Missing Finasteride doses. Is this bad?

[nomad]

Hey guys,

I just ran out of my finasteride a day ago, so yesterday and today I was unable to take it. Does anybody have a legit answer as to how bad it is to miss a couple pills? Thanks guys.

Also, lets keep this forum rocking fellas. We have all put too much time and effort into this to let it go sour here! I just want to see it the way it was when I started, along with providing serious topics and help for the newbies.

Nomad

 

[cosmo gene]

Nomad

I forgot to renew my propecia so I couldn't take it tonight, I applied another coat of spironolactone though, usually I just apply spironolactone in the AM. Its probably not gonna kill us to miss a dose but I'd bet it gives our endocrine system extra work for a few days.

 

[Axon]

Missing a couple doses won't be an issue. It takes a little while for your body to return to normal levels of DHT.

Don't worry about it. Just don't miss a month or two worth.

 

[flux]

People in other forums actually suggest skipping doses now and then to reduce the chances of building a tollerance.. but they have also said this is more relivant with minoxidil and other topicals. Kinda off topic but my scalp was getting seriously irritated and itchy for days, so I skipped a dose of minoxidil and it did wonders.

 

[nomad]

Thanks guys!

Flux,

I as well skip the minoxidil over the weekends, I think it helps give my head a rest. I just went through a little shed for the second time around too, but I am really stoked on my progress. The temples, hairline and crown are looking up. Six months at the end of August. I will be posting up!

Nomad

 

[bombscience]

Further proof that skipping a finasteride dose is ok, from an email Dr. Lee sent me:

"Furthermore, there is such a tight bond created between the finasteride and the Type 2 5AR, that even if you discontinue taking finasteride altogether, it will require two weeks for your DHT level to return to your baseline levels. So, a variation in the daily dosage is really inconsequential."

 

[nomad]

Great! Thanks Bomb! I guess I am chill until I recieve my finasteride in a day or so. Why is your minoxidil on hold?

Nomad

 

[bombscience]

Great! Thanks Bomb! I guess I am chill until I recieve my finasteride in a day or so. Why is your minoxidil on hold?

Nomad

Allergic reaction? After talking to the Doctor it sounds like the PPG in the minoxidil was ripping my scalp up. I took it out of my routine to let my scalp heal. I'm going to try some Dr. Lee PPG free minoxidil next.

 

[nomad]

Ouch! That blows. I hope the Dr.Lee sh*t will work for you. Good luck.

Nomad

 

[descending_again]

Yo Nomad! What's up, Brother?

Hey, I went 16 days without Propecia due do my order getting lost in the mail. Hair was not affected one bit.

By the way got a package in the mail 3 days ago. It was dated 7 Nov 2002 from New Zealand....sure enough it was my order of 30 propecia tablets. Heh, only.....9 months late.

 

[nomad]

Descendiing,

Hey man! Yeah, I only ended up missing 3 days. I just got my new batch today. Back on the wagon and forging ahead as always.

Nomad

 

[Loopydude]

5AR and finasteride

Finasteride is a "suicide inhibitor" of type-II 5-alpha-hydroxylase; it binds irreversibly to type-II 5AR, meaning that once bound, both molecules are effectively destroyed. It takes your body a while to synthesize new type-II 5AR molecules. Since a 1mg dose of finasteride can pretty much destroy all of the type-II 5AR in your body, even after one dose, it can take up to two weeks to get back to your normal production of DHT.

You can prove this point pretty much by looking at the kinetics: Finasteride has a half life of only about 6-8 hours. If finasteride where a classic competative inhibitor of type-II 5AR (meaning it could pop off the enzyme after a while, or be degraded somehow and free up the enzyme to work again), finasteride would lose all effect from a 1mg dose in less than three days, and would lose at least 75% of its effect in only one day. Detailed studies have shown this is clearly not the case.

Given the "pharmacodynamics" of finasteride, I have to wonder myself if it's really necessary to take it every day. Every other day ought to be OK, it would seem, just based on the pharmacodynamic profile.

 

[bombscience]

Re: 5AR and finasteride

Finasteride is a "suicide inhibitor" of type-II 5-alpha-hydroxylase; it binds irreversibly to type-II 5AR, meaning that once bound, both molecules are effectively destroyed. It takes your body a while to synthesize new type-II 5AR molecules. Since a 1mg dose of finasteride can pretty much destroy all of the type-II 5AR in your body, even after one dose, it can take up to two weeks to get back to your normal production of DHT.

You can prove this point pretty much by looking at the kinetics: Finasteride has a half life of only about 6-8 hours. If finasteride where a classic competative inhibitor of type-II 5AR (meaning it could pop off the enzyme after a while, or be degraded somehow and free up the enzyme to work again), finasteride would lose all effect from a 1mg dose in less than three days, and would lose at least 75% of its effect in only one day. Detailed studies have shown this is clearly not the case.

Given the "pharmacodynamics" of finasteride, I have to wonder myself if it's really necessary to take it every day. Every other day ought to be OK, it would seem, just based on the pharmacodynamic profile.

Hence some studies showing a .5mg of Fina being almost as effective as a 1mg dose.

 

[cosmo gene]

weird, cause when I dropped to .5mg I thought I had an increase in shedding, and if i miss a dose my hair looks more brittle????
probably psychological

 

[Loopydude]

Reply to da bomb...

It's an interesting question to ponder. The simplest reason to say 0.5mg/day finasteride. is effective is that 1mg/day is really more than you need. But the story might be a bit more complicated than that...

Think of it this way: Let's just argue that 1mg finasteride/day is the minimum dose necessary to knock out 100% of the type-II 5AR. Let's also say the dose response to finasteride. is linear, meaning that 0.5mg finasteride/day knocked out 50% of the type-II 5AR, and so on. To make the math easy, let's further assume that it takes ten days to restore full type-II 5AR activity after a 1mg dose of finasteride; your body can synthesize 10% of its full complement of type-II 5AR per day, and in ten days you're back to normal.

OK, assuming those conditions, taking 0.5mg finasteride. would reduce the type-II 5AR in your body by 50%. If you didn't take another dose, next day you would have 60% of normal type-II 5AR, and so on. What if you do take another dose, though? Well, then on day two, you might start with a maximum of 60% of your type-II 5AR, and you'd knock it down to 10%. On day three you'd start with a maximum of 20% of your type-II 5AR, and, oops, you've maxed out your response: now you're down to zero. The next day you start with maxium 10% of the type-II 5AR, and you continue from that point on to knock it down to zero.

Granted, this is a grossly oversimplified model of what's going on in your body, and there are a number of pharmacokinetic considerations that I've completely ignored in the thought experiment above. However, you can get a basic idea of what's going on with repeated finasteride. dosing using the above line of thinking. I would guess that with 1mg/day dosing of finasteride., not only do you destroy all the type-II 5AR in your body, there's enough finasteride. around at any given time that you essentially never get any back. Even 24hr after a 1mg dose of finasteride., there's likely to be enough around to kill any new type-II 5AR that gets synthesized, and then you hit your body with another dose, totally destroying anything that may have escaped by the laws of chance.

 

[RalphyWiggum]

The only time I ever miss a dose is when I get plastered :rockon: