Is there any reason to take Propecia versus the generic version. I have been on the generic for a 7 months and the balding has gotten worse (I am 23). Also, do you have recommendations for where to get generic Propecia?
There is no generic Propecia available legally in the US. I realize other countries may manufacture finasteride in 1mg strength, but Propecia is still under patent protection in much of the western world.
There is a generic finasteride available in 5mg strength — any pharmacy should have it, provided that your doctor prescribes you 5mg finasteride. Some patients cut the 5mg tablet into 1/4ths to save money. There may be problems in cutting down the pill into smaller pieces and the partial tablets will have the problem of hydrating with humidity so do not cut more than one at a time (every 4 days) and keep it in a sealed container. Be sure that the company that makes it is legit and you are getting what you are buying!
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
i tried generic propecia from india and it gave me testicular pain and caused my hair to thin out. got back on the real stuff, no pain and my hair grew back.
The patent for propecia (Finasteride) expired in June 2006. See US patent 4760071
Hi i have tried propecia 1mg and it gave me testicular pain.As soon as i ceased taking the medicine,i was fine.thx gary (South Africa)
I am 35 yo. I have been taking Propecia since 1998 and it has worked. Originally a 90 day supply was $145. Now I am lucky to find it for $210. I ordered a generic from India. It was awful. My head was tingly and my hair started to fall out. I discontinued and got back on the real thing.
I used propecia for years and it worked great. I had no more hair loss on top and very little loss in the front. Resently I switched to generic finasteride at my doctors recommendation, to save money. That was a big mistake. I cut the 5mg pill into 1/4 as directed. My hair loss came back and I lost a lot of hair in just 1 week. I just switched back to propecia. DON’T buy into the generic hype, it doesn’t work, that’s why it’s so cheap. The reason propecia is expensive = because it works.
Why are any of you taking generic propecia?? Just get your Dr to prescribe you Proscar for prostate problems its $10 for 30 pills and you cut the pills into 4ths so its 4 months for $10.Its a 5mg pill so they can be cut into 4ths and you get a little bit more than the 1mg you are getting with Propecia.
Try Canada Drugs. They have the generic 1mg (not from India) for cheap. $110 for 120 pills.
Oh, and I hope whoever reads this page doesn’t take Jeff’s statement about generics to heart. It’s a very ignorant thing to say. There are many issues that may have caused his hair loss including cutting the 5mg into fourths. This may have caused the drug to lose it’s effectiveness. Who knows? But I can say people like him are Marketers dreams (trust me on this statement, I’m a marketer). They easily believe that name-brands are the end all. It’s easy to upsell people with that mentality if they fear generics are an unsuitable substitute. In the pharmaceutical world, the company who “discovered” propecia, Merck I believe, has a limited time in which they can keep others from using their formula. In the US, laws protecting patents and such are pretty strict, so most competing pharma firms won’t copy a formula until the protection period is over. Chances are very high that other pharmaceutical firms already have the formula and have no problems releasing similar drugs in other countries where the laws aren’t as strict or may be waiting for the protection period in the US to expire. Sometimes to prevent this from happening, the originating company may produce a generic themselves, and sell to the people like me and those of you interested. Sure this may cannibalize sales from the name-brand but it’s better than losing it to another company altogether. They will also keep the original name-brand at a higher price to sell to people like Jeff. Chemically, and formulaically, 1mg generic fenasteride and 1mg propecia are identical. Of course exercise caution and do your research on all companies you purchase drugs from. Ask your doctor to point you in the right direction as most have contacts to keep drugs cheap. Mine had no problem steering me to a reputable Canadian distributor. Always make sure the company you purchase from requires a prescription for any drug that would require prescription in the US.
PS. I used propecia for about 3 months before I switched to the generic and have been using it for 6 months. 9 months total and I haven’t noticed new growth. I have noticed the loss has subsided or at least slowed to the point it’s not noticeable. I have a full year of refills available so we’ll see how it works after that time frame. Finasteride doesn’t necessarily work for everyone and results may vary so I say, if you’re willing to try Propecia anyway, might as well go with the generic and save a ton of money.
Hi all!!
So check this out
I started taking propecia about 3-4 years ago. While I was on propecia i did not want to wait to notice changes so what I did was do research and added this to my regimen:
1: Cod Liver Oil: 1 to 2 tbl spoons a day2: Multivitamin with all the “B”3: Prostate Blend:Saw Palmetto Supercritical Extract (Serenoa repens)Green TeaNettle Root (Urtica dioica)OrganicPygeum Bark (Pygeum africanum)Pumpkinseed Oil (Cucurbita pepo)Pomegranate seed oil (Punica granatum)Pomegranate freeze dried arils (Punica granatum)Rosemary, Supercritical Extract (Rosmarinus officinalis)
A good example to follow is from here (w/ dosages)http://www.gaiaherbs.com/product.php?id=309
You don’t have to get it from Gaia but I noticed Saw Palmetto, Nettle ROOT, Pygeum Bark, Green Tea, and Tomato skin extract help.
I also did my research onhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/with each herb.
It took me about a month of research but once I started on the Fish or even Flax oil + Herb blend + B complex… my hair not only stop falling out but it (in about 2 – 3 weeks!!!)1) Got thicker2) Some Grew back3) Helped with side and front hairloss
There was another website that really helped but I can’t remember it…
Though the oldest people think I am the youngest of 3.Also I am 31 years old and people think I look around 24/25ish
Good luck
OH!
FYI, now I am trying generic 5mg finasteride to save money.
I’ll post results in a couple months… if I remember.