Category: Drugs

Hey Doc, I went to my dermatologist and asked if he could prescribe me proscar instead of propecia to save money (I was on propecia for a month), but wanted to change to proscar since it’s cheaper. He prescribed me the medicine. I went to CVS, and they gave me the medicine which only cost $10. Now the medicine was prescribed as 5mg Finasteride (generic for proscar). The manufacturer is Accord Healthcare; here’s a link to their website: accord-healthcare.com.

Now I wanted to know if I could trust this medication as I got it from CVS by a prescription? The reason why I am of suspect is due to personal reasons. You see I’m South Asian, and I know how fake things are sold at India just for money. I’ve been there a lot, so I know this from experience. But again I just wanted to know could I at least trust a reputable pharmacy like CVS where I got the medication from. And do these generics go through some kind of FDA approval before they are sold to Pharmacies in the US.

Thank You for reading, and could you let me know you opinion.

CVS is a very large pharmacy chain, and while I can’t say with 100% certainty that the medication you got is real, I’d think you’d have just as much assurance as anywhere else. I’d trust that prescription medications you get from CVS are fine, and I’d expect they would have quality assurance measures in place to prevent fakes from getting into their pipeline.

For info on the FDA’s generic approval process, check out Understanding Generic Drugs.

Dear Dr Rassman

I have been using Minoxidil once per day since February 2010 on the temples and hairline (as well as finasteride)

I haven’t ever experienced a noticeable shed, or any regrowth. My hair has continued to get slowly worse. I have continued using Minoxidil as I thought that maybe it could at least be contributing to help slow down the MPB process – but I am unsure if this is the case

The Rogaine website states that treatment should be stopped if no results (i.e. regrowth) are seen within one year. My questions are therefore

1) Is it best that I quit using minoxidil?
2) Is there a risk that healthy hair would have become dependent on minoxidil, and fall out if minoxidil is stopped?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks

If you are sure that there was no benefit from the use of minoxidil, then stopping it should not make a difference; however, if there was some benefit, stopping it would cause loss in those hairs that benefited. So it really is important to be sure.

I am using a tablet called FINPECIA which is FINASTERIDE.

I just found out that my wife is pregnant, and now came across all the warnings that it is not safe for my unborn child.

Please give me more clarity on the matter, I am very worried for the baby.

Thank you !

For specific medical questions you should always consult with a doctor. I generally recommend to my patients who are trying to conceive and worrying about this issue, to stop taking Propecia for about one month as the medication has a short half life and is gone from your blood stream in a day and likely out of your body within a week.

There is no evidence that the drug finasteride is passed through the sperm into the uterus of a pregnant woman and then passed through to the baby. Thus, in general there is NO concern from research that states you need to stop taking Propecia. It does not cause any harm if you continue taking the medication before your partner conceived or even after your partner conceives. In fact after conception, it really should not matter at all.

The caution related to Propecia and conceiving is for the WOMAN. Men can continue taking Propecia without any issues to the woman or their unborn child.

Hi Doc

Your colleague Dr. Bernstein believes a liberal dose of minoxidil once a day is about as effective as twice a day, due to the fact that topical last about 22 hours. Sounds reasonable. I had one doc tell me most of his patients only use it once a day, because they found twice a day too difficult and not cosmetically appealing.

What do you think? notice any clinical difference from patients who use it once as opposed to twice a day?

Thanks

The directions on the label say twice a day application of the medication is optimal. If your doctor says to use it once a day, then that is his/her opinion. If you want to use it once a day, that is your choice to make.

I do not know what the clinical difference would be and I generally recommend twice a day use. Perhaps you can try and let us know.

Hey Dr., while taking propecia for hair loss. Does propecia stop muscle growth, slow muscle growth, or effect muscle growth in any way? cause some people say your muscle wille be slower and weaker some other say normal. I am getting confused with all the different responses on the net. One source says dht is essential for muscle development. I simply just want the truth. Please respond as quickly as possible. Thank You.

Propecia has nothing to do with stronger or weaker muscle growth. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a metabolic byproduct of testosterone production, as testosterone is broken down by the liver into DHT. Testosterone plays a role for muscle development, therefore DHT may reflect it. The more testosterone your body produces, the more DHT will be produced- but this does not mean you will have more hair loss, per se. Theory does not always correlate to real world observations.

If minoxidil is causing itching probably from the PG [propylene glycol], would it be counter-productive to use it?

I had problems with the foam, so its not an option. I’m afraid to stop because I used a non PG formula for years that’s no longer available. So my hair is probably dependent.

If you are having issues with an ingredient in minoxidil, then you should not use it. It does not matter if you are dependent on minoxidil or not. If there is an unwanted side effect, you need to address it. I would discuss your options with your doctor.

Hi, I’ve been taking propecia for around 5 years now and I’ve really seen my hair loss slow down. However, recently in the last year I’ve noticed my hair loss seem to be getting slowly worse again and it would appear the propecia seems to be loosing it’s effectiveness. I was wondering if I had a break from propecia for perhaps a few weeks before restarting it that this would help regain it’s effectiveness? Thanks

Stopping Propecia (finasteride) will cause a loss of its effectiveness. What you’re suggesting isn’t going to help. Even if you think the medication isn’t working as well as it has in the past, stopping it will make the loss even worse.

I have seen men go off of Propecia for a few months, lose hair, and then go back on it when they realized the mistake… only to find out that the hair loss that ensued could not be reversed to the state it was in when the drug was stopped. This is known as catch-up hair loss and and it’s not likely that you’ll regain what is lost if you restart the medication.