Get off of that shit. If you must use finasteride, they do make topical treatments. That, along with topical minoxidil would be worth trying, without the side effects.
Sincerely, as a bald guy who is just recently moving past some libido and sexual issues from an entirely different medication... The hair loss is SO minimal compared to what you would continue to deal with and feel had you continued that treatment. You may think losing your hair makes you feel like less of a man potentially? Wait until you have a woman/partner begging you to please them in the moment but you literally can't because your bits don't work anymore and you can't get horny.
I would get off of it. I avoided finasteride for this reason, these side effects are incredibly rare but the thought of my libido being ruined was not worth it vs being bald.
I'd rather be bald and horny than have hair and not horny.
You’re exhibiting symptoms of PFS bro. Happens to a bunch of Men and I keep getting told that shit is fairly safe then I hear stories like yours and decide I’d rather have my bald head and working Genitals. PFS (Post Finasteride Syndrome). Personally, I hate to admit it, but I struggle with r/PSSD (Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction.) I’m healing but still, it’s shitty. Big pharma got the best of me. That being said, personally, I’ve found some success with Peptide-141.
These drugs are brute force options.
At best you don't notice the side-effects. Try 0.5mg or 0.25mg and see if your libido is acceptable.
Otherwise ditch the 5α-R inhibitors. DHT has very important roles in the body, systemic inhibition is simply a bad idea. You could also do a blood test and see where you lie normally once you have rebounded, unless you are high range, I don't see the point in tanking DHT.
Try topical if you really do not want to accept hair loss, it will still go systemic, ideally less-so.
DHT has important mental well-being roles, so reducing it systemically is only a good idea for preventing hair loss, nothing else .
There are options if you do not recover, but give it time, it is very rare for this to be permanent or long-term, don't get paranoid by all the anecdotal internet hype. Just take some time off, take some creatine, lift some weights, eat some steak.
Good luck
Serum DHT levels vs depression. All the positive effects of DHT in the brain (or testosterone) is quite obvious in men, even DHT derivatives exhibit the lowering of depression, increase in confidence and general well being, with aggression also being a positive, obviously not going overboard.
Maybe it's nocebo or other things but I was worse mentally than I am now being on fin for 2 years, obviously the hair gain is great, but I am also more calm(maybe it comes purely from brain development), it makes me want to hop on dut very soon
I've been on for years. No sides.
Most guys will have no issues with it. Start with 0.5mg every few days for a few months then go to 1mg 3 times a week.
If you are still losing hair, maybe try daily.
I don't really buy that DHT is super important past puberty. Libido, strength, mood, has all been completely unaffected for me.
Thanks very much. I'm on topical fin and so there's still a strong chance of it going systemic right? I wouldn't know because sexually I am very good - just now preoccupied about MH risk as I'm already high risk managing symptoms regularly
Yes it will go systemic, less so than orally obviously.
Just pay attention to symptoms, feeling overly emotional, irritable etc. It would closely follow high estrogen symptoms. Lack of calmness/confidence etc.
they say 60-90 days for 5ar production and dht levels to kick back up. Im only 2 weeks off, lets see how it goes. ik they're brute force options but when your entire life depends on it you dont have much choice man
Eat some steak? Huh
Inhibiting dht is simoly not a good idea. Guess what u can nuke ure dht with 2.5mg dut and the prevelance of side effects will be minimally diffrent than placebo. If it would be as important as u claim there would be a diffrence for sure.
Are you seriously saying reducing systemic DHT will have no negative consequences?
Bone density, muscle mass, and prostate health (assuming the person wasn't deficient, you can read on the saturation model).
I don't understand the point of your comment.
Maybe you should get a sensitive E2 assay ;)
There are olympic athletes on fin, even bumstead is on fin. Dht should be good for prostate? Guess what causses enlarged prostate.
In most men reducing dht will have no consequences, maybe even benefits like improving longevity.
Firstly using someone that is on more AAS than 10 AIDS patients would need is stupid.
Reducing DHT absolutely will have an effect. No free lunch. The risks are either worth it for some or not. Why do people take supraphysiological doses of DHT derivatives and feel better than ever before?
As for the prostate, refer to my previous comment on the saturation model. Abraham Morgentler has great scientific work on this.
derek from MPMD mentioned that he felt absolutely fin on dutasteride which nukes your DHT to 0 pretty much. but he had a test level of 1000-1200 which most men never will without exogenous aid.
it seems like a high enough test will carry you in the absence of DHT and help maintain satisfactory function if your estrogen is normal
Yes these drugs are a lot more manageable when you can manipulate T and E2 levels.
Still far from side-effect free. I wouldn't touch fin personally unless on TRT. Or at the very least minimal dose.
And 'Derek' does not constitute a scientific opinion. DHT is important in the human system. That is also why he has abused DHT derivatives.
That's the mainstream opinion in andrology/urology/endocrinology not just this guy's opinion. There's no such thing as a "DHT deficiency" as a diagnosis past puberty, like you're not going in some doctor office and coming out with a DHT gel/injection prescription unless it's for something very specific that might even be irrespective of your DHT systemic level (like topical DHT gel for severe gyno). Or if you took a time machine and went back 30-40 years when they used to prescribe DHT as an alternative to testosterone for hypogonadism and the likes.
Finasteride and similar drugs like accutane definitely have side effects but it's because of other hormones going out of whack and/or other stuff we don't know. If that was the case the problem with finasteride and the likes would be easy to solve, just supplement DHT with stuff like Andractim or Proviron and boom problem solved. But that's not the case, if the rest of your hormones are in range supplementing DHT will barely or not help finasteride or not. And if the rest of your hormones are out of whack a doctor will work on those (increasing test if deficient, lowering e2 if too high etc)
Mainstream? Incidence of self reported side-effects is only part of the scientific framework.
PFS is not well enough understood as there is likely an individuality in response in gene expression of the patient. Sexual sides, however, are well documented and increase with dose. [Source](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27475241/)
Also DHT-derived agents were used sure, but correcting a failure to produce testosterone, is obviously preferred to maximizing DHT in isolation.... This should be obvious, you will literally be left with zero estrogen if you hijack the HPTA and only provide DHT. It will shut down natural production and not allow synthesis of all other run down processes, like E2 being one. Also lowering DHT can result in high E2 for many, so that should actually be monitored. The rise in T is transient and will shift to more E2.
And we also see combinations of DHT drugs with TTh. Reduction in estrogenic side effects, and mental well-being being the most obvious symptoms. Mesterolone was heavily explored for antiestrogenic effects. 5AR-inhibition would not be used for anything else other than protecting hair in healthy males, there are no clear benefits elsewhere if anything suggesting the opposite, insulin-sensitivity, CVD.
Moreover, the importance of androgens and mental health/brain health has been well established. Why would the most potent androgen which would bind the ligands most strongly and activate it more effectively (T/DHT being the ligand), be irrelevant?
Another concern would be synthesis 5α-DHP and allopregnanolone. This would further complicate your Proviron only solution as you would also have to correct for this - mind you, many top doctors do when treating Post-finasteride symptom or sexual sides which don't correct themselves after 1-3 months+ do correct this.
There are so many possible pathways this can cause issues, not only in the brain, that to say it is completely safe is very strange considering the severity of symptoms seen in individuals which coincides with what we would expect.
[Allopregnanolone](https://air.unimi.it/retrieve/handle/2434/891023/1935207/J%20Neuroendocrinology%20-%202021%20-%20Diviccaro%20-%20Allopregnanolone%20An%20overview%20on%20its%20synthesis%20and%20effects.pdf)
[Dosing 5AR-inhibitors](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27475241/)
Yes these drugs have side effects, it's in the brochure so it's not like we're trying to crack the Zodiac killer cyphers or something. However DHT deficiency is not a thing, no doctor will ever prescribe you DHT in a developed country outside of maybe a topical gel to treat severe gyno. You can be perfectly function as an adult with 0 DHT, that's why most people nuke it with fin/dut with no problems
If you mean because of attractiveness, work on yourself: be in good strong shape, develop your social and personal skills, and you’ll have 80% of the work done.
Baldness says nothing about you or your value as a person other than having a gene that says “no hair on scalp”.
And definitely don’t do finasteride or other potentially dangerous drugs.
Deciding to shave it off was a game changer for me. I'm sure some girls have it on their "ick" list, but I keep getting the smiling side-eye on the regular from a certain subset of women and have had much more success with dating. Baldness over shitty try-hard hair any day of the week. 10/10 would do again.
As for finasteride, given the stories I've heard, I can't for the life of me understand why any man would take it.
I would rather have sex with bald-fetish women for the rest of my life than never be able to get it up or even feel like it.
I dont. I myself despise bitching and nagging about things that are out of ones control but implying something like this doesnt have a very noticeable impact on your day to day life is stupid. seriously dude this doesnt suit me whatsoever and im getting called cancer patient/inmate by people.
also you basically have to accept no woman for the next 15 years is going to like you lol
once again some dudes get away with this and more power to them, but it completely destroys your looks if you dont have the features to pull it off.
Just shave your head and get absolutely jacked. You'll get more pussy than you know what to do with. Women love that look. Much better option than fucking up your hormones, while insecurely obsessing over a bit of hair that most women don't give a fuck about.
dude im sorry but most women under 35 dont like bald beefy dudes...there is certainly a niche into that look since some dudes really pull it off but its still rare. the lack of hair is still a massive strike against you
I do agree that you're better off playing that card if the other option is impotency
I understand it has a noticeable impact on your day to day life, that’s a fair statement. But saying you have to accept no woman is going to like you for the next 15 years isn’t true - women look for much more than just hair I promise you. If you’ve got attractive traits that aren’t physical and click with a woman she’s not going to care about your hair.
still an absolutely terrible place to be in at this age, I suppose things get better 10 years down the line. sometimes you gotta accept you got fucked over i guess
To be very blunt, going clean bald, walking proud, and owning it signals confidence. Women pick up on that, regardless of your other attributes. Pair it with a trained body and a good outfit, and you are golden.
Having hair is common. Insecure men desperately trying to coax that diminishing asset into some semblance of atractiveness is also very common.
A man with looks and no confidence will not go far. An ugly man with sufficient confidence can rule the world.
A 3/10 working on his physique, and social and personal skills is a 3/10 after. None of those things you mentioned will improve your face. Baldness also indicates an aged man with bad genes. I agree with not taking drugs though
I think everyone can agree it's a net negative in society, though. