Looking for some help on where to purchase, what to take..

[e1982]

So, I am 24 years old, and only started balding about 2 years or so ago. Seemed like it got really bad when my girl and I of 5 years broke up...and has gotten worse since. I started to use minoxidil but realized that I did it off and on, and would never be able to keep up the reigimine. So, I use nizoral 3 times a week as recommended by most of you here, but am looking to go on to propecia, or finasteride, but am having a hard time understanding the difference. I know about cutting them up, etc...but am curious what dosage, where to order from? Do you stop seeing effectiveness after 5 years always, or just in some cases?

I have had stomach problems my whole life, and for the last 4 years have been taking about 300mg of zantac a day, and my doctor told me, that that could be the reason my hair was thining and I was going bald. (He is the one who prescribed me to take that much) Now, I went to an eastern doctor and found out I am just allergic to milk, stopped drinking milk, somach stopped hurting So, he said, if it was the zantac, then my hair may grow back, but it took 4 years to lose it, so it may take a while to grow back.

Any help that you all can offer would be hugely appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

FINasteride is the active ingredient of Propecia. I don´t know where you are from so it is hard to give advices where to buy it. In order to save money you might get a perscription for Proscar instead of Propecia. Proscar has almost the same price as Propecia but contains 5mg of finasteride instead of 1mg. So you cut into 4 pieces and save a lot of money.

For some people effectiveness stops after 3 years, for some it never stops. It is impossible to say how you will react.

 

[e1982]

I am from Calfornia, and the reason I asked about where to buy is from my understanding, most people find these ALOT cheaper online, than getting a prescription...I could be again misunderstood on this though as well. What do I hear about some people cutting a pill into 10ths? Also, if you are going to experience sides do they show up almost immediately, and go away upon stopping usage?

Thanks!

 

[e1982]

so basically I am trying to figure out, where in the US or elsewhere to order the cheapest proscar and cut it into 4 pieces. What about the people that cut some of the pills into 10 pieces, what is that all about? Is 1 MG too much for some people? I feel like there is no hope for me right now, after my girl and I of 5 years broke up, I feel like because of my hairloss I have NO hope of finding another woman, and my confidence is way beneath the floor right now. Any help you guys can offer about where to order, what to look out for when I first start taking it, how I know if I am taking too much, etc would be awesome.

 

[Guest]

E1982,

Greetings,

If you want to start finasteride,

You have a choice of Propecia or Proscar. Propecia is the 1 mg form of finasteride prescribed for hair loss, and Proscar is the 5 mg form of finasteride typically prescribed for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Propecia you can just take 1 mg a day of, and Proscar you can cut into either 4 or 5 pieces, so you'll be taking either 1.25 mg a day or 1 mg a day. There's virtually no difference in effectiveness between 1.25 mg a day and 1 mg a day.

Now as for where to get it, you have a few options for where to get it. You can get your dermatologist to prescribe Propecia for you, but that's expensive. It will run you upwards of $700 a year. Or you could ask your dermatologist to prescribe you Proscar to save you money, and you can cut the pills yourself with a pill cutter into 4 or 5 pieces. That will run you around $270 a year. There is a generic Proscar available in the United States right now for around $230 a year. No generic Propecia available yet in United States pharmacies that I know of.

If you don't want to go the doctor route, then there are TWO reputable pharmacies online that I know of that don't require prescriptions.

These sites, in addition to carrying brand name Propecia and Proscar, also carry cheaper generics made in places like India that are just as effective.

Here are the two pharmacies that have been found to be reputable by people on this forum and others:

http://www.inhousepharmacy.com

http://www.unitedpharmacies.com

If you want branded Propecia(1 mg), you can get it at these links:

http://www.unitedpharmacies.com/Propeci ... s_p_8.html

http://www.inhousepharmacy.com/hair-loss/propecia.html

If you want branded Proscar(5 mg), you can get it at these links:

http://www.unitedpharmacies.com/Proscar ... s_p_9.html

http://www.inhousepharmacy.com/hair-loss/proscar.html

If you are willing to try an Indian generic of Propecia(1 mg) which will save you a ton of money, here is a good one available at both sites. It's called Finpecia:

http://www.unitedpharmacies.com/Finpeci ... p_343.html

http://www.inhousepharmacy.com/hair-loss/finpecia.html

If you want to try an Indian generic of Proscar(5 mg) and save you even more money than the generic Propecia, because you will be cutting the pills yourselves with a pill cutter, go to one of these links:

http://www.unitedpharmacies.com/Fincar_ ... p_346.html

http://www.inhousepharmacy.com/hair-loss/fincar.html

Here are some estimates for prices:

A year's supply of branded Propecia will run you a bit over $700. A year's supply of branded Proscar will run you about $270 from a US pharmacy with a doctor's prescription. A year's supply of generic Proscar from a US pharmacy will run you about $230. That takes care of the various versions of finasteride available from US pharmacies.

