August 29 2005, 4:16 pm PT | Posted in: Drugs
A BaldingBlog reader named Greg originally posted this as a comment to a blog entry, but I’ve formatted it to make it easier to read and have reposted it here.
The FDA has found Avodart to be safe (for BHP). The side effects were very simliar if not a tad less then Proscar 5mg, which also was cleared by the FDA many years ago. I think Avodart should be indicated as a off label prescription in some instances.
- non-responders to Propecia
- When the loss of efficacy of Propecia becomes bothersome to a indivdual
One other interesting point is that the age group the FDA studied on Propecia (18-42) was quite younger than what Proscar/Avodart (50+ median age 66 approx) so the chances of sexual side effects will inherently be larger in this age demographic as opposed to Propecia… meaning the side effects are probably even closer then one thinks/ Propecia versus Avodart. The one draw back with Avodart is that there is no “human model” with type 1 suppression so there is a question on “long term” safety as with many drugs. As long as you dont have any side effects with Avodart, the long half life can only be beneficial with Androgentic Alopecia and the phase 2 studies show this. People held onto the hair they gained (even grew more) 12 weeks “after” the the medication was discontinued (0.5 mg/ 2.5 mg only). Proscar users saw a sharp decline in this time frame. I hope these facts are helpful in some way.
Thank you for your insight. I believe that what you said makes good sense. I would hope that I could adopt a similar view in an ethical/legal framework.
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I have had great success with Avodart/.5mg and Minox/5%. Avodart has been far more effective for me than Propecia, futhermore my libido has increased while on Avodart, I actually ecpected the opposite. I have been taking Avodart “off label” for more than a year now with no negative side fx, however, my Doctor does blood work every 6 months just to make sure everything is ok. I think that GSK is very clever in that they know people are going to use Avodart “off label” for hairloss, thus, they really will not have to go through the FDA for this particular purpose and furthermore, they will reduce their liability concerning Avodart for hairloss. Very clever indeed.
I want to know as a healthy 45 year old male, is this a healthy alternative to propecia. I asked my doctor and he said that it was for benign postrate inflamation or something like that.
I am a women in her fifties who has noticed my hair is thinning.I have been reading and researching treatments and I read that avodart is very helpful. Why couldn’t I try it?