my doctor's comment about Proscar and Propecia.

[Redbone]

This thread is preposterous, Propecia causes cancer? Splitting Proscar is bad because each pill will have differnet doses? This guy calls himself a medical professional? Where did he get his degree Guatamala or Bombay?

I take proscar, I split proscar I love proscar, stop with the overated side effects it is a great drug for hairloss and works no matter what form you take it in either the doctor prescribed propecia pill or in the proscar form.

In all my many mooons of research talking with several doctors from a number of prestigious institutions I still here the same thing- Propecia is good stuff. Never have I had a medical professional put it down or say that it causes severe sexual side effects or Cancer. I have been saying this, HairLossTalk.com has been saying this, Cassin the violin player says this and a whole host of others.

Do what I do shut the f*** up, take the pill stop hair loss and be happy- end of story or don't take it loose your hair and wish you had taken it. I dont care because my hair is doing great and its thanks to Propecia for that.

My advice to all the new guys:

Don't take Proscar in 5ths spend $70 a month on Propecia

Better yet dont take it at all and when all your hair falls out go to Bosely and get a hair transplant- but start saving now because it will cost about $10k and after the operation they will tell you to get on Propecia and minoxidil to maintain the hair you have and the hair that was transplanted.

These threads are so damn boring-

 

[jblig]

Redbone, who long have you been on finasteride? thanks....

 

[The Gardener]

And another final point to make on this subject:

YOUR DOCTOR, IF ASKED, WILL NOT KNOW sh*t ABOUT HAIRLOSS

I know it sounds preposterous, but it is true and I can't say it enough. Doctors, in the course of getting their M.D.'s, take many courses. Cellular biology, advanced anatomy, courses on the vascular system, and on dealing with trauma, and on the intricacies of the heart and lungs and how to diagnose diseases without getting sued.

I guarantee you that 99.9% of doctors have NEVER taken a course in the course of their studies dealing with hairloss. There is no money in it in the context of the typical HMO environment they are forced to practice under. To them, males coming into their offices complaining of "chronic hairloss" is, on the scale of importance in their minds, somewhere in between a patient with athletes' foot and a patient complaining of "feeling old" and "having wrinkles."

All they know is what they learn from the drugmakers' circulars they get. And even with this info, all they are concerned about is not getting sued, and getting you OUT of their office as fast as they can so they can make room and time for the money-harvest of a heart patient that is waiting in line after you.

The only "doctors" who will give a sh*t about your hairloss are those who specialize in the subject, period. And the problem is that even most of them still don't make money in the practice, which is why so many of them have turned to steering patients to their own "proprietary" treatments that they will push on you. All of them, of course, basically designer variants of Minoxidil that they will sell to you at a premium because they know you are desperate.

The best knowledge you will get on this subject is from this forum right here.

 

[JM88]

First time post here.
i have to agree with Gardener here.
I am a doctor, with hair loss and have been coming to this site for many years for information.
The forums contain the best information, and rarely the worst.

In regards to doctors, as medical students, hair loss is not part of medical training. We spend time recognising and learning to treat life threatening medical conditions - heart attacks, understanding surgery, deliverying babies, learning to manage kids, learning psychology - depression etc. Hair loss is not part of the curriculum, and not essential at the basic level.
I would be concerned about the state of new doctors coming out if they had exams on hair loss rather than recognising meningitis in a baby.

Local general doctors, who see your common cough and colds, would get their information on minoxidil/finasteride from the drug companies, or based their advice on the patients they treated. In this days of medical-legal issues, I wouldn't be suprised if some doctors said their 'could' be a link to cancer - if probed by the patient. DHT reductase inhibitors haven't been out for that long.

Dermatologists, are another kettle of fish. they mainly see a lot of skin lumpbs, bumps, acne, skin cancer, melanomas, psoriasis - and they probably see a lot more hairloss patients, because the local general doctors refer patients to them. They probably have to know a bit more, but I still think you can find more information on news forums like these.

I guess if you find a dermatologist who specialise in hair loss, or who takes a very keen interest in hair loss, than that is something special. But be weary, as pointed out earlier, of ones trying to make the quick buck, rather than have the patient care at the most important.

After doing a few years in oncology (thats cancer), I don't think I've ever read across finasteride causing cancer. Smoking, fatty diets, hereditary are known to cause the common cancers. however the data is limited, as finasteride hasn't been around for a long time, and I don't know if there is any evidence based literature that has looked specifically at the incidence rate of cancer in people taking finasteride.

