taking proscar since 1997

[decker]

Time to facts, I've been meaning to join and get some help/advice with my current problem.
You could probably say I'm a bit of a veteran when it comes to fighting male pattern baldness. I first started taking proscar in 1997 just after my wife got pregnant with our first child. This was my first experince with proscar (finasteride 5mg) and I was able to give it enough time to see a very good reponse within 10 months. I had regained a lot of hair after it became very thin on top and at the front. The next few years saw me taking one tablet a day, half in the morning, half before bed, four months on one month off without any further loss. Anyway fast fwd to the the start of 2006 and I made the switch to propecia (sp?) due to anxiety with finasteride affecting my kidneys and brain due to long term use. After three months of propecia (1mg/day) I noticed thinning on the frontal sides and crown so I made the switch back proscar in October. Now here's my problem , for the past two-three weeks I have been experiencing heavy shedding, to the point were I can see my scalp in bright light, itchy greasy scalp and intermitent burning sensation more so when the hair hasn't been washed and is oily. I have started washing my hair with nizoral every two days, something I haven't needed to do for years, because if the oily scalp and itch/burning.
I don't want to increase the proscar, honestly I'm afraid what long term use can do.
Obviouly this subject needs more reading on my behalf, something I will do when I get more time, but any feedback would be highly appreciated.
It feels better just talking about it.

Current regime:
One 5 mg proscar, half AM & half PM
Multi Vit
Nizoral , every two days

Thanks.

 

[roki]

change to dutastride
0.5 mg ever other day will give you a much stronger effect then the proscar
you can start minoxidil foam as well to address the problem from another angel
if your showing sculp then buzz it sown and save your dignity, thin hair is disgusting

 

[dietcola]

propecia = finasteride 1mg
proscar = finasteride 5mg

no one needs to take 5mg of finasteride a day. i would recommend cutting your proscar into 1/4 and take 1.25mg once a day. that is all.

 

[Cassin]

change to dutastride

Not so fast.

propecia = finasteride 1mg
proscar = finasteride 5mg

no one needs to take 5mg of finasteride a day. i would recommend cutting your proscar into 1/4 and take 1.25mg once a day. that is all.

Agreed.

There is absolutely no need to be using so much finasteride. Cut your proscar into 1/4 ths and save yourself both money and worry.

No matter what, do some more research and chose something you feel comfortable with.

 

[JohnnySeville]

Theorectically 1mg of finasteride will give you over 90% of the effect of 5mg, so you should not have such a reaction, unless the shed is just coincidental and would have happened anyway.

Another reason may be that the body has developed some type of tolerance for the 5mg, whereas the body's receptiveness to the effects of finasteride has been diminished, in other word it got used to 5 mg even though it was more than what was required and when you switched to a more normal dose it was insufficient to what the body was accustomed to restrict conversion.

I know this can happen with people taking megadoses of vitamins. People can take huge quantities of Vit C for years, but when they cut back to a more normal dose they sometimes developed signs of a deficiency, even though what they are now taking is more than the requirement.

 

[roki]

change to dutastride

Not so fast.

propecia = finasteride 1mg
proscar = finasteride 5mg

no one needs to take 5mg of finasteride a day. i would recommend cutting your proscar into 1/4 and take 1.25mg once a day. that is all.

Agreed.

There is absolutely no need to be using so much finasteride. Cut your proscar into 1/4 ths and save yourself both money and worry.

No matter what, do some more research and chose something you feel comfortable with.

did you even read what he wrote?
the guy has been on proscar for 10 years now his hair his used to it when he changed to propecia it started falling he needs something stronger if he wants to keep his hair he should stay on proscar or change to dutasteride
i personally would prefer taking 0.5 mg dutasteride every other day then taking 5 mg finastride everyday from a health point of viewand from a hair point of view

 

[Skaff]

You've probably been going through sheds like this periodically over the last 10 years. Only now having recently switched from proscar to propecia, you're examining your hair in more detail than usual.

Take dietcola's advice.

 

[Cassin]

did you even read what he wrote?

Yes. :shock:

 

[bubka]

it may be just from the change in dosage, you had a fluctuation in your dht, the cells are pretty sensitive and to a slight change

i would do what most of us do though, take 1/4 proscar daily, and maybe skip a day here and there

 

[Follically Challenged]

dutasteride.

