01 One milligram, every day, for male hair loss
One milligram each day is the Propecia how-to-take line. The insert is for androgenetic alopecia in men. It is not written for women. It is not written for children. It is not a "load" tablet you double on Sundays.
Proscar is finasteride 5 mg for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Same INN, different job, different leaflet. Cutting a 5 mg tablet into fifths is a compounding fantasy, not this leaf's method. Dose uniformity after a kitchen split is not guaranteed, and the pregnancy-handling warning still applies to broken pieces.
If someone handed you a 5 mg count "because it's cheaper per milligram," read the 1 mg versus 5 mg margin before you improvise. Hair clinics that write 1 mg generic are matching the labeled hair strength. They are not being timid.
| Tablet | Labeled job on this almanac |
|---|---|
| Propecia / generic 1 mg | Androgenetic alopecia in men - Virena lock, once daily |
| Proscar / generic 5 mg | BPH - different indication, different counseling, not a hair shortcut |
| Crushed or broken 1 mg | Pregnant people must not handle; male-fetus risk on the insert |
| PSA while on 1 mg | Values fall; tell the lab you take finasteride |
02 Broken tablets and a pregnancy in the house
Women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant must not handle crushed or broken Propecia tablets. Finasteride can be absorbed through the skin and the insert warns about abnormalities of the external genitalia of a male fetus. Whole coated tablets are the intended handling form. If a tablet breaks, the person who can become pregnant should not be the one sweeping fragments.
Finasteride is contraindicated in pregnancy. This leaf is a men's hair how-to-take. It will not sketch a female off-label protocol. Donation of blood while on finasteride follows local blood-service rules; many services defer because of the fetal-risk story. Ask the donation desk, not this page.
Swallow whole with or without food. There is no meal window like sildenafil. The habit that matters is daily, same tablet, 1 mg, not 5 mg leftover from a relative's BPH bottle.
| Absorption | Oral 1 mg; food does not steer this leaf. |
|---|---|
| Distribution | Widely distributed; crosses into semen in small amounts - still the crushed-tablet warning dominates counseling. |
| Metabolism | Hepatic; extensive metabolism. |
| Excretion | Metabolites in urine and feces; terminal half-life of finasteride is on the order of 5-6 hours in young men, with a longer biologic DHT effect. |
03 What to carry into the visit that wrote 1 mg
A list of other tablets, including leftover tadalafil. A note if someone at home can become pregnant. The last PSA and whether the lab knew about finasteride. A photo only if the clinician asked; this inbox will not grade a hairline.
If the bag at the counter says 5 mg, stop. If it says 1 mg and the plan was prostate, stop. Indication and strength have to match before you leave the pharmacy.
Mail [email protected] about a sentence that disagrees with the Propecia insert. Do not mail a request to start therapy.
04 Who should not start a leftover 1 mg blister
Women, including those who are pregnant or who may become pregnant, should not take Propecia and should not handle broken tablets. This leaf is a men's hair how-to-take. It will not sketch a female off-label protocol.
Children do not get a 1 mg "to prevent future loss." The insert is not written for them.
Men with a clinician's hold after a prostate-cancer work-up should not restart 1 mg from a drawer to save a hairline while PSA is being sorted. Tell the urologist. The 0.7-to-0.5 ng/mL study note is why hiding the tablet scrambles the next number.
Liver disease is a specialist call. This leaf will not invent a Child-Pugh table the hair insert does not print. Allergy to finasteride is a stop.
If sexual AE or mood change already started on a prior course, say so before a second start. The sexual-AE margin is that file. Do not stack an unmarked PDE5 the same week as a restart.
05 A bathroom selfie does not rewrite the 1 mg swallow
Harsh overhead light and a wet scalp make a two-week photo look like failure. Hair counts in the trials moved on a months clock in men 18-41 with vertex and mid-scalp patterns. The tablet you swallow tomorrow stays 1 mg.
Do not add a topical foam the same night you notice a thin patch unless someone already wrote that foam. Minoxidil sting is not a reason to stop the 1 mg, and an empty foam can is not a reason to quarter Proscar.
If a barber says the crown looks worse, bring that sentence to the visit, not to a 2 mg weekend. Follicle cycles do not cash a double tablet after a bad haircut.
Keep the hour boring so a holiday gap is visible. Restart at 1 mg if the plan is still hair. The INN margin is still the 1 mg versus 5 mg file.
06 How to keep a 1 mg habit without turning it into a weekend load
Swallow the 1 mg tablet at a boring hour. Morning with coffee is fine. Night is fine. Food is fine. What is not fine is doubling on Sunday because the mirror looked thin, or skipping Thursday because you had a date and feared sexual AE, then taking two on Friday.
Missed dose: take it when you remember the same day. Skip if it is almost time for the next. Do not make up a weekend pile. Follicle biology does not cash a double tablet.
If you travel, keep intact tablets in the original pack so a pregnant seatmate is not sweeping crumbs. The crushed-tablet warning travels with you. Airport security does not need a lecture. They need a labeled bottle if asked.
Blood donation services often defer men on finasteride because of fetal-risk rules. Ask the donation desk before you book. This leaf will not quote every national deferral day.
Minoxidil, if someone wrote it, is a separate how-to-take. Do not stop 1 mg because the foam stung, and do not start a 5 mg Proscar split because the foam was out of stock. See the 1 mg versus 5 mg margin.
07 Why a two-week selfie proves nothing
Hair counts in the Propecia trials were read at months, not at day ten. The insert's counseling is that you may need 3 months or more to notice a change, and that continued use is needed to maintain it. Stop, and the advantage recedes toward the baseline you brought in.
