Dustasteride 0.5mg compared to finasteride 1mg and 0.5mg

[moseymoose]

Although I am reluctant to accept my self-diagnosis, the evidence that I am continuing to thin at a disturbing rate is incontrovertible.

My doctor has assured me that if my hairloss had not improved with nizoral 2% shampoo that he will offer me a DHT blocking drug on prescription should I wish it, but advised strongly that at my age (20) could be a slight risk.

I understand that the most common dosage of the most common drug finasteride is 1mg, but is also available in 0.5mg and 5mg dosage. Although I am finding 0.5mg extremely difficult to trace online for purchase to research its cost.

I am quite interested in the alternative drug Avodart (dutasteride) which IS available at lloydspharmacy.com with a private prescription. I have read that research beleives dustasteride to have lower side effect rates and more promising results with the lasting effects of the drug being much much longer than the finasteride due to its half-life.

I'd be quite pleased for those using dustasteride to comment on its effectiveness or those that have used finasteride and can compare it to dusta.

 

[Nex]

Try Nizoral out, it is working great for me

 

[Bryan]

I understand that the most common dosage of the most common drug finasteride is 1mg, but is also available in 0.5mg and 5mg dosage. Although I am finding 0.5mg extremely difficult to trace online for purchase to research its cost.

The 5 mg finasteride dosage is available as Proscar, and a large number of hairloss sufferers save a lot of money by taking Proscar tablets and cutting them into quarters, providing about 1.25 mg of finasteride per quarter. I recommend that you do the same thing!

I am quite interested in the alternative drug Avodart (dutasteride) which IS available at lloydspharmacy.com with a private prescription. I have read that research beleives dustasteride to have lower side effect rates and more promising results with the lasting effects of the drug being much much longer than the finasteride due to its half-life.

The issue of relative levels of side effects with finasteride and dutasteride is a real can of worms! There's probably no way to know about that for sure, unfortunately, even though there's no lack of anecdotes about it on hairloss sites.

Even though at the standard doses, dutasteride inhibits 5a-reductase more completely than finasteride, I'd still probably recommend finasteride for you, simply because it's a bit more "hair specific" than dutasteride. And breaking Proscar into four chunks at a time, it's probably cheaper!

 

[moseymoose]

As far as quartering proscar is concerned it isn't the cost that I am worried about. Spending £1.07 per tablet for finasteride doesn't bother me. I'd rather but 1mg and split that in two, I don't really want to take 1mg because I am nervous about potential sides, while I am willing to give the drug a chance. I suppose I could even split a 1mg tablet into 0.25mg's I don't know how small the tablets will be though.

Thanks for the insight into the effects of dustasteride on A5R, some information can be very misleading, it's very useful to hear some friendly advise.

Would you agree that easing into the drug at low dosages is wise particularly for a guy my age?

 

[Bryan]

I do think it's probably wise to ease into finasteride with lower doses at the beginning.

 

[moseymoose]

I decided against this, I'm going to try minoxidil first to see how that goes, bit of a commitment though I know, and very expensive. i'd rather just have a tablet to take and end of. But it's not something I want to take at this point in my life.

Bryan, in your opinion; what do you think would happen if for example I used minoxidil solution once on an evening for approximately 7 years, then began treatment with finasteride but then stopped minoxidil after the finasteride shed. Do you still think I'd lose what I'd maintained, with the finasteride now in my system and the initial shed period over?

It's a wild question I know, but just hypothetical?

 

[Rawtashk]

If you are losing hair due to DHT sensitive follicles....then Rogaine/minoxidil won't help you maintain. The simple fact is that finasteride is the only FDA approved way of stopping hair loss.

Personally, the thought of sides scared me away from finasteride for 2 years...basically up until I actually had a visibally thin spot. Finally started finasteride @ .5mg 3 years ago. No sides, and some regrowth. I still kick myself for not starting sooner. It's 100x easier to maintain than it is to regrow.

