What Should I Add To My Regimen Now?

[Timii]

I'm currently around Norwood 1.5 - 2.
My current regimen consists of:
- Finasteride 1.25 mg a day
- scalp massages to break up fibrosis (probably only a delusional attempt of me but this https://www.hairlosstalk.com/intera...or-finasteride-mechanical-stimulation.116396/ gave me the motivation to give it a try)
- microneedling 1.5 mm on temples every 3 days /on hairline once a week

I'm a diffuse thinner , so I'm not satisfied with my density, temples are not gone yet but they're brutally thinning. I'm of the opinion that my density has somewhat improved ever since I've started microneedling but there's still work ahead. What should I add? I want to avoid minoxidil, I wouldn't like having to deal with dark circles or shitty collagen.

 

[Michael1986]

The scalp massages and microneedling are probably doing very little for your hair, if anything. You say your temples are "brutally thinning", which means that the finasteride is not putting a halt to your hair loss and is only slowing it down. Therefore, maybe you should switch to dutasteride to see if that can put a halt to your hair loss. Maybe also consider adding a topical antiandrogen like CB-03-01.

 

[StevenGerrard]

The scalp massages and microneedling are probably doing very little for your hair, if anything. You say your temples are "brutally thinning", which means that the finasteride is not putting a halt to your hair loss and is only slowing it down. Therefore, maybe you should switch to dutasteride to see if that can put a halt to your hair loss. Maybe also consider adding a topical antiandrogen like CB-03-01.

You are on Duta, yes? I wanna make the switch to Duta (full time) but I'm already getting raped by finasteride (negative side effects). How long have you been on Duta? Any sides?

 

[Michael1986]

You are on Duta, yes? I wanna make the switch to Duta (full time) but I'm already getting raped by finasteride (negative side effects). How long have you been on Duta? Any sides?

If finasteride is giving you bad side-effects, dutasteride will give you the same side-effects only more severe, as it is essentially just a stronger version of finasteride. It is up to you whether you want to make the switch. I guess it all comes down to how much you value your hair at the expense of these side-effects. I've been on dutasteride for over five years. It has regrown a lot of my hair, but I have had mild sexual sides. My libido is slightly lower, and I have slightly weaker erections. But these effects are only mild in my case, and are not a problem. I've had no mental sides at all.

 

[Derelict]

If finasteride is giving you bad side-effects, dutasteride will give you the same side-effects only more severe, as it is essentially just a stronger version of finasteride. It is up to you whether you want to make the switch. I guess it all comes down to how much you value your hair at the expense of these side-effects. I've been on dutasteride for over five years. It has regrown a lot of my hair, but I have had mild sexual sides. My libido is slightly lower, and I have slightly weaker erections. But these effects are only mild in my case, and are not a problem. I've had no mental sides at all.

I think in studies the libido stats were nearly identical to finasteride, so if your libido has only slightly lowered on finasteride it is not the case that it will be even worse on dutasteride imo. The only thing you really need to look out for on dutasteride are mental sides since it inhibits type 1 and type 3, i didn't get any and im very sensitive to those sorts of changes as i already suffer from pretty bad depression and anxiety, dutasteride hasn't made either any worse.

 

[transam]

I think in studies the libido stats were nearly identical to finasteride, so if your libido has only slightly lowered on finasteride it is not the case that it will be even worse on dutasteride imo. The only thing you really need to look out for on dutasteride are mental sides since it inhibits type 1 and type 3, i didn't get any and im very sensitive to those sorts of changes as i already suffer from pretty bad depression and anxiety, dutasteride hasn't made either any worse.

dutasteride certainly stopped my loss.
But the areas where I applied minoxidil (crown & temples) are still struggling. They grow back VERY THIN, & at a much slower pace than the rest of my head.
I should've never stopped minoxidil when i first tried it years ago.

