How Much Finasteride To Take For Hair Loss

How Long To Take It

Male pattern hair loss is a condition that develops over a long period of time. Because it takes time for new hair to grow, you will not see immediate results. In general, daily use for 3 months or more may be necessary before you notice increased hair growth or prevention of further loss. Continue taking FINASTERIDE-1MG for as long as your doctor prescribes.

Can Finasteride Regrow A Receding Hairline

So, does finasteride regrow hair? Since hair loss can vary in severity from one man to another, theres no precise amount of hair that finasteride will help to protect or regrow for everyone.

As a general rule, its best to think of finasteride as a form of protection against further hair loss, and not as a guaranteed way to regrow hair youve already lost.

However, almost all scientific research shows that finasteride produces a reduction in hair loss and, for many men, improvements in hair growth.

For example, in a study published in the late 1990s, 66 percent of men with hair loss who used finasteride experienced improvements in hair growth over the course of two years, compared to just seven percent of men who used a non-therapeutic placebo.

In the same study, 83 percent of men who used finasteride showed no progression of hair loss over the two-year study period.

Now, does this mean that finasteride will completely restore your hairline? Not necessarily, as a variety of factors all play a role in hair loss.

If youve had a receding hairline for some time, or if youve already lost a lot of hair around your hairline, finasteride may not completely restore it.

However, using finasteride could cause some amount of hair regrowth in the areas of your scalp where youve only recently started to notice thinning and recession.

Are The Risks Worth It

Only you can answer this question.

For many men, the adverse effects will make finasteride an unattractive choice. Sexual side effects like impotence can have devastating psychological effects. These will often far outweigh any subjective psychological benefits from better hair.

For these men, there are alternatives. Research over the past few decades suggests that there are various naturally occurring plant substances that can block DHT like finasteride. .

Natural DHT blockers will not typically be as powerful as finasteride in blocking DHT. On the other hand, their use is generally free of any serious adverse events. This means you can experience hair growth benefits, with fewer adverse symptoms.

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How Do I Take Finasteride

Finasteride should be taken as a dose of 1 x 1mg tablets every day, with or without food. It is best to develop a regular daily routine at a time that suits you and makes it easy for you to remember to take it every day. You can continue to take it for as long as it remains effective, but you may not notice any results for at least 3 to 6 months.

How To Get Optimal Results From Finasteride

Used as prescribed, finasteride works well at slowing down, stopping and sometimes reversing hair loss from male pattern baldness. Apply the following tips and techniques to make sure you get the best possible results from finasteride:

• Use finasteride and minoxidil together. While finasteride is effective on its own, its even more effective when its combined with minoxidil, an over-the-counter treatment that stimulates hair growth.A study published in 2015 compared the effects of finasteride and minoxidil together to each treatment separately. The researchers found that the combination of finasteride and minoxidil outperformed either treatment used on its own.Weve talked more about using these medications together in our guide to finasteride and minoxidil.

• Use a DHT-blocking shampoo. DHT-blocking shampoos may help to lower the amount of DHT on your scalp, protecting your hair follicles and potentially reducing your hair loss further. Good DHT-blocking ingredients include saw palmetto and ketoconazole, which may disrupt the DHT pathway in your skin.

• Quit smoking. Although research hasnt linked smoking to male pattern baldness, there is evidence that tobacco smoking can damage the DNA of your hair follicle a factor that might contribute to certain types of hair loss. If you smoke, try to kick the habit. Our guide to quitting lists your options for managing nicotine cravings, avoiding smoking triggers and giving up on smoking for good.

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What Causes Male Pattern Hair Loss

Male pattern baldness is caused by the effects of the male hormone dihydrotestosterone on genetically susceptible hair follicles located in the front, top and crown of the scalp. DHT causes the hair follicle to shrink in size, both in diameter and length. As a result, the miniaturised follicle produces a small unpigmented vellus hair rather than the usual pigmented normal hair.

Can Finasteride Oral Tablet Be Crushed Split Or Chewed

The manufacturer hasnt stated whether finasteride oral tablets may be crushed, split, or chewed.

