangely on propecia I had sexual side effects (impotence) I have nearly the opposite on Dut. The only side effect is mild gynomastia, which push ups and weight lifting keeps under control. Due to financial constraints I'll be switching to .5 every other day at this point. I took .5 daily for 7 months and am confident .5 every other day will be sufficient.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you? I'm trying to make a chart of the users that are having success versus difficulty with Avodart. I have found many users over the age of 35 with a higher degree of baldness (NW5-NW6) have much better sucess on Avodart than those that are younger and are starting to losing their hair. I've also found that the crown area is much improved for these men with Avodart versus the use of Propecia. The drug is very strong and probably too powerful for someone who is in the early stages of hair loss, especially if they still have their frontal 3rd of hair. That's just my opinion. It may work better for others.

I was a NW4 by Age 20 Am a NW6 now minus hair transplantation. Dut is definitely working for me. However it is not a miracle drug. I plan to continue using it indefinitely and have cut down to every other day due to cost.