I have seen claims on here that hairlines have gotten worse on dutasteride due to increased test. However, I am yet to find any scientific evidence online that supports this. Can anyone shed some light in this area and if they have experienced worsening hairline on dutasteride. Also does it Get worse before it gets better because i switched from finasteride as i thought i was loosing ground and this seems to have continued on dutasteride.
Increased Testosterone From Dutasteride?
- Thread starter Marcoco
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I don’t think dutasteride makes hair lines worse- it’s just not much better than finasteride for hair lines. At least that’s my experience- I thought I was experiencing a shed in the front but it never came back. Most people only switch to dutasteride when finasteride stops holding their hair. Use 50mg ru or cb to protect the hairline when using dutasteride and you should be in a better position than on finasteride
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Dutasteride is supposed to curb DHT by circa 90% and Finasteride circa 70% but Dutasteride is a type 1 and 2 5AR blocker whereas Finasteride only blocks type 2. Dutasteride shouldn't make the hair worse however Test may increase as there's more test circulating as DHT has been blocked so test cannot bind to it to form DHT.
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There is some anecdotal evidence dutasteride works better for some and finasteride for others. However, IMO, the main reason people complain about losing a lot of hair after switching from finasteride to dutasteride is because they were in a bad place with their hair already and switched to dutasteride out of desperation. It was already too late.
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Could just be a shed too as the cycle re-starts?
I agree with this- I think things are already going down hill by the time most people hit dutasteride and when it doesn’t live up to expectations it seems like it’s made things worse. The issue is that somehow it has this rep as a miracle cure when in reality it’s just a bit more effective than finasteride. Apparently their is much more 5AR2 located in the front of the scalp so it stands to reason that the front continues to thin because dutasteride has a harder time combatting it. That or the raised Test hypothesis...
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What's the raised test hypothesis?
T is still an androgen so can still damage hair if your follicles are sensitive to it, duta increases T levels by over 100%, even though it's much less potent than dht, which is why some people still lose ground on dutasteride imo. Either that or because it's only nuking serum level dht and not scalp levels, spironolactone or RU should be used along with dutasteride imo, both spironolactone and RU are risky however.
Yeah with the recent findings that showed how much dutasteride increases scalp test I think I would only dare to start topical dutasteride if CB ever hits Telogen Effluvium market (legally).
The fact that the increased test level can possibly Hurt my hair is the only thing holding me back from trying dutasteride, after being on finasteride for 16 months..
What would you recommend guys? Still try dutasteride? Or start minoxidil..
What would you recommend guys? Still try dutasteride? Or start minoxidil..
Maybe just start low dose/low frequency
Oh sorry- just that testosterone is raised by dutasteride, derelict explained it better. It is a bit of a mystery really with dutasteride, I just think it’s nothing special but no worse that finasteride. This could be why glaxo never bothered marketing it for hair loss- it’s very similar to finasteride. We think of it in terms of ‘the next step after finasteride’ but in practise it’s only useful at the crown for many of us. It often requires another additional anti androgen (ru, cb, oral spironolactone) to make it up to ‘the next step’
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Yes but also don't forget the body has a feedback mechanism so as test raises it gets turned into Estrogen as the body needs to balance itself but it all depends on your genetics I guess, I'm also trying to distinguish wether some people get the side effects because of the feedback as the Test turns to E16 (Estrogen 16 - the bad type) looking into this we'd actually need to turn this into E2 (Estrogen 2 - the good type) I was looking into the supplement DIM and supposedly this is supposed to help with this situation, maybe try DIM with dutasteride? That way your hormones may be better balanced. I would suggest maybe getting some blood work done to test your Test, Estrogen and SHBG levels as any of these out of sync could cause and issue with your results.
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Serum DHT is largely meaningless IMO. In reality, dutasteride and finasteride decrease scalp DHT by a lot less than you might think. Sure, testosterone might play a part but I think that if your hair has been miniaturizing for years when you switch to dutasteride, the 50% of scalp dht reduction you get with dutasteride isn’t enough.
dutasteride and finasteride just buy you more time. The less aggressive your loss, the more time you get.
dutasteride and finasteride just buy you more time. The less aggressive your loss, the more time you get.
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@skyline999
You are correct. I have gyno on one side because of this. My first blood test after 4 months on dutasteride stated I had the oestrogen levels of a menstruating woman aswell as ridiculously high test levels. Over time it somehow balanced itself out and my hormones corrected themselves, again confirmed via blood tests.
The doctor thought their was a mistake with the tests.... he also kept asking me if I took steroids ..
You are correct. I have gyno on one side because of this. My first blood test after 4 months on dutasteride stated I had the oestrogen levels of a menstruating woman aswell as ridiculously high test levels. Over time it somehow balanced itself out and my hormones corrected themselves, again confirmed via blood tests.
The doctor thought their was a mistake with the tests.... he also kept asking me if I took steroids ..
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Do you know what your numbers were for the results? Yeah that balance would be the feedback as it takes a while for the hormones to rebalance. Did you have any other sides apart from the gyno?
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This is all I can find of them, old photos I sent to a friend for advice. I had and still have lowered libido and watery seman. That goes away after taking a month off (which I accidently did when travelling for a month)