- Reaction score
- 3,025
Finasteride was the first hair loss treatment I tried. I took it at 1.25 mg a day for 11 months and noticed continued shedding with no side effects or positive effects. Once i realized this was failing me, I switched to dutasteride 0.5 mg for 11 months and again noticed nothing at all. In both cases, I was using proper, legit drugs from the biggest pharmacy chain in my area.
After failure on dutasteride, I couldn't understand what was happening, so I got my DHT levels checked. If dutasteride is working, even after just a few doses, it should drop your DHT to <10% of its normal levels. However, my DHT levels were completely normal.
I couldn't figure out what this meant, but I then went on to try brand name Avodart (still no change in DHT), and then high dose Avodart ie. 2.5 mg per day (still no change in DHT). Nothing with this drug seemed to work.
I at that point gave up on both drugs, and switched to RU. RU slowed my hair loss for 2 years but didn't stop it. I then tried spironolactone, cypro, and landed on topical daro which I've been most happy with of all.
I just had some major hair surgery 1.5 months ago, so I couldn't apply my topicals as well in that time frame. I thought that this would be a good time to try some high dose finasteride at 5 mg with a before/after DHT level to see whether that would work at suppressing my DHT. I figured it might give me some extra protection while I was struggling to apply topicals.
However, after one month of high dose finasteride (5 mg per day), my DHT level was 88% of my pre-finasteride dose. Ie. A month of finasteride 5 mg daily only reduced my DHT by 12%, which could easily also just be random fluctuation. Both readings (pre and post) were around 2/3 of the upper normal limit.
I think all this demonstrates that it is physically possible to be genetically resistant to 5-AR inhibitors. I presume there's something unique about my 5-AR enzyme that prevents these meds from binding to it and blocking it. I have no idea how common or rare this is. I saw one guy once post about the same thing on a hair forum with a similar story, so I know I'm at least not the ONLY one.
The point is, if you're still losing hair on finasteride or dutasteride, it might be wise to get your blood DHT levels checked. If your DHT is not dropping, you might be in the same boat as me, and these drugs might not be effective options for you at any dose. If your DHT is not dropping, there is no point in the medication, as it is then not performing its desired activity at all.
For reference, this is what's supposed to happen to blood DHT levels with finasteride:
& here is what's supposed to happen with dutasteride:
After failure on dutasteride, I couldn't understand what was happening, so I got my DHT levels checked. If dutasteride is working, even after just a few doses, it should drop your DHT to <10% of its normal levels. However, my DHT levels were completely normal.
I couldn't figure out what this meant, but I then went on to try brand name Avodart (still no change in DHT), and then high dose Avodart ie. 2.5 mg per day (still no change in DHT). Nothing with this drug seemed to work.
I at that point gave up on both drugs, and switched to RU. RU slowed my hair loss for 2 years but didn't stop it. I then tried spironolactone, cypro, and landed on topical daro which I've been most happy with of all.
I just had some major hair surgery 1.5 months ago, so I couldn't apply my topicals as well in that time frame. I thought that this would be a good time to try some high dose finasteride at 5 mg with a before/after DHT level to see whether that would work at suppressing my DHT. I figured it might give me some extra protection while I was struggling to apply topicals.
However, after one month of high dose finasteride (5 mg per day), my DHT level was 88% of my pre-finasteride dose. Ie. A month of finasteride 5 mg daily only reduced my DHT by 12%, which could easily also just be random fluctuation. Both readings (pre and post) were around 2/3 of the upper normal limit.
I think all this demonstrates that it is physically possible to be genetically resistant to 5-AR inhibitors. I presume there's something unique about my 5-AR enzyme that prevents these meds from binding to it and blocking it. I have no idea how common or rare this is. I saw one guy once post about the same thing on a hair forum with a similar story, so I know I'm at least not the ONLY one.
The point is, if you're still losing hair on finasteride or dutasteride, it might be wise to get your blood DHT levels checked. If your DHT is not dropping, you might be in the same boat as me, and these drugs might not be effective options for you at any dose. If your DHT is not dropping, there is no point in the medication, as it is then not performing its desired activity at all.
For reference, this is what's supposed to happen to blood DHT levels with finasteride:
& here is what's supposed to happen with dutasteride:
