copy pasted from another thread:
won't answer your question directly, but here is some stuff i know about finasteride side effects.
1. They are not caused by a lack of DHT. You don't need any DHT from 5ar2.
2. Somehow finasteride reduces your bodies ability to make arginine, or convert other amino acids into arginine (I thought arginine was an essential amino acid anyway???). Arginine is needed to make NO, which is not only good for fighting hair loss, but also is needed to get errections. Do fight errectile propblems, supplement with arginine. I recommend you get your arginine from soy protein because it is better absorbed, is very cheap, and has those good chemicals you just menstioned, and flura in your intestine can make EQOUL from it in the presence of green tea stuff, and the EQOUL binds with DHT so it can't bind with androgen receptors. It is not absorbed very well, but eating meat at the same time ups production by 5x.
3. Testosterone not only can be made into DHT, it also can be made into estrogen. Plently of enzymes make these steroids into other steroids. When you stop making testosterone into DHT, testosterone levels go up, and some of the excess is made into estrogen. The estrogen then tells the testes to make less testostosterone, and an equalibrium is reached with slightly raised estrogen and testosterone levels and lowered testosterone production and DHT levels. The estrogen, not the lack of DHT, is what give you the boobs and body fat. It usually only affects people who are already fat, since they already are making more estrogen (viscious cycle). Men who are lean and work out often are not effected as much. I don't know if estrogen has an effect on hair loss and want to look into this, but there are pills that are aromatase blockers that will stop some of the testosterone from terning into estrogen. You don't want to do two much, though, because you need estrogen in your brain and for many body functions. You just want to get ride of the excess. The pills are prescription only. Good luck getting them unless you already have some small boobs.
4. I forgot what causes the lack of sex drive. Jayman and I have two posts on this in another forum. Do a search for estrogen and you will find the other post.
5. DHT is not anabolic to muscles like testosterone is.
won't answer your question directly, but here is some stuff i know about finasteride side effects.
1. They are not caused by a lack of DHT. You don't need any DHT from 5ar2.
2. Somehow finasteride reduces your bodies ability to make arginine, or convert other amino acids into arginine (I thought arginine was an essential amino acid anyway???). Arginine is needed to make NO, which is not only good for fighting hair loss, but also is needed to get errections. Do fight errectile propblems, supplement with arginine. I recommend you get your arginine from soy protein because it is better absorbed, is very cheap, and has those good chemicals you just menstioned, and flura in your intestine can make EQOUL from it in the presence of green tea stuff, and the EQOUL binds with DHT so it can't bind with androgen receptors. It is not absorbed very well, but eating meat at the same time ups production by 5x.
3. Testosterone not only can be made into DHT, it also can be made into estrogen. Plently of enzymes make these steroids into other steroids. When you stop making testosterone into DHT, testosterone levels go up, and some of the excess is made into estrogen. The estrogen then tells the testes to make less testostosterone, and an equalibrium is reached with slightly raised estrogen and testosterone levels and lowered testosterone production and DHT levels. The estrogen, not the lack of DHT, is what give you the boobs and body fat. It usually only affects people who are already fat, since they already are making more estrogen (viscious cycle). Men who are lean and work out often are not effected as much. I don't know if estrogen has an effect on hair loss and want to look into this, but there are pills that are aromatase blockers that will stop some of the testosterone from terning into estrogen. You don't want to do two much, though, because you need estrogen in your brain and for many body functions. You just want to get ride of the excess. The pills are prescription only. Good luck getting them unless you already have some small boobs.
4. I forgot what causes the lack of sex drive. Jayman and I have two posts on this in another forum. Do a search for estrogen and you will find the other post.
5. DHT is not anabolic to muscles like testosterone is.