Thinking of switching from Propecia to Proscar

[ams712]

Hello everyone. First time poster, I have been reading threads here since Nov 08. Like many on here I went online to try to find answers to my hair loss problem and found this site. These forums have been really helpful in that regard. I am currently using both Rogaine and Propecia, I have been using these two for approximately 5 and 4 months respectively. I am really happy with the results I have achieved thus far. The problem is that the cost of Propecia is really causing problems with my budget. The results I have achieved up to this point definitely justifies the cost of the drug but I am really interested in switching to Proscar to help save money. I have two questions. First, do I risk the success I am having now with my current regiment by switching to Proscar. I know that the medication is the same as Propecia, but I will have to try and split the pill into fifths. I don't want to take a 1.25 mg dosage and skip a day like I have read many doing on this site. The extra .25 mg dosage scares me due to possible sexual side effects. I have no problems in this area using Propecia now. I am also worried that the pill splitting process will not be even and my dosages from day to day will not be constant and exact which could possibly throw my positive results out of whack. This scares that hell out me. My second question is, who should I approach for a Proscar script. I doubt that the dermatologist that I have been seeing will write me the prescription. I don't see a GP regularly so I don't have a good relationship with a doctor either. Will one of the approved doctors from this site be a good option for this? I appreciate your thoughts on this, sorry for the lengthy post.

[iwannakeephair1674]

Originally Posted by ams712

Hello everyone. First time poster, I have been reading threads here since Nov 08. Like many on here I went online to try to find answers to my hair loss problem and found this site. These forums have been really helpful in that regard. I am currently using both Rogaine and Propecia, I have been using these two for approximately 5 and 4 months respectively. I am really happy with the results I have achieved thus far. The problem is that the cost of Propecia is really causing problems with my budget. The results I have achieved up to this point definitely justifies the cost of the drug but I am really interested in switching to Proscar to help save money. I have two questions. First, do I risk the success I am having now with my current regiment by switching to Proscar. I know that the medication is the same as Propecia, but I will have to try and split the pill into fifths. I don't want to take a 1.25 mg dosage and skip a day like I have read many doing on this site. The extra .25 mg dosage scares me due to possible sexual side effects. I have no problems in this area using Propecia now. I am also worried that the pill splitting process will not be even and my dosages from day to day will not be constant and exact which could possibly throw my positive results out of whack. This scares that hell out me. My second question is, who should I approach for a Proscar script. I doubt that the dermatologist that I have been seeing will write me the prescription. I don't see a GP regularly so I don't have a good relationship with a doctor either. Will one of the approved doctors from this site be a good option for this? I appreciate your thoughts on this, sorry for the lengthy post.

Hello Ams, I too used Propecia in the beginning and have had excellent results. However, after a year on Propecia I noticed how much it adds up on costs, and like you I was more than willing to still pay $70 a month if I had to, but I did consider switching to Generic Finasteride. Now I actually take 7.5 mg of Finasteride a day and I only pay $10 a month (because its covered through insurance). I have absolutely no side effects (except for a higher sex drive), but what I wanted to tell you is that in my opinion is that it can get very tedious cutting the pills into 1/5ths, so I recommend that you just cut a pill in half and it will give 2.5mg a day. If you are like the majority of men, you will not have any side effects especially since you are doing so well on 1mg plus you might see a little bit more in benefits as you do block a little more DHT than you would have with the 1mg. I hope this helps you

Destin

[River]

Now I actually take 7.5 mg of Finasteride a day and I only pay $10 a month (because its covered through insurance). I have absolutely no side effects (except for a higher sex drive), but what I wanted to tell you is that in my opinion is that it can get very tedious cutting the pills into 1/5ths, so I recommend that you just cut a pill in half and it will give 2.5mg a day.

There is no evidence that taking more than 1mg of finasteride will significantly increase it's protective effects. However, there is some evidence that it will increase the risk of side effects. I admire iwannakeephair1674 for his courage in taking 7.5 times the recommended dosage, but i highly doubt it will have any additional effect beyond enhancing his peace of mind.

