From what I'm reading seems like finasteride tops out at 1mg for effectiveness, or there's very little extra DHT reduction beyond that? It would seem if true the next jump would be to dutasteride for effectiveness instead of simply increasing the finasteride dose. Can anyone confirm this?
Soooooo, Any Dose Above 1mg of Finasteride is No Better?
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BiqqieSmalls
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This is correct.
Ballz. Seems like there's no gradual increase then, just a massive jump to dutasteride. Looks like dutasteride only comes in gel caps so no lower dose increasing with it either. No wonder people get hit with dutasteride sides so hard. They can't gradually work up with it and the jump between 1mg finasteride to .5 dutasteride is huge. That equals shock to the body usually and bad sides.
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Can trial out 2.5 mg finasteride daily or 5 mg EOD. hair transplant docs often do this to people not improving on finasteride even though there is no clinical evidence for it. They say some of their patients improve. Even though DHT levels will only slightly decrease, it's possible that more of the drug in your bloodstream will lead to arrest of hair loss.
I'd move onto dutasteride though or at least use both together.
Most important question though is why do you feel finasteride is not working, how long have you been on it?
I'd move onto dutasteride though or at least use both together.
Most important question though is why do you feel finasteride is not working, how long have you been on it?
Vlatch
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Take dutasteride eod, mwf, or twice a week if you want less DHT inhibition.
Dutasteride is only stronger than finasteride at a high dosage, if you take one capsule a week it's a bit weaker, if you take two capsules a week it's a bit stronger.
What's important to understand with dutasteride is that the dose builds up in the blood due to its half life of 4 weeks. Only one dose of 0.5mg isn't that strong.
For example, if you take 0.5mg of dutasteride a week (less than 0.1mg a day, so a bit weaker than finasteride) for a month, at the end of the month you'll have approximately 1.5mg of the molecule in your blood.
If you take 3.5mg of dutasteride a week (0.5mg a day, the average dosage in the studies) for a month, at the end of the month you'll have approximately 10mg of the molecule in your blood.
And so on...
If you want to take 0.1mg of dutasteride a day, take one 0.5mg capsule every 5 days, simple.
BiqqieSmalls
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This is what I'm doing. Noticing a huge boost in hair gains. Right temple is exploding with hairs. Left is much much slower though. :sad:
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Biggie what Norwood are you. how much loss at the front? It could be the minoxidil in your case or anything which you started at the same time.
Here's my thing. I've been taking it finasteride about five years. Good success in keeping. I had taken it a long time ago for a couple of years but the sides got me and I had to stop. Flash forward to around 2010, I very very slowly eased back on it, allowed my body to get used to it, and worked up to 1mg. Now, no sides at all. So you see why I am all about the gradual increase instead of all at once.
Anyhoo, finasteride has worked great, but as everyone knows there's still some DHT getting through. I can feel this sometimes after sex, head gets itchy for an amount of time. Goes away, but it's obvious finasteride isn't blocking it 100% as we all know (something like 30% still gets through?). That's like plugging the dam up 70% lol. That water is still getting through, albeit slower. So I wouldn't mind a little extra help with dutasteride to close that percentage up a little more and maybe even see a little regrowth.
So I think this is the way to go;
Think I will. I don't need a lot of dutasteride, but a little extra of it sounds good. Plus if it truly stays in your system much longer than finasteride, every five to seven days works just fine and hopefully won't evoke the dreaded side effects. I'm sticking with finasteride too though, that's the baseline/fail safe thing against DHT and my body is finally used to it. dutasteride is just for extra DHT reduction.
Anyhoo, finasteride has worked great, but as everyone knows there's still some DHT getting through. I can feel this sometimes after sex, head gets itchy for an amount of time. Goes away, but it's obvious finasteride isn't blocking it 100% as we all know (something like 30% still gets through?). That's like plugging the dam up 70% lol. That water is still getting through, albeit slower. So I wouldn't mind a little extra help with dutasteride to close that percentage up a little more and maybe even see a little regrowth.
