Hi Frns,

What would be better dosage of finasterdie. .5mg or 1mg?
I read many people saying that taking .5mg will work with reducing side effects.
What dosage you suggest?

I've started taking fin 1 mg/day from 4days. Should i follow the same or should i switch to .5mg/day?

-Thanks in advance.

HoToStop,

Be sure to consult with a physician to see what dosage they recommend for you.

It should be noted that 1mg is the typical dosage of finasteride daily for hair loss. Some physicians however, have prescribed .5mg daily in cases where hair loss doesn't appear to be as aggressive.

Best wishes,

Falc

HotToStop

The studies on Propecia, (Fenasteride 1mg pill) for hair loss treatment were done at the 1mg dose so we do not have any good medical studies to suggest the .5mg will or will not work. I always suggest that anyone taking Fenasteride for the first time do it as suggested: at the 1mg dose and keep constant for 1 year. Then after you and your physician have a good idea of how effective the Fenasteride has been you can start to adjust the dose if need be.
If you start on the .5mg dose and do not have a good response how will you be able to tell if the poor response was due to the low dose or you are just one of the few (10%) of men it does not work for?
As for the side effects: They are so rare at the 1mg dose I don't think there would be a statistically significant difference between the 1mg and the .5mg dose.

Prior to doing hair transplants I worked as a Family Doctor until 2000. In my practice we used Proscar, (Finasteride 5mg) and it was rare to see side effects even at the higher 5 mg dose.

At the 1mg dose in our practice at SMG we see the sexual side effects rarely. I have had a few patients stop it because of sexual side effects. As for the possible gynecomastia (breast enlargement) I have only had one patient who may have had the beginning of gynecomastia. He had some breast tenderness and we stopped the Propecia immediately and the pain went away. I have never seen any actual breast enlargement while a patient was taking Fenasteride.

I hope this information is helpful

In Health

Paul Shapiro, MD