Should I Try dutasteride Again After Having Sides?

[rlf]

So, basically dutasteride is my only option left ATM and I don't know if I should risk it. Here's my story, hope it doesn't get too long.

• Started taking 1mg of Propecia in 2001, when my hair was thinning out in a diffuse pattern. Stopped hair loss and I maintained pretty much a full head of hair, with zero side effects..
  
  
• Propecia worked until 2016, when I started to see thinning all over again, especially at the front. Though when I look at pics it already started in 2015. Depression about the return of my hair loss set in.
  
  
• Started taking RU 50mg in July 2016, but hair continued to worsen.
  
  
• Then End of August 2016 I suddenly developed ED. Couldn't get it up anymore. After a few days it subsided again. But still my libido and erections weren't like before my hair loss came back and my depression started.
  
  
• Beginning of September I saw that my hair was worsening rapidly. Depression got severe. Stopped working out and pretty much became miserable all over. Decided to start taking 2 Duts a week in addition to 1.25mg finasteride.
  
  
• Right away I started developing pimples on my forehead. These went away after 2-3 weeks.
  
  
• In late September after 2 weeks on 2x 0.5mg of dutasteride a week I decided to do blood work.
  
  
• My blood work showed high estrogen and low test. This was curious, because in the beginning of 2016, before I recognised that I was loosing hair again and when I was in great shape both physically and mentally, I had my testosterone tested and it came back in the upper ranges.
  
  
• Then in November, after 10 weeks of dutasteride 2x a week I got really severe ED. Like no erections during night time and so on. Decided to drop dutasteride, because I was freaking out.
  
  
• Started minoxidil in November also.
  
  
• So fast forward to present day, I'd say I'm pretty much back to normal erection wise. I regularly get nocturnal erections. I'd say sides went away pretty quickly. Also got a bit of a handle on my depression and started to work out again.

But unfortunately minoxidil and Ru don't do anything for my hair.

The only real option to stop my hair loss would be dutasteride, optimally 05.mg a day. minoxidil doesn't stop hair loss and I don't see it growing any new hair either. And the success stories of Ru are few.

But can I risk it? The thing is that I developed ED even shortly before dutasteride, when I was only taking finasteride and Ru. Was it maybe a combination of my severe depression and my body reacting to me stopping working out, which I've done regularly for years?


I really don't know what to do at the moment. Amazingly I can still manage to look like I have a full head of hair, but I really need to stop my hair loss.

I have responded awesome to finasteride for 14 years without sides, so I figure my hair should respond to a stronger finasteride again? Also I would love to drop minoxidil and get back to just popping a pill. But I don't know if dutasteride is worth the risk. The shittiest thing about dutasteride is its long half life. If you get sides you're stuck with it for months.

 

[Roberto_72]

The thing is that I developed ED even shortly before dutasteride, when I was only taking finasteride and Ru. Was it maybe a combination of my severe depression and my body reacting to me stopping working out, which I've done regularly for years?

So it would be incorrect to say duta caused your ED, since you had it from before taking it.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

You seem to be blaming dutasteride prematurely. As you said, you had ED before.

It is possible you are having symptoms of low T that are completely unrelated to finasteride and dutasteride.

I would recommend dutasteride again, then have your blood levels checked. You might even want to test it before you start. If you continue having symptoms, have blood tests again, then review what to do from there.

 

[WMQ]

What do you plan to do if dutasteride stops working too in the future?

Just curious OP.

 

[rlf]

So it would be incorrect to say duta caused your ED, since you had it from before taking it.

But I had an episode in November where I had ED again and it was while on dutasteride.

You seem to be blaming dutasteride prematurely. As you said, you had ED before.

It is possible you are having symptoms of low T that are completely unrelated to finasteride and dutasteride.

I would recommend dutasteride again, then have your blood levels checked. You might even want to test it before you start. If you continue having symptoms, have blood tests again, then review what to do from there.

But why did I suddenly have low T, when it was high just 6 months before?

What do you plan to do if dutasteride stops working too in the future?

Just curious OP.

I hope it works until Replicel or whatever new is coming out.

 

[WMQ]

I hope it works until Replicel or whatever new is coming out.

This sounds negative but we shouldn't make such important life decisions (yes adopting to a drug like dutasteride count as important to me) based on a promise that's not there yet mate. Just say: what if two years later, no new treatment comes out, and dutasteride stops working, or even worse, starts to give you horrible side effects as well? No choice but to stop treatment and watch yourself go bald in months? I said this because it's almost exactly what happened to me if you replace dutasteride with finasteride.

 

[rlf]

And whats the alternative? Watch myself going bald now, when no other treatments are available? Who knows, maybe dutasteride works for me as long as finasteride did. Why even start any treatment then? finasteride has worked for me almost 15 years! What if I had this mindset in 2001?

 

[dralex]

Its not unusual for your testosterone levels to drop when going through depression. Also weight lifting increase testosterone, so quitting could lower it even further. Studies have shown that dutasteride increases testosterone levels more so than finasteride, so it is unlikely that it caused yours to drop, but is possible.

 

[rlf]

So you stated you have been on this drug since 2001 and just recently within a year developed sexual sides? My question is how old are you, and how do you know these hormonal level changes and effects aren't the result of normal aging and problems associated with it? More importantly, what do you think you should do?

Because I did a Testosterone check in May 2016 and my Test came up on the highest range. Back then I didn't know I was losing hair again, lifted weights, felt great and looked like a buff 29 year old and also felt like it. Fast forward to late September 2016, I felt like sh*t, heavy depression due to hair loss coming back. My Estro was slightly above range, my test and free test way low. You don't age like that in 6 months.

Also, my ED came from one day to another in August, when I was only on finasteride. It went away after a few days, but hard to tell, because my sex drive was low due to depression. But due to my OCD I constantly checked if I was able to get it up, haha. Still practically no mroning wood

Then in November, 2 months after adding dutasteride I also had ED again and no nocturnal erections. Quit dutasteride and I still had low Sex drive from depression. Now I have wood every night, while I'm still on finasteride.

What I should do? I don't know! All I know is that I don't want to lose my hair, it's just not fathomable for me to run around bald. I couldn't do it. So I guess the only real option I have besides tranny regime is going all in with dutasteride. 0.5mg every day. I know that I respond to 5ARI, since I did wonderfully respond to finasteride for 15 years, but something changed and the logical thing is that my hair got more sensitive to DHT. So inhibiting more should do the trick. But I don't know. I surely don't want to get ED again, since I have OCD and am a hypochandriac, haha, great!

So bottom line, I don't know if I should try dutasteride at an even higher dose to save my hair and hope that all the hormonal and ED stuff was just due to my depression and change in life style.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Honestly it sounds like the only thing that would have caused your Testosterone to plummet is

1) You started RU in July

or

2) You just naturally stopped producing T at optimum levels.

 

[rlf]

Since when does RU affect Testosterone? I didn't ingest it.

 

[michel sapin]

at what age did you start propecia ? it maitained your hair for 15 years ? you got regrowth at the beginning ?

 

[rlf]

At 25. Yes it did. No real regrowth, but I didn't need it. I guess it thickened somewhat.

 

[ahmed wolf]

dude u took finasteride back in 2001 how old are u then ?