That slow clock is why people add minoxidil, switch brands, or quarter Proscar in week three. None of those moves is this leaf's how-to-take. If the 1 mg daily swallow is already happening, give the follicle cycle time before you declare failure.
Vertex and anterior mid-scalp were the studied patterns in men 18-41. A receding temple in a different age band is still a clinician's call. This page will not promise a hairline from a photograph mailed to [email protected].
08 What 1 mg is doing while you wait months for a photo
Finasteride blocks type II 5-alpha-reductase. DHT in the scalp follicle falls. Serum DHT falls. That is the mechanism. It is not a vitamin. It is not a shampoo. Hair counts in the trials moved on a months clock in men 18-41 with vertex and mid-scalp patterns.
Stop the tablet and DHT rises again. The hair advantage recedes toward the baseline you brought in. That sentence is why people stay on 1 mg for years or decide the AE are not worth it. Both decisions are legitimate. Neither is a Bordeaux order.
Prostate volume and PSA are downstream of the same enzyme story. That is why 5 mg has a BPH leaflet and 1 mg still moves PSA enough to tell the lab. Do not treat a "normal" PSA on silent finasteride as clearance.
High-grade prostate cancer risk from 5-ARI prevention-trial era is a urology conversation. Bring it if you are in the age band where PSA is already a yearly habit. Do not hide the 1 mg to keep the conversation short.
09 Ninety 1 mg tablets is the lock on the fill strip
Ninety 1 mg tablets is what the Virena fill strip locks for literacy. Import Finpecia strips are not priced here. Do not treat a 5 mg Proscar cash row as a hair coupon. The strip below names US pharmacy pages, not a Virena checkout.
If the bag says 5 mg and the plan was hair, stop at the counter. If the bag says 1 mg and someone at home is pregnant, keep fragments off shared surfaces.
Generic finasteride 1 mg, ninety tablets, the Virena Propecia almanac lock, August 2026. GoodRx lists 1 mg x 90 at $147.21 average retail and $34.85 with a coupon. Import Finpecia strips are not priced here. Virena does not dispense.
10 Sexual adverse effects without a forum spiral
Decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, and ejaculation disorder (including lower volume) were reported in at least 1% of Propecia-treated men and more often than placebo. That is the insert's common-AE line. It is not 40% and it is not zero. New sexual complaints on the 5 mg BPH studies tended to fall with time on therapy, which is not the same as promising they vanish for you.
Post-marketing reports include persistence after stopping. The insert lists them. Frequency is not well pinned. This leaf will not invent a "PFS percentage." It will say: if function changes, tell the prescriber rather than doubling the tablet or adding an unmarked PDE5 from a drawer. PDE5 timing lives on the sildenafil and tadalafil leaves if a clinician actually writes one.
Breast tenderness, lumps, or nipple discharge need a prompt clinical look. Depression and mood change show up in post-marketing lists; they are not a reason to tough it out in silence. They are also not a reason to stop mid-week without a plan if you have been on 1 mg for years - talk first.
11 Tell the lab you take finasteride before they interpret PSA
Propecia lowers serum PSA. In men 18-41 on 1 mg, mean PSA moved from 0.7 to 0.5 ng/mL by month 12 in the clinical studies the insert cites. Proscar 5 mg in older men with BPH lowers PSA by about 50%. Either way, a "normal" number on finasteride can hide a rise that would have been visible off the drug.
Any confirmed increase from the lowest PSA while on Propecia needs evaluation even if the value still looks "normal" for men not taking a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor. Missing doses also muddies the trend. Write finasteride on the lab slip. Do not rely on the phlebotomist to guess from a haircut.
5-alpha-reductase inhibitors have a labeled conversation about high-grade prostate cancer risk from the 5 mg prevention-trial era. That is a urology talk, not a reason to hide the 1 mg from your GP. The sexual-AE margin is the other half of the informed daily swallow.
12 Daily 1 mg, named as hair, dated in Bordeaux
Take 1 mg once daily. Do not quarter Proscar. Tell PSA readers the INN. Handle breaks as a pregnancy warning, not as a dusting of extra dose.
Elise Moreau reviewed this leaf on 21 August 2026. Mail [email protected] about wording. The desk does not start finasteride by email.
Keep a written hour for the 1 mg tablet so a holiday gap is visible on the calendar. Follicle time does not cash a weekend double. If you restart after two weeks away, swallow 1 mg daily again. Do not run 2 mg. Tell the next PSA that there was a gap. Non-adherence scrambles the on-drug trend the insert already warned about.
If a pregnant person shares the bathroom, store intact blisters high and dry. Sweep fragments yourself. The crushed-tablet warning is about male-fetus external genitalia, not about being fussy. Whole coated tablets are the intended form on the Propecia leaf.
Sexual change, breast change, and mood change each get a sentence at the visit. Forum recovery fractions are not on the label. Post-marketing persistence is listed. The AE margin is that file. Do not add unmarked tadalafil the same week you notice ED unless someone who sees nitrates writes it.
Five milligrams remains the BPH tablet. Kitchen quarters are not a labeled 1 mg. Cash-per-milligram arguments do not rewrite the leaflet. The INN margin is that split. If the bag says 5 mg and the plan was hair, go back to the counter.
Donation desks often defer men on finasteride. Ask before you book. Do not stop 1 mg the night before as a silent workaround unless they named that gap. Mail [email protected] about wording, not about starting therapy.