Day: January 1, 2023

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I was wondering if it would be possible for you to write me a prescription for Proscar which I can cut into 4 pieces. If not, do you know a physician who will? Also, is there a good method for cutting it evenly? Thank you.

Yes, I can write a Proscar precription for you, but you will have to come into the office for a check-up and diagnosis. Since you indicated you are in the Orange County area, you’re not too far from my Los Angeles office. You can use a pill cutter to cut the pill into 4 or 5 parts. These are sold in every pharmacy for a dollar or two.

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I’ve been taking finasteride (1 mg tabs of propecia) for 3 years with great success. Recently however I switched to Procar with a pill cutter and am horrified to read from the proscar finasteride package information for users leaflet:

“If you partner is pregnant or planning to become pregnant you should use a condom or other barrier method of contraception when taking proscar. This is because your semen could contain a tiny amount of the drug and may affect the normal development of the baby’s sex organs.”

This is news to me after 3 years of using fin. I know of the dangers of women handling tabs but have never read anything about this. Is it only relavent to the 5mg doses of proscar? Your professional opinion is highly respected. Please advise.

Kind regards

This is news to me, too.

We have known about problems arising from a fetus exposed to finasteride — the US leaflet for Propecia states, “If a woman who is pregnant with a male baby absorbs the active ingredient in Propecia, either by swallowing or through the skin, it may cause abnormalities of a male baby’s sex organs.” — but this is a warning for women that want to take finasteride or handle crushed pills.

As I’ve understood it, finasteride does not have any significant concentration in a man’s ejaculate. In my searching, it appears that this line about a condom is only in the UK Proscar leaflet. This wording is not seen in the US or UK Propecia leaflet, and I’ve not seen this in any of the literature before. Although it is the same drug (finasteride), Proscar is 5 times the dosage of Propecia. Merck’s official word is that Propecia poses no risk to unborn children.

I will have to ponder this one for a while, as it is against what has been revealed to me in the past.

Dr. Rassman,

It says here that Proscar has gone generic. Do you believe it, and what does it mean to american customers of Finasteride? I am particularly confused about the 180 days bit? Does it mean that generics of proscar will only be available for a 180 day window.

Thanks Doc

See Dr. Reddy’s launches generic Proscar in U.S..

Yes, Proscar (brand name of 5mg finasteride) has gone generic. Propecia (brand name of 1mg finasteride) is still not available in the generic form in the US. Some patients take Proscar and break the pill in 1/5 or 1/4 in place of Propecia because it costs less. This does not mean Proscar is available without a prescription in the US, but it now that it is to be available in the generic form, it should cost even less to take finasteride in 1mg doses (as long as you break the pill).

Hey there.have you ever heard of a product called Prorestora? Claims to be fda approved. Thanks alot, really helpful site!

ProRestora isn’t by itself FDA approved, but it probably contains minoxidil (I couldn’t find a list of ingredients, so I’m just speculating). There are only two FDA approved hair loss medications — minoxidil and finasteride. Finasteride requires a prescription, minoxidil does not. Minoxidil is otherwise known as Rogaine/Regaine (depending on country). There are a lot of products that include minoxidil as the active ingredient since it is proven and available over the counter.

Either that… or it could be a scam. Even the bottom of their site says “All statements and information on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration“.

Hello Dr,
Is it the same Propeshia as Propecia? Here in mexico they only sale Propeshia with a “sh” instead of “c” in between. It’s supposedly run by Merck also.

Thanks!

I’ve never seen any packaging or mention of Propeshia (with that spelling), but I did find a reference to it on Drugs.com that basically just confirms that it is from Mexico.

The only other mentions of it with that spelling that I can find are from Mexican pharmacies selling it online, which isn’t exactly the most trustworthy source of information. I thought Merck was selling it in Mexico as Propecia, not Propeshia… but anyone can print a label that says otherwise. It’s possible that it is the real deal, but I’m not sure.

There are so many names that generic Propecia is sold as internationally that I can’t keep up. Some that come to mind include Finpecia, Finax, Finalo, and Gefina. Plus, I have no way to know if there’s even finasteride in the pills you found.

Hi, I’m thinking of taking propecia (my trichologist has advised that I would benefit from taking this medication) but, from reading your site I’ve just noticed the issue about risk of male breast cancer. My mum has had breast cancer and I’m concerned that this could cause problems for me now if I start taking propecia. Could you give me some advice on what to do as up until this point I was happy with taking the drug!

There have been two cases in the medical literature of male breast cancer reported with a patient on Propecia. The incidence of breast cancer in men as about 1% of female incidence. This alone may account for the finding in those two patients. It is not a high risk issue, even for those with a history of female breast cancer in the family.

Just wondering if it is known why Propecia is often not effective around the front/sides ? Is there any hope for a new drug in the works that may address the front/sides?

When Propecia works, it works where the hair loss is relatively newer. The frontal area is often the first place the hair loss starts but often it is not noticed until the hairs are fully miniaturized or lost and at that point Propecia is not effective. Propecia can work well in preventing rapid hair loss in the frontal areas when the drug is started early enough. There is clearly a difference between frontal balding and crown balding, which tends to start later, in the way the genetics are expressed.