Propecia Dosage: 1mg every other day, or 0.5 daily?

[21YearsAndScared]

As the title asks, I would like to know which method would be better to consume.

 

Since I've started propecia about half a year ago, I tried the 1mg/day method and 3 weeks later noticed sexual side effects. As such, I've reduced my dosage to 0.5mg every other day.

 

After half a year, I have noticed no improvement to my hair thickness/quantity, and I still shed massively in the shower (Currently NW 2). I'm now willing to increase the dosage to 1mg per 2 days. I would just like to know if anyone has any knowledge of the benefits of taking 0.5mg daily, or 1mg every other day instead?

 

_______________________________________

 

On another note: my dermatologist prescribed "1.5% Steiprox shampoo" to me (As my hair often gets oily, and makes my scalp so sore it "hurts" when I move my hair - I believe this may also cause further hair loss to me.)

 

I was wondering if this has any known benefits to preventing hair loss, as something like Nizoral?

[StaggerLee123]

Lots of people are on the 1mg M W F routine and it is recommended by several leading clinics. I have been on 1 mg/day for about 9 months and will switch to MWF starting this week. I too have noticed some mild sides and hope to get a better outcome. The watery semen is getting old...

[Dr Tom Walker]

There is a degree of trial and error involved here. The evidence base is primarily anecdotal.

 

The half life is between 6 and 12 hours for most people so daily dose should be better in theory.

 

Have you discussed it with the doctor that prescribed the finasteride?

[21YearsAndScared]

I haven't discussed it with the dermatologist because

 

a) it took me 6 months to book my first appointment with him

b) He will most likely take me off the drug entirely once I mention my side effects (He had told me that out of 40 of his patients, only 1 reported side effects from propecia), and from my research this may be the only drug that has any chance at helping me with my hair loss.

 

So my first plan of action is to ask this community for assistance instead.

[StaggerLee123]

I haven't discussed it with the dermatologist because

 

a) it took me 6 months to book my first appointment with him

b) He will most likely take me off the drug entirely once I mention my side effects (He had told me that out of 40 of his patients, only 1 reported side effects from propecia), and from my research this may be the only drug that has any chance at helping me with my hair loss.

 

So my first plan of action is to ask this community for assistance instead.

 

6 months to get an appointment? Wow that is unfortunate. Can't you call the doc up and ask him? You probably just need to experiment with the dosage as it is not an exact science.

[unk]

I was scouring google and came across this. I felt obliged to sign up and step in.

 

There's a lot of confusion about the difference between plasma half-life and biological half-life:

 

Plasma half-life is the rate of elimination of a drug from the body by your kidney and liver. For Finasteride that is approximately five to six hours in men 18 to 60 years of age, and eight hours in men more than 70 years of age.

 

Biological half-life however refers to how long the pharmacological effects of a drug remain before another dose is required. Now, finasteride is an irreversible inhibitor of 5-Alpha reductase, meaning until your body produces more 5-alpha reductase, DHT levels remain low. The body generally takes 3-5 days to form sufficient amounts 5-alpha reductase to start converting Testosterone to DHT and damaging your hair again. So as long as you dose yourself before the third day, you should still be keeping your DHT levels pretty low.

[jobber1900]

unk, does that mean 1 mg every three days or 1 mg every two days?

[unk]

Hey Jobber1900,

 

In healthy male volunteers treated with finasteride 5mg tablets for 14 days, discontinuation of therapy resulted in a return of DHT levels to pretreatment levels in approximately 2 weeks

Finasteride 5 mg Tablets, USP

 

This was also shown with doses 0.05mg-5mg, but I can't seem to find the study. Based on my (somewhat limited) pharmacology understanding as a biomedical scientist, it's theoretically possible in pharmacology to calculate the increasing clearance time of a drug based on half-life, such that, for purely hypothetical example, after one year of daily dosing it might take lets say 30 days for DHT to return to baseline (it won't be 15 anymore, that's the take home message). This is just to illustrate that it's not cut and dry, and that the stars won't fall out of alignment if you miss a dose, I know we like to be dramatic as hair loss sufferers, but it's just not that serious.

 

Judging from graphs, after 2 or 3 days (or more likely longer), DHT then slowly starts to creep back down from it's maximum inhibition. I'm going for every other day, I don't think every day is necessary.

[jobber1900]

thanks for sharing that with us

[21YearsAndScared]

I'm still not sure which dosage is best after the above discussion, I'm just continuing with 0.5mg/day and will hope for the best I suppose.

