Help! want to get Avodart

[mathkid]

I'm in the US. Just visit a dermatologist. But he refused to prescribe avodart (duta), and charged me $150 for the visit. I can no longer afford to shop around doctors for avodart prescription. could anybody please help me how to get legit avodart Rx....

 

[Ende]

You could try assetchemist.co.uk / hwprescriptionservice.com. Avodart isn't listed in the catalog at HWPS, so what you have to do first is ask asset chemist to make it available. If they do, you're free to request a prescription. I've been prescribed a drug off-label myself, but you have to know the drug theoretically, and be reflective. For instance, I can't imagine anyone will prescribe dutasteride unless you've been on propecia for at least a year. Dosages used for treatment of BPH shouldn't be used as hairloss treatment IMO. What do you do, if something goes wrong? As a precausion, mapping your hormone levels (at least LH, FSH, testosterone, estrogen, prolactin and SHBG) would be a good idea. Doing it this way, demands preparation. The service is legit. It's like going to a doctor, and picking up your drug at the pharmacy afterwards.

Btw, theoretically - 0.5 mg dutasteride once, every other month should be more effective than 5 mg finasteride a day! The half life of dutasteride is 5 weeks.

While dutasteride is only officially approved to treat enlargement of the prostate gland (at a dose of 0.5 mg/day),[3] phase I and II clinical trials for dutasteride as a hair loss drug were also undertaken, but called off in late 2002. The reason the trials were called off is not publicly known. Industry sources speculate that Avodart would have been seen as too similar to Propecia (1 mg/day finasteride) to have proven itself profitable on the market as a hair loss treatment. However, phase II results indicated that dutasteride at both 0.5 mg and 2.5 mg/day generated a superior hair count to finasteride 5 mg at 12 and 24 weeks.[4]

In a test area at 24 weeks, results showed:[5]

Placebo: - 32.3 hairs
Finasteride 5 mg: + 75.6 hairs
Dutasteride 0.1 mg: + 78.5 hairs
Dutasteride 0.5 mg: + 94.6 hairs
Dutasteride 2.5 mg: + 109.6 hairs

In December 2006, GlaxoSmithKline started a new Phase III, six month study in Korea to test the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of a once-daily dose of dutasteride (0.5 mg) for the treatment of male pattern baldness in the vertex region of the scalp (types IIIv, IV and V on the Hamilton-Norwood scale). The study has been completed as of January 2009.[6][7] The future impact that this study will have on the approval or disapproval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Avodart for the treatment of male pattern baldness in the United States is yet to be determined.

Now, according to this, I think they're holding it back; 1. because of safety issues. Propecia is under investigation. 2. One pack of dutasteride, every 5 years to those who are treating male pattern baldness. How much money do you think they'll earn? I wouldn't be suprised if Merck made them a deal.

 

[mathkid]

Dear Enden:

I have been on finasteride for about two years. As far as I can tell personally, I didn't feel side effects. For me, it is just an extra pill of vitamin. My hairloss speed decreased significantly, but I'm not getting any lost hair back, so I tried for the last couple of weeks to increase the dosage of finasteride to 5 mg per day. I still didn't feel anything physical side effects so far, but I found myself become an emotionally delicate person. So I plan to get back to the original dosage.

I want Duta because it kills two types of DHTs. I'm in NW3 and 27 year-old, do you think I hair transplant is good for me? I'm hesitant because I don't know which doctors in the U.S. is truly good.

Thank you!

 

[mathkid]

I just went to the website. But it seems this is for U.K. customers. I'm in the U.S. Is there a place to get Rx in the U.S.? Thanks.

You could try assetchemist.co.uk / hwprescriptionservice.com. Avodart isn't listed in the catalog at HWPS, so what you have to do first is ask asset chemist to make it available. If they do, you're free to request a prescription. I've been prescribed a drug off-label myself, but you have to know the drug theoretically, and be reflective. For instance, I can't imagine anyone will prescribe dutasteride unless you've been on propecia for at least a year. Dosages used for treatment of BPH shouldn't be used as hairloss treatment IMO. What do you do, if something goes wrong? As a precausion, mapping your hormone levels (at least LH, FSH, testosterone, estrogen, prolactin and SHBG) would be a good idea. Doing it this way, demands preparation. The service is legit. It's like going to a doctor, and picking up your drug at the pharmacy afterwards.

