Do androgen blockers stop hair loss from male pattern baldness?

[Nicky]

Does it? Do you get some grow back?
Just interested in hearing of your experiences.

[Steffi]

Can do - if you put "Dutasteride+Hair loss" into Google, you'll find lots of sites where people talk about this - I read a lot before self-medding with Dutasteride prior to CX prescribing   

[Nicky]

Finasteride seems to work well too,

I guess more specifically I was wondering about Spiro. In theory it should work.

[Flan]

Spiro would work because it reduces total androgens in turn preventing the eventual conversion into DHT (which has the thing with killing hair follicles on the head)

I've had some hair regrowth on AA's, but it's not a whole lot coming back, i still have a sort of "male" hairline, but it's a whole lot better then it used to be

[Bombi]

 For hair loss you would specifically want to block DHT. Low dose finesteride is the usual remedy.

[Nicky]

I read that, interestingly, taking Finasteride actually incleases the amount of testosterone in your body as it stops it converting to DHT. I also read that DHT is an estrogen antagonist so taking finasteride can result in more estrogen which is probably why some people get gynomastatia on finasteride.  Hormones are weird.

[aurora17]

Probably not...
The very few male pattern hair loss I had did not grow back since I began Cyproterone, so I guess even if it stops balding (which I don't know for sure), it doesn't help growth.
I will get a small scalp advancement as part of my FFS next year, anyway.

[Hannah]

I had a fair amount. My hair is really thick, and I didn't realise it had started to thin. However, consistently all through my scalp I have "old" hair and shorter, post hrt ala dutasteride "new hair". My hair grows at about 1/2-3/4 an inch a month, so the length is right for the amount of time I've been on dutas.  For a while it was two different colors and that was quite a show. If you decide to use it, get a fresh dye job first so you can see if it's working!

[Nicky]

All the new stuff will probably end up looking white for me, damn kids are making my hair go white 

[Myself]

I remember hearing that if you are 10 years or less from starting to bald you have a good chance of recovering everything with dutas.
if I remember correctly, some people reported to up to 40 years, but androgens levels needed to be quite low I think.. which is not a problem because you are trying to get rid of them anyways.

DHT is apparently the key, removing total androgens and dht with avodart/dutas + androcur should do it

[Nicky]

Just wondering. I am seeing the dermatologist next week about the hair loss and will probably get something like finasteride ( I don't think advodart is available here yet).
I'm also sorting out an appointment with the endo with my counsellor, but she says it often takes 3 months before they can see you. Finasteride is expensive in my country (unless you can get Proscar and cut it yourself but that is risky with women of childbearing age in the house) where the HRT meds are not so much. So just wondering if I will have to pay for propecia (finasteride) all my life. Plus for curiosity sake.

[Myself]

Are you an ftm? mtf?
I'd imagine after a while on antiandrogens your dht levels will drop a lot.. probably enough not to need anti-dht medicine.
I think same applies to post-op.

You must be sure it's mbp, and that if you need more than simple antiandrogens ..

Otherwise, it's for as long as you want to keep dht at bay

[Nicky]

The dermatologist will work out what the hair loss is caused by. My GP ordered a bunch of blood tests to check a bunch of other potential causes and they all came back 'normal'. I would be surprised if it is not male pattern balness - it definitly is coming in the male pattern. My GP said I needed to see the specialist before we could consider something like propecia.

I'm neither ftm or mtf (non-binary transgender) - though I am in the mtf direction. (thanks for asking, that made my day!). We have a good endo here in my city who is very open to treating non-binaries. I'll talk to him about the hair too - throw that into the mix.  I have no idea what my hormone plan will include, I will let the endo worry about that one.

[Myself]

I am not sure what you mean by non-binary please explain.
Also what it means "treating non-binaries"?

If you are on high dose androcur you might not need dutas (although it might help hasting the progress).
Personally my total testosterone dropped to 0.21 ng/ml which is 21 ng/dl, which apparently is quite lower than most women, and dht probably dropped quite a lot too

[Darlene]

Why don't you buy proscar and cut it up away from home and store it in your car ?

[Nicky]

I guess that is an option Daine. Just being cautious. I'll as the doc about it and follow their advice. I could keep it at work.

By non-binary I mean my gender identity is not male or female - also my desired body is not completely female either. I'm not a transexual, but I am not a boy either and I suffer from dysphoria. I fit in with the androgynes.  If there is a spectrum I am towards the female end. This endo is open to creating hormone plans which achieve more 'androgynous' results and works with the client to find what is best for their mental health.

[Suzy]

I think you have to remember that no medication will do much for your hairline.  What will come back with the meds is your crown.  They did great stuff back there, but it took about 16 months and the last 4 I added Minoxodil to the mix.  The two together seem to work quite well.  For the front, well there's always transplants!

Kristi

[Myself]

Kristi, how long ago did your front hairs fall?

[FairyGirl]

I don't know about the MPB, but I know that spiro has made my hair grow more- it seems to be getting longer faster and thickening up with a lot of new shorter ones in there like Becca was describing, which causes the frizzies from hell. I think anything that blocks T is going to at least put a halt to any hair loss.

Kristi, I heard that Rogaine will even grow hair on your fingertips and that's why they recommend wearing gloves when applying it! Maybe that's an old husband's tale?

[Chrissty]

Kristi, I heard that Rogaine will even grow hair on your fingertips and that's why they recommend wearing gloves when applying it! Maybe that's an old husband's tale?

I like that.... "an old husband's tale" is about right..if the stuff cannot make the velus hairs on your front hairline grow, then it's not going to do much for finger tips..

The availabilty of 1% finasteride specifically for hair-loss seems to very from country to country, with it being OTC like Minoxodil in a number of places. I know it is legal to buy it off the web in the UK and US. Finepecia seems to be the most common generic name.

Chrissty