Its important to note that anyone who is pregnant shouldnt handle finasteride oral tablets that have been crushed or broken. This is because even skin contact with crushed or broken finasteride tablets could cause harm to a fetus. In case of skin contact, immediately wash the affected area with soap and water.

Finasteride oral tablets that havent been crushed or broken have a protective film coating that makes them safe to handle.

Before you crush, split, or chew finasteride oral tablets, talk with your doctor or pharmacist. They can advise you on whether this is OK with the tablets youre prescribed. They may also suggest other treatments for your condition that may be easier for you to take.

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How Long Does It Take For Finasteride To Work

How long it takes to work depends on the form of the drug taken. For hair growth, it can take three to four months before the medication begins to affect. It will be six to nine months before there is significant hair regrowth.

For benign prostate hyperplasia, it takes six or more months to see improvement in relevant symptoms.

Could A Lower Dose Reduce Side Effects

These studies raise the question of why Propecia is prescribed as a 1mg finasteride tablet when a smaller dose would have the same effect. And this question has been raised in another article in a medical journal:

As seen in Figure 1, the percent change of DHT for placebo and 0.01-mg Propecia were identical and essentially 0 within a reasonable statistical estimate. The change dropped to 60% for a 0.05-mg dose and stayed that way for all doses up to 5 mg. Thus, a 20 times smaller dose than that recommended had the same effect on the DHT. A similar dose dependence was seen for the serum DHT level the effect was no different with doses above 0.2 mg.

It seems clear from the trials cited previously that lower doses of finasteride have more or less the same effect on DHT.

And with many users reporting negative side effects from Propecia, the same article argued that reducing the dose could potentially reduce the incidence of side effects:

Thus, the fact that the dose has been established by the manufacturer at a level far higher than the level measured as necessary for the inhibition of the conversion of testosterone to DHT has not been reported publicly. Vastly lower doses would likely reduce the chance of side effects.

However, this seems unlikely in practice.

In other words, if two different finasteride doses lower DHT by the same amount, theyll both cause the same side effects.

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Anabolic Steroid Interaction With 5

Finasteride is essentially a downstream androgen synthesis inhibitor.

This particular medication reduces the formation of the potent androgen, dihydrotestosterone , from its precursor testosterone by successfully inhibiting the 5-alpha reductase enzyme.

Since DHT is several times more androgenic than testosterone, this would significantly decrease the amount of androgenic influence on the body.

An important aspect to take into consideration is that the parent hormones themselves are inherently androgenic to a significant extent.

In fact, with some steroids, the metabolites could be far less androgenic than the parent hormone, in which case 5-alpha reduction could actually be more hair loss sparing.

Nandrolone is an example of this, where the parent hormone is more androgenic than its metabolite produced via 5-alpha reduction subsequently making concurrent Finasteride use an accelerant of androgenic alopecia.

Why Is This Medication Prescribed

Finasteride is used alone or in combination with another medication to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy . Finasteride is used to treat symptoms of BPH such as frequent and difficult urination and may reduce the chance of acute urinary retention . It also may decrease the chance that prostate surgery will be needed. Finasteride is also used to treat male pattern hair loss Finasteride has not been shown to treat thinning hair at the temples and is not used to treat hair loss in women or children. Finasteride is in a class of medications called 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. Finasteride treats BPH by blocking the body’s production of a male hormone that causes the prostate to enlarge. Finasteride treats male pattern hair loss by blocking the body’s production of a male hormone in the scalp that stops hair growth.

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Tell Me More: What’s The Difference Between Finasteride 1mg And Finasteride 5mg

In your search for solutions to your androgenetic alopecia , youve likely discovered the two medications that are clinically proven DHTblockers and can help stop hair loss: finasteride and minoxidil. Upon further digging, you may have noticed that finasteride is offered in two different doses1mg and 5mg, which go by the brand names of Propecia and Proscar, respectively.

Since we live in a society in which more is better, itd be natural for you to presume that the 5mg dose would be the smarter choice. Your hair will get stronger and stop falling out, and itll stimulate even more hair growth than the 1mg. Maybe youll end up with more hair than you had before. Good-bye, receding hairline! After all, its five times the strengththe stronger the dose, the more effective itll be, right?

