a little advice please

[JJNasty]

Hey,

So here is whats up.. I am 19 years old, entering my sophomore year of college (cant wait!). Anyways, over the past year or so Ive noticed my hair has been getting really thin and I shed hair also. I wake up with some on my pillow..in the shower..etc. Its not really noticeable when looking at my hair but I sure can notice. Also, if you wet it, its very easy to see my scalp.... Also, my dad is completely bald. I wanted to start as early as possible so I can have best chances of keeping my hair and making it thicker.

I was reading through some other posts and found someone else my age..and someone suggested to do get Proscar, called fincar, which would be like $30 for 30 pills. He suggested to cut them in 1/4ths and take 1/4 a day. Im guessing he suggested to reduce the dosage because of our age and to reduce side effects. Does this sound like a good idea? I am using this "hair thickening" shampoo, Ill have to take a closer look at it to see what it really is...

anyways..what do you guys think?

 

[beaner]

The dosage suggestion is actually based on fincar being 5mg of finasteride, while the usual dose is 1mg for male pattern baldness (propecia) By cutting the pills into 4ths or 5ths you are actually just saving money buying the 5mg pills (fincar, proscar) versus the 1mg pills (propecia, finpecia)

 

[Guest]

I would take the fincar and cut it in fourths and take one fourth of the pill each day. Once you finish with a pill, cut up another, and then take one fourth of that every day, so you're getting 1.25 mg a day, which is perfect. The easiest way to cut the fincar is with a pill cutter so you can buy that at a pharmacy like Walgreens for around $5.

The Fincar will only run you about $90 a year total since you'll be taking 90 fincars a year(but cutting each into fourths).

Then I would go to your local grocery store/pharmacy and buy Nizoral shampoo with ketoconazole as the active ingredient. It's 1% strength and you can get a 7 oz bottle for 15 bucks. Use Nizoral every 3 days in place of your normal shampoo and follow it up with a good conditioner. Nizoral makes a conditioner that your store might stock or you can just use any good one like Head and Shoulders, Redken, etc.

Do those two things and you'll be well on your way to at least stopping your hair loss where it is.

 

[Guest]

oh, thanks for clearing that up.. he also suggested taking I think it was called Dutas i think twice a week..but im not sure if he meant alongside the fincar or instead of it..

do you think i should just try doing the fincar daily?

I'd just take the finasteride for now. finasteride is an oral 5alpha reductase inhibitor and Dutas is a much stronger one. Dutas is short for dutasteride, which is the active ingredient in Avodart. You've probably seen commercials for it.

Anyway i would do as I said above your post and take 1.25 mg finasteride once per day and use the Nizoral shampoo every 3 days. Do those things for 6 months and I bet you will at least see your hair loss slowed dramatically, and probably even completely stop. You may even see some regrowth of lost hair. You're 19 so you're at the age where I'd be a bit wary of the stronger dutasteride, because you may not be fully developed yet.

Nizoral has mild regrowth properties and has been proven to work about as well as rogaine 2% so I would use the Nizoral definitely.

 

[JJNasty]

okay, that sounds like a good plan. What about side effects of the fincar.. I think i saw something about it messing with hormones? Can I still take protein and workout regulary and everything? Has fincar shown results in thickening hair as well? or just stopping me from losing it?

 

[Guest]

okay, that sounds like a good plan. What about side effects of the fincar.. I think i saw something about it messing with hormones? Can I still take protein and workout regulary and everything? Has fincar shown results in thickening hair as well? or just stopping me from losing it?

Keep in mind that fincar is basically the same thing as propecia except it's a 5 mg finasteride tablet instead of 1 mg finasteride tablet, but you'll be cutting it into 1.25 mg pieces anyway so it's basically the same.

It can cause sexual sides in about 4% of men but 2% of placebo users had sides as well so you really don't have much to worry about. The sides are completely reversible if you go off the drug but if you do experience sides, I'd recommend staying on the 1.25 mg for a month or so and if sides persist, try cutting the dosage back to 0.625 mg of finasteride a day, or just take 1.25 mg every other day , and that should get rid of the sides. But don't worry too much about it because you don't want it to become psychosomatic. Don't expect sides.

You really want to stay on finasteride because oral 5AR inhibitors like finasteride are like the best thing out there right now for hair loss.

Fincar can actually regrow hair in some people so yes regrowing hair would make it look thicker. It will almost certainly at LEAST slow your hair loss dramatically if not stop it.

As for protein and working out, sure. You can even use creatine if you want. Just stay far away from roids. And don't listen to people on here who tell you that if you work out and/or take a lot of protein, your hair loss will increase. That is unproven hogwash. Working out is good for you, and hair is made of proteins.

 

[JJNasty]

okay thanks for the quick info! One more question.. Ive read of increased shedding in the first few weeks..is this true of fincar?

 

[Guest]

okay thanks for the quick info! One more question.. Ive read of increased shedding in the first few weeks..is this true of fincar?

it happens with some people. if it does and it's related to the medication and not just coincidental, it's usually a sign that you're a good responder to the medication and may see some substantial regrowth as well as maintenance of course.

 

[JJNasty]

okay sounds great.. just ordered 3 strips of it from inhouse. Do I need to buy a pill cutter? Or can I just use a knife or razor blade or something?

 

[Guest]

okay sounds great.. just ordered 3 strips of it from inhouse. Do I need to buy a pill cutter? Or can I just use a knife or razor blade or something?

i'd use a pill cutter. you can get it at any drug store like walgreens or eckerd's. the nice thing about getting a pill cutter is it has compartments in the front where you can drop the pill pieces into for safe keeping. using the pill cutter is so easy- you just drop the pill in, cut it once down the middle, then cut each half pill down the middle once again, to make four. You can get a good one for $5.

Here's a good picture of the one I have:

As you can see it has compartments in front that you can put the pill pieces in then close the pill cutter.

Good call on the inhouse. That's where I get my dutas and by all accounts it's a very reliable pharmacy.

And don't forget the Nizoral. Once every 3 days for overall scalp health. Rinse your hair well then apply the nizoral just like normal shampoo. Leave it in your hair lathered up for 5 minutes though. It's a little bit of a pain but it's only once every 3 days. You only need to use a teaspoon's worth of nizoral each time too so the bottle should last you at least a few months. Then after 5 minutes are up, wash it out, and follow up with a conditioner.

Good luck.

 

[JJNasty]

okay cool, ill definately grab one then if its only gonna be around 5 bucks. Hopefully I can see some improvement in my hair within a few months, but ill be sure to give it time.. thanks for all your help!

 

[Guest]

you're welcome. good luck.

 

[bubka]

remember to cut the pills one at a time... finasteride can become "weakened" by oxidation and moisture in the air after the protective coating has been broken

 

[Guest]

wow bubka never heard that.
how long does that take?

 

[bubka]

oh i don't know, just that it's not good to even store uncut pills in a bathroom, so having cut pills exposed can't be good either

 

[gotdale?]

Hey. I dont mean to hijack your post but im not sure if i should really start a new one. Well i just turned 17 and i have noticed my hair to thin up. Its always been kinda thin but if i even grow it out long it just doesnt look like it used to. And i was thinking about starting to do what this guy is since he is only a few years older but do you think it would be ok for me since im kinda worried that i might be a little young to be losing it but it just socks me in the nuts ever time a hair falls out or i find some on my pillow and like even if my hair sorta parts a little it looks like im bald andi just cant take this anymore. So do you guys think i should start taking that finasteride and buy some of that nizoral? thanks for the replies...

 

[Guest]

if i was 17 and balding i would buy it. but that's a choice you should make inc consultation with a physician.