A Few Finasteride Questions Before I Start!

[JollyJed]

Hey guys,

Finally taking the plunge and getting on finasteride with the hope of stalling my balding but i have a few questions before i start. Should i be taking 1mg a day from the start of taking less and seeing if it works? Whats the best tell on whether its working or not, just keeping an eye on the hairline? What sort of sides should make me stop taking the drug? things like loss of morning wood won't bother me too much.

I see a tonne of horror stories here so i just want to avoid having one of my own if i can, Cheers guys!

 

[Janekoman12]

Eather you get sides or not i dont belive in 0.25 thing they all get Sides if they got Sides at 1 mg they Will get it on 0.25 it Will take longer to notice it but it Will catch you in 2-3-4 Months, you get sides just Stop no point trying 0.25 and all that mumbo jumbo thats why there sides get worse and dont Go back to normal

 

[Armando Jose]

http://i1071.photobucket.com/albums/u516/sofasale1/blah_zps37bfd8cb.jpg

 

[frankwhite]

My advice: (1) stop reading finasteride "horror stories" online; (2) get a script from your doctor and take the pill according to the doctor's instructions (i.e., 1mg daily); (3) don't be "on the lookout" for sides, and try to remember that many sides are, in fact, psychosomatic; (4) take photos at baseline and reevaluate every six months; and (5) if you do experience real sides, talk to your doctor.

Good luck. finasteride is the most effective treatment and there are many men (hundreds of thousands I assume, but don't have any data) that take the drug around the world without any side effects. I have been taking it for 8 years and only wish I would have got started on it sooner.

 

[kj6723]

don't be "on the lookout" for sides

100% this

The impression I get is that a lot of dudes pop finasteride, then go right to the bathroom to jerk off all the while staring at their dick in their hand thinking "DO I HAVE ED NOW?"

 

[Samson123]

Be aware that finasteride can accelerate hairloss in some because hair follicles have the ability to become way more sensitive to compensate for the suppressed DHT and in some men this increased sensitivity can more than negate any benefits of finasteride and actually lead to more hairloss. Search the term 'reflex hyperandrogenicity'. I don't think that exactly describes my very adverse reaction to finasteride, but at least accelerated hairloss from finasteride has been acknowledged. I'm telling you this because I wish I had known of this rare but possible reaction. You have to have the 'right' hormonal profile for finasteride, basically high DHT levels. It happened to me and many others, some of who post on this forum. A telltale sign of this is a shed hair that visibly gets thinner from tip to root. I would shake out a bunch of hair and look at them, they should all be an even thickness throughout the shaft. Save them in a ziploc bag so you can compare your pre finasteride hair to your finasteride hair.

I think accelerated hairloss is related to dose and everybody's endocrine system is different yet the 1 mg dose is prescribed to everyone as if we were all the same. This is insane. I would strongly recommend tapering onto the drug as it is a shock to the system. I would also recommend starting at .25 mg for a year, a lot of people use that dose with success, more is not necessarily better and could make things worse.
Whatever you do don't go higher than .5 mg as there is basically no difference between that and 1 mg.

You should approach finasteride with the utmost caution because when you start messing with your hormones things can definitely backfire in many different ways, one of which is that if you decide to quit the drug , for whatever reason, there is no guarantee that your system will return to it's pre finasteride state which could further aggravate your hairloss.

 

[JollyJed]

Appreciate the replied guys, tablets arrived today so ill start taking them tomorrow. Is .5 a day smart to start off with and is there a specific time i should be starting them?

 

[smyth01]

Be aware that finasteride can accelerate hairloss in some because hair follicles have the ability to become way more sensitive to compensate for the suppressed DHT and in some men this increased sensitivity can more than negate any benefits of finasteride and actually lead to more hairloss. Search the term 'reflex hyperandrogenicity'. I don't think that exactly describes my very adverse reaction to finasteride, but at least accelerated hairloss from finasteride has been acknowledged. I'm telling you this because I wish I had known of this rare but possible reaction. You have to have the 'right' hormonal profile for finasteride, basically high DHT levels. It happened to me and many others, some of who post on this forum. A telltale sign of this is a shed hair that visibly gets thinner from tip to root. I would shake out a bunch of hair and look at them, they should all be an even thickness throughout the shaft. Save them in a ziploc bag so you can compare your pre finasteride hair to your finasteride hair.

I think accelerated hairloss is related to dose and everybody's endocrine system is different yet the 1 mg dose is prescribed to everyone as if we were all the same. This is insane. I would strongly recommend tapering onto the drug as it is a shock to the system. I would also recommend starting at .25 mg for a year, a lot of people use that dose with success, more is not necessarily better and could make things worse.
Whatever you do don't go higher than .5 mg as there is basically no difference between that and 1 mg.