Well, we hate to break it to you, but no. We spoke to our Keeps medical advisors, and thats not whats going to happen. Not even close.

There are dose-ranging clinical studies that show finasteride 1mg is just as good as finasteride 5mg, explains Dr. Jerry Shapiro, one of the Keeps medical advisors. So theres no reason to prescribe a higher dosage.

In other words, finasteride 1mg is wholly sufficient. Finasteride 5mg will not help you treat male pattern hair loss any better than 1mg would.

Bottom line: Finasteride 5mg is not more effective than finasteride 1mg in the treatment of male pattern hair loss, Dr. Tosti says.

Guidelines On The Use Of Finasteride In Androgenetic Alopecia

Correspondence Address

Abstract

Background:Methods:Results:Keywords:

INTRODUCTION

Finasteride is widely used for the treatment of androgen-dependent hair disorders such as androgenetic alopecia. It is a selective 5 alpha reductase inhibitor and is administered orally in a dose of 1 mg once daily for androgenetic alopecia. The bioavailability following oral intake of 1 mg ranges from 26% to 70% with a mean of 65%. It is not related to food intake. The average peak plasma concentration is found to be 9.2 ng/ml. The terminal half-life is approximately five to six hours in men between 18 and 60 years of age and eight hours in men older than 70 years of age. It is extensively metabolized in the liver by cytochrome P450 3A4 enzyme subfamily and excreted in urine and feces. Finasteride has been tried in several doses ranging from 0.2 mg to 5 mg but 1 mg per day is the optimal dose for the treatment of men with male pattern hair loss. There is no difference in efficacy between doses of 1 mg and 5 mg. Long-term daily finasteride is advocated and leads to sustained improvement. ,,

METHODS

RESULTS

Two hundred and sixty two studies were evaluated, twelve of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria for the guidelines.

Efficacy of the drug in androgenetic alopecia

Side effects

Use of finasteride and prostate cancer

Summary

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Finasteride Proscar Propecia History

Dominican Republic:

The story of finasteride begins with scientists who were working with certain Dominican Republic people who had a genetic trait that caused them to give birth to male children with ambiguous genitalia. Female babies were not affected. In many cases it was difficult to determine such an infants gender by observation alone. At puberty, when hormone levels in these affected individuals increased, most of these young boys normalized. They eventually had children of their own, and perpetuated the genetic trait.

No hair loss: It was also observed that the adult males in this group being studied never suffered enlarged prostate glands, never developed prostate cancer, nor did they lose their hair. No male pattern hair loss! Genetic research showed that their gene for producing the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme was inactive. With no 5-alpha-reductase enzyme, testosterone was not readily converted to DHT.

5-alpha-reductase regulation: Scientists figured that if they could create or find a medication to regulate the activity of 5-alpha-reductase they could accomplish some of the positive effects of this genetic trait, such as prostate gland normalization and hair loss prevention.

Side Effects Of Using Finasteride For A Receding Hairline

Finasteride is a safe, effective and well-tolerated hair loss medication for most men. However, a small percentage of men who use finasteride experience side effects.

Potential side effects of finasteride include a reduced level of sexual desire, problems related to ejaculation, erectile dysfunction , pain or discomfort in the testicles and depression.

While sexual dysfunction side effects such as these can sound alarming, its important to keep them in context.

The overwhelming majority of men who use finasteride to treat hair loss dont experience any severe or harmful side effects.

In a four-year clinical study of finasteride, approximately 5.1 percent of men experienced erectile dysfunction after using finasteride for at least one year.

Interestingly, the same number of men experienced this side effect while taking a non-therapeutic placebo.

Other finasteride side effects, such as decreased libido and ejaculation issues, also occurred at very low rates in long-term clinical trials.

Its worth noting that this research involved the stronger 5mg version of finasteride, which is sold under the brand name Proscar® as a medication for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia .

These side effects may be even less common when finasteride is used as a lower 1mg dosage to treat hair loss.

You can read more about these issues and their frequency in detail in our full guide to finasteride side effects.

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