I'd like to keep the hair I have - what's the best combination?

[Mav23]

I'm pretty new to the scene and was thinking Propecia and Rogain perhaps? But there's so many different kinds of Rogaine and apparently a cheaper version of Propecia (called Proscar) that I get lost trying to combine a good regimen to keep the hair I have.

Also, if I do decide to get something like Proscar, where can I get it from (I'm in Canada)?

 

[Beingbaldsucksass]

Rogaine foam in the morning, liquid at night, regular propecia is better then prospar

 

[Mav23]

regular propecia is better then prospar

Why is that? Aren't they both from the same drug?

 

[Beingbaldsucksass]

Why is that? Aren't they both from the same drug?

Well according to what I've read prospar is the original drug given to people with prostate cancer

 

[pidda]

Get on propecia if you like throwing away extra money (compared to generic proscar)

 

[tedlin01]

There is really no difference between Proscar and Propecia. It contains the exact same active ingrediant except for Proscar contains 5x times more.
Get Proscar to save some cash and split it into 5 pieces or even more peices as 0.5mg of Finasteride blocks almost as much DHT as 1 and 5mg. With all the sides from Finasteride
I would try to go with as low dose as possible.

Add Nizoral to your suggested regimen as well and you will have yourself a treatment called "The big Tree". It have been known and popular in the community for a couple of years now.

 

[TEDDYRUKSPIN]

Just to say, not all doctors or physicians will prescribe proscar 5mg to people. You will also have to buy a pill splitter. So in reality, you will be taking 1.25mg of finasteride.

I always say go for propecia 1mg first. Try that. See how you feel with it and then switch if you want.

(1) Propecia will keep what you have. It is'nt much good with getting back what hair you have;
(2) Minoxidil (generic or branded) - in reality does the same. Some lucky people will get some hair back but not always the same quality (thickness) as your original hair.

If you are the lucky few in the USA. I believe there is a new finasteride 1mg FDA approved topical spray you can get from your clinician.

 

[tedlin01]

Topical Spray works the same way(same sides) as oral pills though, with the exception that they may be more dangerous to the environment as you go around spreading Finasteride from your hair.

The Molecular weight of Finasteride is 372.55 Daltons. That is pretty big and the absorbation through the skin might not be optimal.

 

[WarLord]

I'm pretty new to the scene and was thinking Propecia and Rogain perhaps? But there's so many different kinds of Rogaine and apparently a cheaper version of Propecia (called Proscar) that I get lost trying to combine a good regimen to keep the hair I have.

Also, if I do decide to get something like Proscar, where can I get it from (I'm in Canada)?

I can tell you that combining finasteride with minoxidil produces superior results to either product used alone. During the last months, I went through a very depressive period, because I had applied 10-15% minoxidil in my temples for 13 months with minimal results and after I quitted it and returned back to 5% minoxidil, I experienced a devastating shed. For a while, I even thought that minoxidil stopped working. It was a very bitter end of my experiment. Even after 4 months, I saw no regrowth and I was really down. In late June, I decided to add finasteride, 1 mg/day. During the last 2 weeks I observe something that I could describe like an explosion of hair growth. The hairs spring out everywhere along my hairline, even on my forehead (!), on places that have been bald for 16 years. I am really thrilled and the idea that I could regrow my Norwood1 hairline doesn't seem utopian anymore.

I can tell you that I used 15% minoxidil with 0.1% finasteride for 5 months, but it produced virtually nothing. Few of my vellus/intermediate hairs turned into thick hairs, and some new intermediate hairs appeared on some places, but it was in no way cosmetically significant. Furthermore, the strong minoxidil overstimulated my hair and caused telogen effluvium. But the addition of finasteride tablets to 5% minoxidil was a damn big difference! I think that it is always better to use more treatments in moderate dosages than to overdose one stuff.

 

[kthxbi]

fincar. dirt cheap, been on it two years, saw great results with it. going through a nasty shed right now yes, but will never look back and regret having gotten on finasteride. only just started minoxidil so can't comment on that just yet - and nizoral is supposedly great, i use it, but who knows. it just gets rid of the itch for me and makes my hair not look gross so i'll recommend that too.

 

[Tuna83]

@WarLord, can you tell more about the telogen effluvium you experienced from minoxidil? Did it occur just in typical hairloss areas or all over your head? Was it accompanied by itching?

I used minoxidil 5 for years (1x 0.5ml per day on my temples). I stopped in mid of March this year because of side effects. Then I experienced a massive shed beginning of June. I restarted Minoxidil immediately on my temples. The temple area has stabilised again hovever I lose a lot of hair at the middle front an top of my head, accompanied by a strong itching.
Now I wonder if this is just the hair Minoxidil was able to keep in those 5 years, or if it is a telogen effluvium because of the restart with minoxidil.