on 0.5mg finasteride for 3 months....shud i move up to 1mg?

[fightDHT]

Hi everyone,
I am diffuse thinning on top right behind my hairline...my hairline i would say is a norwood 2...but the thinning sucks....
I am on fincar 0.625 mg/day (1/8th of a tablet) for close to 3 months now (+nizoral+provillus tablet(if anyone cares about this)). The finasteride worked wonders for me as soon as i started it but suddenly one day i saw more hair on pillow than before. So I think it is shed and wait for it to end...but its been a month and a half since then and i am still losing hair and now the hair-fall rate is the same as before.. Moreover my dandruff has suddenly returned 2 weeks back (dunno if this is temporary)...and is causing even more havoc in the falling hair....i am alternating between nizoral and jason's tea tree shampoo everyday but still the dandruff seems to have called backup and returns at night with full force...Number of Hair shedding is now the same as before finasteride and i really dont know what to do....I am thinking of moving up to the recommended finasteride dosage...that would be 1.25 mg of fincar per day....i had just reserved doing this to when low dose finasteride stops working for me like 4-5 yrs from now...but i guess i will have to take this step right now!!...i am confused if i should increase dosage or wait for few more months or so....please advice if i should increase finasteride dosage to 1.25 mg or ride it out on low dose a few months.....

 

[rusty_y2k2]

i'd stick with the dose you have now until at least 6 months... There's no real benefit to be had from upping the dose.

You using the same tablets as before? Not had a new batch or anything?

I keep on getting bouts of increased shedding too (i'm closing in on the end of month 6 now), but my hair doesn't seem to actually thin out lately from them. I was noticably thinner by the start of month 3 though!

 

[DoctorHouse]

I have read at baldingblog, 1mg is 30% more effective than 0.5mg. If you want 100% effective treatment you have to use 1mg. I bumped up my dosage back to 1mg from 0.5mg. I cut it due to problems with mild gyno. I really did not notice any difference cutting it so I figured, I could use 30% more help. Let's see if this is true.

 

[Fanjeera]

How effective is 0,25?

 

[DoctorHouse]

If you can only handle 0.25mg, I would even bother taking anything. I would go for topicals like Promox, Revivogen, or Proxiphen. It is probably only mildly effective. But on the other hand, sometimes you have to be your own guinea pig and try different dosages to see which one works better. Who knows, maybe going back to 1mg will not make a difference for me. At least I am using the best topicals I could find.

 

[Fanjeera]

What's a topical? Anyway, the chemist's shops here don't sell those products you mentioned. I am thinking of 0,25 mg only, because I'm very young, terribly afraid of the side effects and not rich enough.

 

[fightDHT]

topicals are foams/liquids/gels that you apply on your scalp and hair instead of popping pills (which are called internals)....I think you shud hang on to whatever amount of finasteride ur body can take....0.25 mg so be it...the study says even 0.05 mg is somewhat effective in dealing with DHT...at the same time you would need some topical which will do the remaining fight along with your finasteride since you are taking small amount of finasteride...(on the side...also ensure that your body gets proper nutrition by eating good food)..

I am not very keen on topicals just because of the mess of applying them and the mixed feedback from users.....but If I could get a non-messy easy to apply yet effective topical, I would try it...

BTW i have decided to stay on the low finasteride dose for a few more months before thinking about increasing my finasteride dose to 1.25 mg...hope it pays off!!..

 

[rusty_y2k2]

I have read at baldingblog, 1mg is 30% more effective than 0.5mg. If you want 100% effective treatment you have to use 1mg. I bumped up my dosage back to 1mg from 0.5mg. I cut it due to problems with mild gyno. I really did not notice any difference cutting it so I figured, I could use 30% more help. Let's see if this is true.

what's that based on?

We know that the difference in DHT inhibition between 0.5 and 1mg is absolutely minimal, but i do recall something about the hair counts being better after 6 months in those on 1mg vs 0.5 (or was it less?)mg but thought that by 1 yr the 0.5 had caught up. I honestly can't quite remember...

 

[beaner]

I have read at baldingblog, 1mg is 30% more effective than 0.5mg. If you want 100% effective treatment you have to use 1mg. I bumped up my dosage back to 1mg from 0.5mg. I cut it due to problems with mild gyno. I really did not notice any difference cutting it so I figured, I could use 30% more help. Let's see if this is true.

what's that based on?

We know that the difference in DHT inhibition between 0.5 and 1mg is absolutely minimal, but i do recall something about the hair counts being better after 6 months in those on 1mg vs 0.5 (or was it less?)mg but thought that by 1 yr the 0.5 had caught up. I honestly can't quite remember...

There have been no studies showing the effects of .5 mg. (at least not in any of the many studies I've seen posted on these forums) .2 mg performed about 80% as well as the full 1mg dose. I wouldn't doubt if .5 mg was identical or very close in effects to 1 mg.

To the original poster---I'm not sure why you'd want to switch after only 3 months. This is no where near enough time to determine the efficacy of any treatment. Stick with the .5 mg for 8-12 months before making any determinations.