I’ve recently purchased some 5mg Proscar pills which I’ve been advised to take half a tablet every other day. I’ve read conflicting articles and desperately need the following questions answering.
1. is it ok to take proscar as treatment for hair loss
2. are they any long term fertility effects on my side
3. what do i do if I’m taking proscar and want to start trying for a baby
4. if the answer to the above is come off the proscar whilst i try. How long does it take to completely leave my system so its safe to start trying.
Proscar, like the FDA approved hair loss treatment Propecia, both contain finasteride as their active ingredient. However, Proscar contains a 5 mg dose of Finasteride, while Propecia has only a 1 mg dose.
Proscar has been prescribled and used for years as a treatment for male prostrate issues. However, researchers noticed that Proscar also had the effect of lowering the hormone DHT, which interacts with bald vulnerable hair follicles and causes hair loss. By reducing the DHT in the patients body the finasteride in the Proscar proved to slow and even stop or reverse hair loss in many men.
However, it was determined that only a 1mg daily dose of finasteride was needed to achieve this hair loss reduction effect. The maker of Proscar, Merck, then sought and got FDA approval several years ago for the use of finasteride as a hair loss treatment. This treatment has been marketed as “Propecia”. However, many patients save money by cutting up the much cheaper Proscar into quarters to create doses of finasteride that are approximately equal to Propecia.
Thus if you divide Proscar into quarters containing about 1.25 mgs of finasteride you will get the same benefits of Propecia at about 1/3 rd the cost.
The side effects of Propecia (1mg of finasteride) have been proven to be very small (about 2% incidence of sexual side effects, which go away within days if the drug is discontinued). To learn more visit Merck’s Propecia website.
My understanding is that it is safe for a male to take a 1 mg daily dose of finasteride while conceiving a baby.
Best wishes for new hair and a baby too.
Pat
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