Would 0.25mg Finasteride Be More Effective than Saw Palmetto?
Hi Doc,
I’m a 26 year old male with a fairly aggresive NW4 developing, and need to do something to stabilize this before going for a HT next year.
I’ve grown pretty scared of finasteride side effects through the experience of a good friend who unfortunately suffered some of the psychological sides we’ve all been reading about online.
Question is, would a 1/4 dose (0.25mg) finasteride still be more effective for someone in my position than the full (320mg) recommended dose of saw palmetto? I’ve tried the latter before with no side effects, but didn’t stay on it long enough to evaluate the results.
Thanks doc and keep up the excellent work!
Propecia is finasteride in 1mg strength that you take daily for genetic male pattern (androgenic) hair loss. It’s been indicated that 0.5 mg finasteride daily is about 70 to 80% as effective as the full 1mg dose. I suppose you can infer how a 0.25mg dose may help. But in general if you are going to take a drug, you should take it as directed and speak with your doctor about all these issues. With saw palmetto, you really do not know the dose of the effective ingredients as they vary per manufacturer. Add to that the knowledge that saw palmetto has never been proven to work on hair reliably with a good scientific study.
My final point is that if you are going to read the issues of Propecia on the Internet and scare yourself with unsubstantiated reports without even seeing a doctor, the chances are you will likely have a side effect from the sheer psychological impact.
I’m 23 and I’ve been taking 1.25mg Finasteride every day for almost 9 months for my developing pattern 3 thinning. So far, my hair loss has grinded to a near-halt and I have experienced 0 side effects thus far. Everyone is different, you should try it out for a few weeks at a normal dose and see how it goes.
Get on Finasteride. Some doctors claim it is so harmless and has many benefits to the point where its almost logical for men to take it who are not balding nor currently experiencing prostate issues. FDA approved like 20 years ago.
i have been on it for nearly 18 months with no sides and completely reversed thinning in the crown to 100% density, and even some thickening upfront. Still seeing gains at 1.5 years.
Some doctors also believe it is incredibly dangerous to tweak one’s male hormone system to attempt to save something as trivial as hair. Just a consideration. There is no existing consensus on the safety of the drug as there is for its efficacy.
What do you mean there is no consensus on its safety or efficacy? It’s been proven to show results in clinical studies and the FDA approved it 20 years ago. If it were the nightmare drug some claim wouldn’t we all have known about how awful it was 10-15 years ago?