Dutasteride shedding and destroying my hairline, should I go back to finasteride or ride it out?

SadAndMad

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I've been on duta for 6 months. Everything was going great, but then suddenly after 3 and a half months in I started to shed more than usual (I’m talking about 300+ hairs a day compared to 80-100).

These crazy sheds are nothing new to me, I get them from time to time, but this time I started shedding on sides (around the ears and on the nape of my neck). During april I felt terrible and was afraid to cut my hair, but a week ago I decided to give myself 25mm (1 inch) haircut on top and was surprised to see that the middle of my scalp and crown actually looked better than when I started taking dutasteride, but my hairline took a hit.

The fact that my crown and mid-scalp look better could be due to new hairs kicking in, but what about my hairline? It has never looked this bad, even during the time I dropped minoxidil.

I’m really afraid of the fact that the hairline might look even worse, so should I quit taking dutasteride and start taking fina again? The only thing I could do to improve my regimen is microneedeling, but again It's going to be worthless if DHT\test keeps eating my hairline.

I also don’t have any side effects, maybe it could have been cause by a sudden increase in test?
 

losingbattle88

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I've been on duta for 6 months. Everything was going great, but then suddenly after 3 and a half months in I started to shed more than usual (I’m talking about 300+ hairs a day compared to 80-100).

These crazy sheds are nothing new to me, I get them from time to time, but this time I started shedding on sides (around the ears and on the nape of my neck). During april I felt terrible and was afraid to cut my hair, but a week ago I decided to give myself 25mm (1 inch) haircut on top and was surprised to see that the middle of my scalp and crown actually looked better than when I started taking dutasteride, but my hairline took a hit.

The fact that my crown and mid-scalp look better could be due to new hairs kicking in, but what about my hairline? It has never looked this bad, even during the time I dropped minoxidil.

I’m really afraid of the fact that the hairline might look even worse, so should I quit taking dutasteride and start taking fina again? The only thing I could do to improve my regimen is microneedeling, but again It's going to be worthless if DHT\test keeps eating my hairline.

I also don’t have any side effects, maybe it could have been cause by a sudden increase in test?
Duta thinned my crown but kept my hairline. I had severe insomnia from it for 5 months and ejaculation disorder and less semen. Fuk anti androgens. I was on it for 1.5 years in total.
 

SadAndMad

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Duta thinned my crown but kept my hairline. I had severe insomnia from it for 5 months and ejaculation disorder and less semen. Fuk anti androgens. I was on it for 1.5 years in total.

Well, I can’t say I’ve had the same experience when it comes to sides, but it’s possible that the test spike has thinned out those problem areas. No other reasonable explanation comes to my mind.

Although I am a diffuse thinner crown has always been my biggest problem. I have no idea why It's getting better now, while the hairline, which was pretty fine, got worse.
 

Hairful

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Shedding is normal. There’s a time of year where it will happen. I get extreme hairloss and shedding in winter months and it looks better in summer.

Thing is when you get hairloss, you get very conscious of your hairs. Doesn’t help the fact you also lose half of the density you had as a kid. But this is normal for hairs to go through these cycles.

Also be realistic about your hairloss situation. Unless you nuke every androgen in your body, your hairloss will progress but at an extremely slow rate. Also depends on how weak your hair follicles are towards androgens.

One thing is for sure, if you think finasteride/dutasteride isn’t working then get off it and see how your hair gets murdered.
 

losingbattle88

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Well, I can’t say I’ve had the same experience when it comes to sides, but it’s possible that the test spike has thinned out those problem areas. No other reasonable explanation comes to my mind.

Although I am a diffuse thinner crown has always been my biggest problem. I have no idea why It's getting better now, while the hairline, which was pretty fine, got worse.
Ye im a diffuser too and receeder.
 

losingbattle88

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Shedding is normal. There’s a time of year where it will happen. I get extreme hairloss and shedding in winter months and it looks better in summer.

Thing is when you get hairloss, you get very conscious of your hairs. Doesn’t help the fact you also lose half of the density you had as a kid. But this is normal for hairs to go through these cycles.

Also be realistic about your hairloss situation. Unless you nuke every androgen in your body, your hairloss will progress but at an extremely slow rate. Also depends on how weak your hair follicles are towards androgens.

One thing is for sure, if you think finasteride/dutasteride isn’t working then get off it and see how your hair gets murdered.
My crown has stopped thinning after ditching dutasteride at least. And going on finasteride. But cant keep using finasteride due to sides.
 
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SadAndMad

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Shedding is normal. There’s a time of year where it will happen. I get extreme hairloss and shedding in winter months and it looks better in summer.

Thing is when you get hairloss, you get very conscious of your hairs. Doesn’t help the fact you also lose half of the density you had as a kid. But this is normal for hairs to go through these cycles.

Also be realistic about your hairloss situation. Unless you nuke every androgen in your body, your hairloss will progress but at an extremely slow rate. Also depends on how weak your hair follicles are towards androgens.

One thing is for sure, if you think finasteride/dutasteride isn’t working then get off it and see how your hair gets murdered.
I had the same approach at first but again, why would my hairline stay more or less the same for the past 3 years, even during really bad sheds but thin out during 6 months of duta? Something obviously doesn't add up, If my hair loss was progressing I would probably see that on my weakest spot (crown), not crown actually getting better.

Plus what's with the shedding around the ears and on the nape of my neck? Yeah It could be dupa but why all of a sudden?
 

