Category: Drugs

Hello,

I’ve read a good deal of your responses to many questions and a lot of them are pretty negative about the product they are questioning. I am a firm believer in reality regardless how excruciatingly painful it might be to hear the truth. But I wanted to ask since you seem so skeptical about all the hair products I’ve seen asked about (propecia, proceria, provillus) what do you recommend? Is there any help out there? Or are we just doomed to losing hair?

I am a big fan of Propecia (finasteride) and minoxidil, as they are FDA approved and proven to treat hair loss. I’ve seen both of them work, with particularly good results from Propecia (finasteride 1mg).

Some medications have minoxidil in them and may work to regrow hair, but if that is the case, I am sure if you look at the costs per dose you might be surprised at how expensive they turn out to be. Since minoxidil is available as an over the counter generic medication, many products include it as the active ingredient with a variety of other vitamins and such that don’t add much besides a new name and higher price.

Hi! Can I freeze Avodart pills without any problem? I wanna take half a pill for alopecia.

Avodart (dutasteride) is used for certain prostate conditions, and although it is prescribed by some doctors off label for treating androgenic alopecia, the correct dosing, its efficacy, and its long term side effects are not well defined.

With respect to how you keep the medication, I would follow the drug label instructions for storage requirements. I would think that freezing the pill may make it inactive. The drug information does say “keep from freezing”, and the full info about proper storage requirements as stated by Drugs.com is as follows —

“Store Avodart at 77 degrees F (25 degrees C). Brief storage at temperatures between 59 and 86 degrees F (15 and 30 degrees C) is permitted. Store away from heat, moisture, and light. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep Avodart out of the reach of children and away from pets.”

you suggest switching to proscar. doesnt that pose two problems? 1. it would be ripping the insurance companies off. 2. doctors would have to write false perscriptions for prostate problems, when they were really writing it for hair loss.

as well if its off the market, wouldnt it be for good reason? why would yo advocate a ‘work around’?

When I write prescriptions for Proscar or generic finasteride to treat hair loss, I write in the instructions that the drug be cut into quarters. If the pharmacy contacts the insurance company to authorize the medication for that, it is between the patient and his insurance company. I NEVER put a ICD-9 code that implies prostate disease, as the prescription does not require this on it. I do nothing that is illegal.

As for “if” it is pulled from the market, that’s a completely hypothetical situation and unlikely.

Hello,

I don’t know if you are aware about the french situation of propecia, but on the news these days they are talking about the permanent side effects, and a potential permanent erectile dysfunction. The equivalent of the FDA here, AFSSAPS, is talking about a reevaluation. The drug might be forbidden in 2013.

Here is the article, in french

Do you know any others countries where the drug is forbidden ?

Regards.

I ran that link through Google Translate so I could read it, but I didn’t find anything new there that we haven’t covered before. It says they will reassess the medication next year, which could mean there will be a change to the product label or there will be no changes at all. Any action to ban finasteride would impact men with prostate problems and would be unlikely.

Hi Dc William,

I hope this e-mail finds you in good health.

Actually, I have two questions and would appreciate your comments:

1) Im on Propecia and Roagine for almost two years, and Im planning to get married and having kids accorindgly. Do I need to stop Propecia, Is there any side effect on the baby? Shall I decrease the doasge to 3 times per week.

2) Can you pls provide us with some feedback on PRP & Acell treatment?

I thank you in advance for your reply.

Best regards

Propecia should not be an issue if you are trying to conceive. There is no significant trace of the drug in semen. The drug company (who is at great risk if anything goes wrong) does not have a warning on this for getting pregnant, just for women touching or ingesting the pill. Some doctors suggest that for drug related risks during pregnancy, you stop taking Propecia during the month that you are trying to conceive. This is most probably overkill, as it may have some impact on your hair loss/gain. Keep in mind Propecia’s half life in the blood stream is 4 hours. It may linger on in your tissue for about one week. If you have concerns, talk to your prescribing physician.

As for platelet rich plasma (PRP) — there is no study with respect to it producing any value. It may, theoretically, accelerate recovery after a hair transplant. The best thing I can say about it, is that it is a money maker for the doctor. I guess we are not good business people, because we refuse the join that bandwagon.

And as for ACell — it does not work for hair multiplication, as everyone hoped. It does seem to work for wound healing.

Over the past 5 years ive noticed a general thinning of my hair overall but never really thought it was that bad as plenty of people i went to high school with are already bald or visibly showing signs of recession etc. i usually wear my hair up and over the past 2 years my right temple has thinned out a lot. the v shaped hairline is something ive had from my youth.Although the shape is still there i can see where the eventual receding hairline will be.

Ive recently joined belgravia hairloss centre and they have put me on propecia. So will the hair grow back? the left temple is fine or a lot thicker at the moment anyway! if ive started on propecia would it be silly to maybe have my temple filled in at 26 or should i maybe add minoxidil into the mix? As that is my only real issue at this moment in time!

Propecia rarely regrows hair in the temple peaks or frontal hairline, but it could prevent you from losing more hair at those locations. Minoxidil also rarely works at the front of the hair (it works best in the crown) but it could be worth a try. I usually recommend to my patients that they initially stick with one medication at a time for now to see what kind of response you get over the course of the first year.

Doctor,

If you’re already taking propecia and later add minoxidil can the hair the propecia is saving become minoxidil dependent? If not, why not? I know they work differently. If the body can become dependent on many drugs (whether it originally needed that drug or not) why not hair that has been medicated for long periods and then that drug suddenly stopped?

Any growing hairs that are miniaturized can be benefited by minoxidil. If it were to benefit from the drug with a visible reversal of hair loss, then I would suspect that a minoxidil dependence could develop.