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My experience with Finasteride after one month...

Bongo

Bongo

Member
Hi Matt, I break my 1mg tablets in half and have that each day, so 0.5mg per day, 3.5mg per week. I always take it first thing in the morning, that works best for me. I’ve missed about 2 doses in the last month and no shed since I went from 5mg Proscar tablets to 1mg generic Fin. How’s your early days on Fin going, hope you’ve taken to it well? Regards, Bongo
 
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Matt88

member
Hi Matt, I break my 1mg tablets in half and have that each day, so 0.5mg per day, 3.5mg per week. I always take it first thing in the morning, that works best for me. I’ve missed about 2 doses in the last month and no shed since I went from 5mg Proscar tablets to 1mg generic Fin. How’s your early days on Fin going, hope you’ve taken to it well? Regards, Bongo
Thanks for letting me know this, Bongo. That's interesting that you take 0.5 per day as opposed to the general 1mg. Out of curiosity, when you were on the 5mg tablets, how did you take those? I've been debating what might be the benefits of halving my dose and if it would necessarily be much less effective than the regular 1mg daily.

Thanks a lot for asking - my sides haven't been too noticeable so far - it's early days, though, so I'm not getting too comfortable :/.
 
bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
Good honest thread this Bongo.....thanks for sharing your experiences with Fin on here. Good to hear Fin has helped with the hairloss. I've been on Fin a long time and only ever thought I was having side effects once a few yrs back so came off it for a little while....when i came off it i started using foligain supplements and didnt notice any loss of hair....i did start using Finagain though as i found out it wasnt the Fin causing my issue.
 
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Matt88

member
Good honest thread this Bongo.....thanks for sharing your experiences with Fin on here. Good to hear Fin has helped with the hairloss. I've been on Fin a long time and only ever thought I was having side effects once a few yrs back so came off it for a little while....when i came off it i started using foligain supplements and didnt notice any loss of hair....i did start using Finagain though as i found out it wasnt the Fin causing my issue.
Thanks for your insight, Bullitnut. Could I ask what your dosage is?
 
bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
No worries, I have a weird dosage myself but it works for me.....I take half a 5mg tab every other day....so half on Monday, Wednesday and Friday then I have Weekend off. I've done the 1mg every day route before but struggled to cut them into such small pieces tbh so I've been doing it like this for years.
 
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Matt88

member
No worries, I have a weird dosage myself but it works for me.....I take half a 5mg tab every other day....so half on Monday, Wednesday and Friday then I have Weekend off. I've done the 1mg every day route before but struggled to cut them into such small pieces tbh so I've been doing it like this for years.
Thanks for sharing that, bullitnut. I see, so you're on essentially 7.5mg a week, which is a touch more than the usual. But I see why you'd do it that way. I'm due to move to 5mg tablets in a few months, so cheers for the heads-up regarding cutting it into smaller pieces.
 
Kevboy

Kevboy

Valued member
I take 1mg per day. Most of the positive data online states this is the best dosage. It’s worked for me.
 
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Matt88

member
I take 1mg per day. Most of the positive data online states this is the best dosage. It’s worked for me.
Thanks for that, Kevboy. That's where I'm at, too, and I'm figuring that, as long the sides are manageable, I'll stick to 1mg daily.

I suppose I'm curious as to why people might be on a 0.5 daily dose. Whether it's because they wanted to reduce side effects or because they were advised to for other reasons.
 
Bongo

Bongo

Member
Thanks for letting me know this, Bongo. That's interesting that you take 0.5 per day as opposed to the general 1mg. Out of curiosity, when you were on the 5mg tablets, how did you take those? I've been debating what might be the benefits of halving my dose and if it would necessarily be much less effective than the regular 1mg daily.

Thanks a lot for asking - my sides haven't been too noticeable so far - it's early days, though, so I'm not getting too comfortable :/.
I used to cut my 5mg Proscar tablets into 5 or 6 pieces, it’s a little messy but I mastered it pretty well, just make sure you use a very, very sharp knife. And whatever you do, don’t answer the door if your mid way through chopping them up....my sister did once and thinks I’m a Pablo Escobar wannabe to this very day...

Glad to hear the sides are minimal, that bodes well.
 
Bongo

Bongo

Member
Good honest thread this Bongo.....thanks for sharing your experiences with Fin on here. Good to hear Fin has helped with the hairloss. I've been on Fin a long time and only ever thought I was having side effects once a few yrs back so came off it for a little while....when i came off it i started using foligain supplements and didnt notice any loss of hair....i did start using Finagain though as i found out it wasnt the Fin causing my issue.
No problems, hope the honest chat we’re having on here about Fin helps others Bullitnut. Far too many scare stories across the web but most hair loss forums at least give a more balanced view. It’s saved my hair, and with that, my sanity.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
This is me cutting a Finasteride pill. The other pill is Proscar.
As bongo says, it's quite easy to cut with a sharp knife. A pill cutter is very cheap to buy as well.