5minutesbeforemiracle

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I had the same approach at first but again, why would my hairline stay more or less the same for the past 3 years, even during really bad sheds but thin out during 6 months of duta?
Hairs at the front are more susceptible to androgen-related hairloss. Taking duta will spike your testosterone. Maybe the increased test is enough to cause your hairline to recede further, even if your DHT was nuked.
^That's the popular theory on how/why people lose ground on the hairline when on duta.

Have a look at this thread:
 

SadAndMad

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Hairs at the front are more susceptible to androgen-related hairloss. Taking duta will spike your testosterone. Maybe the increased test is enough to cause your hairline to recede further, even if your DHT was nuked.
^That's the popular theory on how/why people lose ground on the hairline when on duta.

Have a look at this thread:
Well that guy was applying topical dutasteride, I doubt It works properly. I'm familiar with those stories, but wouldn’t my crown thin out before hairline, since it’s more sensitive (considering how much hair I lost on the crown compared to the hairline)?

Honestly the only thing that's keeping me away from going back to fina is the fact that I still might be shedding and some regrowth is about to come. If nothing happens over the next month or two, I will ditch duta.
 

5minutesbeforemiracle

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Well that guy was applying topical dutasteride, I doubt It works properly. I'm familiar with those stories, but wouldn’t my crown thin out before hairline, since it’s more sensitive (considering how much hair I lost on the crown compared to the hairline)?

Honestly the only thing that's keeping me away from going back to fina is the fact that I still might be shedding and some regrowth is about to come. If nothing happens over the next month or two, I will ditch duta.
Maybe the hairs at the crown are more sensitive to DHT, and the hairs at the hairline are more sensitive to testosterone, thus causing your reversal situation when you started the treatment. Honestly though, I have my doubts about the whole theory because male pattern hairloss has been shown to be related to DHT, not testosterone... but I can't deny that people who increase their test too much via dutasteride seem to lose at the hairline (sometimes).

Anyway, if the hairline recession is due to increased test then I suppose that adding a topical antiandrogen (RU58841/CB-03-01/Pyrilutamide) will help hugely. They might struggle to outcompete DHT (maybe not pyrilutamide though haha), but against test they have no issue.

Good luck with your treatment.
 

Hairful

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Hairs at the front are more susceptible to androgen-related hairloss. Taking duta will spike your testosterone. Maybe the increased test is enough to cause your hairline to recede further, even if your DHT was nuked.
^That's the popular theory on how/why people lose ground on the hairline when on duta.

Have a look at this thread:

Is there any study that shows testosterone causes hairloss? Because if it did then people would be losing their hairs on finasteride too which they don't.

Test is simply not a strong enough androgen unlike DHT, for hairs and other parts of the body at least. A fact which has been shown in studies where alpha reductase enzyme deficiency leads to lack of sexual maturation in boys.

Also, the issue isn't androgens either. The issue is the receptors on hair follicles and those receptors only bind to DHT not testosterone. So you could be flooded with test but it won't matter.
 

SadAndMad

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Since I take a lot of photos for comparison I think this is not a normal shed but Telogen Effluvium. The quality of hair has deteriorated, shedding all over the scalp and it looks like it has changed in color.

Maybe It was induced by coronavirus that I had around Christmas? If nothing happens (my hair gets worse) up until I reach around 3 months of shedding, I will probably go back to finasteride.
 

losingbattle88

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Is there any study that shows testosterone causes hairloss? Because if it did then people would be losing their hairs on finasteride too which they don't.

Test is simply not a strong enough androgen unlike DHT, for hairs and other parts of the body at least. A fact which has been shown in studies where alpha reductase enzyme deficiency leads to lack of sexual maturation in boys.

Also, the issue isn't androgens either. The issue is the receptors on hair follicles and those receptors only bind to DHT not testosterone. So you could be flooded with test but it won't matter.
Bullshit dutasteride at 0.5mg raises scalp T by 100% while 1mg finasteride raises scalp T by only 23 or 24%. Also higher dosage of dutasteride such as 2.5mg raises scalp T by 200%. Also dutasteride raises your serum T more than finasteride. I used dutasteride for 1.5 Years kept balding on crown. After dropping it and switching to finasteride crown thinning stopped. T is an androgen aswell. Many say blocking just dht isnt enough, when they also block T their hair improves alot.
 
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SadAndMad

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I decided this was no longer worth it, my hair is getting worse and worse so I’m going back to fina.
Usually I don't care how much hair is falling out, but the fact that It's shedding all over freaks me out.

I will definitely report back in a few months If I see any changes.
 

losingbattle88

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I decided this was no longer worth it, my hair is getting worse and worse so I’m going back to fina.
Usually I don't care how much hair is falling out, but the fact that It's shedding all over freaks me out.

I will definitely report back in a few months If I see any changes.
Good Choice my man. Good u quit before you went bald. Thats how bad dutasteride is for some u aint the first. Timi an old school poster was on fina for over 10 years and maintained. He switched to dutasteride and his hair got destroyed after a year.
 

SadAndMad

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Quick update, I don't know how much things are improving, but mid scalp and the crown are looking great. I'm shedding in the normal range again, but my temples lack density, especially the left one where my male pattern baldness actually started. The right temple looks almost as good as before.

I still don't understand why I got greedy and jumped on duta, Finasteride is cheaper, easier to get and I know it works for me.
 

SnortingFin

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Quick update, I don't know how much things are improving, but mid scalp and the crown are looking great. I'm shedding in the normal range again, but my temples lack density, especially the left one where my male pattern baldness actually started. The right temple looks almost as good as before.

I still don't understand why I got greedy and jumped on duta, Finasteride is cheaper, easier to get and I know it works for me.
What's your finasteride dose?

Glad it works for you
 
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