 

[barcafan]

No one here is a doctor, all of these replies are speculation. Go see your doctor.

 

[WorldofWarcraft]

WOW: Do you guys realize the imlications here? Maybe the studies are wrong. It sound to me like 2.5 mg is in fact better than 1 mg for some people?

I know this isn't scientific proof but it makes you think.... Maybe some more scientific studies need to be done. Too bad they won't.

 

[Cassin]

No one here is a doctor, all of these replies are speculation. Go see your doctor.

Well yes. On this point you can end every thread with such a reply.

The best thing to do is solicit advice and do more research.

Research includes reading studies found in the main part of this site or others, and including doctors.

 

[JohnnySeville]

All doses recommended by pharmaceutical companies are based on a "bell curve", the dose they recommend falls within the most common dose that illicits the desired outcome. There are those that fall outside of the average dose, either one way or another, that is why a doctor should be consulted when taking this stuff to make the adjustments based on your response to the drug.

 

[H/B]

A small study...

: Finasteride treatment of patterned hair loss in normoandrogenic postmenopausal women.
Source: Dermatology. 2004;209(3):202-7.
Author(s): Trueb RM, Swiss Trichology Study Group
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Summary:
Propecia has previously been shown to be ineffective for hair loss in women. This new study indicates that women may require a higher dose (2.5mg or greater) in order to achieve beneficial results.

Related Links:
Propecia Information
Liposomal Propecia Increases Penetration
Propecia May Prevent Fibrosis
Propecia 5-Year Hair Loss Study Results

BACKGROUND: Finasteride, an inhibitor of type 2 5alpha-reductase, inhibits conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, resulting in a decrease in serum and scalp dihydrotestosterone levels believed to be pathogenic in androgenetic alopecia. Oral finasteride has been shown to be effective in the treatment of hair loss in men, while its efficacy in women has remained controversial.

METHODS: 5 postmenopausal women without clinical or laboratory signs of hyperandrogenism were given 2.5 or 5 mg/day oral finasteride for the treatment of pattern hair loss. Efficacy was evaluated by patient and investigator assessments, and review of photographs taken at baseline and at months 6, 12 and 18 by an expert panel.

RESULTS: Finasteride treatment improved scalp hair by all evaluation techniques. The patients' self-assessment demonstrated that finasteride treatment decreased hair loss, increased hair growth and improved appearance of hair. These improvements were confirmed by investigator assessment and assessments of photographs. No adverse effects were noted.

CONCLUSIONS: Oral finasteride in a dosage of 2.5 mg/day or more may be effective for the treatment of pattern hair loss in postmenopausal women in the absence of clinical or laboratory signs of hyperandrogenism.

 

[blandflabbis]

This is to be expected in my view, if you take finasteride at 5 mg every day for 9 years then your body will develop a tolerance to it, then if you changed to 1 mg (propecia) it might be expected that you would experience an increase in DHT levels and hair loss.

WOW: Do you guys realize the imlications here? Maybe the studies are wrong. It sound to me like 2.5 mg is in fact better than 1 mg for some people?

I know this isn't scientific proof but it makes you think.... Maybe some more scientific studies need to be done. Too bad they won't.

The difference was only noticed after 9 years of taking finasteride at 5 mg a day though, if it were evidence that higher doses were more effective then you'd need to notice this from day one - i.e. he took propecia for a year or two with poor results and after switching to proscar the results dramatically improved. I'm not saying that people don't have different optimal doses, just that this isn't really proof of that one way or the other in my opinion.

 

[Guest]

Theres an old saying in Arabic:

"Isol al-Mujarib, la tisal al-Hakim"

Translation:

"Ask the one who uses it, don't ask the doctor"

 

[MPBWarrior]

of course he blocked more DHT on 5mg. doesn't that block 90 something % of DHT from type II 5-aR, while 1mg blocks something like 83%? that may not seem like a big difference but it might make a huge difference for your hair. in fact, it's about twice the amount of DHT being available to ruin your follicles. also, proscar should do less damage than dutasteride because it doesn't really affect DHT from type I, so if your body tolerated 5mg, just go on that instead of dutasteride, which has unknown long term sides... u can visit a doctor if u want too, but they probably know less than most of us here about male pattern baldness. good luck!