All I can say is, be wary of advice given by doctors on hair loss. Know what their experience and interest is, and use the forums on the web as a good source of information ( both good and bad )

 

[sucks2bme]

This question is for the more experience posters. So would you recommend getting a blood test prior to starting on proscar? I have had a box of it sitting in my room for about 1 1/2 months now unsure of whether to just take them or get a blood test first.

 

[NeedSomeHelp]

This question is for the more experience posters. So would you recommend getting a blood test prior to starting on proscar? I have had a box of it sitting in my room for about 1 1/2 months now unsure of whether to just take them or get a blood test first.

Get a blood test first on all your hormones if you can

 

[Axon]

First time post here.
i have to agree with Gardener here.
I am a doctor, with hair loss and have been coming to this site for many years for information.
The forums contain the best information, and rarely the worst.

In regards to doctors, as medical students, hair loss is not part of medical training. We spend time recognising and learning to treat life threatening medical conditions - heart attacks, understanding surgery, deliverying babies, learning to manage kids, learning psychology - depression etc. Hair loss is not part of the curriculum, and not essential at the basic level.
I would be concerned about the state of new doctors coming out if they had exams on hair loss rather than recognising meningitis in a baby.

Local general doctors, who see your common cough and colds, would get their information on minoxidil/finasteride from the drug companies, or based their advice on the patients they treated. In this days of medical-legal issues, I wouldn't be suprised if some doctors said their 'could' be a link to cancer - if probed by the patient. DHT reductase inhibitors haven't been out for that long.

Dermatologists, are another kettle of fish. they mainly see a lot of skin lumpbs, bumps, acne, skin cancer, melanomas, psoriasis - and they probably see a lot more hairloss patients, because the local general doctors refer patients to them. They probably have to know a bit more, but I still think you can find more information on news forums like these.

I guess if you find a dermatologist who specialise in hair loss, or who takes a very keen interest in hair loss, than that is something special. But be weary, as pointed out earlier, of ones trying to make the quick buck, rather than have the patient care at the most important.

After doing a few years in oncology (thats cancer), I don't think I've ever read across finasteride causing cancer. Smoking, fatty diets, hereditary are known to cause the common cancers. however the data is limited, as finasteride hasn't been around for a long time, and I don't know if there is any evidence based literature that has looked specifically at the incidence rate of cancer in people taking finasteride.

All I can say is, be wary of advice given by doctors on hair loss. Know what their experience and interest is, and use the forums on the web as a good source of information ( both good and bad )

Hey man,

I believe I speak for all the sane posters on here when I say we appreciate you sharing your experience, your knowledge, and your realistic appraisal of doctors when it come to hair loss. We could certainly use more of that.

 

[George Costanza]

Yea the 2 derms I've been to knew nothing more than what was advertised by rogain and propecia. I asked them a bunch of questions about stuff they never even heard of. They just looked at me like I was speaking another language and told me they were not hair specialists. :lol:

 

[drinkrum]

I am not sure about the misinformation that my doctor provided to me, but if you asked me if i take your information or my doctor's? guess what everyone else going to pick?

For the cancer thing, like i didn't say propecia will cause cancer, it has something to do with cancer or tomor in medical terms, which i don't exactly know. That is why i said you should go ask your doctor. Not trying to give you mis-information here.

dispite the fact of what it can really do to me, I think i still going to take the risk... bold at age 25 is like cutting one of my arms off.

After taken propecia for almost 2 months, i can really feel the sexually side effects it does to me... I am really worrying that it will slowly decrease the my sperm counts, which make it very tough to make babies or maybe intelligence babies in later years.

To put an end to this Peter --

I contacted the top doctor (currently at Johns Hopkins) who has worked extensively with finasteride. I also was a patient for a leading endocrinologist at Mass. Gen./Harvard. Both doctors said it makes no tangible difference if you split the pills unless your body has some very uncommon reaction to minutely varying doses of finasteride. And they've never encountered such a patient.

D.

 

[drinkrum]

This thread is preposterous, Propecia causes cancer? Splitting Proscar is bad because each pill will have differnet doses? This guy calls himself a medical professional? Where did he get his degree Guatamala or Bombay?

Redbone --

Please don't be ignorant. You're giving bad press not only to yourself but to the American posters on this board. And learn how to spell Guatemala before you insult it.

D.