Avodart; A question for the MDs, especially Drs Rose and Shapiro

[BaldingHateIt]

Drs.,

 

I tried Avodart - no great response. I'm 37, about a NWII to III, and have been losing hair slowly since 23...just wondering what your observations are with respect to Avodart? How are patients responding, and at what dosages? I used propecia for 6 years, but its efficacy starting waning...will minox at 5% help me? Up front?

[BaldingHateIt]

Drs.,

 

I tried Avodart - no great response. I'm 37, about a NWII to III, and have been losing hair slowly since 23...just wondering what your observations are with respect to Avodart? How are patients responding, and at what dosages? I used propecia for 6 years, but its efficacy starting waning...will minox at 5% help me? Up front?

[Robert_]

How long have you been on the Avodart? Are you still on it or did you discontinue use?

 

-Robert

[Smoothy]

I've been on Propecia for 7 yrs and the efficacy started wearing off around year 5, but what I did that help was to take a 2-3 month break from propecia then restart. This seemed to "shock" my stystem and when I started back the efficacy improved to what it was the first 4 yrs.

What I do now, to keep my body from forming a tolerance to the drug-- every 6 months I take 2 weeks off, then start back-- this seems to work for me. Plus I personally believe taking 2-4 weeks off every year might be good to give the liver enzymes a break.

Just FYI on what worked for me.

[hairworthy]

"Tolerance" is an interesting issue. A 2 week break seems a good compromise: long enough to clear Finasteride from your system and short enough not to lose the benefits of it. I wonder whether any doctor recommends that. AND I STILL haven't heard anyone reporting on the workshop that took place last year in Vancouver: "The long term effects of Finasteride on the prostate gland". Could Robert or sbdy else find out what the conclusions were, and whether some information notes have been issued? What's the point of these big medical gatherings if we mere mortals cannot enjoy the findings?

[Smoothy]

I've never heard of physicians talk about possability of tolerance or how to try to counter it-- I just experimented with this "2 week break" option myself and it worked for me over th past 7 yrs.

I know Merck conducted a 5 yr post therapy study that showed continued efficacy a few years ago.

Also, there was a study to look at Prostate mobility and prevention with results that lead to the theory that if FIN. taken as prevention can reduce changes of prostate cancer?? It was a small trial so it didnt get that much noise.

[Ailene]

The information that was shared in Vancouver is still not conclusive. Basically they think that Finasteride may inhibit the Prosate from developing benign hyperplasia (swelling) but on the patients who indeed did incur prostate cancer it seems to be more aggressive. This is still very contrivercial. They have used Proscar for better than 15 years to treat elivated PSA's. One thing to be aware of is that if your primary care doctor orders a PSA test they need to know you are on Finasteride and make ajustments to the results (they need to double the number). If they do not know you are on the medicine the readings will not acurately reflect what your PSA is. The benifits still out way the cons. You just have to be aware.

 

Ailene

Dr. Jerry Cooley's assistant.

[gillenator]

Any male 40 years of age or older considering starting finasteride for treating genetic hairloss should have a PSA test done prior to ingestion.

 

Further, any males that are using finasteride in a different form other than Propecia, should make sure the prescribing physician charts the fact that the medication is for treating hairloss. Lots of guys are quartering Proscar to save money but many PCPs and even Dermatologists are unaware that this economical approach is being used by patients.

[fillmore]

Any male 40 years of age or older considering starting finasteride for treating genetic hairloss should have a PSA test done prior to ingestion.

 

 

Why is that?

[Dr. Paul Rose]

There have been variable responses to Avodart. I have had patients say that the response was very good and others who had no response.

At this point I don't think that many physicians are prescribing it.As one might expect there are medico-legal concerns about using a drug that is not approved for such use and one where the long term effects are not well known.

Paul T. Rose,MD

813 259 9889

612 965 4247

getfithairs.com

[Robert_]

I have taken Avodart (GSK brand Avodart, NOT generic dutasteride; I feel that it is important to distinguish between the two) for about 11 months now with suprisingly good results. I started in November of 2004 and took 1.5 mg/day for the first 10 days. Ever since, I have taken .5 mg/day except for one two week period where I took .5mg/ 3 x a week because I was running out.

 

So far, I have had no side effects. I have only experienced thickening in the crown and vertex in the last 4 months or so (that I have critically noticed) and this was after a rough shedding period in the first three months.

 

My advice: try Propecia first. If it works for you and you have no negative effects then stick with it. If you have given it at least a year and you are still seeing a lot of loss, then look into Avodart - real Avodart - and be prepared for some rough shedding before the benefits are seen.

 

I've talked to other users and many have responded in the exact same way as me and didn't really see the *real* benefit until about 15 or 16 months in. However, the responders are very happy with their results.

 

I recently wrote an article on Propecia vs. Avodart that has some good info for anyone considering or taking either medication. You can find it here:

 

Propecia vs. Avodart

 

-Robert