Does this idea hold water?

[Hairless Goat]

Hi all,

For almost a year I have taken .5mg (half a pill) of Propecia every day. My prescribing doctor (a hair restoration surgeon) insists that taking half the dosage isn't any less effective, at least not discernibly so. In his words:

"There is only arounda 1% difference in DHT suppression between the 0.5 daily dose (1.25mg or quarter tablet of a 5mg tab) and 1mg a day, and you lessen the chance of side effects, so I wouldn’t recommend changing anything."

I know others here, and a dermatologist I have spoken to, disagree with him; that there is little reason not to take the full dosage. While I believe the drug has been effective for me (hard to tell with varying hair styles and length), that matters little. The question is whether the results would be even more pronounced if I upped the dosage. Anyone care to chime in?

Thanks!
Dan

 

[Quantum Cat]

the Doctor is correct that there's very little extra DHT suppression between 0.5mg and 1mg. But he's also contradicted himself with the comment about less risk of side effects.

DHT suppression is, presumably, what causes side effects in the minority of users (I'm talking real side effects here, not the imaginary psychosomatic ones that many claim to 'experience'). Since there's so little difference between DHT suppression between 0.5 and 1, then why would the different dosages have any effect on potential side effects? You see the logic?

Basically, if you're unlucky enough to be one of the few who get real side effects, you're going to experience them at whatever dose of finasteride you take because the DHT suppression is practically the same. Unless you take a really minute dose, but that would likely be inadequate to counter Male Pattern Baldness so you might as well not be taking finasteride at all.

I'm surprised that so many people don't seem to understand this about Finasteride - you can't have it 'both ways' so to speak. If you see your Dr again, put this to him - I'd be interested to hear what he says.

as for what dose you should take, if you've successfully maintained hair on 0.5mg per day, then you're probably in the 'safe zone'. But 1mg is the recommended dosage. Any higher than about 1.5mg is pointless

 

[Hairless Goat]

the Doctor is correct that there's very little extra DHT suppression between 0.5mg and 1mg. But he's also contradicted himself with the comment about less risk of side effects.

DHT suppression is, presumably, what causes side effects in the minority of users (I'm talking real side effects here, not the imaginary psychosomatic ones that many claim to 'experience'). Since there's so little difference between DHT suppression between 0.5 and 1, then why would the different dosages have any effect on potential side effects? You see the logic?

Basically, if you're unlucky enough to be one of the few who get real side effects, you're going to experience them at whatever dose of finasteride you take because the DHT suppression is practically the same. Unless you take a really minute dose, but that would likely be inadequate to counter Male Pattern Baldness so you might as well not be taking finasteride at all.

I'm surprised that so many people don't seem to understand this about Finasteride - you can't have it 'both ways' so to speak. If you see your Dr again, put this to him - I'd be interested to hear what he says.

as for what dose you should take, if you've successfully maintained hair on 0.5mg per day, then you're probably in the 'safe zone'. But 1mg is the recommended dosage. Any higher than about 1.5mg is pointless

Thanks for your response. Yes I saw the flaw in his logic but didn't mention it in the opening post. Why would there be little difference in effectiveness, but a difference in the incidence of side effects? Makes no sense. Perhaps I should up the dosage but it'll become more of a financial burden if I continue to stick with brand name Propecia. My doctor cautioned me about Dr. Reddy's - that some of his colleagues had anecdotal evidence it was less effective than its brand name counterpart.

 

[Quantum Cat]

why not ask your Dr for finasteride 5mg to save money?

 

[benjifrank]

Really nice ideas...I'll try to follow them in my best..

 

[Hairless Goat]

My Doctor originally prescribed me the 5mg tablets but I had my misgivings about cutting the non-scored pills. More generics are entering the market in the 1mg form so I'll probably move onto that. Has anyone begun using Camber - a new generic supplier of finasteride?