when does split proscar start to loose effectiveness?

tanaka

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I took Propecia for several years and could maintain what I had pretty well. Then last year for cost reasons I switched to 5mg finasteride and split them in quarters. So far everything stayed ok.
I went on a journey for several months and unfortunately decided to split the pills needed in advance. I did not know then that this was a bad idea. Two months later I noticed my temples were receding, so male pattern baldness was starting to progress again. I did some research on the net and found a guy who witnessed the same thing, he cut his proscar every 2 weeks. Other people stated that finasteride without coating reacts with oxygen which makes the ingredient loose efficiency over time.

I wonder how long it is save to have the pieces of finasteride exposed to air before you consume them. Apparently after 2 weeks they are already useless. A quartered 5mg pill is exposed to air for 3 days when you take the first bit immediately after splitting. How can you be sure that the ingredient does not already degrade significantly in this timespan and you take a useless piece of pill on day 2, 3 and 4?

Any educated opinions on this problem are much appreciated.
 

unplugged88

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From what I've read the lack of coating on split pills can increase their absorption in the body as the coating is no longer acting under a slower time release.

I also read it's a good practice to store these split pills in a cool/dry/dark place(away from damaging sunlight), but I don't have any specific knowledge about how quickly Proscar degrades after being split.
My guess would be the loss is only marginal, but I would love to hear an educated answer on this as well.
 

Wolf Pack

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Only cut one pill at a time and store in an air tight container like a pill bottle or the pill cutter storage area.

Did u follow this? Plenty of people do this and get results. If you were travelling maybe the pills were exposed to the environment, crumbled more. Just guessing.
 

fullhead

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When you're cutting proscar in 4 you will end up with random dosages:
- one quarter may have 0.1 mg
- one quarter may have 3 mg
- one quarter may have 1 mg
- one quarter may have 0.9 mg

Active substance (finasteride) is NOT evenly spread out throughout the pill UNLESS the pill was made for being split in half / quarters (it usually has a line in the middle that makes it easier to be broken in half).
 

psyhotria

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I wonder how long it is save to have the pieces of finasteride exposed to air before you consume them.
You can still use it for years. I myself use pure finasteride powder. All the scaremongering is plain BS. You can test it yourself: put a pill (orig. propecia or proscar if you want) into a glas of water and watch how fast the coating dismantles. Pointless. For example all the generics do not have a propecia-like coating.. And instead of splitting the pills I would dissolve them into a wodka/propylene glycol mix (1:1) and consume to desired dosing. This way you can make any dosing easily. Also this way you can put it directly onto your head if you want - topical finasteride (but make a small batch at a time because of the fillers).
 

Nadester

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What psy said.
Don't stress it.

- - - Updated - - -

What psy said.
Don't stress it.
 

tanaka

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My experience showed me that there is a significant drop in efficiency when the pills are split. I stored the pieces in a small airtight plastic bag without exposure to light, heat or moisture. They got useless within 6 weeks. The temple loss I see progresses pretty fast. For one week now i use 1mg generic finasteride without cutting it, and I really hope that this soon will stop the loss.
 

bfassassin

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I actually wondered about this a few months ago. I started developing a bald spot on the top of my head when I switched from 1mg to the quartered 5 mg tablets. Prior to that I was on 1 mg for 3 months and my thin spots were filling it. I don't know I think the active ingredient isn't spread evenly in the 5 mg tablets that's why my male pattern baldness progressed while on the 1.25mg/day imo. Either that or the quartered pill loses effectiveness over time if left out in the open(the last quarter I would take would have been out in the open for 4 days). I've been on the 1mg tablet for a month again now and the bald spot is now starting to fill in. The 5 mg may be cheaper but I'd rather pay extra to make sure I'm getting the proper dose.
 

tanaka

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BF,

you see regrowth already after 4 weeks? Thats fast! Where are those thin spots, temple or vertex?
Its really strange, one year ago I didnt take any meds for 6 months and the recession did not progress. Now it seems that something has pulled the trigger. Since chrismas the thin temple area doubled in size. In autumn I started to take a lot more estrogene (what you should not do, I am transgender) than before but this should be beneficial for hairgrowth.
Or is there any chance high levels of estrogene can actually harm the follicles? Sounds illogical to me. At least the high estrogene was not able to protect the temple area from DHT. This is more than confusing!
 

Ascension

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My experience showed me that there is a significant drop in efficiency when the pills are split. I stored the pieces in a small airtight plastic bag without exposure to light, heat or moisture. They got useless within 6 weeks. The temple loss I see progresses pretty fast. For one week now i use 1mg generic finasteride without cutting it, and I really hope that this soon will stop the loss.
you cut all the pills at once?
 
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