How Can I Tell If My Finasteride is Real?

Let me start by saying this is a great site. I have gotten so many answers from here. I am 21 years old with a receding hairline, and excessive shedding. I also think my crown is getting thin, but nobody else seems to think so. Anyways I started taking generic finistride about 4 months ago. I order through a discount website, and I have heard that some websites send out placebos labeled as finistride. Being as how I have been taking it for 4 months and I still haven’t noticed any difference I was wondering if there is a way to tell if my pills are the real deal or just placebos..

Thanks alot

Here’s the best way to tell — buy it from a reputable pharmacy. Seriously though, I don’t know of an easy finasteride test you can run on your medication to authenticate it. Generic finasteride 5mg tablets cost about $20 from Costco or Walmart, which brings the cost down to about $5/month… so why buy it from an unknown source? If you’re not in the US and don’t have access to either of those stores, I’m sure your pharmacy has the generic finasteride at a pretty decent price. Have your doctor prescribe the 5mg generic and then cut the pills into 4 pieces to get the same benefits of Propecia.

Those various “discount” websites that sell prescription drugs (in many cases without a prescription) aren’t high on my list of things I trust. Sure, the price might be great… but at what real cost? It could be real finasteride that you’re getting, but is it worth the risk of losing your hair if you’re just getting a placebo in foil wrapping? I just found an article from late last year that might be of interest — Fighting Fake Drugs in India.