Category: Drugs

Ever since I started Propecia I noticed that my dandruff was getting worse. I have had nice results with stopping my hair loss from Propecia and I think that it may be regrowing my hair, but the increasing dandruff has become an embarrassment for me. Any suggestions?

I have had a few people complain of increasing dandruff. There seems to be a benefit with using a mild steroid (1/2% hycrocortisone) a few times a week. I generally tell people that three applications, 12 hours apart would be ok, but not to use it heavily or too much steroid can be absorbed in your system through the skin. The use of Nizoral shampoo has worked for many of these people.

Hello – my question is quite simple.. I understand that taking Propecia in the morning is best (due to increase in hormones then).. But what about taking it with other pills? Have you ever heard of, or have any reason to believe that taking it with a Multi-Vitamin as well as an allergy medecine (Zyrtec-D) might affect Propecia’s effectiveness?

Thanks!

To my knowledge, there are no negative effects of taking all those medications at once. I suggest that you consult your prescribing physician.

I’ve seen some studies that suggest those who *do* develop prostate cancer while on finasteride may have a greater change of seeing a more aggressive variety. There seems to be conflicting views on whether or not this is true. The general consensus I’ve gathered is that the preventative nature most men see far outweighs the risk, but its something to keep in mind nonetheless.

There seems now to be an agreement amongst the medical community that the appearance of a more aggressive cancer in those patients on finasteride may be a distortion of the way the data is collected. In addition, people on finasteride shrink their prostate when compared to people not on finasteride. If one assumes that both the control group and the treated group start out with the exact same number of cancers (or pre-cancers), then the smaller prostate (when biopsied) will show a higher rate of cancer detection than the larger, more swollen prostate. Each man in the original study was over 55 years old, and as cancer is more prevalent in men over 55. That is why the age group was selected for this study. The men who had an apparently more aggressive cancer had what appears on biopsy to be worse cancers, had the same long term result as than the control group of men. In conclusion, finasteride probably has no more negative effect on producing an aggressive cancer of the prostate than those people who were not on the drug, but the incidence of cancer was 25% less in the treated group than the control group.

For more information, please see Archives of Dermatology – Finasteride (Propecia) and the Promotion of High-grade Prostate Cancer.

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Hi,
I’m a 23 year old who has, as of the past 2 years, been using Propecia with what I believe to be good results. Still, in the cranial areas superior to the temples, theres still some thinning taking place (the apex of the forehead is fine, no thinning). Three days ago, I decided to try Minoxidil in just those areas. When I apply it though, it clearly seeps onto my other good, thick hair nearby. Though I already know that once you stop Minoxidil the hair you’ve regrown there falls out, but my question is will one day deciding to stop the minoxidil also make the hair that the drug may have touched during application fall out as well (the hair that would normally had stayed had I not used minoxidil at all)? Thanks for reading.

If minoxidil is applied to normal hair there will be no response to it (provided that there are no side effects of the drug, like an allergic reaction). Stopping minoxidil will not impact normal hair that was exposed to the drug.