New Finasteride User on 5MG

[Trying2Grow]

Hi All. I am new here and have a few questions.

So I decided to start a regimen. I made an appointment with my doctor and I explained that my ever increasing hairloss is becoming a very depressing situation. He gave me some options and we decided on finasteride. As I walked out with prescription in hand, I looked at the dosage, which is 5MG, I looked back at the Doctor and asked if I take the whole pill and he told me yes. I did so and was def. a little nervous about it. I started taking the finasteride 5MG on 10/31/08 and I noticed around week 2 that I started shedding pretty bad... If I had to guess a number I would say about 100 a day. Every time I run my hands through I am pulling out hairs all over the head. Now, I know shedding is normal and I am not arguing that fact. My concern is if I'm shedding too early due to maybe such a HIGH dosage of finasteride.

Is 5MG too much? Will it cause me to shed more than I was supposed to initially? Also, How long does shedding usually last at this rate or will I shed for a while but just less and less?

Any help to ease my nerves or make sure 5MG is okay would be great. Thank you!!

 

[die_hard]

Hi All. I am new here and have a few questions.

So I decided to start a regimen. I made an appointment with my doctor and I explained that my ever increasing hairloss is becoming a very depressing situation. He gave me some options and we decided on finasteride. As I walked out with prescription in hand, I looked at the dosage, which is 5MG, I looked back at the Doctor and asked if I take the whole pill and he told me yes. I did so and was def. a little nervous about it. I started taking the finasteride 5MG on 10/31/08 and I noticed around week 2 that I started shedding pretty bad... If I had to guess a number I would say about 100 a day. Every time I run my hands through I am pulling out hairs all over the head. Now, I know shedding is normal and I am not arguing that fact. My concern is if I'm shedding too early due to maybe such a HIGH dosage of finasteride.

Is 5MG too much? Will it cause me to shed more than I was supposed to initially? Also, How long does shedding usually last at this rate or will I shed for a while but just less and less?

Any help to ease my nerves or make sure 5MG is okay would be great. Thank you!!

Well, Yes and no..

5mg is not needed, only 1 for treating male pattern baldness, so you can cut the pil into 4 for 1.25/dose. The shed isn't because it's a high dosage, the only thing a high dosage causes is a waste of money. You're shedding because it's likely working. For new thicker hair to grow out, the old hair has to get out, therefor making room for the new. Shedding is normal when first starting treatments.


-DH

 

[kento]

That's too much if you under 40 i guess

 

[Trying2Grow]

Thanks for the replies... It is greatly appreciated. I tried to split the pills but they are just powder inside a outer coating so it looks like that's not possible. I am going to contact my doctor and ask if he can prescribe me a smaller dosage if possible.

DH and Kento
How long does your shed usually last for?

Kento
I am under 40... 27

 

[Jake_89]

1MG thats just down right silly for someone just starting out. 1mg will be just as effective as 5mg. Save the money..

 

[kento]

Thanks for the replies... It is greatly appreciated. I tried to split the pills but they are just powder inside a outer coating so it looks like that's not possible. I am going to contact my doctor and ask if he can prescribe me a smaller dosage if possible.

DH and Kento
How long does your shed usually last for?

Kento
I am under 40... 27

Started 0.25mg two months ago... about the shed hard to say because i have long hair but i've seen couple darker hairs failing out. Now i don't want to scare you but 5mg is too much for your age, there was a study from merck showing simular results 0.25 and 1mg, the 5mg give little better results than the 1mg. I guess taking 1mg per day and using topical dht blocker like RU is more better option for me

 

[Trying2Grow]

Thanks Kento

I figured it was too much. Did the study say what the adverse reaction was to 5MG or higher dosages? Am I harming my body or hair?

 

[Petchsky]

Not really no, people have taken those dosages for years for their prostate, no need to worry. Invest in a good pill cutter.

 

[Trying2Grow]

I would like to cut them but it is powder inside and it just leaks outs. I just called my physician to see if he can prescribe me 1MG

 

[Petchsky]

You must be doing it wrong then, as plenty of people cut them into fours, including me...but if it's easier to just get the 1mg then do it, do it.

 

[die_hard]

I think my shed lasted about 3 weeks. It was hard to tell because I shaved it right down to grade 0 right after starting finasteride, so it would look like scruff in the sink. I just noticed it was thinner than baseline as it started to grow out again. It's coming in strong now though.

