I Am Worried About My Results After Switching from Name Brand to Generic Finasteride
Hi Dr.Rassman,
I am a 35 year old man. I used propecia for two and a half years, three months ago I switched to 5 mg generic finasteride because of the cost. The generic finasteride that I use is manufactured by TEVA and I bought it at walgreens. I have a few questions.1) is this a genuine medicine? or should I change to name brand of finasteride (proscar)?
2) The reason I asked the question above is, I am cutting the 5mg finasteride into four peices and take one piece a day, I have noticed that the four pieces are not exactly the same size. However my concern is I ‘think’ my hairline is receding and my hair is thinning after switching to generic finasteride. is it a negative placebo affect? I would love to keep using the generic finasteride because of the cost but on the same note I dont want to lose my hair either.
Thanks
If the drug is not counterfeit, splitting the pill into quarters should not product a problem. You bought it at Walgreens, so I’d expect the medication is fine. Teva is the largest generic pharmaceutical maker in the world.
Cutting a 5mg tablet into 4 pieces would make each part 1.25mg, which is a little more than 1mg Propecia. That shouldn’t be a problem though, as you’re probably not going to get a perfect cut each time and will even lose a crumb or two in the process. It’s much easier to cut into 4 pieces than it is to cut into 5. If you’re concerned though, speak to your prescribing doctor or pharmacist about a different generic finasteride brand.
As added educational info on why your generic finasteride is fine: Generic drugs sold in the US are still regulated by the FDA to ensure quality and the ability to produce generics by a well-respected manufacturer (such as Teva) reflects that the drug is just off-patent. Drugs are always coming off-patent and many big selling drugs (e.g., Lipitor for cholesterol) will be doing so this year – to be followed by generic forms by other manufacturers. In contrast, counterfeit drugs – which are illegal in the US- are “fake†medicines, may be contaminated or contain the wrong or no active ingredient, and are not regulated. They are typically sold online via spam emails, although in rare cases by more established routes.