Taking Supplements with Propecia

Hi Dr,
I’ve learned a great deal from your site. I have two questions — one general, one specifically for me.

1. I read that you encouraged the use of propecia in the AM. I take a multivitamin and calcium citrate in the morning, and therefore I take propecia at night to offset the risk of an interaction. I also take creatine pills at various times in the day. I’m on no other drugs or supplements. Is there any problem with taking any or all of these pills/supplements together? I’m especially concerned about the creatine and its potential role with testosterone.

2. Some background info:
– I’m in my early 20s
– I’ve been using propecia for about 16 months because of a maturing hairline at the temples.
– My hair is black, extremely thick and curly, and my facial hair is extremely coarse as well — Before 2 years of laser surgery I had 5 o clock shadow 24 hours a day. In terms of facial hair, I made Richard Nixon look like a backstreet boy!

That being said, I’m under the impression that I have more testosterone than most guys, and that 5 MG Proscar pills (which I will cut in half) might work better than 1 mg Propecia. The only reason I contemplate doing this is that I think –although it’s hard to tell — I’m still losing ground on my hairline. I’m also going to reinitiate minoxidil-use at night.

Avodart sounds very promising, but I’m willing to wait until it gets FDA approved for hairloss. I’m under the impression that will never happen.

Basically, I’m looking for your input on this matter. In addition to 2.5 MG of finasteride daily and minoxidil, is there anything else you can recommend to keep as much — if not all — of my hair as I can?

I look forward to your response

The medications you are taking should not be negatively impacted by Propecia, so I would still suggest taking Propecia in the morning.

I am not certain that you have more or less testosterone than others to explain losing hair on the top of your head — probably just strong genetics. The strong beard again points to strong genetics and the DHT effect on those genetics. Male pattern balding is caused by DHT (so is your beard). Taking 1.mg vs 2.5mg of finasteride may or may not make a difference in terms of reducing hair loss, because there is no conclusive data for better results with higher dosage of the drug. If you find that 2.5mg of finasteride works better for you, then you should continue doing it, but you must be aware that the higher dose does correlate with more negative sexual side effects. I recommended that to stay healthy, eat a balanced diet and exercise. Crash diets may accelerate hair loss. I would like you to email some photos of your hair for further evaluation. If you truly have hair loss, I would be happy to email back more insights.