November 7 2008, 3:34 pm PT | Posted in: Drugs
My MD has me on Avodart 0.5 MG once daily for hair loss and I have been taking it for about 20 months now and it seems to work better than the Proscar that I was taking the five years before.I just had my second HTP a couple of months ago and the HT doctor said the Avodart that I’m taking stays in my system fot 5-7 days and that I should not need to take it daily to have the same results. Where do you stand on it?
Avodart (dutasteride) does stay in your system for several weeks (5 weeks are reported for half of the drug to disappear from your system). In other words, if you take Avodart today only, half of the drug will be in your body in 5 weeks. In fact, the drug will still be detectable in your body for up to 6-12 months.
I do not personally recommend Avodart to my patients, because it is not proven safe for treating hair loss in younger men (the drug is a prostate medication, so the FDA approvals were based on tests of those men in an older age group). There are reports of sterility with this drug on men. I do have a handful of patients that choose to take Avodart despite my concerns, but that is on an individual basis. Likewise, my feeling on it is that you need to address these concerns with your doctor and decide on the appropriate treatment plan after understanding all the risks and benefits associated with its use. That stands true for all other drugs and medical treatments.
In general (to confuse the situation even further), the 0.5mg dose of Avodart is not generally used for hair growth, as 2.5mg is shown to produce a better effect. However, the 2.5mg will increase the side effects and the risks associated with it as well. All that is just more to discuss with your doctor. Read this study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology for more info — Dutasteride vs. Finasteride.
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Balding Forum
Couple of points.
A 0.5mg dose of Avodart blocks more DHT than a 5mg dose of Proscar and much more than a 1mg dose of Propecia.
I was on Proscar 5mg for about 12 years before I switched to Avodart about 5 years ago. Infact, I was popping Proscar like candy for the first 2 years I was on it back in the early 90’s. 20mg a day! That is 20 times the dose of Propecia 1mg. The reason I stopped was my insurance company finally caught on that I was using it for hairloss(cosmetic reason). I have never had any side effects whatsoever.
During the time I was on these drugs, I fathered two healthy children, 1 boy and 1 girl. The chances of birth defects / sterility while on these drugs is so rare (if at all) that it is not even worth mentioning, of course drug makers need to protect their six so they state all possible side effects, even those that are very very rare.
A lot of unsubstantiated rumours get started on message boards like Dutasteride causing gray hair, brain fog etc….all bogus in my opinion.
As drugs go, these two, finisteride and dutasteride are quite safe.
Mike
LAZERFISH LLLT.
I believe these drugs are quite safe also, I have been taking a lot of Finasteride (like 7.5mg a day) and I have had zero side effects, except for a better sex drive (which is a perk). I also plan to switch to Avodart if Finasteride loses its ground (hopefully by the time at least Avodart goes generic).
I also use the laser comb, which I believe works in some degree, and so far I have had good results with my combination of treatment. I want to thank Dr. Rassman for putting up this site and helping spread the knowledge for hairloss.
Lazerfish, have these drugs lost its effectiveness in any way?
Thanks,
Destin
Hey Destin!
In my case, the drugs have not lost effectiveness. And I don’t think they will either. I have been on one or the other of these two drugs for going on 18 years. I can definitely say that each year my hair is looking better.
I also use laser therapy(3 times a week) and Xandrox(once a day in the evenings)
Good Luck Destin!
Nice Site. I thought AVODART is a best drug for hair loss problem. And process of this drug is also clearly explained in this blog. Very useful.
Thanks.