My Story: Generic Vs. Brand Avodart and Propecia

[Mr Clean]

Hey Guys,
I wanted to give you guys my story and thoughts on my experiences with generic vs brand name drugs.

Avodart = brand name Dutasteride
Dutas = generic Dutasteride

Propecia = brand name Finasteride
Finpecia = generic Finasteride


I order Finpecia and Dutas (generic Propecia and Avodart) from InHousePharmacy.com (supposedly a reputable company). I've been using this stuff for about a year or more, not sure as I've lost track of time. I've been predominantly using Finpecia for the majority of the last year, and Dutas for just the past 2 months. The past week though, I switched to Avodart instead of Dutas as I felt that Dutas wasn't working, and I now know for sure that Avodart is working because I have much more increased sides (dryer skin and lower libido) from taking just .5mg/day of Avodart vs 1mg/day of Dutas + 1mg/day of Finpecia. Just .5mg/day of Avodart (brand name Dutasteride) is more powerful for me than 1mg/day of Dutas plus 1mg/day of Finpecia... that says a lot in my opinion to the quality of generic drugs and their potency.

Also, I've been on regular Propecia for like over 4 or 5 years and I was losing very slowly but the past year that I was on Finpecia, my hair loss increased at a MUCH, MUCH more rapid rate. I've lost so much hair the past year that I'm in disbelief and I want to blow my brains out. I couldn't figure out why and I always thought it was just because my body became resistant to Finasteride/Finpecia/Propecia or maybe it was due to stress or depression, but now I feel like maybe its because the generic Finpecia was nowhere near as powerful as the regular Propecia.

I never really gave much thought to how potent the generic drugs are in comparison to the brand name ones, but after reading somebody else's post about the environments that they're shipped in and how they have to be stored, it made me think a little bit. Last week I found one of my Dutas pills leaking a bit and that made me suspicious of the quality. Like what if the other pills had problems too and I didn't notice. Anyway I switched to regular brand name Avodart now instead of Dutas and I have much lower libido and my semen is even more watery. I can still get it up though when I need to, I just don't have to jerk off like once a day the way I needed to in the past.

Yes, the generics are much cheaper, and yes, the generics I'm sure still do something as I had sides when I was on those too, but they're not doing what they're supposed to compared to the brand name stuff. I feel like 2.5mg of Dutas is the equivalent of .5mg of Avodart.

I'm going to stick to brand name Avodart and report back here and let you guys know what happens.

 

[Mopless]

So does Merck pay you with cash, or credit? :innocent:

 

[Hoppi]

xD

 

[adolobe]

Generics are 100% just as good as the brand name if they are real and honest generics.

The issue is shoddy generics from unregulated pill shops. You have fake or under dosed meds. Especially the ones from India,Hong Kong and Russia.

Some light reading
http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/protect ... efault.htm

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/ ... 1972.shtml

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Fake-Medi ... id=2460640

http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/In ... le-by-2010

Im all to aware of this as I work directly in Pharmacology

Most oversea generics are fake or have just enough of the active ingredient to pass testing for the presence of the active ingredient. In some case as little as .02mg will pass with flying colors. Ive even seen in some cases .001mg pass.

Its a game of chance when you mess with online generics

 

[Mr Clean]

Hey Adolobe,
So many people say that InHousePharmacy.com is legit. If they're not good, where would you recommend? I DO agree with what you're saying... it's totally possible for these drugs to only have trace amounts of the active ingredient in them and pass testing. Only problem is this: how do you know which ones are the real deal, and which one's are not.


Mopless, Avodart is made by GlaxoSmithKline whereas Propecia is made by Merck.

 

[adolobe]

Its not inhouse thats not legit. They buy there meds and resale just like all the sites they dont make the meds themselves.

One month the might get legit stock the next it could be questionable it all depends on there wholesale distributors.

I don't put blame on inhouse directly. But I highly doubt they have the multi-million dollar set up to properly test each batch of meds they get in.

If your overseas I would get finasteride from Dr Lee which is about $25 usd for 30 day supply with the dollar so week its practically a steal. If you live in the USA then get a prescription from your doctor fro Propecia/Avodart.

If you want finasteride and money is the issue and your doctor wont prescribe Proscar then go to medicalwellnesscenter for $50 they will do an online consultation and then write you a prescription for Proscar and call it into the pharmacy of your choice. Costco sells generic Proscar for under $60 for a 4month supply and once cut you have over a years worth of finasteride and you dont need a membership to get meds from Costco in most states. Also Walmart is about the same price

Same with Avodart if thats your decision to take and your doctor wont prescribe they will also write a prescription for it.

For the end user there is not way to tell a real from a fake by looking at it. And even i you take it and get sides you will never know how much active ingredient is in it with out the proper test setup which if you have the money for that you would of already had a HTP for you and most of the active people on this forum.

 

[Mr Clean]

Yeah, this is my point... it's practically impossible to know which generic is potent like the brand, and which generic is just total junk. There is too much risk involved in buying generic drugs, especially when they come from overseas. Also, I highly doubt that companies like InHousePharmacy.com buy Dutas or Finpecia from multiple wholesalers. They probably buy it from just one wholesaler. If they're not legit drugs or good generics, its probably always going to be that way.

I think we're better off paying extra if you can and trying to get the brand name drugs. I know most people on this forum are on Propecia/Finasteride and not Avodart/Dutasteride, so for those of you guys, I highly recommend getting Propecia or Proscar (and splitting it) directly from Costco or Walmart. They're stuff is brand name products at near generic prices.

I wish I never got on this generic b.s. I have lost sssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooooo much hair the past year its ridiculous!!!! I probably lost at least 50% of my density in the top middle to front of my scalp. I can't tell how much I've lost everywhere else on my head.

 

[Mr Clean]

BTW, my mother is a doctor, and she always told me to never take generics... I sure wish I listened to her now. I'm not going to tell her she's right otherwise she's going to rub it in my face.



And here is an interesting article that somebody posted up on another forum regarding Generics vs. Brand name drugs:


http://www.crazymeds.us/BvsG.html

 

[JWM]

Been using Dr. Reddy's and Cipla for years from Inhouse. Still got decent hair. And yes, I started on brand name.

 

[grove12345]

i had success on finpecia from inhouse after 6 months. I was like wow its working.

But then with a new patch my libido went up and my hair loss went up too, noticed the finpecia tablets i got was made in another "state" in india or another factory.

inhouse and united can be legit. But they dont go to india to pick up the drugs themselves. THey have people who send them the drugs. And then those people get it from someone else, and then they get it from the factories.

So either the factories with low regulation has a mixutre of dosages or someone along the distribution chain is messing around.

 

[Mr Clean]

I agree with Grove12345

 

[RoyD]

Well I've been using Dutas from Dr.Reddy's for over a year now and my hair has just gotten worse. Also I've had no sides whatsoever. I'm really starting to think there's something wrong with the meds and want to do a blood test to check my DHT levels. Any idea on how to go about this?

 

[yourworld001]

Also agree, Dutas is definitely much weaker than Avodart, tried 1mg of Dutas and it did nothing compared to branded Avodart.