Alternatives to finasteride

[msab1990]

Hi everyone,
This is my second post now in relation to finasteride, and unfortunately for me I've come to the realisation I cannot take it (at least not for a while until it's out of my system anyway, and even then, I'd like to try some alternatives first.) I basically posted a little while ago about the possibility of suffering from sides of propecia, and can safely say the 'sexual side effects' I suffered were definitely a mental thing. However, a week or so after that post (about a month and a bit into treatment), I started suffering some mental and physical side effects. Not enough to completely destroy my life, but enough to worry me. I basically was suffering from extreme mental fatigue and dryness of the eyes, I guess you could call the first 'brain fog', but for me (I'm normally a wise cracking journalist who's quite good at engaging in conversation and particularly with my words) I could not deal with it. I like my mental sharpness too much. I could not string words together, I was mentally drained by 3 PM and my short term memory became horrendous. It was almost as though I was just kind of 'fading' through every afternoon. So my plan is to discontinue finasteride for a month and then try again at a lower dosage, I'm considering literally biting off tiny chunks of the pill. I'm very worried however because I've only been off the drug three days and today I literally just pulled about 30 hairs out of my temple in the space of a minute without even trying.

OK NOW,
I'm interested to see people's opinions on effective alternatives to finasteride, such as Topical spironolactone and RU 58841. I'm already on a Nizoral/Rogaine combo and if there's a chance even one of Topical spironolactone or RU could stop any further hair falling out, I'd be stoked. I'm quite ok with my hairline (although it is getting quite blonde at the temples and miniaturizing, and my crown is becoming noticeably thinner from the top) and I know that minoxidil alone won't cut it.

Opinions, please. What is the side effect profile like for topical spironolactone and RU? I understand RU is relatively hard to get and no trials have been done, but I've also read that Topical spironolactone is an effective, side effect free alternative to propecia, but then read that it can be much more damaging than finasteride! What the? Also, with my current hairloss, (I'm somewhere between an NW2 and 3 and I wouldn't say my hairloss is overly aggressive) what do you think my chances are of minoxidil thickening what I already have and just delaying how noticeable my loss for, say 2 years? I'm quite ok with losing my hair in my late 20's/early 30's, I really am. But I'm 23 now and I just can't deal with the thought of being almost there by say 28.

Cheers, guys, I know that was a lot to digest but opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CursedMen]

How logical does it sound that you would rather use an experimental drug over a drug that has been around 20 some years with numerous safety and efficiency studies? Not very to me. You've been brainwashed by a bunch of people on forums that over exaggerate every possible side effect. "I've been on Propecia for two days and I think my dick stopped working." I used topical spironolactone for four months religiously. If you want, you can look at my thread in the Tell Your Story section with the title you guys tell me. I think it helped me out, but you can be the judge of that. I also know of others that claim it helps. But I stopped using S5 cream and moved on to Finpecia. I've been on it for a 1.5 months with little to no side effects. I'm using .5 mg ED. People seem to have a misconception that anything less than 1 mg ED doesn't work. Find the amount that works for you and stick with it. Good luck.

 

[msab1990]

yeah, after further research into RU, i'm not keen. and while i wish i was just experiencing psychosomatic side effects or something of the like, i'm afraid it's just not the case. i did an internship two weeks ago, and while i performed pretty well, my mental state was just not right. and that was without me even thinking "OH MY GOD I HAVE BRAIN FOG". something just wasn't right. and either propecia or minoxidil is giving me chronic vampire red eyes, and dry as well, which adds to the brain fog by making me feel ridiculously tired all day. so at the moment, i'm staying off propecia and seeing if the eye problem goes away, if not i can attribute that to minoxidil and then get back on finasteride in about a month at a lower dose. i'm not naive - i know there are side effects from massively altering my hormone balance especially at the age of 23, but i also know i didn't experience any 'sexual side effects'. just the mental state was annoying me. anyway thanks dude, appreciate your input.

 

[Harry S Truman]

I know exactly what your talking about.. I valued my mental state too much to continue..... Whats the sense of having hair if you don't feel like yourself..... ive tried lower doses, same issue...

Maybe try Chromoglycate / Indomethacin...... It worked for me in stopping/slowing progression... I felt a slight bit loopy on it, but try it for yourself and see how you feel.....

 

[isishearmyplea]

we are in the same boat msab ( at least age wise) , it would be really great if the senior members of the forum would shed some light on the usage of topical spironolactone. btw msab there is a really powerful topical anti androgen called cb something, but its in trial phase, maybe use spironolactone religiously till it comes out( which again can be a looong time)

 

[isishearmyplea]

come on guys, some suggestions would be much appreciated. . .

 

[chrb]

I'm in the same situation as you - I really don't want to go back on finasteride and want to find an alternative.