You should approach finasteride with the utmost caution because when you start messing with your hormones things can definitely backfire in many different ways, one of which is that if you decide to quit the drug , for whatever reason, there is no guarantee that your system will return to it's pre finasteride state which could further aggravate your hairloss.

This is the most useless post I have seen in a advise seeking thread.

 

[JollyJed]

Any more advice on whether to take .5 or the full 1mg? cheers

 

[AnxiousAndy]

The guy who said finasteride can increase loss is right, been on it a little over 3 months Nd ive receded half a norwood! I didnt even know it were possible to recede that fast. My advice to you is do not read the horror stories but rest assured 95% of them are true and can happen. ( FYI ) If you experience rapid frontal recession i'd advise topical spironolactone and a dermaroller to counteract the rise in T which causes accelerated hairloss in some ( me ) i started using 0.5 microneedler with my S5 cream which can conveniently be bought from this site at a reduced price!
Oh also add in Nizoral shampoo too its great for a temporary thickening effect but dont overuse as it will thin your hair out!
Whatever you choose, if you're gonna fight hairloss in the long run you will NEED finasteride, dutasteride or ORAL spironolactone ( the stuff in my S5 Cream ). The last suggestion is very dangerous and has high probability of nasty side effects.. however the results which can be achieved using oral spironolactone are the best ive ever seen by far and definitely a route ill take if my current regime doesnt work out... oh one more thing! If you do eventually decide the oral spironolactone rpute make sure to have some anti gyno meds on hand! And you also have a chance of keeping your gains if spironolactone is subbed for RU.. ive not heard it works 100% the time all the timw but ive sewn proof and that alone is enough to assure me ill have a flowing mane for years to come, even if i eventually have to fight gyno and possible chemical castration ( which i think is completely bonkers and untrue )

All the best brother and good luck in your, I mean our war Keep fighting the good fight and everything shall fall exactly into place!

 

[smyth01]

The guy who said finasteride can increase loss is right, been on it a little over 3 months Nd ive receded half a norwood! I didnt even know it were possible to recede that fast. My advice to you is do not read the horror stories but rest assured 95% of them are true and can happen. ( FYI ) If you experience rapid frontal recession i'd advise topical spironolactone and a dermaroller to counteract the rise in T which causes accelerated hairloss in some ( me ) i started using 0.5 microneedler with my S5 cream which can conveniently be bought from this site at a reduced price!
Oh also add in Nizoral shampoo too its great for a temporary thickening effect but dont overuse as it will thin your hair out!
Whatever you choose, if you're gonna fight hairloss in the long run you will NEED finasteride, dutasteride or ORAL spironolactone ( the stuff in my S5 Cream ). The last suggestion is very dangerous and has high probability of nasty side effects.. however the results which can be achieved using oral spironolactone are the best ive ever seen by far and definitely a route ill take if my current regime doesnt work out... oh one more thing! If you do eventually decide the oral spironolactone rpute make sure to have some anti gyno meds on hand! And you also have a chance of keeping your gains if spironolactone is subbed for RU.. ive not heard it works 100% the time all the timw but ive sewn proof and that alone is enough to assure me ill have a flowing mane for years to come, even if i eventually have to fight gyno and possible chemical castration ( which i think is completely bonkers and untrue )

All the best brother and good luck in your, I mean our war Keep fighting the good fight and everything shall fall exactly into place!

Wtf, are you serious? Your recommending spironolactone with a dermaroller! On a males head! This forum is getting worse by the day.

 

[AnxiousAndy]

Wtf, are you serious? Your recommending spironolactone with a dermaroller! On a males head! This forum is getting worse by the day.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures, propecia has/is ruining my hairline and this could be my last chance to save it, if i maintain ill drop propecia and see if i improve further. Sure spironolactone is no joke but my hairloss is no joke either, knocking on norwood 3 at 19, feels bad man.

 

[Samson123]

This is the most useless post I have seen in a advise seeking thread.

What exactly is useless about my advice?

Everything I wrote is true.

finasteride can accelerate hairloss in some. This is fact. Do you not think that people trying to save their hair should at least be aware of this possible side effect from finasteride and ways to avoid it?
That people shouldn't be cautious about taking a hormone altering drug? Seriously? Are you crazy?

