See our Propecia® offer at the end of this article.
What Is Propecia?
Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is an oral medication prescribed to treat male pattern hair loss. It inhibits the enzyme 5-alpha reductase that converts the hormone testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It has been determined that DHT is the biochemical culprit that causes male pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) in those genetically predisposed to having it. This condition ordinarily is progressive throughout the adult life of the predisposed individual.
What happens in androgenetic alopecia is that the hair growth cycle gradually shortens. This causes subsequent growing hairs to become miniaturized. So, over time, more and more of the hairs on your head will become shorter and shorter and skinnier and skinnier. As the population of these miniaturized hairs gets greater while the population of your prior thick hairs gets smaller, your hair becomes noticeably thin.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, AFTER HALF OF THE HAIRS ON YOUR HEAD HAVE ALREADY FALLEN OUT IS WHEN YOU FIRST BEGIN TO NOTICE THAT YOUR HAIR IS THINNING!
It is important to begin Propecia therapy sooner rather than later. It is far easier to keep the hair on your head than it is to replace it after it’s lost
According to long-term medical studies of people with male pattern baldness, 83% of those who consistently took Propecia had no further baldness. This compares to 28% for those who took a placebo. Additionally, Propecia was shown to REGROW some hair in approximately 66 percent of men who used it continuously.
What are the Side Effects of Propecia?
The side effects of Propecia are very few and minimal. Decreased ejaculate volume (in 1.2% of subjects), decreased hardness of an erection (1.3%), and decreased libido (1.8%) are the only known side effects of this medication. These figures are only about a half of a percent more than with the subjects who were given placebo. In 58% of the patients who experienced a side effect but continued on with the medication, the side effect eventually disappeared. Also, 100 percent of patients who had a side effect and stopped the medication went back to normal.
Also, since less testosterone is broken down into DHT, testosterone levels are raised an average of about 15%. I have patients who claim they are sexually and physically stronger since taking Propecia. In addition, Propecia has the beneficial effect of lessening prostate gland enlargement symptoms. There are no known drug interaction problems between Propecia and other medications.
Propecia is obviously not appropriate for use by women since the baldness which it treats is specific to men. Also, if taken by a pregnant woman, it may cause a genital defect in a male fetus. Because the use of Propecia can lower the value of prostate specific antigen, you should inform your primary care physician or urologist that you are taking this medication so that he can adjust the value that is returned from the lab.
How is Propecia Taken?
One Propecia pill should be taken by mouth each day. It can be taken with or without food. It does take about three months for it to begin to slow your hair loss rate down and a minimum of six months for me even to begin to notice regrowth. This is a long-term medication. It should be used for as long as you wish to keep your hair.
Using Propecia with Transplants
I strongly encourage ALL of my transplant patients to use Propecia since, without it, further baldness is much more likely to develop beyond the edge of the transplanted area, thus marring the aesthetic effect of the hair surgery. In any event, with Propecia and transplant surgery, you can expect to have in the long run more hair than with surgery alone.
Using Propecia with Minoxidil
Both Propecia and Minoxidil slow down or stop the progression of male pattern baldness. There is evidence that, taken together, the two medications have a greater effect than either one alone. Also, if you are taking Minoxidil and want to take Propecia instead, you should continue taking Minoxidil for the first six months after commencing to take Propecia. Otherwise, there is a chance of having a sudden loss of hair.
Propecia® (Finasteride) at a Very Special Savings
We sell Propecia by prescription in units of 90 standard one milligram pills (three containers of 30 pills). Each unit is known as a “Pro Pak”. Dosage is one pill per day. Up to three Propecia Pro Paks may be purchased initially and with each refill. For the prescription, an in-person consultation with Dr. Kabaker is necessary. A $100.00 fee is charged for this consultation. For past and present patients, this fee is waived.At the current time, our costs for Propecia are very competitive.
Please call our office for information on pricing. For more information or to make an appointment, call: (415) 379-9015.