0.5mg finasteride VS 1mg/1.25mg finasteride

[BitchBoy]

So you see yourself taking this drug even for the next 10 years as long as it's effective? Even that you get flacid penis and low labido? Maybe I could deal with those two side effects for a few weeks but I know that I won't be able to live with them for many years. That sucks..

I've been on it for 5 and this has only started happening recently. I'm experimenting with lower dosages and it that doesn't work I think I might try some RU.

I've never seen that claim documented anywhere, and I find it difficult to believe. One thing that might explain such a claim is that 5 mg is typically used by much older men for BPH, compared to younger men who are using lower doses like 1 mg for hairloss. Obviously older men are a lot more likely to get sexual dysfunction than younger men, so if that's all they're using to make that claim, it's obviously not fair.

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/propecia-side-effects.html

You can see the sides were lower on the 1mg than the 5mg. What's even stranger is that the placebo groups sides went up as well. I've heard of givng 2 pills instead of 1 can cause more side in the placebo group put I think in this case it's a bit odd. Especially when you consider they level at exactley the level of sides in the of the group on the real drug from the 2nd year on.

Finasteride actually raises testosterone levels? Really? So theoretically it's easier to gain muscle weight while out in the gym and taking Finasteride? And if Finasteride raises testosterone levels then why many men who take it get decreased libido side effects and not the other way around? If it raises testosterone level then professional sport should ban the use of Finasteride for hair loss.

They have banned it. From what I've read bodybuilders try to reduce DHT to increase free testosterone to help build muscle because in theory it should help. People aren't sure it really does though as it's suspected that DHT plays a more subtle role in way no one really understands. The reason I think it's banned in sport though is because it can be used as a masking agent to hide steroid use.

Again, no one understands why finasteride causes a decrease in labido or impotence. There are theories but none have been proved.

The increase in testosterone is generally only temporary and is regulated back to baseline levels by the pituitary within weeks.

Not true in my case. I still have a high total T level after 5 years. From what I've read you should excpect this to be the case while you're on the drug.

 

[BitchBoy]

Finasteride doesn't lower testosterone levels. It actually RAISES them a bit, on average.

You're right and I actually do know that. It just shows how uncritical I am when a doctor tells me something. Saying that I think I was assuming he meant specific androgen levels. I do feel very uncomfortable correcting my doctor though. The other week a doctor asked me what DHT stood for and then put the wrong androgen down on my blood test and I had to go back to them and tell them it was wrong.

 

[let-it-grow]

bboy- That's interesting that side effects just started to effect you after going for 5 years without any. I guess you can never know when you'll start getting side effects, if ever...

What Norwood were you when you started taking Finasteride and where do you stand now? RU does sound like a good solution and people achieve great success with it. I don't understand why the company who own this patent don't finish the clinical trials already and head towards getting a FDA approval, they don't know the potential profit they could make from it?

 

[Bryan]

The increase in testosterone is generally only temporary and is regulated back to baseline levels by the pituitary within weeks.

Where on earth did you get THAT idea?? I don't think there's any truth to it. I think testosterone stays upregulated (mildly) as long as you take 5a-reductase inhibitors like finasteride and dutasteride.

 

[Bryan]

I've never seen that claim documented anywhere, and I find it difficult to believe. One thing that might explain such a claim is that 5 mg is typically used by much older men for BPH, compared to younger men who are using lower doses like 1 mg for hairloss. Obviously older men are a lot more likely to get sexual dysfunction than younger men, so if that's all they're using to make that claim, it's obviously not fair.

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/propecia-side-effects.html

You can see the sides were lower on the 1mg than the 5mg.

Yes, and again, I think it's for the reason I described above!

 

[legion00]

They have banned it. From what I've read bodybuilders try to reduce DHT to increase free testosterone to help build muscle because in theory it should help. People aren't sure it really does though as it's suspected that DHT plays a more subtle role in way no one really understands. The reason I think it's banned in sport though is because it can be used as a masking agent to hide steroid use.

umm how would finasteride hide steroid use in anyway? bodybuilders don't use it for an increase in test- the increase from finasteride is minimal and these guys are already on huge amounts of steroids (which is basically just synthetic test). they take finasteride to mitigate the hairloss incurred by the steroid use.

