My Introduction & hair loss story

[ANH]

Hi Folks,

I’m 41 years old; I have been suffering from hair loss for several years. I was previously using topical minoxidil up until about 8 months ago.

I’d researched Propecia thoroughly and decided that I would try it for a year, I managed to obtain a private prescription for Propecia and noticed an immediate change within the first few weeks; my shedding lessened to an almost unnoticeable degree & I began to see lots of fine hairs growing.

About 7 weeks ago I had to stop taking Propecia due to financial reasons; I had a period of roughly two weeks not taking Propecia while I sourced some Finasteride.

During the two weeks off of Propecia I didn’t notice much shedding, however after about four/five weeks of taking Finasteride I have noticed an increased amount of shedding; more so than I’d experienced before.

For the Finasteride I have been cutting a pill in half and taking one half every Mon/Wed/Fri, so I’m getting roughly 1.25mg per day.

What I wanted to ask is, would you say this is typical of Propecia/Finasteride? As I didn’t experience much shedding while taking the brand name drug, but have experienced more shedding while taking the generic form, I'd say more so than normal when not taking Finasteride.

I can't be entirely accurate, but I'd guess at about 30 hairs per pay shedding (Propecia) & roughly 120+ hairs per day while taking Finasteride, which you can see is a big difference.

I sourced the Finasteride from QHI, I’ve used them before & they have been around for a long time, 15+ years.

I’m beginning to wonder if the Finasteride is even working. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[talmoode]

Hi! It could be just normal shedding that many people experience when they start taking propecia. You didn't have one when you first started it so maybe your hair is shedding now. I am not an expert so can't say it for sure...how long have you been on it? you said you would give it a go for at least 1 year? so maybe wait and see til 1 year mark.........but anyways if you are in doubt about this generic version, then maybe change back to the brand name for the peace of mind?

 

[ANH]

Hi! It could be just normal shedding that many people experience when they start taking propecia. You didn't have one when you first started it so maybe your hair is shedding now. I am not an expert so can't say it for sure...how long have you been on it? you said you would give it a go for at least 1 year? so maybe wait and see til 1 year mark.........but anyways if you are in doubt about this generic version, then maybe change back to the brand name for the peace of mind?

Hi Talmoode, thank you for the reply.

That was also my initial thought, I'd been taking Propecia for about 3-4 months before I briefly stopped; so this could possibly be the shedding that is always mentioned.

I think with taking Propecia & now the Proscar, I say that I've roughly been taking both for about 6 months; maybe 7...I'm going to stay on the medication for a full year regardless, unfortunately though, Propecia is too costly for me currently; I have sourced some Finasteride from another supplier, but won't be able to make a purchase for several weeks.

I seem to be shedding a lot more than normally, which would lead me to believe that it is due to the Finasteride.

 

[talmoode]

I have heard/read that there is a generic version of propecia out on the market..the brand is dr reddy or something and it's a bit cheaper than Merck one? and in 6 months' time, the price of propecia will be dropped by 50% ?? ....

 

[ANH]

I have heard/read that there is a generic version of propecia out on the market..the brand is dr reddy or something and it's a bit cheaper than Merck one? and in 6 months' time, the price of propecia will be dropped by 50% ?? ....

I read the same, not sure of the brand though. All I can do for now is continue with the brand I have "Chibret - Proscar", I have researched them & they are genuine (A French company I believe)

The questions is though, if the tablets are genuine; then why does it appear that I responded to the brand name drug, but not the generic form?

Another thought I had was, as I had stopped taking Propecia for 3 weeks before switching to Proscar; would that for all intent & purpose be as though I had sort of 'reset', so instead of being 6-7 months in I am more like 1-2 months in?