rxcats

I have been taking finasteride (active ingredient in Propecia) for around 14 years (since I was ~33 years old). I use 1/4 of a generic Proscar tablet which is 1.25mg; Proscar (for BPH) was available before Propecia was approved. It has continued to work for me and quite well. I don't seen any reason that it would stop working from a pharmacological standpoint. I only wish the drug had been around when I was your age. I would never have needed a hair transplant!

I had two hair transplant procedures done about 14 years ago. I started greying about 5 or so years after that when I was in my late 30's. I have been dying my hair ever since. I can't imagine there being a problem once your scalp has completely healed from a HT. I typically use a 10 volume developer (semi-permanent) and light ash brown no-lift pigment. The 10 volume is a lower concentration hydrogen peroxide concentration, so it is less likely to make hair dry/damaged. After trying many different hair dye pigments, I am most satisfied with Second Nature (no-lift) by Clairol Professional; this is a common line for use on men in salons. It is not available at drugstores, but you can get it at professional beauty supply stores like Sally Beauty Supply and others. They have an online site; it can probably be mail ordered. You can use the pigment with either 10 volume (semi-permanent) or 20 volume (permanent) developer. I am currenly using Ion Sensitive Scalp 10 Volume Creme Developer.

I wouldn't recommend taking finasteride on a QOD regimen. The elimination half-life is only 6 hours which means it is essentially eliminated in 18 hours. Effects on DHT levels may persist, but I would not count on maximal effectiveness taking it that way. I don't believe that there is any physiological way that taking 1.25mg daily vs. 1mg daily would cause an increase risk of adverse effects on a drug with such a wide margin of safety. Acutely it is essentially non-toxic with the exception of developing male fetuses. I work for an emergency service; I was called regarding an ingestion of 30 tablets of Propecia by a toddler (around 2 years old). The child received no decontamination or treatment of any kind and had no effect at all. This is not to say that there are never any adverse effects with chronic dosing, but these are quite unusual and nearly identical to placebo controls (eg. decreased libido: 1.8% active arm vs. 1.3% placebo); the power of suggestion!