 

[Derelict]

dutasteride certainly stopped my loss.
But the areas where I applied minoxidil (crown & temples) are still struggling. They grow back VERY THIN, & at a much slower pace than the rest of my head.
I should've never stopped minoxidil when i first tried it years ago.

How long did you stop minoxidil for? i stopped it for about 5/6 months before and restarted it. The hair grown back is also like you very thin, with some careful combing and dry hair i can get away with looking like a full head but when wet it's still an absolute mess.

 

[transam]

How long did you stop minoxidil for? i stopped it for about 5/6 months before and restarted it. The hair grown back is also like you very thin, with some careful combing and dry hair i can get away with looking like a full head but when wet it's still an absolute mess.

When I first stopped minoxidil, it was for about 1.5 Years.

Then I got back on, but stopped again for a few months.....then got back on, then stopped again for a few months. This cycle continued for the last 4 years...which bring me to today.

I honestly believe the starting & stopping of minoxidil just made my hair miserable.

I dont have the results I first had when I used minoxidil for the first time 5-6 years ago.

At this point, I wish I never started minoxidil, & only used dutasteride or finasteride for the get go. But I didn't know about Anti Androgens back then

 

[Timii]

Just wanted to add that I might start oral minoxidil soon (even though I said in my OP that I would avoid it I guess I'm not in the position to be picky) . Would any of you recommend it or recommend something different?

 

[Michael1986]

I think in studies the libido stats were nearly identical to finasteride, so if your libido has only slightly lowered on finasteride it is not the case that it will be even worse on dutasteride imo. The only thing you really need to look out for on dutasteride are mental sides since it inhibits type 1 and type 3, i didn't get any and im very sensitive to those sorts of changes as i already suffer from pretty bad depression and anxiety, dutasteride hasn't made either any worse.

I would say that dutasteride would surely be expected to have a bigger effect on libido than finasteride, due to its more complete inhibition of 5ar type 2 and also its additional partial inhibition of 5ar type 1. Both finasteride and dutasteride potently inhibit 5ar type 3. I agree that mental sides are definitely more common with dutasteride due to the type 1 inhibition. But mental sides from finasteride appear not to be rare either, and this could be largely due to type 3 inhibition. Like the type 1 enzyme, the type 3 enzyme has also been found to be present in the brain tissue.

Just wanted to add that I might start oral minoxidil soon (even though I said in my OP that I would avoid it I guess I'm not in the position to be picky) . Would any of you recommend it or recommend something different?

You could give it a try, but be careful with it as it is potent stuff. I recommend a low dose of 1.25mg or 2.5mg a day. I personally would never recommend anyone use a dose higher than 5mg a day maximum. Higher doses than this are not necessary anyway, because a recent study found that these low doses are highly effective at growing hair.

 

[StevenGerrard]

I wanna try oral minoxidil so bad but the thought that it can potentially cause acromegaly scares me to death (I'm paranoid about that sh*t... don't ask)

I have my good and bad days with finasteride (side effects wise).. on certain days my libido is shot to sh*t and others it's average-ish -- one thing is for certain though I haven't had a morning boner in months

 

[BigOl'BaldingHead]

I wanna try oral minoxidil so bad but the thought that it can potentially cause acromegaly scares me to death (I'm paranoid about that sh*t... don't ask)

I have my good and bad days with finasteride (side effects wise).. on certain days my libido is shot to sh*t and others it's average-ish -- one thing is for certain though I haven't had a morning boner in months

Doesn't that only happen at unusually high doses? That's why studies say at least.

 

[justbeconfident]

I wanna try oral minoxidil so bad but the thought that it can potentially cause acromegaly scares me to death (I'm paranoid about that sh*t... don't ask)

I have my good and bad days with finasteride (side effects wise).. on certain days my libido is shot to sh*t and others it's average-ish -- one thing is for certain though I haven't had a morning boner in months

the first thing i noticed on finasteride is that my wood was gone and dick was completely limp, also then rubber dick to touch and absence of libido followed, but i might get back on finasteride now, because being slick bald nw4-7 is probably more scary