 

[BitchBoy]

They have banned it. From what I've read bodybuilders try to reduce DHT to increase free testosterone to help build muscle because in theory it should help. People aren't sure it really does though as it's suspected that DHT plays a more subtle role in way no one really understands. The reason I think it's banned in sport though is because it can be used as a masking agent to hide steroid use.

umm how would finasteride hide steroid use in anyway? bodybuilders don't use it for an increase in test- the increase from finasteride is minimal and these guys are already on huge amounts of steroids (which is basically just synthetic test). they take finasteride to mitigate the hairloss incurred by the steroid use.

I didn't say they used it for lowering DHT.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... ic%20Games

 

[BitchBoy]

bboy- That's interesting that side effects just started to effect you after going for 5 years without any. I guess you can never know when you'll start getting side effects, if ever...

What Norwood were you when you started taking Finasteride and where do you stand now? RU does sound like a good solution and people achieve great success with it. I don't understand why the company who own this patent don't finish the clinical trials already and head towards getting a FDA approval, they don't know the potential profit they could make from it?

Had slight receding and thining at the vertex. Had Some regrowth but lost alot recently due to dropping all my meds when my sides started happening. Pretty sure that was mainly the minoxidil though, it's not very forgiving at all. I maintained well I thought but I still think I lost some ground over the years. The danger is of course you start taking it for granted and at the first sign of trouble stop everything or just get sloppy with your regime.

I didn't give sides a second thought when I started finasteride. I'd thrown plenty of class A drugs down my neck before and god knows where they came from. I was more than comfortable with the idea of using a clinically approved drug. I also wanted to shift up to dutasteride after 5 years but I guess that won't be happening now.

 

[BitchBoy]

I've never seen that claim documented anywhere, and I find it difficult to believe. One thing that might explain such a claim is that 5 mg is typically used by much older men for BPH, compared to younger men who are using lower doses like 1 mg for hairloss. Obviously older men are a lot more likely to get sexual dysfunction than younger men, so if that's all they're using to make that claim, it's obviously not fair.

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/propecia-side-effects.html

You can see the sides were lower on the 1mg than the 5mg.

Yes, and again, I think it's for the reason I described above!

You're right, it says "3040 patients between the ages of 45 and 78" for the second study.

It was my own conclusion from reading the tables. I should have been more thorough.

 

[Draco88]

About cutting Proscar, i found this on another forum:

Although i think i've seen it here too..but what do you guys think? Does it look like it would be at least evenly distributed? It seems so to me. So if we'd want 0.5mg, just half that..but what i'm wondering is, when you cut the pill, is there a lot of flaking? As in, does the pill slightly 'shed' as you cut through it?

 

[timbo]

The increase in testosterone is generally only temporary and is regulated back to baseline levels by the pituitary within weeks.

Where on earth did you get THAT idea?? I don't think there's any truth to it. I think testosterone stays upregulated (mildly) as long as you take 5a-reductase inhibitors like finasteride and dutasteride.

Dr. Rassman

http://www.baldingblog.com/2010/01/08/c ... scle-mass/

Dr. Lee

"The feedback mechanism in the pituitary eventually stabilizes the testosterone level back to baseline levels."

http://minoxidil.com/subpages/faqs/faq_finasteride.html

 

[Bryan]

Dr. Rassman

http://www.baldingblog.com/2010/01/08/c ... scle-mass/

Dr. Lee

"The feedback mechanism in the pituitary eventually stabilizes the testosterone level back to baseline levels."

http://minoxidil.com/subpages/faqs/faq_finasteride.html

Oh, I think they're both definitely wrong about that! I think that testosterone stays upregulated, for as long as you take finasteride or dutasteride. I think both of those doctors were just speaking off the top of their heads, I really don't think they got that from any scientific sources.

 

[Bryan]

Here's some data from a dutasteride study showing that serum testosterone levels remained elevated even after 24 months (2 years) of taking the drug: "Efficacy and Safety of a Dual Inhibitor of 5-Alpha-Reductase Types 1 and 2 (Dutasteride) In Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia", Roehborn et al, Urology 60: 434-441, 2002.

TABLE II.
Serum testosterone (pg/mL) (Month 24)
Placebo (n = 2,158) = 4,002 (not significant)
Dutasteride (n = 2,167) = 4,817 (P<0.001)
Between Group Comparison P<0.001

Efficacy

"Serum DHT changed by a mean of +9.6% versus -90.2% (median of +5.4% versus -93.7%) at 24 months in the placebo and dutasteride groups (Table II), with 58% of dutasteride-treated patients achieving a 90% or greater reduction at 1 month and 85% of patients achieving a 90% or greater reduction at 12 months. Serum testosterone changed by +5.4% versus +24.5% in the placebo and dutasteride groups at 24 months, respectively."