I am also worried that the pill splitting process will not be even and my dosages from day to day will not be constant and exact which could possibly throw my positive results out of whack

This is not a real problem. There are two competing factors at work. One of these factors is your liver, which works constantly to remove finasteride from your system. However, another factor is the length of time a particular finasteride molecule stays bound to the DHT producing alpha reductase enzyme.

Basically, your dosage of finasteride through out the day will decline anyhow, because your liver will be constantly removing it from your system. This is ok because when finasteride binds with the DHT enzyme, it can stay bound to the enzyme for quite a while, even longer than 72 hours. If it does stay bound to the dht enzyme for say 72 hours, it prevents testosterone from being bound to the enzyme and converting into DHT, for 72 hours.

So, you could stop taking finasteride for three days, yet your dht levels will still be supressed. Since there are factors at work that will lower the concentration of finasteride in your system, yet still result in reasonably stable suppresion of the DHT enzyme, you don't have to worry about whether or not your pill splitting is even. So long as what you take adds up to a single 5mg pill every five days, you will get exactly the same results as a person who takes a 1 mg pill daily. Even if you skip a day.

[ams712]

Thanks for the responses. Anyone have a suggestion on whether it would be easier to obtain a Proscar script from a doctor dedicated to hair issues. I'm 38 so I would guess that it would not be a red flag as far as insurance is concerned.

[iwannakeephair1674]

I think it should be easy to obtain, I think that the insurance company would have no questions regarding your age and possible prostate issues. I am 21 years old and have no problem obtaining my prescription and my insurance covering it. Also, I do believe that Finasteride is in fact dose dependent. For example, Spencer Kobren has been taking 5mg of Finasteride for more than 15 years, he did at one time try to lower his dosage to 1 mg of Finasteride, but saw that he was losing his results. Also, I've seen that people who have sucessfully taken 1mg Finasteride for years started to lose ground, however, when they upped their dosage to 2.5mg Finasteride, they started to regain their results. So, in my personal opinion and Spencer's from what he told me on his show once that I believe dosage does infact inhibit more DHT the more Finasteride you take.... but again thats my opinion and I"m not recommending to do what I'm doing. I just thought that I would try it, and figured I could always lower the dosage (since I've done really well on 1mg). Also, I don't take it all at once. I take the 5mg pill at 7 am (when testosterone levels are at its highest) and then 2.5 mg at 7pm. I have been doing this for like 10 months and like I said have only had a higher sex drive. Again, I know how crazy it must seem to take that much Finasteride, but again its really not a lot because I'm sure .5mg of Dutasteride inihibits more DHT than what I'm doing and people have been taking that for a while.


Destin

[mhoffma1]

Hey Destin, on the topic of generic finasteride, have you been taking it for more than a year and seen the same results as with Propecia. I would love for you to answer yes because the idea of a daily 7.5 mg of Finasteride only costing $10 a month sounds very very nice to me!

And you say it is covered through insurance? Crap, am I the only dummy on this site taking Propecia/finasteride that didn't know that it could be covered? Or do you just have some really great health insurance?

Best,
Michael

[iwannakeephair1674]

Yes.. I only pay $10 a month. Also, I never lost any results from the switch from Propecia. I took Propecia for a year at $70 a month. That seemed way way too much for me since I am only 21 and in college. I then switched to generic Finasteride and my insurance (through my dads work) covered it. What I am nervous about is when I graduate (when my dads insurance stops on me) and find a new job. I hope that whoever I work for could have the insurance that covers it. You can try it and ask your doctor for 5mg Finasteride and then go to Walgreens or your local pharmacy and run it through your insurance and see if they'll cover it.


Destin

[markjoetay]

Hey all , I am taking propecia from more than one month, and as per my physician I have to take it for more than 3 months to get better results. So i am just waiting as of now. I am purchasing propecia 1mg 30 tablest at just $15 from one trusted online pharmacy. Well keep this thread updated as per your experiance with propecia , It might help others.

[ams712]

I had a follow up appointment recently with my dermatologist and brought up the possibility of changing over to Proscar due to the high cost of Propecia. He did not want to write me a script citing safety concerns. Anyone know if I can get a Proscar script online with one of the docs on this forum? On a separate note, I have been on Propecia and Rogaine now for appx 13 months. I will update with pictures soon.