 

[johnbbbb]

If you're going to pick one of the two, get on Finasteride before Minoxidil, not vice-versa.

Finasteride is just taking a pill once a day with a glass of water. Minoxidil is a pain in the @ss to apply twice a day. Plus if you use the foam it's hard to get all of it in contact with your scalp. Good luck!

 

[hairrific]

Was the Doctor specific why he thinks a risk at your age to do finasteride.

If you truly have male pattern baldness, the real danger is the fact that while you are on your Rogaine/minoxidil treatments and think things are looking great, there is nothing inhibiting DHT and it is damaging your scalp hair to the point that those hairs lost WILL WILL NEVER GROW AGAIN! If you could regrow them you would see allot less bald people walking around for sure.

The words get on finasteride right away are an understatement. Don't think you can out smart male pattern baldness with luck, herbs, Rogaine/minoxidil, shampoos, yoga, prayer, or vitamins and living a stress free life.... DHT can not be stopped by all those.

While you and the Doctor are playing around with the Rogaine/minoxidil for a few years just say to yourself you are taking a big chance. It is like repainting a house that has termites inside, looks good for awhile but one day the roof just collapses on top of you.

 

[smitysmity]

Finasteride and Dustasteride do almost exactly the same thing. Dustasteride gives you a higher dosage amount which can be about 1.5x more effective than Propecia.

However, people who report side effects with Finasteride and report none with Dustasteride are likely because they are just started Dustasteride. The fact is both of them do almost the same thing, and both of them are going to cause side effects which because much worse as the months go by.

These are both quite possibly the worst products on the hair loss market you can allow your body to absorb. I personally take finasteride myself and I have to say my goal is to get off of it as soon as I see other products are working as there is no reason in my opinion to continue to use finasteride if it's not actually regrowing your hair and once it has done it's job, it's time to move on.

 

[Bryan]

Bryan, in your opinion; what do you think would happen if for example I used minoxidil solution once on an evening for approximately 7 years, then began treatment with finasteride but then stopped minoxidil after the finasteride shed. Do you still think I'd lose what I'd maintained, with the finasteride now in my system and the initial shed period over?

It's well-known that finasteride alone isn't able to maintain hair that was regrown with topical minoxidil. There's even a case study of that published in a medical journal! The doctors reported that all of their patients who had stopped using Rogaine had lost hair, even while continuing to use finasteride.

 

[optimus prime]

Bryan, in your opinion; what do you think would happen if for example I used minoxidil solution once on an evening for approximately 7 years, then began treatment with finasteride but then stopped minoxidil after the finasteride shed. Do you still think I'd lose what I'd maintained, with the finasteride now in my system and the initial shed period over?

It's well-known that finasteride alone isn't able to maintain hair that was regrown with topical minoxidil. There's even a case study of that published in a medical journal! The doctors reported that all of their patients who had stopped using Rogaine had lost hair, even while continuing to use finasteride.

Bryan, is this evidence that there is another huge player in hairloss other than DHT?

For example, lets say by 25 I was a NW2, by 30 I was a NW4, by 35 I was a NW6.

If I take finasteride at 25 (NW2) and maintain until the age of 33 (Still NW2) and then I stop taking finasteride, by the time I am 35 I will be NW6 right? The hairloss will just go really fast and catch up to where I should be in the final 2 years.

Which makes me think that the player(s) other than DHT are still going to work while on finasteride making the hair follicles more and more sensitive to DHT.

 

[Bryan]

Bryan, is this evidence that there is another huge player in hairloss other than DHT?

Not necessarily. I've always considered minoxidil to be stimulating hair growth in a way that's completely different from reducing androgenic stimulation. The minoxidil stimulation is more powerful than the stimulation that you get just from a lack of DHT, which is why Propecia alone doesn't necessarily maintain growth that was achieved previously with Rogaine.

For example, lets say by 25 I was a NW2, by 30 I was a NW4, by 35 I was a NW6.