As for online,

You can get a year's supply of branded Propecia for a bit over $700 as well. You can get generic Proscar somewhere in the $200s at the two sites.

You can get generic Propecia(Finpecia) for around $150 a year from United Pharmacies including shipping. You can get generic Proscar(Fincar) for around $80 a year from United Pharmacies including shipping.

So it comes down to your budget. If money isn't an issue then you can go to your Doctor, get a prescription, and get some US Propecia. Or you can use one of the sites above and save up to 80% on your finasteride.

 

[e1982]

I am going to go with the Indian proscar and save some money, because as a 24 year old, who just finished his masters 3 weeks ago, and with student loans going into repayment, money most certainly is an issue.

Is there any expiriation, do you usually recommend ordering a few strips, trying it to see if you experience sides and then order a larger quantity?

Also, if I were to experience sides, how long do they usually take to show up?

Between this and nizoral (currently 1%) 3 times a week, should I experience some regrowth? I just, for some reason, will not stick to topicals, I don't know why, can't explain it, just know I won't. Also, is there any benefit to using 2% nizoral instead of 1%, I have rad some say there is and some there is not.

And most importantly THANK YOU JayMan for breaking everything down and giving me links to order from, I greatly appreciate it!

 

[Guest]

The pills generally expire at least 2 years or so after you get them so you definitely shouldn't order more than that at a time. I would start out ordering probably 4 strips of 10 if I were you. That's a little over 5 months worth if you cut into fourths and sometimes the pills can take 3 weeks to get to you but that should give you enough time to determine whether or not you get sides. The vast majority of people do NOT get sides. 4% at the most and 2% of placebo users had sides too so only 2% overall is attributable to finasteride. Sides generally will appear within a few weeks or so after you take finasteride. If you get sides you can try cutting back to 0.625 mg a day of finasteride by cutting your pills in eighths. This reduces the sides in a lot of people who get them and it's almost as effective as 1.25 mg per day. It's certainly better than nothing plus you get to save money.

Buy a pill cutter at your local drug store for $5 to cut your finasteride.

Regrowth depends on a lot of things. The main goal of finasteride is keeping what you have. If your loss has been fairly recent then you may see some regrowth but you may not regrow all of it. Minoxidil(Rogaine) is a much stronger regrowth agent than finasteride but since you will not stick to topicals there probably isn't much point in you trying that.

No there's no benefit to using 2% over 1%.

 

[e1982]

The other issue I worried about with minoxidil is, I read somehwhre on the forum that, if you take use it, it can make the hair groth everywhere else on your body much worse, and I am currently undergoing laser hair removal on my back and probably will do my chest cause it's working well...is this generally a side of minoxidil or is it just what one person encountered?

I also read on the forum that finasteride makes hair on the rest of your body fall out but regrow or keep it at least on your head?

Just tryin to get my facts straight, thanks again.

 

[RecedingBoy]

good posts.

i like the fincar product. i've tried it before, and purchased it on a trip to india. i trust Dr. Reddy's Labs and Cipla, the manafacturers of the generic proscar/propecia, but am concerned about distributors. while in India, i was told that some chemists sell fake Fincars, so you have to be careful. I bought mine from a chemist whom a local friend goes to and trusts.

 

[NYVic20]

e1982, That might be the case if you were taking oral minix, but with topical minoxidil, it only induces regrowth where it is applied as is with any topical you are using. People that experience regrowth in other places with topical minoxidil, usually experience it where minoxidil might drip off your head from such as on your forehead or eyebrows. Thats why it's always important to wipe off the excess minoxidil that gets anywhere besides your head. Also its true with finasteride , people have experienced less body hair, because ironically body hair works in the opposite way that the hair on your head does; if you apply any of those anti androgen topicals like spironolactone on your body hair, it'll make the hairs finer and thin over time but on your head it blocks dht (and convertes testosterone into estrogen in spironolactone's case) which stops the destruction of your hair follicles, allowing regrowth.