Something that I have heard is good as a topical DHT blocker that I'm planning to try first is azelaic acid. A lot of hair loss treatments now combine minoxidil and azelaic acid. Of course you'll get people saying it does nothing because it hasn't personally worked for them but I'm definitely gonna give it a try before I go back on finasteride.

Something you may want to consider if topicals don't work for you is going on a lower dose of finasteride, say .5mg every other day. If I don't have success with topicals that's what I'm going to do.

Best of luck to you

 

[patrik]

I am also in this situation. I had to stop propecia and have lost a lot of hair. i was supposed to use revivogen and rogaine foam but i am still waiting for that in the mail. all im using now is nizoral shampoo 3 times a week and hair supplements. If revivogen and rogain foam do not help, i will be looking to add CB-03-01. studies show it to be very safe, and more effective than finasteride, but it is still experimental and not fda approved. propecia is the best option but what if we go back on it and get side effects that do not go away? we will be in an even WORSE position than now, even though now is pretty horrible. think about it.

 

[isishearmyplea]

i dont think revivogen is useful, i mean i have never heard a single person saying it has helped them and its costly, on the other hand some people have had some success with spironolactone so i think spironolactone is a better alternative.

patrik can you please post a link to the studies of cb, everyone is pretty stoked about it but i have never seen any results on people's head with it. cosmo will launch it 2016( tentative) in the market. my mom is a doctor she practically freaked out when i mentioned about finasteride, maybe she is just biased for some reason.

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chrb do post about your result with azelaic acid after a couple of months, hope it works for you man, best wishes.

 

[patrik]

i dont think revivogen is useful, i mean i have never heard a single person saying it has helped them and its costly, on the other hand some people have had some success with spironolactone so i think spironolactone is a better alternative.

patrik can you please post a link to the studies of cb, everyone is pretty stoked about it but i have never seen any results on people's head with it. cosmo will launch it 2016( tentative) in the market. my mom is a doctor she practically freaked out when i mentioned about finasteride, maybe she is just biased for some reason.

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chrb do post about your result with azelaic acid after a couple of months, hope it works for you man, best wishes.

Well nothing works like propecia, but revivogen is the only non FDA aprroved product with science behind it. A great poster by the name of Bryan believed that, and I believe hairlosstalk conducted a user trial with it where 80 percent of people saw results. I need a dht inhibitor with the rogain foam and that seems to have the best chance of success. I'll look up the studies for it, but I'm new to cb as well. Google "hellouser" he had great results with just ru.

 

[isishearmyplea]

if bryan vouched for it thn its worth considering, what is your take on spyro?? hellouser and all are dermarolling currently . RU is kinda hard to get man, lst time i checked it was out of stock at male pattern baldness treatment. best wishes!!

 

[patrik]

if bryan vouched for it thn its worth considering, what is your take on spyro?? hellouser and all are dermarolling currently . RU is kinda hard to get man, lst time i checked it was out of stock at male pattern baldness treatment. best wishes!!

I cant take spironolactone unfortunately, but i know that reviviogen and spironolactone together is claimed to be effective. im not going for RU because some users experienced sexual side effects, so CB it is. im messaging hellouser who is helping me out with how to prepare CB. still waiting for revivogen and rogaine foam. i live in the mediterranean and we dont have rogaine foam here, just the liquid which irritated my scalp years ago. but considering how much i am shedding i might be desperate and go for the liquid! what is your plan of action for your hair?

 

[isishearmyplea]

oh, you cant even take topical spironolactone?? that sucks, hey do tell me abt the cb procedure if you find it to be easy, have u heard of anyone with results on cb?? you can order foam from this website i guess?? well bro currently m on 2% minoxidil an keto shampoo, just want to attack my receding hairline form the androgen angle so most prolly i ll end up with topical spironolactone . . just want some people to tell me the pros and cons of topical spironolactone, no one seems to be interested :/.

PS- must be really hot where you live

 

[patrik]

oh, you cant even take topical spironolactone?? that sucks, hey do tell me abt the cb procedure if you find it to be easy, have u heard of anyone with results on cb?? you can order foam from this website i guess?? well bro currently m on 2% minoxidil an keto shampoo, just want to attack my receding hairline form the androgen angle so most prolly i ll end up with topical spironolactone . . just want some people to tell me the pros and cons of topical spironolactone, no one seems to be interested :/.

PS- must be really hot where you live

yeah its really hot ill let u know about CB when i order it. the problem is i cannot import rogaine foam from anywhere because its an aerosol and just gets sent back. its ridiculous. i might be able to order from a website that is based in my country. i really dont wanna use liquid, coulnd handle the itching last time i used it. topical spironolactone seems to be of modest effect, i dont think it will stop hairloss on its own, its just an addition to a regimen. private message me if you wanna discuss further. the admin only uses nizoral and topical spironolactone, so it might help.