If I take finasteride at 25 (NW2) and maintain until the age of 33 (Still NW2) and then I stop taking finasteride, by the time I am 35 I will be NW6 right? The hairloss will just go really fast and catch up to where I should be in the final 2 years.

I'm honestly not sure about that. There's been a lot of speculation about that on hairloss forums, but since it's never been actually tested in a clinical setting, I really don't feel comfortable with speculating about the accuracy of that stated scenario.

 

[moseymoose]

Was the Doctor specific why he thinks a risk at your age to do finasteride.

If you truly have male pattern baldness, the real danger is the fact that while you are on your Rogaine/minoxidil treatments and think things are looking great, there is nothing inhibiting DHT and it is damaging your scalp hair to the point that those hairs lost WILL WILL NEVER GROW AGAIN! If you could regrow them you would see allot less bald people walking around for sure.

The words get on finasteride right away are an understatement. Don't think you can out smart male pattern baldness with luck, herbs, Rogaine/minoxidil, shampoos, yoga, prayer, or vitamins and living a stress free life.... DHT can not be stopped by all those.

While you and the Doctor are playing around with the Rogaine/minoxidil for a few years just say to yourself you are taking a big chance. It is like repainting a house that has termites inside, looks good for awhile but one day the roof just collapses on top of you.

I am really unsure about this stuff, I would be more concerned about losing my libido etc from use of finasteride that keeping a full head of hair. I took saw palmetto once in 160mg per day dosage, now before you say anything about saw palmetto not working, I agree, there aren't enough studies to prove that fact, any nobody knows what saw palmetto really does in the body. But, it caused 'strange' sensations down there, which I wasn't a fan of. And if I get the same with finasteride, I'm not all so keen. Also I've read about having reduced bodily dht around your prostate etc. smoothes the muscle fibres around 'it' and makes it less adept. That is not worth my hair.

This single side effect of loss of libido amongst other similar effects in that area is the only reason I am not already on finasteride.

 

[Rawtashk]

If you worry about sides, you will get them. I can promise you that with an almost 100% guarantee. The placebo effect also works in that if you think you're going to get sick/sides, you probably will. You'll associate every ache and pain with finasteride, "OMG! I woke up today and I feel extra tired...IT MUST BE THE finasteride!" "Today I didn't poop...could it be the finasteride?" "My back is sore, this must be a sign of my body rejecting finasteride!!" When in reality you went to bed late, didn't get enough fiber in your diet, and you strained your back moving the couch yesterday.

 

[smitysmity]

It's official though that Finasteride is causing me to become very drowsy and weak. I assume I will get these same side effects with Dustasteride?

 

[bryan2003]

Guys have you heard about finasteride & emu oil/horse oil mixing them together and using it on your bald places?? I've heard that this solution is one of the best and rly working. Anyone using??!

 

[Mens Rea]

It's official though that Finasteride is causing me to become very drowsy and weak. I assume I will get these same side effects with Dustasteride?

Nope

You'll get far worse symptoms.

 

[smitysmity]

It's official though that Finasteride is causing me to become very drowsy and weak. I assume I will get these same side effects with Dustasteride?

Nope

You'll get far worse symptoms.

Only reason I am truly arguing is because I want some hope with this but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

At least the positive news is 24 to 48 hours after it's out of my system, I feel so much better. Add that to the fact that I am ADHD which makes me drowsy when taking medicine, and it's a double effect. It looks like it's down to RU, minoxidil, and Bimatoprost.

 

[Patrick54]

It's official though that Finasteride is causing me to become very drowsy and weak. I assume I will get these same side effects with Dustasteride?

Nope

You'll get far worse symptoms.

Only reason I am truly arguing is because I want some hope with this but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

At least the positive news is 24 to 48 hours after it's out of my system, I feel so much better. Add that to the fact that I am ADHD which makes me drowsy when taking medicine, and it's a double effect. It looks like it's down to RU, minoxidil, and Bimatoprost.

The only way you'll know for sure is to try Dustasteride.