Eren, thank you - I appreciate the feedback.
Per your request, I'm following up:
Background on me
I'm 39 and for the past five years I've been watching my hair thin very gradually but progressively, although my hairline didn't recede much. Today I'm a Hamilton-Norwood scale 2 recession and visible thinning.
Both my grandfathers and my father were Norwood 6's-7's by their early 70's. Back when I was 20 (in the dark days before Finestra and Minoxidil) I decided that when (not if) my baldness became visible I would have hair transplant surgery. This decision greatly reduced my stress on the subject and allowed me to basically ignore the issue until now since my male pattern baldness hadn't progressed enough to justify surgery.
Getting a prescription
My employer has an on-site health clinic with a physician on staff who is a general practitioner.
Early this week I went to him to request a prescription for Finasteride. Cost for the appointment was $130.
This was my first time using this clinic and when we entered the examining room he made the joke that I came to the right doctor because he was head-shaved bald.
I began by briefly describing my situation: almost 40, grandfathers and father were bald, hair has been thinning for 2+ years while I've been on a regimen of over-the-counter minoxidol and
Ketoconazole, finding increasing amounts of hair falling out when I brush my hair. I asserted that I'd decided that it's time for me to get a prescription for Finasteride, and that's the purpose for my appointment.
Doctor agrees that finasteride is the right next step for me and begins taking my individual and family health history to determine whether there are any contra-indications to prescribing finasteride. Side-note: he says that Ketoconazole doesn't help - I respond that it doesn't hurt either, and he agrees. After concluding that there are no contra-indications he warns me about the possible side effect of reduced libido then asks me whether I want brand-name or generic finasteride. I ask for generic and volunteer that I'd prefer a refillable prescription for 5mg dose to split - he doesn't bat and eye and agrees to this.
Interestingly, he never approaches me closer than about 5 feet away and he never looks closely at my scalp.
Doctor writes prescription for 90 5mg pills, refillable 3 times (total of 360 5mg pills). I've found that my doctors typically write 1-year prescriptions and this prescription would be a normal 1-year prescription without pill splitting. He comments that with pill splitting, this is now a ~5 year supply.
Filling the prescription
Online research and a few quick phone calls confirm that Walmart or Target have by far the best prices (~$25 for 90 pills). CVS and Rite-Aid cost ~$150 for 90 pills. (
https://www.rxpricequotes.com)
I fill my prescription at Walmart, buy a pill splitter (
http://www.amazon.com/Apex-Deluxe-Pill-Splitter-splitter/dp/B000EGP5DC), and set a reminder to refill my prescription in 2.5 months.
No results so far since I just started taking finasteride this week, but I appreciate this forum and all I've learned here!