Is Propecia really worth it?

[htownballa]

I'm kinda a newbie, so plz excuse me if this question is stupid. Ive been lurking on this site for the past week and am not sure if propecia is worth taking. It seems that for a LOT of people it has only slowed hairgrowth. I was under the impression that it halted/maintained hair growth for as long as you took it.

My question is, if all propecia does is slow the inevitable by a few years, is it really worth the money and long term side effects???

 

[CCS]

generic proscar is $30. cut it in 4ths and that is $7.50 per month.

to expensive for you? Get the full power of proscar (5mg, not 1mg, 20% stronger than 1mg) with 1 dutas every 5 days. That is $6 per month.

 

[htownballa]

generic proscar is $30. cut it in 4ths and that is $7.50 per month.

to expensive for you? Get the full power of proscar (5mg, not 1mg, 20% stronger than 1mg) with 1 dutas every 5 days. That is $6 per month.

Well, I was actually more worried about unknown long-term side effects than price. But thanks.

 

[Follically Challenged]

If the side effects are unknown, how could anyone answer that question?

Me, i'd rather get cancer later then go permanently bald now. finasteride did wonders for my hair. Totally improved my life. I'm not saying others won't do that for you, but what about the unknown long terms side effects of anything else?

 

[bubka]

there is virtually zero evidence of longterm-side effects, the drug has been out for over 15 years and has a safe drug profile record with no interactions

 

[JJ1980]

If the side effects are unknown, how could anyone answer that question?

Me, i'd rather get cancer later then go permanently bald now. finasteride did wonders for my hair. Totally improved my life. I'm not saying others won't do that for you, but what about the unknown long terms side effects of anything else?

get cancer later than go perm bald now??? man, I bet if you ever had cancer or even experienced some of the sides you would not be saying that.

if you are posting, that probably means you are more than likely planning on taking propecia.

although I'm against it, if you decide to, take EVERY single precaution necessary and stop at the first sign of trouble.

Ie. - routine FULL hormone profiles, prostate exams, adrenal exams.

 

[TAINTED-MEAT]

just go to a Doctor, ask for propecia and start taking it. it's not a dangerous drug. most side effects are just sexual and go away once ya stop taking it. people are scared for no reason.

 

[H/B]

No, not when I can buy Finast at a fraction of the cost of Propecia

 

[TAINTED-MEAT]

well you can get generic if you like, but the meaning of my post was to point out that finasteride is safe. Sometimes people overexaggerate side effects because they were one of the 2%-4% who experience side effects.

 

[Guest]

No, not when I can buy Finast at a fraction of the cost of Propecia

Yep, and maybe it's fake, as I've pointed out in other posts. There is no way for you to prove that it's real. For every positive report about the Indian generics there is a negative report to go along with it., it seems.

Some will call me paranoid, I'm sure, because now I don't trust even Merck boxes from overseas pharmacies but it just seems too risky in my opinion. Not risky that you'll get a dangerous drug, but risky that you'll get a counterfeit that will do nothing to stop your hair loss. Say you got a fake batch of Proscar or Finpecia and take it for two years, while your hair is steadily falling out. You tell yourself that it takes time for it to take effect not realizing that the drug is a fake and doing nothing for you, and all you've done is enrich the pockets of a company that rips patents off US companies. And all the while losing valuable time to maintain or regrow your hair. That would truly suck.

Yes I may get on a soap box here and I'm no big fan of drug companies, but when a drug company spends sometimes billions of dollars to research a drug and get it patented for a decade to protect their rights to produce it, and then an Indian company named Cipla comes along and copies the drug and sells it at a fraction of the price, that's not exactly fair. Pretty unfair, actually, both to the drug company and to the consumer, because illegal generics discourage the development of new drugs.

Now I'm not going to trash Cipla entirely because they have made AIDS drugs available to patients for a miniscule fraction of the price of US companies, and if I had AIDS and a limited budget then you can bet your butt that I'd be getting those Cipla drugs real fast, but I'd still be worried about the drugs being fake.