 

[AnxiousAndy]

Samson i agree with you! I personally think the phenomenon of accelerated frontal loss on finasteride is more common than the actual reported sides in the study! Its the only side effect i have. From what i said in my first post i actually have decent expectations from my regime as since dermarolling does increase absorption my S5 cream should be even more effective as it lowers T its self which is raised while on finasteride ( especially in the scalp ) side effects from systematic absorption aside, im 19 years old and 3 months ago i was not visibly balding... now i am. I wanna live my 20s with hair as alot of people on this site have. On a side note samson, is your name and picture supposed to represent the guy who was extremely strong and when he went bald he lost his strength? Thats pretty much what happens to us only the strength is a metaphor for our confidence. Oh one more thing, since dermarolling and S5 cream the itch has 90% gone since starting propecia!
Its no longer local to my hairline and more so every else on my head and alot less frequent than it should be
oh and to OP and Samson, give my reigme a try ( i also use nizoral every couple of days ) if things turn sour. Ill keep yal posted ive actually got a thread documenting my journey but i imagine you two may have too haha.
Best of luck guys we will beat hair loss someday! ( I bloody hope lol )

 

[Samson123]

Samson i agree with you! I personally think the phenomenon of accelerated frontal loss on finasteride is more common than the actual reported sides in the study! Its the only side effect i have. From what i said in my first post i actually have decent expectations from my regime as since dermarolling does increase absorption my S5 cream should be even more effective as it lowers T its self which is raised while on finasteride ( especially in the scalp ) side effects from systematic absorption aside, im 19 years old and 3 months ago i was not visibly balding... now i am. I wanna live my 20s with hair as alot of people on this site have. On a side note samson, is your name and picture supposed to represent the guy who was extremely strong and when he went bald he lost his strength? Thats pretty much what happens to us only the strength is a metaphor for our confidence. Oh one more thing, since dermarolling and S5 cream the itch has 90% gone since starting propecia!
Its no longer local to my hairline and more so every else on my head and alot less frequent than it should be
oh and to OP and Samson, give my reigme a try ( i also use nizoral every couple of days ) if things turn sour. Ill keep yal posted ive actually got a thread documenting my journey but i imagine you two may have too haha.
Best of luck guys we will beat hair loss someday! ( I bloody hope lol )

I hope you have success with your new regimen. I have no experience with topicals other than minoxidil and I am not going to experiment with anything else. I can't take any risks in trying new things.

Yeah, Delilah cuts off Samson's hair and he is done. I chose that avatar because Samson is knocking down some pillars. Those pillars are the oft repeated hairloss forum beliefs about the drug, i.e., finasteride either works or it doesn't but it can't worsen hairloss and shedding is a good sign that the drug is working or that .25 mg is just as effective as 1 mg. With enough evidence to the contrary it's just amazing that people still believe this bullshit.

 

[Mystory]

Hi, I've done copious amounts of research before starting my journey on Propecia. I'm a 23 year old male, started balding at 19 but at a snails pace ....however recently it became quite aggressive and as a result became noticeable to some of my friends. Before I even considered Propecia I went down the natural route...which may have slowed my hair loss but didn't stop it. We have all read the horror stories and it was these which led me to tirelessly research the drug and how I was going to go about taking it, obviously the possible sides concern me quite a bit. Anyway... so Propecia stays in your system for 13 days and one tablet can reduces your scalp DHT by 70% for 4 days, this is why some people decide to take it EOD (every other day). Today will mark my 9th day on Propecia 0.25mg daily, I've been documenting my progress and so far here is what I've noticed;

Day 1: Experienced slight chest pains, however this could have been to the massive meal I ate just before or the new supplements i'm taking (will get onto that in a sec)

Day 4: No sides, however noticed a massive reduction in the amount of hair i'm shedding throughout the day and when showering, scalp doesn't itch as much.

Day 9: which is today, no signs of sides.

I use a pill cutter to get the pills down to size.

There's a big debate on these forums whether smaller doses of Propecia actually reduce the chances of sides when a dose of 0.25mg reduces DHT by almost exactly the same amount as 1mg. However there are some study's I managed to find, along with copious amounts of people on forums which suggest that a lower dosage does in fact reduce the chance of side effects. If it doesn't....well at least we're saving some money.

I read a few things online about how to prevent possible sides with Propecia, and also read articles about supplements to take to help with post Finasteraid syndrome, this is my regime;

100mg Grape seed extract 2x daily with meals
15mg Zinc + 80mg vitamin C (all in one tablet) 1x daily with food
500mg Maca 1x daily with food
1,000mg Flaxseed oil 2x daily with food
1,000mg Pumpkin seed oil 2x daily with food
High strength Vitamine B complex 1- 2x daily with food

One of the reasons i'm on so many vitamin's is because I was trying to save my hair naturally so figured I may as well use them up. In regards to the supplements which are allegedly supposed to reduce sides, these are; Grape seed extract, Zinc, and Maca. Again I currently have no sides although its really early on in treatment so I would imagine that if i'm going to develop sides its going to be around the 1-3 month mark.

