Help with topical finasteride side effects. with blood measurements

[Hope111]

yes they did go back to normal after 4-5 days off of finasteride. then I got back on the super low dose and 3 days later it was just as bad as before

I think it is clear that what is happening is not in your body. It's in your mind. you are constantly monitoring your penis and if your head thinks it is going to fail, it will 100% fail. If you have left finasteride for 4 days and everything has returned to normal, it has been because your head knows that you are not taking it.

 

[Hope111]

I would be very glad if someone could chime in here.

my Dr ordered another bloodiest and it proofs that finasteride does indeed not accumulate at small doses and DHT reduction is still at -15% now.
sides still the same.

can anyone understand what's going on with my body? I can see the argument for why some people(with an overall apparently well tolerated drug) see side effects with oral finasteride and -50-70% DHT reduction which often is accompanied by a rise in SHGB and estrogens.

however in my case, I have completely limited the dosage and my DHT is only reduced by 15%. in fact, 2 years ago I did another test and my serum DHT today is higher ON the low dose topical finasteride than back then without finasteride. so its not like I am running my DHT into the ground and while on the lower end, its within the reference range(almost nobody on oral finasteride has DHT in the reference range bc even if you have high DHT before it fells 2/3)

my estrogen is mildly increased by 10% but can this realistically have such a dramatic effect?

the strangest thing to me is the disambiguity between super high and low dose. on oral finasteride I had insane estrogen at 63ng/dL now its 39ng/dL and wishing normal range (20-47). DHT is now more than TWICE AS HIGH as compared to 0.25mg oral finasteride. but the sides almost as strong.

could it be that the DHT reduction is not the problem then if doubling it doesnt really make me fell better? a 100% increase is quite a lot I expected it to vastly minimize the ED.

any insight is appreciated.

If your hormone levels are acceptable, it is clear that your problem is psychological, something that your doctor has already told you, or am I wrong?
i have friends norwood 0 with erection problems and myself, taking 1mg orally i had a dysfunction season 6 years ago changing girlfriends and then when i had cialis in my pocket for a couple of days the fear went out of my head and i was 3 years having sex with her and with normal erection

 

[Hope111]

how is finasteride topical supposed to work anyway?
The oral one prevents the PRODUCTION of dht, which is generated in the testicles, in this way the blood reaches the hair without dht because "there is no" dht in the body, right? If the topical is applied to the scalp and doesn't act as a receptor blocker, how is it supposed to save hair from dht?

 

[hudsonhawke]

Does it work differently to oral? So it instead inhibits the DHT at the root level of the hair?

 

[SomeoneHasToSayIt]

how is finasteride topical supposed to work anyway?
The oral one prevents the PRODUCTION of dht, which is generated in the testicles, in this way the blood reaches the hair without dht because "there is no" dht in the body, right? If the topical is applied to the scalp and doesn't act as a receptor blocker, how is it supposed to save hair from dht?

The testicles produce testosterone. Most *circulating* DHT is produced (from T) in the liver, and much DHT is produced in the tissues it acts upon (e.g. skin, hair follicles, prostate, etc). DHT produced locally in the scalp is implicated in hair loss, hence topical finasteride. The extent to which circulating DHT *also* influences hair loss isn’t really well studied. There are likely therapeutic advantages to inhibiting 5AR systemically, but there are also the many side effects.

Regarding your question OP, a few thoughts: First, accumulation might be a factor. You said you disproved that, but over what timespan did you test? Second, finasteride’s effects on other hormones (progesterone, for example) might be the source of the issue. It does a lot more than block the conversion of T to DHT (as you’ve already seen in your estrogen numbers). Third, blood levels of these hormones are just a proxy measurement. What’s happening inside your central nervous system is what’s actually relevant (finasteride crosses the blood-brain barrier), and that doesn’t always parallel what’s measured in serum.

You probably aren’t going to get the precise answer you’re looking for, unfortunately, but if you’re getting obvious side effects, you should be careful.