So I think this is the way to go;
Think I will. I don't need a lot of dutasteride, but a little extra of it sounds good. Plus if it truly stays in your system much longer than finasteride, every five to seven days works just fine and hopefully won't evoke the dreaded side effects. I'm sticking with finasteride too though, that's the baseline/fail safe thing against DHT and my body is finally used to it. dutasteride is just for extra DHT reduction.
BiqqieSmalls
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I am NW2 Vertex man. Not a whole lot of loss at the front, which is strange because I was losing hairs around my cowlick. I am going to post my story once I hit the six month mark. Currently into my 4th month of treatments.
Just an update, I now have a regular prescription for Avodart. I am going to start very very low on it and see how it goes. I beat the side effects of finasteride after they hit me originally by stopping for some time, then starting fresh and tappering up very slow. I am going to see if this can be done with dutasteride as well. First sign of trouble though I'll be done with it.
I'll keep everyone posted. Figure some people might want to know since I did find a way to beat the sides on finasteride. If I can do it again with dutasteride, I'll let you know, or otherwise.
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And also to note; not stopping finasteride. It works great, but this would just be for extra DHT blocking help and maybe if lucky a little regrowth.
I'll keep everyone posted. Figure some people might want to know since I did find a way to beat the sides on finasteride. If I can do it again with dutasteride, I'll let you know, or otherwise.
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And also to note; not stopping finasteride. It works great, but this would just be for extra DHT blocking help and maybe if lucky a little regrowth.
BiqqieSmalls
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Sides on these drugs are highly psychological man. Don't let it get to you. Also, that sounds like a solid regimen.
I can see that for some, but from experience can tell you there can be a side effect for some people. It was for me my first time around. I didn't know anything about the possibilities of sides, took about two years to finally equate the growing issues to finasteride. Even then I rejected the idea of it because I wanted to stay on finasteride, but finally figured I'd get off of it to check. It took about a week, but things came flying back in force. I was happy and disappointed as that meant no more finasteride for me. 8 years later I tried it again, but tappered up super slow and allowed my system time to adjust. Now, no issues. I will be doing the same with dutasteride.
I took .25 dutasteride last night for the first time (split cap). I can tell you the gel inside is like acid lol, almost felt like burning on my tongue. Had to brush my teeth twice. The thing I noticed first; very slight jump in energy. This happened with my increases in finasteride, I think that's due to an increase in testosterone. Of course that could be bro-science as I'm speculating personally, but this is what I've read as the culprit for energy libido jumps when increasing dosages. We shall see.
Just to let you know, finasteride is more known for holding onto what you have than regrowing. Everyone's different, but for regrowth most people go to minoxidil. Another thing to note; gains are almost always subtle, like your hair falls out less. The shedding process can even be subtle, or not lol.
I'm not a person with illusions of amazingness with any of these meds. Combine finasteride, dutasteride, minoxidil, and Nizoral and pretty sure you'll not lose anymore hair. But being a realist I also am not setting myself up to expect even with all those things combined there will be massive regrowth. I think the best I've read is that over time your hair quality improves, very very gradually. Other than that, don't set yourself up for expecting a lot more. And certainly not by leaps and bounds.
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ps; my next dose of dutasteride is in one week, again for .25mg. When I said gradual, I meant it lol. This is how I did with finasteride to stop the sides from hitting again. That about rhymed.
About to go to dutasteride .5mg once every five days. No side effects. In fact every time I take a dose I get a jolt of energy and strength. Great to take before a workout. I'm assuming it's the testosterone increase, possibly something else. I'm not complaining lol.
Could be a minor stroke.
Just take finasteride like a vitamin and dont give it any more thought than that. The placebo effect when your taking things like this are very very powerful. I would never underestimate the placebo effect. You will chalk up all kinds of random stuff to finasteride when it had nothing to do with it or you just imagine things