Btw, theoretically - 0.5 mg dutasteride once, every other month should be more effective than 5 mg finasteride a day! The half life of dutasteride is 5 weeks.

While dutasteride is only officially approved to treat enlargement of the prostate gland (at a dose of 0.5 mg/day),[3] phase I and II clinical trials for dutasteride as a hair loss drug were also undertaken, but called off in late 2002. The reason the trials were called off is not publicly known. Industry sources speculate that Avodart would have been seen as too similar to Propecia (1 mg/day finasteride) to have proven itself profitable on the market as a hair loss treatment. However, phase II results indicated that dutasteride at both 0.5 mg and 2.5 mg/day generated a superior hair count to finasteride 5 mg at 12 and 24 weeks.[4]

In a test area at 24 weeks, results showed:[5]

Placebo: - 32.3 hairs
Finasteride 5 mg: + 75.6 hairs
Dutasteride 0.1 mg: + 78.5 hairs
Dutasteride 0.5 mg: + 94.6 hairs
Dutasteride 2.5 mg: + 109.6 hairs

In December 2006, GlaxoSmithKline started a new Phase III, six month study in Korea to test the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of a once-daily dose of dutasteride (0.5 mg) for the treatment of male pattern baldness in the vertex region of the scalp (types IIIv, IV and V on the Hamilton-Norwood scale). The study has been completed as of January 2009.[6][7] The future impact that this study will have on the approval or disapproval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Avodart for the treatment of male pattern baldness in the United States is yet to be determined.

Now, according to this, I think they're holding it back; 1. because of safety issues. Propecia is under investigation. 2. One pack of dutasteride, every 5 years to those who are treating male pattern baldness. How much money do you think they'll earn? I wouldn't be suprised if Merck made them a deal.

 

[Ende]

I've no opinion about hair transplant, but you'll have a problem if you decide to do so, and are unable to stop further hair loss. Asset Chemist ships outside U.K. too, and HWPS provides international service.

I tried for the last couple of weeks to increase the dosage of finasteride to 5 mg per day. I still didn't feel anything physical side effects so far, but I found myself become an emotionally delicate person. So I plan to get back to the original dosage.

If you can't handle 5 mg finasteride a day... I'm not going to tell you what to do, but dutasteride is a bad idea, if that's the case. I would have used Proscar for at least 6 months before considering Avodart.

 

[mathkid]

May I ask what kind of issue I will have to face if I go ahead with the hair transplant? Thanks.

I've no opinion about hair transplant, but you'll have a problem if you decide to do so, and are unable to stop further hair loss. Asset Chemist ships outside U.K. too, and HWPS provides international service.

I tried for the last couple of weeks to increase the dosage of finasteride to 5 mg per day. I still didn't feel anything physical side effects so far, but I found myself become an emotionally delicate person. So I plan to get back to the original dosage.

If you can't handle 5 mg finasteride a day... I'm not going to tell you what to do, but dutasteride is a bad idea, if that's the case. I would have used Proscar for at least 6 months before considering Avodart.

 

[Ende]

If you move your hairline forward with hair transplant, and continue to lose hair behind... well, it's not going to look good. You could always shave if it gets bad, but then you have a scar in the back of your head to consider too.

 

[mathkid]

So that means pretty much once I get started with the hair transplant, I have to do 2nd and 3rd one in the future? Thanks.

I think my hairloss to a large extent stabilized, although I didn't really take picture to benchmark....

If you move your hairline forward with hair transplant, and continue to lose hair behind... well, it's not going to look good. You could always shave if it gets bad, but then you have a scar in the back of your head to consider too.

 

[Ende]

There is a limit on donor hairs. Anyway, hopefully, we'll have an effective, topical anti-androgen within some years from now.