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Propecia vs. Proscar costs


Martin M

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Does anyone know how much cheaper Proscar is than Propecia? I'm paying $80 a month for Propecia refills and am curious about any cheaper, and equally effective alternatives. Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

~Martin

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Martin M,

 

I pay about $80 for a 4 month supply of Proscar.

 

The only inconvenience is cutting the pill, but it can easily be done with a pill splitter. Many hair restoration physicians will prescribe Proscar for hair loss and feel taking 1/4 pill daily is just as effective as 1 Propecia pill daily.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Bill

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Thanks Bill and Rick,

 

I'm wondering if it would be safe to switch from Propecia to Proscar immediately and safely. I'm going on two months with Propecia - does anyone think it wise or not a good idea to just switch to Proscar on my third month? Could this reduce the efficacy of the medication or be a potentially dangerous move?

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I'm wondering if it would be safe to switch from Propecia to Proscar immediately and safely. I'm going on two months with Propecia - does anyone think it wise or not a good idea to just switch to Proscar on my third month? Could this reduce the efficacy of the medication or be a potentially dangerous move?

 

Proscar and Propecia are the exactly same medication which is finasteride, produced by the same company (Merck) under two different brand names. The difference is in the dosage where you should take 1/4 of Proscar daily. Just finish your batch of Propecia and start Proscar after. Even though Propecia is usually not reimbursed by your insurance company, Proscar might be. You should be able to reduce your cost by 75% even without insurance reimbursement.

 

One pill of Proscar costs me $2, but i use it in 4 days, and then my insurance reimburses about 80%, therefore, i pay about $3/month out of pocket for Proscar.

********

I am not a doctor. The opinions and comments are of my own.

 

HT with Dr. Cooley on Nov 20, 2008

2097 grafts, 3957 hairs

Proscar, 1.25 mg daily, skip the 5th day, started Nov 2007

 

My Hair Loss Blog - Hair Transplant with Dr. Cooley

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  • 6 years later...
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Why not get 30 5mg Fin from walmart for just $9 & cut them up in 4pcs sure that's the cheapest route.

This medical insurance stuff is a racket.

$27.00 will cover you for a whole yr its all the same stuff if you ask me.

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I bought the generic finasteride and cut up the pills. I did this for years until I started to notice that the generics were inconsistent and I had increased shedding on them. I specifically asked my doc to prescribe brand name Proscar by Merck, and did not have the same problems. Despite the usual line about generics being equivalent to brand name drugs, in my experience that is just not always true.

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I bought the generic finasteride and cut up the pills. I did this for years until I started to notice that the generics were inconsistent and I had increased shedding on them. I specifically asked my doc to prescribe brand name Proscar by Merck, and did not have the same problems. Despite the usual line about generics being equivalent to brand name drugs, in my experience that is just not always true.

 

I totally agree.

It could be the same for some of these so called brand names also.

 

You buy what you think & trust that it does the job & like yourself jump ship only to find out it works for you.

 

Kinda scary what these people do with these drugs with what fullers they use.

I wish there was some kind of test kit we could get our hands on to see what we are puting in our bodies..

 

Who watches over these drug makers....are we geting what we payed for?

 

Scary anit it?

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This is only a personal observation, but there have been other medications that I use where the effect is noticeable immediately. I also take Zolpidem, which is generic for Ambien, for severe insomnia and there have been occasions where the pharmacy switched manufacturers and I noticed immediately the reduction in potency. In this situation, it's easy to note the difference right away since ambien works in under 30 minutes. For something like Propecia, any difference in potency would only be appreciable after months of being on it and then noticing increased hair loss. The problem is that you've already lost ground before you notice that difference.

 

For me, the increased shedding and lack of consistency was enough to convince me to shell out money for the brand name Proscar. At least I save some money by cutting up the Proscar instead of paying retail for Propecia.

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