Drinking Beer and Taking Propecia

Hey doc, I have just recently started to lose some of my hair and my doctor prescribed Propecia. He warned me against drinking too much while taking the medication and told me to keep it to 3 or 4 beers during the weekend. Seeing as how I am still in college, I see this as a potential problem. Ignoring all the other health related issues with binge drinking, what could happen if the two were combined? I haven’t been able to find anything on the web that warns against this.

Also, is there any chance of my insurance covering this? I don’t see myself paying $60/month for this.

As far as I know, insurance companies do not cover any drugs for male pattern hair loss, since it is a cosmetic issue from their point of view.

If you are concerned about the cost, you can ask your doctor for a prescription for generic finasteride in 5mg strength and then split the pill in four to five pieces, taking each piece daily. Propecia is a brand name for finasteride in 1mg strength (the recommended dose for the treatment of male pattern hair loss). Currently there is no generic finasteride in 1mg strength legally available in the US. Taking more finasteride per dosage does not mean it will work better.

Binge drinking is never good and keeping to 3 to 4 beers a weekend is good medical advice. This may conflict with your college lifestyle, but I do not see any physicians condoning excessive drinking. With that said, using Propecia in the morning and drinking in the evenings should not cause you any problem with the Propecia.