Nervous about Teva Pharm. 5mg Finasteride

orangetree · Jun 22, 2011

Started taking Merck 1MG Propecia when I was 19. In the almost 13 years since then, I've maybe missed 4-5 doses and it's helped me to maintain my N 1.75!

For various reasons, mainly due to cost, I had my doctor write me a prescription for Proscar. When I picked up my script this afternoon, it turns out that the tablets were, in fact, 5MG generic finasteride ... BUT they were from Teva Pharmeceuticals. I did not expect this, as my request was for Proscar. I'm kind of skeptical about this, but can anyone vouch Teva? I may need to call up my Doctor or pharmacy and see what I can do about switching back with Merck.

Growing a bit older and being set in my ways with my personal regimen (because it has worked), I am afraid of this apparent generic finasteride. causing a hiccup in my maintenance 3-4 months down the road.

uke:

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks

JWM · Jun 23, 2011

Teva is good, not to worry--been using it for years.

Cassin · Jun 23, 2011

TEVA is 100% legit. I used them for years.

orangetree · Jun 24, 2011

Hi Guys!

Thanks so much for your replies! I am quite relieved to hear that you have a positive response to Teva's generic brand! So, I will continue on ahead and see if I notice any difference in the 3-4 month ballpark.

As of about a month ago, I decided to up my dosage of finasteride. to a little over 1.5'ish mg per day -- intending to cut the 5mg pill into 3rds. I will begin this dosage starting tomorrow. 3 1/2 weeks ago I began adding Minoxidil foam to the diffuse areas of my temples, hoping to improve from Norwood 1.75. I seem to have only thinned slightly since starting, which I expected as a potential positive reaction. Hopefully in 3 more weeks some new hairs will pop?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I began noticing my rapidly thinning hair at the age of 19. Like some folks, it became quite evident that something was "off" once I shaved my hair down to a 1 gauge. However, I was not fully convinced until about 2 months later when hair was coming out like mad (into my hands, on the shower floor, on my pillow, onto my shoulders), my scalp was incredibly itchy and my hairline had taken on the M pattern.

I went to one of the local hair restoration clinics, and was prescribed Propecia. Being the salesmen that they are, they convinced me that I would eventually need a TP. Based on their evaluation, they projected that I would be a Norwood 4 by 25 (6 years from that time). The shock was incredible. I remember crying quite a bit and feeling like I was instantly losing my youth. I'd look at my scalp and frown at the thinning areas and shout to myself, "How can this be?!?!... WTF are you doing! GROW BACK, DAMNIT"

In the end, I managed to get lucky. They monitored my progress on Propecia for about 2 1/2 years and they finally had to refer me to my personal physician for future refills of finasteride. No TP needed!

While I never managed to grow back everything I lost, the finasteride helped me bounce back and maintain enough to not cause much of a concern. I still shed quite a bit... matter of fact, it has always been that way since the first initial BIG shed when I started taking it 12 1/2 years ago. I never seem to develop any noticeable balding patches or patterns.

In summary, my gut tells me that it probably won't hurt to up the dosage a bit and see what happens. A lot of veterans of finasteride seem to do this because they feel that the efficacy tapers as the years go by.

Cheers