Side Effects from Propecia — Should I Take Smaller Doses Daily or Full Dose Weekly?

Hi Doc. I had taken 1mg of propecia for 4 months with great results for hairloss. I started to notice some sexual side effects and went off the med. I’d like to take it in smaller doses or take 1mg once or twice a week. Any info. available regarding much smaller dosage to avoid side effects?

That is a very good question. In my practice I generally tell my patients (if they are experiencing any negative sexual side effects which occur in about 1% of patients) to cut the pill in half and and then take a half pill daily. It is better to do this than take one pill every other day because the half life (the time it takes for half of the drug to be out of your blood stream) is 5 hours. So if you skip a day you will not benefit from the drug since it will be completely out of your blood stream the next day. Even a quarter of a pill a day may have value. See what you need to keep the side effect away and then watch the hair carefully to see if the dose is holding on to the hair. The reason that Propecia is a prescription drug is for advice like this and you should be getting it from the doctor who prescribed it.