topical finasteride #

[momo]

I decided to sacrifice what's left of my current rogaine bottle and have little experiment. I've put some propecia pills into rogaine bottle so that each ml contains about 0.5mg. They dissolved pretty quickly. I'm going to use that every night and see how it goes. I dropped propecia due to side effects 3 months ago after having great results, so I'm going to measure both success and side effects (which both I'm familiar with)

I've read of many people who tried that. Anyone with conclusive results about it?

 

[chew]

i'd be curious about this too...

i too quit taking finasteride and have a few left i could try this with...

 

[momo]

Update: It's been almost 2 weeks and I'm having the old sides effects I used to have with finasteride, low libido, mental fog, unhappinness..
I guess it's working as well, systemically... Btw, I'm using 0.5ml xandrox/day, so that's 0.25mg finasteride topically. I think I have the worst tolerance to this drug ever. Wonder if it has something to do with the fact that while I was suffering those terrible side effects, I was also growing a full head of hear, the one I used to have 5 years ago.

I'm going to finish the rest of the mixed bottle, and use plain xandrox from now on...

 

[theendoftheend]

here's something you can try. Have a friend prepare 2 bottles for you. one with rogaine and one with this deadly mix. pick one without checking what it is and use it. repeat 3-4 times. check symptoms each time. If you get the symptoms all the time or none of the time, then it's a placebo effect. if you get the symptoms each time you are using the mixed bottle (your friend can confirm) than you really are THAT sensitive.

 

[momo]

Thanks for the advice, but having been in a deep depression 8 months while on finasteride, I've developped a very high awareness of my body and emotions. I KNOW this is coming from the finasteride, in a way YOU KNOW when it's day or night.

 

[momo]

Anyway, I'm just back from the shower, amazed to see tons of tiny black hairs sprouting everywhere on my thin (very thin) patch, like grass after the first rain. I sadly had to say goodbye to them. If only I could do something to keep them growing without the horrible side effects...
And this is only from 2 weeks on 0.25mg/day topically.

 

[Aplunk1]

Topical dutasteride?

I had horrible sides on finasteride throughout the 10 months I used it, and have yet to suffer (knock on wood) from side on dutasteride.

 

[momo]

Aplunk,

I read your story, but I don't think it represents the majority of the cases. There is no scientific explanation how can that be, and to be honest not many empirical evidence that dutasteride has less side effects than finasteride.
I'm very afraid to start dutasteride, to say the least, after the trouble I had to go through with finasteride (depression, mental fog...).

Besides, I read about this guy named "ugh" (search the forums) who, like you, didn't have any sides effect on dutasteride until month 14 or so, and later on became an impotent (to this day).

 

[pmzito]

i dont think merely crushing your pills into a bottle will work. in depth pharmacological tests must be performed. those pills are made for dissolution in stomach contents. It is possible something in the bottle or on your scalp could interact with the drug making it impossible to penetrate the skin. in order to penetrate it is going to need a delivery vehicle and i do not believe just crushing it up will satisfy that.

 

[momo]

Have you read my post? I wasn't asking if it might work, I was informing my results after trying it. And I didn't merely crush the pills and put it on my head, I disolved them in the minoxidil which contains the vehicle.

 

[Aplunk1]

I agree with pmzito...

Topical finasteride doesn't seem like it would have any beneficial effect unless it were absorbed systemically.

 

[momo]

Well, I get side effects so obviously it gets absorbed systemically.

 

[Bryan]

Topical finasteride doesn't seem like it would have any beneficial effect unless it were absorbed systemically.

Well, there are at least a couple of different ways to take that statement. Are you saying that you think there's no reason in principle for why a topical 5a-reductase inhibitor would be helpful for male pattern baldness, or are you saying that there's something about finasteride specifically which keeps it from working "locally" when applied to the scalp? Or did you mean something else entirely?

Bryan

 

[Aplunk1]

The second one.

I believe that finasteride could only WORK systemically. I know that it can be absorbed topically, but the DHT structures are located within the follicle itself. There needs to be systemic inhibition of DHT for the "topical" to work.

Thoughts?

 

[Bryan]

I'm still not sure I understand what you're saying. Are you denying the possibility that finasteride can be absorbed into hair follicles when applied topically?

Bryan

 

[Aplunk1]

I guess it's possible,
but I doubt its actual effectiveness of being absorbed topically. Even when taken orally, the drug typically doesn't show signs that it's working until Month 3. Regrowth typically doesn't occur until Months 6-12.

I can't imagine how long it would take for a topical version of finasteride to work.

I think that crushing up Propecia pills and dissolving them in Rogaine bottles (which is what many of the posters here are doing) is a complete waste of Propecia tablets.

At what percentage must this lotion be ideal for usage?

We have no idea... And I don't think it's a great idea to experiment with dissolving Propecia tablets into lotions and Rogaine solutions, unless the person doing it a medical professional.

 

[Aplunk1]

I'm still not sure I understand what you're saying. Are you denying the possibility that finasteride can be absorbed into hair follicles when applied topically?

Bryan

Sorry, sometimes I confuse myself.

I think that sometime in the near future a topical 5AR-inhibitor might be successfully put onto the market to help treat male pattern baldness.

But I think that topical finasteride, in practice, is a bad idea.

 

[Bryan]

I think that sometime in the near future a topical 5AR-inhibitor might be successfully put onto the market to help treat male pattern baldness.

Is it safe to assume from that statement that you don't think Revivogen is a successful topical 5a-reductase inhibitor? :wink:

But I think that topical finasteride, in practice, is a bad idea.

Well, there WAS that one topical finasteride study (for hirsutism in women) which appeared to be successful; a notable feature of that one is that they used a cream vehicle, as opposed to the hydro-alcoholic solutions used in all the other topical finasteride studies which had such mixed results. So it's POSSIBLE that the choice of vehicle is a crucial factor, and makes the difference between success and failure...

Bryan

 

[powersam]

i remember that study, made me want to crush lots of finasteride up in my 5% spironolactone cream. but as it was on women they couldnt really document male specific side effects

 

[Bryan]

Well, the point is that there was only a "local" effect where the cream was actually applied, so there was evidently no systemic absorption to worry about.

Bryan