i have acquired the full mozzarella study on topical finasteride nd they measured DHT every 3 months, they observed no significant changes in testosterone, free T and DHT in the finasteride group but did notice a change in quality of hair in the finasteride group. 0.005% 1ml twice a day. sample group was young men 20-35 yo with Norwood 3s on average, the measure efficacy not in terminal hair count but in how many hairs where lost during a "washing test" they performed. finasteride decreased this "shedding" during washing significantly P-value <0.0001, personal opinion was also favorable of finasteride and researchers observed and increase in pigmentation of lighter hairs (a sign of deminiaturization). the trend in decrease of shedding was continued and likely did continue after the 16 month protocol. study is single blinded, small sample size however, not the best study but not completely worthless either
i am currently trying 10 times the dose they used, 0.05% topical finasteride 2ml and it definitely works. I do have side effects however which is not really that surprising as even if just 10-20% is absorbed this nukes 55% of dht already. a 1/10th of this dose I am not sure how effective it is but should not have any side especially if you take days off to avoid any accumulation(like take it 6 days a week for example as the dose is so low and the half life is so short, in a day finasteride was basically be eliminated from your body)
I think this makes more sense than once a month. I mean, lets be real, there is actually no evidence of this "finasteride sticks around much longer in tissue ip to 30 days". where do you think finasteride resides normally? its not like its swimming around in serum, DHT IS a paracrine hormone, when you stop taking finasteride after 5-6 days DHT is normal levels again. this accounts for tissue DHT as well because the blood you draw, the DHT it contains is just leakage from tissue. DHT is not an endocrine hormone (its not release into the blood unlike T of HGH e.g) but what you find in blood is leakage from local tissue. so if finasteride sticked around 30 days in tissue this makes no sense as serum DHT would take a month to climb back at least.
when I get off of finasteride it takes 2-3 weeks for shedding and itch to come back. when I get on it again it takes 2 days until the itch is gone. I am amazed how consistent this is and how some doctors still deny that a hair loss itch exists. it definitely does
so i do not think this protocol here is applicable. however I do think that for everyone some kind of protocol can be found, this might not be as effective as oral 1mg every day but if you cannot tolerate it then that does not matter. a 20-30% reduction in scalp DHT is no 65% dht reduction(oral finasteride) but it sure is better than nothing and might aid slow down until it can be combined with a new treatment