to quit or not to quit

[Guest]

Hey guys, first of all, I have relied on this website and all the helpful advice the members have given me for several years now. It has been invaluable to me in my hairloss fight. Anyway, on to my question. I have been on propecia now for about 1 1/2 years and my feeling is this: Sometimes I think it has helped and other times I don't think so. I suspect that it has slowed down the hairloss process but I'm not sure. Possibly, it's not working at all and I'm just slowly losing hair. With some recent financial losses and re-assesment of where my money goes, I'm considering pulling the plug on propecia, but I am concerned that my hairloss might really ramp up. I'm afraid the only way I could find this out is by quiting it. So, let's say I stop using it, and then I notice the hairloss really pick up the pace, can I put the brakes on by starting it again? Could I hope to regain whatever benenfits the propecia might have given me? Or at best, could I only hope to "break" my hairloss freefall and maintain whatever new level that might be? I feel like the hairloss has probably continued but at a pretty slow rate. I just don't know if that's attributable to the propecia. Thanks for any help on this one.

[Guest]

Hey guys, first of all, I have relied on this website and all the helpful advice the members have given me for several years now. It has been invaluable to me in my hairloss fight. Anyway, on to my question. I have been on propecia now for about 1 1/2 years and my feeling is this: Sometimes I think it has helped and other times I don't think so. I suspect that it has slowed down the hairloss process but I'm not sure. Possibly, it's not working at all and I'm just slowly losing hair. With some recent financial losses and re-assesment of where my money goes, I'm considering pulling the plug on propecia, but I am concerned that my hairloss might really ramp up. I'm afraid the only way I could find this out is by quiting it. So, let's say I stop using it, and then I notice the hairloss really pick up the pace, can I put the brakes on by starting it again? Could I hope to regain whatever benenfits the propecia might have given me? Or at best, could I only hope to "break" my hairloss freefall and maintain whatever new level that might be? I feel like the hairloss has probably continued but at a pretty slow rate. I just don't know if that's attributable to the propecia. Thanks for any help on this one.

[MrJobi]

Hi Harve

 

If you care about having hair I would avoid stopping.. It certainly will not help and you will most likely lose hair? It's your decsion butif money is tight, then you might not a choice

[hairbank]

Harve,

 

Tough question...........opinions will vary. I'll post mine based on what I've read other's saying who've stopped usage then started up again. It seems to me that most who stop using do end up experiencing a bit of noticable loss within the first 6 months or so. Also, I would not expect what you did lose to come back even if you start taking it again.

 

Again, this is just an overall feel from what I've read about others going through this. I've only taken Finasteride for 1 year and don't plan to quit. It has been working for me.

 

I'm on an Every Other Day regimen as recommended by Dr. Wong. Are you taking Propecia or Proscar? If not taking Proscar, get on it as it's much cheaper. Generic Proscar can be purchased at Walmart for $78 giving you 30 pills. Cutting the pills into fourths and taking them daily, this will give you a 4 month supply for roughly $19.50 per month............not too shabby.

[HK500]

Echoing my buddies above, if you take generic Proscar it's even cheaper, my health insurance picks up most of it, it's around 12 bucks for 30 pills which last 4 months. It does not get any cheaper than this with reliable US made scripts.

Personally, I would definitely NOT take the chance to stop Finasteride for a few months, the resulting loss may never come back meaning another HT looming in the future.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Harve,

 

I'm glad to hear that this forum has helped you over the years...perhaps you've been here longer than me? Hmmm....wonders never cease .

 

Now onto my answer:

 

If financial concern is the only reason to stop for you, then I'd switch to Generic Proscar (just as HK500 stated). If you play your cards right, as long as you have medical benefits, you could be like me and get a 4 month supply (30 pills that you cut into quarters) for $10. It's $10 because my deductible is $10...it may be cheaper or more expensive depending on your medical coverage. Even if you are not covered, it's still significantly cheaper than Propecia....guestimate $80 for 4 months? That's only a speculation though...I've never priced it since I'm covered.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Bill

[MrJobi]

Hey guys

 

You think taking Propecia every other day would affect me ?? take it everyday now but it would be nice to save money of course.. Not that its an issue but hey .. More money for my HT

 

?????

[NervousNelly]

It has a half life of approx. 24 hrs therefore technically it should be just as adequate. Give it a shot. I think it will work just as well.

[Guest]

Thanks for all the input guys. I will definently check into proscar. Right now, I'm getting my propecia through my HT doctor. He does offer a better deal compared to buying it from a pharmacy but the proscar option seems more viable to me for the long run. I do want to continue using propecia if possible. I always said I would be happy even if it just slowed down the loss.

[Toad_NW3]

Another thing to consider is that generic proscar is round but name brand proscar is oddly shaped. Even though under my insurance name brand and generic cost the same, I have recently switched to generic proscar b/c it is round and much more easily cut into four parts. Although I will brag that I have cutting name brand proscar down to a science!

 

Toad

[YoungGuy]

I may be way off, but I don't know if cutting one exactly into 4 pieces is that important, as long as you end up with having taken 1 pill over 4 days. Personally I don't really sweat getting exact pieces for that very reason. Could anyone with more info/experience weigh in?

[Bill - Seemiller]

YoungGuy,

 

You are actually correct. I think it's wise to split the pill as close to even as possible, but do not sweat it if you can't. The finasteride in the pill is not evenly distributed anyway, so a perfect quarter split won't necessarily give you 1mg of finasteride a day. So taking 4 pieces of pill in 4 days works just fine

 

Bill

[Toad_NW3]

I agree w/ both Bill and YoungGuy. It's just that I'm obsessive compulsive and hate not having cut into pieces that look even.

[Al - Moderator]

I may be way off, but I don't know if cutting one exactly into 4 pieces is that important, as long as you end up with having taken 1 pill over 4 days. Personally I don't really sweat getting exact pieces for that very reason. Could anyone with more info/experience weigh in?

 

I've been taking Proscar for 10 years and have never cut any of them. They come in blister packs. I simply open one, take a pill, take a little nibble and put the pill back. In 4 or 5 days that pill is done and I open the next one. Works for me. I personally feel it's better to not always get the exact same dose every day. Your body doesn't get used to a certain level that way and keeps the Proscar working better. That's my own opinion. I have no real proof that it works better that way.