Month: April 2013

Rogaine is growing old hair line back but only on one side. Other side is still receding and thinning more. Why is this? Been on rogaine consistantly for 5 1/2 months and propecia for a year. Should I continue rogaine or stop? Do not want to lose anymore hair on that one side. Thanks

How are you sure it was the Rogaine (minoxidil) and not the Propecia (finasteride) that caused the regrowth? If you stop either treatment, you will probably lose what you gained, even if the benefits were only visible on the one side. It’s up to you whether you’re willing to risk it.

If you end up using both medications for at least 12 months and still don’t see a similar regrowth on the other side of your hairline, then a hair transplant may be the only solution for you.

I take proscar cut up, and I find that I’m masturbating or having the urge to masturbate more. Is this because the finasteride is not allowing me to have a proper ejaculation with enough semen and confusing my body and thinking i need to masturbate more to feel completely satisfied?

A small percentage of men report an increased sex drive from finasteride. The reduced ejaculate is a known side effect of finasteride, though usually seen with the full 5mg dose (for treating the prostate).

Snippet from the article:

Whether you are young or old, man or woman, very healthy or quite sick, it is almost a certainty that you are going to use a prescription drug in the next year or two. These medicines are crucial for preventing diseases and treating all sorts of ailments and problems.

They are also expensive — really expensive. For example, the best-selling drug of all time, Pfizer’s cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor, went for $3.50 per pill and up before going generic in late 2011. But these days some retail chains are giving away generic Lipitor while the rest are charging barely 50 cents a pill.

Prescription drugs cost Americans far more than they do people living in many other parts of the world. The drug companies say it is because they have to pay back the R&D costs which is largely put on Americans. Many think that this is because drug companies spend a fortune on direct-to-consumer sales and marketing (which they don’t do in other countries) and because other nations negotiate better deals for drugs than private insurers do in the United States.

Read the rest at CNN — How Big Pharma rips you off on drugs

Can I ask you a medical question. I’ve been having some really fast heart beats at rest over 120bpm that were hurting, so I went to a clinic walk in today and they said it was Superventricular Tachycardia… I’m wondering if this can be caused by propecia and if maybe I should stop taking it? They said I should go see a cardiologist.

I do not believe supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a side effect of Propecia. I don’t recall any cases where Propecia (finasteride) caused an irregular heartbeat. If you’re also using minoxidil, that is the more likely culprit, since minoxidil has actually been linked to cardiac issues.

Some causes of SVT can be from anything with caffein (coffee, energy drinks), certain cold medications that have pseudoephedrine (Sudafed), or stimulants (cocaine). Sometimes there may be no direct cause from any extraneous source, but rather an inherent issue with your heart’s electrical system.

In any case, SVT can be serious or lead to something more serious, so you should see a cardiologist for this.

Hi Dr.Rassman,

What is your opinion on oral minoxidil (Loniten) regarding hair-regrowth and are you able to provide any information from your practice or any other doctor’s experience?

The original use of this drug in the 1960s was for hypertension (high blood pressure) and some patients may still take it for treating that. The side effect was the growth of hair on the body (everywhere and anywhere). For women, mustaches and chest hair would appear.

There may be dangerous side effects of dropping of blood pressure when taken in a non-clinically controlled or indicated circumstance. This is not a good drug for oral use to regrow hair. Stick to the topical.