propecia or proscar

[rob2]

I am thinking about starting propecia or proscar, anyone taking either one or these drugs, if so how are they working for you, and also where is the best and cheepest place to order them on line. any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[rob2]

I am thinking about starting propecia or proscar, anyone taking either one or these drugs, if so how are they working for you, and also where is the best and cheepest place to order them on line. any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[UGLY MAN 4 LIFE]

I get them from unitedpharmacies.com, not sure if they're the cheapest but it avoids me having to refill prescriptions every month.

[rob2]

thanks for your advise, do you need a prescription to get them from unitedpharmacies

[Gorpy]

I get proscar prescribed by my HT physician. I get a 4 month supply from Cosco for $80. It seems to be maintaining what I have.

[hairbank]

For starters, Propecia and Proscar are the same thing, just in different dosages. Propecia is a 1mg pill, Proscar 5mg. Both contain the active ingredient finasteride - a DHT inhibitor.

 

Take my advice (and Gorpy's), get them prescribed by your HT surgeon, local General Practitioner or dermatologist. The script will last you a year or two and, if you go with Proscar and cut it into 4ths to save on cost, a 4 month supply will cost you between $80-$100.......not too bad.

 

There have been issues with the consistency of meds ordered overseas, not to mention some have had shipping concerns. Get some peace of mind and buy and FDA approved meds by a reputable manufacturer sold by a local pharmacy.

[NikkiJ]

If you cut up a 5mg it can shatter, and so essentially you are going to lose and/or destroy the Finasteride.

 

If you're not getting equal doses the efficacy will decrease. What happens is each pill is comprised of only 5mg of an active ingredient, and the rest is an inactive ingredient, and so a person may take 4 mg one day, ?? the next and so on and so forth. This can raise the occurrences of side effects and will also lower its' efficacy.

 

Propecia gives a consistent 1mg per day dose, which from what I've seen in patients gives them a much better response.

 

If you're trying to save money just buy it from a H/T surgeon. They tend to be much cheaper than pharmacies and also give samples with each purchase to bring the price down even further, and they will monitor your progress with photos.

[hairbank]

NikkiJ,

 

I've personally been quartering Proscar for the past 3 months with no pills shattering to date. I know many on this forum, and others, who do the same thing. This leads me to believe the occurance of pill shattering to be rare.

 

As for the consistency of the active ingredient in a 5mg pill of Proscar, I've never heard such a vast variation mentioned before (4mg 1day versus 1/2mg the next). Studies for finasteride have shown dosages of less than 1mg per day to be effective. Quartering Proscar provides 1.25mg per dosage. So while you may on occasion receive .75mg one day, 1.50mg the next, since finasteride actively inhibits DHT in the body for 72 hours, the difference in dosage has not been percieved as a detriment to the efficiacy of the meds. As a matter of fact, when I started finasteride 3 months ago, Dr. Wong (who I would consider to be an expert) recommended an every other day regimen for finasteride due to the 72 hour active life in the body. This leads me to believe an exact 1mg daily dosage is not necessary for finasteride to be effective.

 

I purchased my Proscar at Walmart for $105. Since I'm taking it every other day, it will last 8 months. Propecia on the other hand would have cost me around $45 for 30 pills, which equates to $180 for a 8 months supply on an every other day regimen. That's a $75 difference, enough for me to use Proscar versus Propecia.

 

Ordering from your HT surgeon may have benefits when it comes to cost.......my first HT surgeon wrote my prescription but didn't sell it so I did not have that alternative. I would like to have had either surgeon track my progress but there's no way because of the distance involved.

[Jefff]

There have been issues with the consistency of meds ordered overseas,

 

Howdy Hairbank,

Could you please explain what you mean by having issues with consistency of meds ordered overseas? Does that mean that the actual meds may not contain what its said to contain (or something different)?

Thanks,

Jeff

[kamin]

Originally posted by hairbank:

I've personally been quartering Proscar for the past 3 months with no pills shattering to date. I know many on this forum, and others, who do the same thing. This leads me to believe the occurance of pill shattering to be rare.

 

 

I agree. In fact, Proscar cuts very easy with a pill cutter. I've been doing it for almost two years with no problems!