Category: Drugs

Thank you for listening. I have been taking Propecia for a little over 10 months now, and it seems as if it is having a strange effect. It seems that it has started to rebuild my hairline, which was receding somewhat with moderate miniaturization. Alas, it has not shown any results in the vertex/top of scalp. Have you heard of this before? I’m merely curious as to whether this is common. Thanks for your time.

What you are experiencing is not common, but it does happen. Hair loss varies in individuals and by location in the scalp. Experience has shown that the drug works best in areas where the hair loss is most recent. Is that what you are seeing?

Hi Dr. Rassman,

This news story recently came up and I was wondering if it at all pertains to Propecia? Do fruit juices hamper the effect of the pills or does Propecia work no matter what it’s ingested with? Thanks for your time and consideration.

Taking pills? Lose the juice and take with water to ensure absorption: study

It has been known for some time that grapefruit juice can decrease the effectiveness of certain drugs. I do not believe Propecia is one of them, but if you are concerned, then simply do not take Propecia (finasteride 1mg) with grapefruit juice. The article does do a good job telling you when grapefruit juice is a problem.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

I am 24 years old male. in my country there is no finasteride 1mg product of the pharmaceuticals companies. It’s also impossible for me to order online or import propecia. there is some finasteride 5mg product named “Prosfin” and it’s a famous pharma company. The main problem is the size of the tablet Prosfin is very small and it can not be cut with knife or pill cutter. i have to take finasteride because it works for me. Now what is the best solution for me, i mean how can i take finasteride 5mg tablet? it will be very helpful if u advice. should i take 1 tablet/3 days or 1 tablet/2 days? what will be the best? of course there is no way rather taking 5mg finasteride and it also impossible to cut it. Please advise. At last your blog is very helpful and i have not seen such a fantastic blog before.

You don’t want to take too much of the finasteride unnecessarily, as you do run a greater risk of side effect potential. Also, there’s no reason to have more medication in your system than needed for treatment.

I did some research and found that Prosfin (5mg finasteride for treating BPH) is made by Beximco Pharmaceuticals, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. The same company does make a pill called Recur (1mg finasteride for treating MPB), so it should be available in your country. This should be the same as Propecia.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

After much consideration, I finally made an appointment with my physician to discuss going on Propecia to halt further hair loss. I figured that I really couldn’t lose – a drug to stop my hair loss and help reduce my chance of getting prostate cancer. A double threat – sounded like a good idea! My doctor who is very knowledgeable informed me of something I had never heard before. He said that even though Propecia (finasteride) helps to prevent prostate cancer in most men – some men do develop prostate cancer anyway, even while on the drug. He said the prognosis for treatment of prostate cancer is very good, but if you are one of the men who develop prostate cancer WHILE ON FINASTERIDE the cancer is extremely aggressive and you will undoubtably die from the disease. He said since I do not have any of the risk factors for developing prostate cancer, he did not think it was worth chancing developing an untreatable form of prostate cancer to save my hair. Have you ever heard this…that even though Propecia helps to reduce the risk of prostate cancer that if you get the disease anyway, that it is untreatable due to it being so aggressive?

The report on the study of over 15,000 men showed that although the cancer risk on 5mg of finasteride for 7 years decreased the incidence of cancer by 25%, of those who did get cancer, the classification of aggressiveness (judged by the Gleason score) is higher in some of the prostate cancers found. This is a pathologist’s description of the tumor based on appearance under a microscope.

There is some controversy on this issue, because some doctors believe that the Gleason score may not be indicative of the reality seen in long term follow-ups of these cancers, which I believe did not show more clinical aggressiveness. One medical paper discussed the overall risk to life when one compared the decreased incidence of 25% for cancers in patients on long term finasteride, with the risks to life with a possible more aggressive tumor. The claim that one risk may offset the other was in consideration. Where ever the truth lies, this finding is what it is without any final conclusions drawn at this time.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

since taking propecia for 6 months my testosterone had been raised quite high, so i decided to switch over to avodart as i heard it is better. my testosterone is still high. my question is, is it worth me taking these medications for my hair loss as its raising my testosterone in turn producing higher amounts of DHT and higher amounts of DHT will cause more hair loss. in a sense im taking a drug to stop DHT but at the same time the drugs making higher amounts of DHT so im in a confusing paradox. should i continue with either one of these medications if all there doing is creating more DHT, even though there getting rid of it. please help Dr. Rassman and NHI team. thanks

It sounds like you are buying these drugs on your own without being followed by a doctor. There is a reason why these medications require a prescription from a doctor. In general, Propecia should not raise your testosterone levels to a significant amount over the long term, but testosterone levels have been found to be higher in those men on Propecia. There may be other issues special to your particular case. If Propecia raises your testosterone levels, Avodart will also increase the levels (certainly not decrease). If you’re indeed under the care of a physician, you need to ask these questions to him/her.

Without going into the biochemical aspects, there is no paradox that you are referring to. The real paradox is taking Avodart (dutasteride), because Propecia (finasteride) raised your testosterone level.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

I have been taking Fincar (generic finasteride) for a little over a week. I noticed two things…a slight pressure feeling on both of my testicles, and a sudden shedding that happened today (there were like 20 hairs at once on my hand when I shampooed.) I’m kind of thinking about stopping, and I wanted to know what I should expect. I’ve read that once people stop, you can have a massive shed. Did taking the drug for 10 days even do anything? Am I going to have another shed on top of the one I just had?

Finasteride is a great drug for treating genetically induced hair loss, but if you were on it for just one week and stopped, there is no risk of loss. Twenty hairs is not a big deal (for example, you could’ve had some product in your hair that kept hairs from falling out through the day — totally normal) and you are probably overreacting.

Testicular symptoms do occur in a very small number of patients, and you should see your doctor if you’re experiencing pressure in your groin.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Hi Doc,
Is there a difference in cutting fin in half and taking .5mgs a day compared to taking 1mg every other day?

I read somewhere that 0.5mg is 80% as effective as a full 1mg dose of finasteride. I can not tell you from direct experience, though. Am I safe to assume that you are halving the dose to deal with some side effect like decrease libido? If there is no side effects at the 1mg dose, stay on it (studies have shown the best treatment for your hair loss will happen at 1mg).

If you are only going to take 0.5mg daily or 1mg every other day, then I’d say that the 0.5mg a day may be better, but frankly that is just a guess.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):