Hi,
I have been taking finasteride for almost 2 years now and it had stabilised my hair loss very well although I didn't realise it at first. I recently tried a topical serum as well which in combination significantly reduced my hair loss further. However, a few months ago I noticed that my chest was getting ever so slightly bigger. At first, I put it down to sitting at my desk and working from home during the pandemic where I gained a bit of weight (a few kilos) but I gradually became convinced that it is not just fat as I have been at this weight before - although I am not 100% sure.
Anyway, as I was seeing very little hair loss at the time I decided to change my finasteride dosage to see if it helped with my chest getting bigger. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake. I initially reduced it down to 1mg every 3-4 days and within two weeks my shedding increased massively, perhaps 3-4 times as much as before. So I gradually increased my dosage back up to 1mg every other day then up to 0.5mg daily since about 6 weeks ago. My shedding has stabilised again but I'm shedding twice as much as I did before I started changing my dosage. The reason I went down to 0.5mg was because I read that this amount is still quite effective at blocking DHT and may reduce the side effects such as gynecomastia.
I understand that gynecomastia is caused by an increased level of estrogen from taking finasteride, but I have been wondering if there are ways to reduce estrogen to counter this effect. I recently looked into supplements to help with my vision and came across Lutein which is a very common supplement for vision with a lot of other benefits backed by scientific studies. Apparently one of the benefits is a potential reduction in estrogen levels which made me think whether this would be a good idea to take, particularly given it is a natural supplement to reduce gynecomastia from finasteride.
I am wondering if anyone has any views or knowledge on this as I am desperately trying to find ways not to have to decide between hair or man boobs.
I did consider using topical finasteride but it just doesn't fit with me for various reasons.
Any help would be much appreciated!
I have been taking finasteride for almost 2 years now and it had stabilised my hair loss very well although I didn't realise it at first. I recently tried a topical serum as well which in combination significantly reduced my hair loss further. However, a few months ago I noticed that my chest was getting ever so slightly bigger. At first, I put it down to sitting at my desk and working from home during the pandemic where I gained a bit of weight (a few kilos) but I gradually became convinced that it is not just fat as I have been at this weight before - although I am not 100% sure.
Anyway, as I was seeing very little hair loss at the time I decided to change my finasteride dosage to see if it helped with my chest getting bigger. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake. I initially reduced it down to 1mg every 3-4 days and within two weeks my shedding increased massively, perhaps 3-4 times as much as before. So I gradually increased my dosage back up to 1mg every other day then up to 0.5mg daily since about 6 weeks ago. My shedding has stabilised again but I'm shedding twice as much as I did before I started changing my dosage. The reason I went down to 0.5mg was because I read that this amount is still quite effective at blocking DHT and may reduce the side effects such as gynecomastia.
I understand that gynecomastia is caused by an increased level of estrogen from taking finasteride, but I have been wondering if there are ways to reduce estrogen to counter this effect. I recently looked into supplements to help with my vision and came across Lutein which is a very common supplement for vision with a lot of other benefits backed by scientific studies. Apparently one of the benefits is a potential reduction in estrogen levels which made me think whether this would be a good idea to take, particularly given it is a natural supplement to reduce gynecomastia from finasteride.
I am wondering if anyone has any views or knowledge on this as I am desperately trying to find ways not to have to decide between hair or man boobs.
I did consider using topical finasteride but it just doesn't fit with me for various reasons.
Any help would be much appreciated!