 

[Grantspots]

There is absolutely no reason why you should need to take 5mg of finasteride.

How old are you?

I almost want to ask for your doctors name and number so I can ask him why he's such an idiot. :thumbdown2:

While Petchsky is correct that 5mg has been used by men over 65 for prostate problems, it is absolutely contraindicated for young men with hair loss. That is well over 5 times the recommended dose.

If this were any other drug, you might be dead with that kind of error.

Dont bother splitting the tabs. This is his error. Call him back and tell him you want a Propecia prescription, or you want Finasteride custom compounded at 1mg daily.

-G-

 

[Trying2Grow]

I spoke to him a little while ago and he claims that he does this for all his patients and if they respond to the treatment then he gives them the 1mg tabs. He said not to worry unless I'm experiencing any sides. Is this considered a turbo start and then level off? I am 27

 

[Grantspots]

I spoke to him a little while ago and he claims that he does this for all his patients and if they respond to the treatment then he gives them the 1mg tabs. He said not to worry unless I'm experiencing any sides. Is this considered a turbo start and then level off? I am 27

He gives 5x the recommended dosage, and then if it works, he lowers you? :dunno:
Having been at this for 7 years I have never heard of such a technique and knowing what I know about finasteride and all the studies, I am not sure what kind of logic he is putting into that thinking. He's definitely giving you an atomic bomb up front, but the only thing that is going to do is make your head explode. Its going to chemically castrate you and quadruple your chance of side effects - - - - but at what benefit? There is little or no benefit to hair over the 1mg mark all the way up to 5mg according to the data. Hair doesn't even begin to respond to Propecia conistently for 8 to 12 months. There is no "responding to 5mg up front" really. Nothing changes hair-wise for many months.

Don't mess with your body. He may act annoyed, but the FDA has clearly stated that 1mg is the optimal dose for hair treatment. They've done countless studies on lower and higher doses. I know you probably dont want to be a pain in the butt - split the tabs into 5ths, as much as possible for now, and pursue methods of just getting the 1mg tablets.

He may be thinking he's saving you money (and he is) by prescribing you 5mg which you can split - and make 1 tab last 5 days. You absolutely do not need 5mg per day though. Its up to you if you want to keep splitting the tabs or just get the 1mg. Basically it will be a money thing. Propecia is about $50 for 1 month supply.

Lots of guys who split the tabs are only able to do it into 4ths, which is 1.25mg and even they complain of higher side effects.

 

[Trying2Grow]

I will try to split another one but they are just powder inside. Are yours that way?

 

[Bryan]

He gives 5x the recommended dosage, and then if it works, he lowers you? :dunno:
Having been at this for 7 years I have never heard of such a technique and knowing what I know about finasteride and all the studies, I am not sure what kind of logic he is putting into that thinking. He's definitely giving you an atomic bomb up front, but the only thing that is going to do is make your head explode. Its going to chemically castrate you and quadruple your chance of side effects - - - - but at what benefit?

For God's sake, Grantspots, DON"T SCARE PEOPLE BY SAYING SUCH A SILLY THING!! The specific finasteride dose you choose to take is very arbitrary over a VERY wide range. There's no measurable increase in side effects just from going from 1 mg/day to 5 mg/day. Volunteers in early testing of the drug took as much as 80 mg/day (!!) for months at a time, with no problems. Let's try to get away from the nonsense that gets posted all the time on hairloss sites that it makes any significant difference at all how much finasteride you take. It doesn't.

 

[die_hard]

Bryan beat me to it. The trials for proscar were done in men aged 50 and over with enlarged prostates. Here the two noted side effects were loss of sex drive and decrease in sperm count and the occurance was in 10-20% of men taking 5% and above. My doctor and myself sat down and actually looked this up in the medical journal side by side (since he had never perscribed it before, he's a very young dr) after having a pretty good conversation about result expectations. I asked for proscar specificaly for affordability reasons and we never bothered about splitting the pill.

NExt we compared to Propecia 1mg where the side effects we only 1-2% but that it is because this group of test subjects were younger and healthier generaly speaking. I the proscar trials, the men were allready having prostate problems to begin with so naturaly they would have a higher instance of side effects for that reason. Not because of the higher dosage.



-DH