Proscar questions

[sol]

Hello,

I am definitly starting on finasteride, but Im at a loss on whether to go with Proscar or Propecia. Proscar is covered under my insurance so it would only be $14 per prescription filled. Propecia of course isnt. I think my doctor would definitly write me a script for Proscar... but I have these questions...

1. Is Proscar able to be cut into 5th's with a Pill cutter? Is this an easy thing to do? Ive never used one, but I didnt really want to cut it into 4th's, because the extra .25mg might cause side effects.

2. Can proscar be cut into 10th's? In case I wanted .5mg per day instead of 1mg. What about 20ths??

3. I know they are the exact same drug.. but Ive read somewhere that Propecia has a better shelf life because of its casing.. Is this true?

Basically am I going to lose anything here if I decide to use 1/5th of a Proscar tablet instead of Propecia? In theory I know it shouldnt matter, but im looking for concrete info here..

Thanks!

 

[pharoh]

1. Is Proscar able to be cut into 5th's with a Pill cutter? Is this an easy thing to do? Ive never used one, but I didnt really want to cut it into 4th's, because the extra .25mg might cause side effects.

yes it is possible, tricky, but possible. There is a pic somewhere of where to cut to get as accurate 1/5ths as possible. The small variation in doses day to day shouldn't affect its effectiveness

2. Can proscar be cut into 10th's? In case I wanted .5mg per day instead of 1mg. What about 20ths??

I would say definately not into 20ths!! the pills are tiny. You would have a lot of difficulty cutting into 10ths too. I but the pill into 8ths, which whilst possible is still difficult and certainly not very accurate - should give an average dose of 0.6mg a day, bit I reckon each day I am taking a dose between 0.4mg and 0.8mg, I hope this variation in dose each day is not effecting the treatment in an adverse way

3. I know they are the exact same drug.. but Ive read somewhere that Propecia has a better shelf life because of its casing.. Is this true?

I have never heard this and even if it is true I doubt it will amke any significant difference

The only way to take smaller doses and accurate doses is dissolve in alcohol, mix then divide into the required doses. Or someone once suggested taking them into a chemists and get them crushed and put into caupsule, but I decided not to take this root and just go for pill cutting

NB: I am planning to buy propecia soon, I am well aware it is a damn sight more expensive, but I will cutthe pills in half and wil feel a lot more safer knowing I am getting a regular accurate does of 0.5mg

 

[Jai]

NB: I am planning to buy propecia soon, I am well aware it is a damn sight more expensive, but I will cutthe pills in half and wil feel a lot more safer knowing I am getting a regular accurate does of 0.5mg

Just to add a point, After speking with a Tricologist a few day and telling her that i was cutting finasteride into 2 and taking on alternate days she told me that the Only way to ensure your getting an exact dose was to take the full tablet, as they are a chalk base and the medication is dropped into the chalk, you cannot guarrente that by cutting the pill into half you are actually getting 50% of the dose, as she put it, "the half of the pill i take on the first day may contain 4.5mg of finasteride, and then when i take the second half two days later i would only be left with 0.5 of a mg!

Having said that. I am now cutting into 1/4 and taking every day, as i felt that a steady continuation of the dose with slightly less variation would be better.

hope that all makes sense?
Jai


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[pharoh]

you cannot guarrente that by cutting the pill into half you are actually getting 50% of the dose, as she put it, "the half of the pill i take on the first day may contain 4.5mg of finasteride, and then when i take the second half two days later i would only be left with 0.5 of a mg!

yes, I have heard this before that the spread of finasteride within the tablet won't be even due to the fact its not designed to cut, so this is true for both proscar and propecia.

The thing is though, wen they mix the finasteride and chalk I am sure they don't purposly make it uneven,. Mixing it by the law of averages there will be a pretty even spread of finasteride throughout the tablet, so cutting in half will give you roughly half a dose. At any rate I doubt VERY much it would be to the extent of getting 4.5mg one day and 0.5mg the next.(I know you were only giving an example)

I know the point your are making is that its not great cutting it up, but then we dont really ahve much choice

 

[Jai]

Sure, I think as with all of our routines (as we all have slightly different ones) it has to be something that fits into our lifestyle both finacially and time wise, and I believe that (within reason) no one system is right or wrong, it is what works for you, I also believe that if you have a system that you are happy with it helps greatly as stress and depression can play a part in hair loss.

Regards Jai