Advice Needed Before Starting To Take finasteride

[throworht]

Hey. I've been losing hair for a while now(1-2 years). It's pretty slow, but I've noticed I've got thinner areas at the temples and crown. I've been to a dermatologist and he prescribed me 3 things (I have to choose one). the one is dutasteride(Avodart, 0.5 mg/day), and the other 2 are finasteride(1 mg/day). I'd like to start with finasteride, since I read that it has lower chances of sides than dutasteride and it's "less aggressive", but maybe it'll will be enough. I also thought about starting 0.5 mg/day instead of the suggested 1 mg, and if it doesn't work out and I got no sides, I'll add to my daily dosage.
I want to ask if any of you know anything about these two types of finasteride, if anyone have used/is using it. Also do you think 0.5 is good for start, or should I go with the suggested 1 mg/day? Thanks in advance.

 

[bluecyclone]

Don’t do it.

 

[Charlie Foxtrot]

First of all, I’m not a finasteride user myself yet so I’m not talking from experience. I am however about to start it in the upcoming week myself as well.

Indeed, starting with dutasteride is a bit heavy and is a more nuclear solution. Since you describe your hair loss as slow, I think it’s better to just start with finasteride and see how that goes. I don’t know about which types of finasteride you’re talking though. Do you mean different brands or?

Some people say there’s hardly any difference in effectiveness and side effects between 1mg and 0,5mg. And the other hand, some people don’t seem to get sides on 0,5 while experiencing sides on 1mg. I’m going to start with 0,5mg myself because that’s what makes me feel a bit more comfortable and I think that’s what you need to decide for yourself as well.

Good luck mate!
Charlie

 

[-Synergy-]

Hey throworht

I have no idea what your age is, but if you are under 25 then I would start 0.5mg of finasteride first and increase your dose to 1mg as needed. I also believe finasteride is moderately safer than dutasteride. If you go to Wikipedia and search DHT you will see the hormone is most important during a males puberty and puberty usually comes to an end at around 25 years old. When I was 20, I started taking finasteride and it did great things for my hair without any sides. If you are still concerned, then you could go to a doctor and have a hormone panel done to see where your estrogen, testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone levels are before beginning the medication in the very slight chance once you start taking it it affects you negatively. Finasteride reduces DHT up to roughly 70% whereas dutasteride decreased DHT up to 90% + and for most finasteride is enough. If I were you, I would hold off on dutasteride in the case at some point finasteride is no longer enough. Another option would be to have your dermatologist compound a topical minoxidil with finasteride in it. This would reduce the chances of finasteride's systemic absorption and therefore sides, but would allow your hair the same results if not better than taking it orally. If you do a google search of topical finasteride PubMed studies will help give you an idea.

Peace

 

[-Synergy-]

I wish I knew the name of your dermatologist and where to find him so I could try an Avodart prescription because finasteride is starting to fail me.

 

[ihatebackstabbers]

You should start with finasteride in my opinion. You could start with a lower doses to begin. There are many people who like to ease into it. Something that I highly suggest is for people to get routine blood work done whether they are taking medication or not. It will only be a few extra tests when taking finasteride.

 

[bluecyclone]

What would be helpful to hear would be some real stories of people that suffered a long shed months 1-6 to recover baseline and maintain afterwards.

I’m sorry for being disgusted by the possibility that it can do harm, when the risks are there even with 100% guarantee of success.

I got the impression that the shed was uncommon and responders see a decrease in a month.

My T and e spiked 8x after a month from baseline.

 

[throworht]

Hey!. Thanks for all the answers, I forgot to mention I'm 24 years old and the prescribed brands are Accord, and Stada.

 

[g.i joey]

How aggressive do you consider your hair loss, I think someone who’s suffering with diffuse thinning through the scalp(me) is dealing with aggressive hairloss, especially at our age (26), your best bet would be to take as much as the recommended dose as possible every day

 

[katalan33]

Modern medicine is a blessing.
Go for it.

Numerous scientific studies have shown that finasteride works.
One study showed that finasteride treatment group (1316 men in this group) has experienced significant increase in hair count in a inch diameter circular area. 138 more hair in a inch diameter circular area IN AVERAGE.

Whereas meta analysis on side effect of fina showed that less than 2% of all participants at 1 year mark and less then .03% at 5 year mark.

So if you do math correctly, you are highly likely to get more hair if you use fina. And you are very unlikely to get side effects from fina.
I would rather believe 2000 men scientific studies than personal experiences.

 

[-Synergy-]

throworht

Hi, I agree with ihatebackstabbers and just recently had my blood work done and I thought I would share with you the results of my test. The results of this test show that I am low or have a deficient amount of Vitamin D, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), and tested positive for Antinuclear Antibodies. The positive for Antinuclear Antibodies could indicate that I have an autoimmune condition. I am not entirely sure if these results are causing my hair loss, but they could definitely be a contributing factor. For this reason, I think some blood work might help. I think if the body is under stress or deficient it could potentially cause a telogen effluvium, but time will tell. I still plan on looking into Avodart and if you want to know what I requested my doctor to test I will post that to.