Hey guys, get this, my doctor recommended against me using Proscar because it is not known if the absorbsion is as good with Proscar as it is with Propecia. It seems like she was just brushing me off, because of course Merck is not going to come out with a study comparing the two, this would just encourage people to use Proscar for hair loss (resulting in less profits). It seemed odd that she told me this right after telling me about another (unrelated) drug which had certain benefits they could not advertise because they were not verified or approved by the FDA. First she's saying I may not get the full picture from what they can legally say, and the next second she's saying I shouldn't use Proscar because of lack of studies. Any thoughts on this Proscar issue guys?

Just incase anyone is interested, the above unnamed drug I mentioned is Nexium. Despite literature, some patients (me) can receive benefits for acid reflux without taking the pill every day (I average twice a week).

If Proscar is taken daily at a dose of 1 mg/day (if cut into fifths) or 1.25 mg/day (if quartered) then the inconsistent amount of medication in each piece is voided by the fact that the half life of the medication ensures a relatively consistent level of it that is present in the body.

Your physician (like many) are probably weary of prescribing medication off-label. This is perfectly natural. Perhaps you could bring this to her attention along with some Merck literature that fully explains the half-life? This may make her more comfortable about prescribing Proscar.

-Robert

I think maybe I am missing something in your response. Her stated reason for not prescribing Proscar was not inconsistency of the daily amount, but the idea that Proscar may not be as easily digested by the body. In my mind this made sense as I likened it to different types of protein shakes, some with better absorbsion rates and benefits to the body per gram of protein. Could be legit, could just be a way to blow me off.

Somewhat unrelatedly I thought this was interesting: she said generics are only required to have 75% or 85% (i can't remember which) the absorbsion of the original drugs.

I have never heard of any issues with absorption differences between Proscar and Propecia. That doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, but I have never heard of it and/or any problems with people taking Proscar.

-Robert