[JohnKnee]

I have been taking Propecia (1mg) for about 4 months and experience good results; less shedding, thicker hair, and some regrowth. I am using the Big 3 regime. I will start considering every other day once my regrowth has peaked. I think this is best for maintenances.

[1978matt]

I'm going to try 0.5mg weekly! Not a lot I know but I want to see if it causes the sides I got the previous time I took it.

[StaggerLee123]

I'm going to try 0.5mg weekly! Not a lot I know but I want to see if it causes the sides I got the previous time I took it.

 

Good luck with that as it is a small dose to take, it's worth a try though. I was on 1.25 mg finasteride every day for about 6 months and did notice some sides. I experimented a bit with the schedule and finally settled in on 1.25 mg every M, W, F. The sides went away. Now it may be because I reduced my schedule or it could be that my body simply adjusted to the med as has been reported on extensively. Again good luck with it.

[JohnnyDrama]

I've just turned 30 and I've been on the same as you guys for quite a while now (1.25mg per day). Over the past year or so though, I've noticed sides of Fin and I think I'm going to try the M W F regimen for sure starting from next week.

[21YearsAndScared]

I haven't posted in a couple months, but I'm back to tell you what I've been up to.

So I've upped my dosage to 1mg/day everyday for 2 months now, and today I found that I have really bad side effects. I basically have ED, I can get maybe 60% of a full erection at best and it takes a lot of stimulation.

 

I'm a young guy at 21, and this is definitely not what was happening before I took propecia.

I am 100% sure that it is not something in my mind, as this is the 3rd time this has happened to me since starting.

 

I am also cutting my dose down now from 1mg/day to 1mg/week. If my sexual side effects continue, I will be stopping propecia.

[Faizy1992]

I haven't posted in a couple months, but I'm back to tell you what I've been up to.

So I've upped my dosage to 1mg/day everyday for 2 months now, and today I found that I have really bad side effects. I basically have ED, I can get maybe 60% of a full erection at best and it takes a lot of stimulation.

 

I'm a young guy at 21, and this is definitely not what was happening before I took propecia.

I am 100% sure that it is not something in my mind, as this is the 3rd time this has happened to me since starting.

 

I am also cutting my dose down now from 1mg/day to 1mg/week. If my sexual side effects continue, I will be stopping propecia.

 

I went through this within 10 days ... Barely 50% soft erection and no desire (libido killed).

And i'm responding cause i'm 20years myself and had nothing in mind.

Do keep us posted on how's the situation going..

I'm planning to start 1mg per week myself but don't want any sides at all :confused:

[willoson80]

I never had these sides. But I kind of wish I did considering my libido has caused me to get in trouble

 

I buy without a prescription the generic 1mg tablets here (Link removed by moderator) and it's worked great.

Edited September 5, 2013 by David - TakingThePlunge

[21YearsAndScared]

Bumping this thread that I made over 4 years ago.

I won't be checking back here probably for at least another year, but thought I'd give an update.

 

If you look through my post history, I came into this forum with no real bias to taking finasteride, and I decided to take it for just under a year to stop my hair loss at age 21.

I took brand name propecia (1mg for a year), noticed no difference, stopped, and now 4 years later (without finasteride) my hair loss has only progressed slightly (slightly more mature hairline, not even from NW 2 to 2.5).

 

Unfortunately, I had some pretty severe side effects from the drug after a few months, and now at age 25, 4 years later it has not subsided.

I can say that the worst side-effect of all is that I just never get aroused anymore - you can imagine at age 21 before taking the drug how different it was. Every year since then I thought after stopping the drug, it would return to normal, however my libido/lust/arousal/interest in the opposite sex has never returned.

 

I don't think I have ED (not completely), although it is more difficult to get it up (requires more stimulus). I've been told too many times that it's all in my head from doctors and the % of side effects is so low, but honestly after stopping the drug so many years ago, I often forget I've taken it in the first place. So after 4 years, I'm 100% certain this is not a mental thought causing my very real physical issue. I am not depressed (I was however very concerned during the first year after stopping), as my life is very busy now and I don't really think about hair and like I mentioned I don't really have a libido anymore so those thoughts don't often cross my mind either.

 

Before I began taking finasteride, I researched for months and all I found was that an extremely low percentage of users (<2%) experience side effects, and these will subside. I believe a new study should be conducted as I sincerely do not believe these claims to be true, having experienced this first-hand.

 

I will tell you from my personal experience that as a young man, I would not recommend taking any drug that disrupts the chemical balance of your hormones - especially one that you would have to take for the rest of your life.

 

I will probably be back in a year or a few to post updates, stay healthy everyone.

Edited September 20, 2016 by 21YearsAndScared