- Reaction score
- 22
On second thought, I think Dutasteride whether every day or three days a week is too strong a treatment for you at your age and with your level of hair loss. Its hard to tell from your pictures if you even have any hair loss. If you do, it is only very minor so far. I agree with the other posters that you should just keep an eye on your hair over the next few months and see if it gets worse.
Dutasteride is the stronger of the two because it inhibits DHT more potently. Therefore, it has a greater prevalence and severity of side-effects.
I believe the side-effects from Finasteride are more common than the 2% prevalence that Merck reported, but a lot less common than the impression given by many users of these forums. I'd say that about 20% of users get side-effects to some degree, of whom about 2% have sides that are severe enough that they need to stop treatment. Dutasteride would no doubt have a greater incidence of sides. Probably not hugely greater, just a little bit greater.
There's an additional concern with Dutasteride however, which is the fact that it inhibits the type 1 5AR enzyme which is present in the brain tissue in measurable amounts. Finasteride does not inhibit the type 1 5AR enzyme, only the type 2 enzyme. It is not yet known what the long-term implications could be of inhibiting the action of this enzyme that is present in the brain. So that is an additional risk with Dutasteride.
There is no scientific basis for the belief that Dutasteride can "ruin your hairline". It is an idea that some members of these forums seem have got into their heads and which keeps getting tossed around, but it is not backed up by any scientific evidence or logic.
Thank you for your analysis, I am reconsidering my options but would still like to say 'experiment' with both finasteride and dutasteride before I come to an actual conclusion. From what I know ever since Post Puberty my mind has been very very foggy, despite this I am somehow able to manage pretty decent grades. I would like to see if there is any actual decline or increase in my IQ when I am on and off dutasteride... I will try this once I am above 24 (thats when brain development stops 'supposedly'), to do this I will take proper IQ tests before 6 months of dutasteride usage and after 6 months to see if there is any actual change. Until then I will listen to your advice and maintain on finasteride...
Plus it will help that I am going into medicine...