Sorry for the rant. I considered Finpecia and Fincar myself, a week or so ago, if you check my posts.

 

[Subliminal]

I'm switching over to the brand name Propecia this week, instead of trying to nickel and dime my way via overseas pharmacies and having to worry about customs, fakes, etc. At least I can be sure I'm getting the real thing if I go to a local pharmacy. Besides, generic Propecia isn't far away, at least in the US.

If I can't afford $600/yr, then I have more serious problems in my life than a widow's peak. Wish I had started 2 years ago.

 

[CCS]

I agree. i am very tempted to buy GSK Avodart from GSK just so I know they are getting their royalties. I owe it to them. But, depending on how my finances are, it may be better for me to by from Cipla now and give GSK a check later after I graduate from college. I'll give Merk one too, since i've been cutting their proscar in 4ths instead of buying propecia. Rogaine's patent expired already, so i owe Upjohn nothing.

As for fakes, Cipla is good, but we have no way of knowing are drugs actually came from Cipla. After my tests, I'm going to buy perhaps a $180 supply an test one out of each 30. That will guarantee my hair's safety, but I could still risk a pocket book crunch. However, if one is fake, I will learn my lesson, buy Avodart here, and keep the boxes that tested good and use one per week from them and two per week of the Avodart and discard the boxes that had one fake in them.

$36 per month for Avodart 3x per week is not bad, though $12 per month is tempting.

I'm sure most non-responders come to this board, scewing things, though the non-response rate suggests fakes. However, so say they got there meds in the US.

 

[Guest]

I'm switching over to the brand name Propecia this week, instead of trying to nickel and dime my way via overseas pharmacies and having to worry about customs, fakes, etc. At least I can be sure I'm getting the real thing if I go to a local pharmacy. Besides, generic Propecia isn't far away, at least in the US.

If I can't afford $600/yr, then I have more serious problems in my life than a widow's peak. Wish I had started 2 years ago.

Hey Subliminal,

When have you heard about the release date of generic Propecia in the US? I am eagerly awaiting that because I'm tired of cutting up pills.

 

[Subliminal]

I'm switching over to the brand name Propecia this week, instead of trying to nickel and dime my way via overseas pharmacies and having to worry about customs, fakes, etc. At least I can be sure I'm getting the real thing if I go to a local pharmacy. Besides, generic Propecia isn't far away, at least in the US.

If I can't afford $600/yr, then I have more serious problems in my life than a widow's peak. Wish I had started 2 years ago.

Hey Subliminal,

When have you heard about the release date of generic Propecia in the US? I am eagerly awaiting that because I'm tired of cutting up pills.

I dunno about the date, but I think generic Proscar is out now. I'm just guessing that Propecia can't be far behind. Maybe within a year?

 

[Guest]

I'm switching over to the brand name Propecia this week, instead of trying to nickel and dime my way via overseas pharmacies and having to worry about customs, fakes, etc. At least I can be sure I'm getting the real thing if I go to a local pharmacy. Besides, generic Propecia isn't far away, at least in the US.

If I can't afford $600/yr, then I have more serious problems in my life than a widow's peak. Wish I had started 2 years ago.

Hey Subliminal,

When have you heard about the release date of generic Propecia in the US? I am eagerly awaiting that because I'm tired of cutting up pills.

I dunno about the date, but I think generic Proscar is out now. I'm just guessing that Propecia can't be far behind. Maybe within a year?

Why out of curiosity are u using Propecia instead of Proscar? Is it just the not wanting to cut up pills? Hehe.

 

[Guest]

I'll give Merk one too, since i've been cutting their proscar in 4ths instead of buying propecia

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this assuming that your insurance isn't paying for it, otherwise it's insurance fraud. but i don't think that's your situation.

merk makes a drug proscar available to the market, with 5 times the finasteride of propecia. ingenious people get their doctors to prescribe proscar for them to save a little money. there's nothing wrong with that. it's not comparable to buying a patent-violating indian generic.