I also use Nizoral 2% once a week, and try and use my derma roller 1.5mm once a week also. I've done quite a bit of research on topical's and have come up with a blend of essential oils which increase circulation to the scalp. I use sweet almond oil as the carrier oil which is said to increase circulation, and add drops of lavender oil to the mix. There are quite a few study's which go on to suggest that massaging your scalp with lavender oil increases hair count, as does the act of massaging your scalp. It is very important however to mix the lavender oil with a carrier oil as essential oils can be quite harsh on the skin. I mix 25 drops of lavender oil into 100ml of sweet almond oil and try to apply this at least once a week, the scent of the lavender oil is really relaxing and helps me to sleep, so I would recommend doing this before you decide to go to bed. I have only just started doing this so currently have no idea how effective it is, worth a go though right?!

There are so many things you can do which allegedly help a balding head, the things I've mentioned are things which I have been able to fit into a routine, and don't take up too much of my time. I mix my oils into a squirter bottle so once I have mixed the oils it should be good for a few months, and takes up 10 mins of my time once a week. The derma roller takes 10 mins once a week, and the supplements take seconds every day.

We read an awful lot of horror stories on these sites and one of the many reasons for this is because people who experience side effects are going to be more prone to reaching out on forums for help. I hope that my story is going to be a positive one, I may create my own thread to update everyone with my results as time goes by.

Hope this helps.

 

[JollyJed]

@Mystory thanks a lot for the detailed response mate it helped a lot, do you plan on staying on .25 or going up to .5?

 

[g.i joey]

Any more advice on whether to take .5 or the full 1mg? cheers

Start with .5, see how you get along. That dose is enough to be doing something beneficial to your hair. .25 is a little on the low side and I personally experienced further loss while on it. Anywhere from .5-1.25 is doing something for your hair for sure.

Take .5 for a month or two and then see if you're ready for 1mg. If you don't like the 1mg dose for whatever reason I think .5/day can be enough for some.

 

[AnxiousAndy]

I hope you have success with your new regimen. I have no experience with topicals other than minoxidil and I am not going to experiment with anything else. I can't take any risks in trying new things.

Yeah, Delilah cuts off Samson's hair and he is done. I chose that avatar because Samson is knocking down some pillars. Those pillars are the oft repeated hairloss forum beliefs about the drug, i.e., finasteride either works or it doesn't but it can't worsen hairloss and shedding is a good sign that the drug is working or that .25 mg is just as effective as 1 mg. With enough evidence to the contrary it's just amazing that people still believe this bullshit.

Thank you I hope i do too! And yeah i thought that haha my grandmother told me that story when i was little so i made the connection to you and the site lol. I just wonder if its ok to dermaroll every night.. gonna make a post about that one!

 

[Mystory]

@Mystory thanks a lot for the detailed response mate it helped a lot, do you plan on staying on .25 or going up to .5?

Hey, no worries man. Well studys show that doses as low as 0.05mg reduce DHT levels almost the same amount as 1mg, it just takes a bit longer to bring your scalp DHT down. Well my plan is to stay on 0.25 mg for say 4-6 months, if I'm not noticing any improvements then I'll bump it up to 0.5 if not I'll stick to 0.25. From my research it seems alot easier to up your dose rather than lowering your dose, as from what I've read on forums starting high and then reducing to then eventually increase again is a great way to f*** up your hormones and induce sides. My advice, and what I'm doing is literally to just try 0.25 for a bit and see how it works for you. Some people have had great results from it whilst others have had poor results. As mentioned I'm already seeing a reduction in hairs I'm shedding and to be honest as my hair loss isn't that bad so I would be very happy with just maintenance, although people have seen regrowth and thickening on a dose of 0.25mg daily. I'm going to be taking pictures monthly so I can see if it's working or not.

I would advice against doing Propecia every other day if you can, as from what I've read it's not great for your body's hormones as it can send them up and down a bit, doing it daily is alot more stable. However from what I've read people have beat sides such as gyno by doing it every other day. Personally I don't really think there's a right or wrong way to take Propecia, some people will get great results on 1mg daily with no sides some will get good results taking it every three days, I think it's all down to how your body tolerates it.

I'm not a doctor or anything like that I've just been doing a sh*t tone of research on forums and scholar articles and that...for a bloody while haha.