Category: Drugs

Two questions here,

1. Can Propecia be taken before bed at night instead of, say, in the morning, or during the day?
2. I saw some post about someone mentioning grogginess as a side effect of taking Propecia. I consider myself a pretty silver-tongued guy, sort of along the lines of Dane Cook. I speak relatively fast and somewhat witty, I’d hope. When I take Propecia I feel like I trip over my words more, thereby causing me to lose some of that quick wit. Does this make any sense or not?

1. Once a day, anytime, will work for Propecia (finasteride 1mg). I generally suggest to take in in the morning when testosterone is highest in men, but I really do not have any figures on that, just my logical mind.
2. There have been some reports on depression with Propecia, but I don’t know if your quick wit can be dulled by the medication. I haven’t had any reports from my patients about feelings of disorientation or foggy-headedness, but I had one person that I can recall wrote in a while ago saying they felt a little foggy when on Propecia (though it is unsubstantiated).

Hey Dr. Rassman, I was just wondering if I took saw palmetto and saw some results and then stopped using it, would that have the same effect as taking propecia and then stopping its use. I know after one stops taking propecia all that hair is lost, would that be the same outcome of stopping saw palmetto?

Thanks

If the claimed DHT blocking occurs with saw palmetto, then I suspect that if/when you stop it, the maintained hair would be lost under the exact same mechanism as Propecia (finasteride).

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I’m a 31 year old male who has been losing his hair for approximately 9 years. My hair has suffered diffused thinning throughout the entire top – in a Norwood 6 to Norwood 7 pattern, however my hairline remains intact, albeit with very fine hair.

I’ve been consistently on finasteride and minoxidil through a majority of the past 9 years. However, year by year, month by month, my hair continues to thin.

My question is as follows: For the time being my hair remains very thin, but with an extremely close cropped haircut, I don’t look THAT bald because of the fact that I still have coverage (as thin as it may be). In your opinion, will continued treatment with rogaine and propecia help me maintain this thin hair or is my continual thinning a sign that these drugs are not helping me?

A response is appreciated. Please don’t tell me to have my hair mapped. Been there, done that. I’m losing it.

You will continue to lose your hair if you have been thinning for all these years despite your daily doses of Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil), but it is safe to assume that these medications will continue to support the hair you have left. I suspect it is helping slow the balding/thinning process down. If you still have a hairline and are just thinning behind it (with fine hair in general) it does not sound like you have a problem now and are more worried about later on. If you can delay any surgical decision, it may be in your best interest to do so, but without a direct examination of you, I can not ascertain what you need.

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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.

Hello. I recently came across a website claiming to sell Minoxidil 12.5% solution. Do you know if this is legit? I haven’t heard of the FDA approving such a solution, and if it is available on this one particular site, why isn’t it available at major drug/retail stores? Also, same question for 5% minoxidil solution w/out propylene glycol (which irritates my scalp)also “allegedly” available at this site. I just don’t want to get scammed if I do decide to purchase either of the above products. Thanks a lot for your time and information.

Note: I can’t really answer your question, as I have not researched the FDA issues and am just pulling from my general knowledge on the laws by which I practice under. That being said, I’m willing to take a stab at it…

Doctors have the ‘power’ to mix up medications for their patients under many state laws. These do not have to be FDA approved because they are not bottled and sold to the public. The FDA does not get into protecting one patient from one doctor, just lots of people from medications. The doctor should generally use medications that are safe and effective and if one doctor is producing 12.5% minoxidil, I would suggest that this doctor has special knowledge on the safety and effectiveness of this drug. Higher and higher doses of minoxidil can drop blood pressure, so it is not without risk when and if it is used. The same applies to the use of propylene glycol in the mix.

A couple years ago, I had a reader write in with a question about 15% minoxidil he could buy from his doctor, so apparently that is also available in some places. I don’t concoct my own minoxidil mixtures, so I’m not unfortunately not the most knowledgeable about this.