1mg vs 2.5mg vs 5mg Finasteride

Dear Dr Rassman,

I know this has been asked more than a couple of times in your splendid blog, but you have never gave a definite yes or no answer to this dosing question.

I have been on finasteride for some time and although it worked well for the early few years, im starting to recede pretty aggressively this year. Will increasing the dosage from propecia (1 mg) to taking half proscar (2.5 mg) or even 5 mg even helps at all to fight the losing battle?

Thanks so much for your time!

I thought I’d answered this many times before, but if I was too vague, I’ll try it again —

The FDA says that 1mg finasteride is all you need to treat hair loss, but perhaps 2mg for those people who are losing the effect of the drug may be better (discuss this with your prescribing physician). Side effects must be titrated. Try it and see. If there is no increase in side effects (and with your doctor’s knowledge), you might go for it. The more finasteride you take, the higher the risk of side effects.