Starting Finasteride. What Should I Know

[Cameron1]

Hello,

So I plan on starting finasteride soon and thought id make a thread for help on the basics.

About me: 22 year old that already uses Minoxidil and Nizoral shampoo. I have a receding hairline at my temples but it is not very bad just yet.

So there it is. Anything you guys would recommend to someone just starting off?

Thanks!

 

[shulk]

Start with a low dose like 0.04mg and slowly work ur way up.

 

[Cameron1]

What would the purpose of this be? Just to make sure I won't experience any side effects? How fast should I ramp up the dose?

How would I even do that if the pills come in 5mg?


Cameron

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Ignore the "start with the low dose" people. I even had side effects when I first started finasteride and since I know most people do not get them, I say start at the full dose of 1mg per day. If you are using the 5mg version of finasteride, then divide it into 1/4th pieces, so you'll be taking 1.25mg per day.

Here's what you need to know:

1) Be scientific about this and ignore the crazy "finasteride is bad" people.

2) If you get sides, just pay attention to them. Don't immediately jump off -- if you have a lot of hair still, you want to save it. finasteride will do that.

3) Take it every day and you'll eventually forget about hair loss if it works for you. It's great. Never stop.

 

[Cameron1]

Ignore the "start with the low dose" people. I even had side effects when I first started finasteride and since I know most people do not get them, I say start at the full dose of 1mg per day. If you are using the 5mg version of finasteride, then divide it into 1/4th pieces, so you'll be taking 1.25mg per day.

Here's what you need to know:

1) Be scientific about this and ignore the crazy "finasteride is bad" people.

2) If you get sides, just pay attention to them. Don't immediately jump off -- if you have a lot of hair still, you want to save it. finasteride will do that.

3) Take it every day and you'll eventually forget about hair loss if it works for you. It's great. Never stop.

Hmm are you saying its normal to experience a little bit of side effects early on and they go away?

 

[shulk]

@Cameron1 "Hmm are you saying its normal to experience a little bit of side effects early on and they go away?"

1. Due the raise in testosterone you can get some sore balls. This should go away after a while
2. Your semen might get more watery. This could go away after a while.
3. A lot of people on the forum report (including myself) an initial shedding phase.

 

[shulk]

What would the purpose of this be? Just to make sure I won't experience any side effects? How fast should I ramp up the dose?

How would I even do that if the pills come in 5mg?
Cameron

Starting on a low dosage made me feel like i had more control. If i would get nasty side effects outside the 3 i listed above i reckoned the severity would be less and i would feel more safe to see if i could "ride" them out.

If you want a low dose like that with 5mg pills you have to dissolve them into vodka or some other 40%+ alcohol.
for example 5mg dissolved in 60ml (5/60), drinking 0.5ml a day (0.084/2) would give you 0.04mg.
Not sure about how fast you should ramp it up, i went in 6 weeks from 0.04 to 0.25mg as i did not have worrisome side effects. From 0.25 i bounced up to 1mg in a couple of days.
Serum and scalp dht show a nearly flat response after around 0.25mg

Should you wanna jump on finasteride without tapering on (like most people did) i would suggest to cut the pill into fifths and get a day extra.
https://hairloss.cyberatlantis.com/images/SplitProscar.jpg
You could cut them, but nowadays i got lazy and just chew off a bit with my front teeth.

Hope it helps and good luck

 

[spring15]

Monitor your libido is all Ive got to say

 

[dunno]

Just pop a pill everyday and dont give it much more thought then that. You will notice if something is off. I personally started out with 0.5mg initially but i cant say if it gives you an advantage or not.

 

[Cameron1]

- Ignore the "start with the low dose" people.
And it is a bad idea to start with a low dose to see how you react because?

- ignore the crazy "finasteride is bad" people.
Or don't ignore them and treat the drug with respect and keep listening to your body.

-Be scientific about this, : "since I know most people do not get them"
You sound like a man of science.


@Cameron1 "Hmm are you saying its normal to experience a little bit of side effects early on and they go away?"

1. Due the raise in testosterone you can get some sore balls. This should go away after a while
2. Your semen might get more watery. This could go away after a while.
3. A lot of people on the forum report (including myself) an initial shedding phase.

Wait Finasteride raises Test level? This is news to me, I would have expected the opposite but am pleasantly surprised. How much does it usually raise it?

 

[Cameron1]

Also what are the chances of me experiencing side effects anyway? How will I know that I am experiencing them? I personally go through stages of being really horny and stages of not.

 

[g.i joey]

Wait Finasteride raises Test level? This is news to me, I would have expected the opposite but am pleasantly surprised. How much does it usually raise it?

Estrogen and test increase by about 15% when taking finasteride

 

[Cameron1]

Should I take something to counteract this estrogen increase. One would think that increasing your testosterone would increase sexual performance?

 

[iamgotham]

Ignore the "start with the low dose" people. I even had side effects when I first started finasteride and since I know most people do not get them, I say start at the full dose of 1mg per day. If you are using the 5mg version of finasteride, then divide it into 1/4th pieces, so you'll be taking 1.25mg per day.

Here's what you need to know:

1) Be scientific about this and ignore the crazy "finasteride is bad" people.

2) If you get sides, just pay attention to them. Don't immediately jump off -- if you have a lot of hair still, you want to save it. finasteride will do that.

3) Take it every day and you'll eventually forget about hair loss if it works for you. It's great. Never stop.

@Cameron1 everything you need to know is in this post by @TheGrayMan2001.

And you can believe in me, Finasteride worked perfectly with me for 4 years... Unfortunately I don't know if it still working (i got some recession io one of my temples - don't know if it's seasonal/telogen effluvium or Androgenetic Alopecia just starting to win the race.

I know this video is mainly focused on the effect of Finasteride on Hair Transplants, but you should see it:

 

[ahmed wolf]

Should I take something to counteract this estrogen increase. One would think that increasing your testosterone would increase sexual performance?

most of the pfs guys claim that sides comes from increase in estrogen and gut inflammation
as for increasing estrogen I don't think 15% is that much really if its the cause then most stupid teens bodybuilders wana be will be impotence by now with zero libido after poping dibol androl like candy with no pct what so ever and these drugs are known for the increase esto
my advice font take the drug if ur already looking for sides and asking about them cuz that what u are going to find i was in ur shoes 2 years ago but I didn't post asking about the sides but I keep reading on them and lost 60% of my hair last 2 years that let me try finasteride for 3 days got sides still didnt recover after 5 months

 

[Cameron1]

Should I take it with food or does it not matter? Time of day?

What would you guys estimate the actual number of people who experience legitimate side effects vs physiological? I saw some numbers like 2%?

 

[ahmed wolf]

Should I take it with food or does it not matter? Time of day?

What would you guys estimate the actual number of people who experience legitimate side effects vs physiological? I saw some numbers like 2%?

2%-3% even some studies done by the pfs foundation showed that