 
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Matt88

member
I used to cut my 5mg Proscar tablets into 5 or 6 pieces, it’s a little messy but I mastered it pretty well, just make sure you use a very, very sharp knife. And whatever you do, don’t answer the door if your mid way through chopping them up....my sister did once and thinks I’m a Pablo Escobar wannabe to this very day...

Glad to hear the sides are minimal, that bodes well.
Bongo Escobar. Thanks for the heads-up! Sharp knife of pill cutter it is. The sides are okay so far, I think. It's one of those things where I'm trying to remember how I felt before I started taking it, so I guess any sides are subtle for now.
 
M

Matt88

member
No problems, hope the honest chat we’re having on here about Fin helps others Bullitnut. Far too many scare stories across the web but most hair loss forums at least give a more balanced view. It’s saved my hair, and with that, my sanity.
Honest chat really helps. I'd have started taking Finasteride far earlier if I'd been able to avoid the scare stories. Hopefully anyone in the earlier stages of hair loss might read this thread and see that there can be a manageable trade-off if keeping your hair means a great deal.

As far as your sanity being intact goes, that's the ultimate goal achieved, I reckon.
 
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Matt88

member
This is me cutting a Finasteride pill. The other pill is Proscar.
As bongo says, it's quite easy to cut with a sharp knife. A pill cutter is very cheap to buy as well.

This is really helpful, thanks Bigmac. Would a regular pill cutter be able to cut into 5 small pieces? I've been looking online and trying to work out how small you can cut with them. Otherwise, a sharp knife will do.
 
Kevboy

Kevboy

Valued member
Thanks for that, Kevboy. That's where I'm at, too, and I'm figuring that, as long the sides are manageable, I'll stick to 1mg daily.

I suppose I'm curious as to why people might be on a 0.5 daily dose. Whether it's because they wanted to reduce side effects or because they were advised to for other reasons.

Everything I have read suggests 1mg is the optimal dosage per day, then I read a few people quoting a lower dose is just as effective but I don`t think any conclusive studies have been done to prove the latter. More than likely people are reducing it because of sides. If less is as good the manufacturers won't make as much money which might be the reason they aren`t doing further studies.
I`m doing good on the 1mg so I`ll not change for the foreseeable future.
 
S

Saint4805

member
I'd be interested to know if anyone has experienced a reduction in semen volume during/after ejaculation while on Finasteride. I experienced this after taking Saw Palmetto for a couple of weeks which kinda put me off taking Fin. I have read reports of watery semen too. Luckily semen volume returned to normal after stopping Saw Palmetto.
 
Kevboy

Kevboy

Valued member
My Semen is less for sure. I can`t say I`ve noticed it watery though. I`m not trying for any children so it`s not an issue right now but it might have future implications if I do try to have children.
 
M

Matt88

member
Everything I have read suggests 1mg is the optimal dosage per day, then I read a few people quoting a lower dose is just as effective but I don`t think any conclusive studies have been done to prove the latter. More than likely people are reducing it because of sides. If less is as good the manufacturers won't make as much money which might be the reason they aren`t doing further studies.
I`m doing good on the 1mg so I`ll not change for the foreseeable future.
Hi Kevboy, thank you for this. I felt the same - there was nothing "official' that says a lower dose is just as effective, but there seems to be a lot that suggests you only need half as much as the recommended daily dose.

But yes, I agree when you say it's also about reducing dosage to combat sides. Glad to hear you've been fine on 1mg daily - no real need to change it, in that case. I'll stick to the same dose, then, and see how it goes.

Cheers,
Matt
 
L

Lockdown-Locks!

member
I'd be interested to know if anyone has experienced a reduction in semen volume during/after ejaculation while on Finasteride. I experienced this after taking Saw Palmetto for a couple of weeks which kinda put me off taking Fin. I have read reports of watery semen too. Luckily semen volume returned to normal after stopping Saw Palmetto.
Hi Saint,

Just read through this thread now and an excellent read.

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you observe the reduction in semen volume - was it blatantly obvious just by looking, or did you get the volume tested in a clinical setting with a doctor? The reason I ask is because it would be great to know if the reduction in volume is significant or not.
 
K

KCJones

member
Good thread and has come in handy, I've been on Finasteride since Feb 2020 and now have got sick of the lack of libido etc no other side effects other than the one you don't want at all !!

I've been cutting generic Fin 5mg in quarters and taking that originally 7 days a week, dropping down to 6 days a week for the last 6 months.

After looking at the graphs of the old studies, I'm now going to try 0.5mg a day and see if that helps the old libido.

Was thinking of 0.5mg a day and if available topical finasteride as well, not sure if that wouldn't be overkill and worse for the side effects, has anyone tried similar ?
 
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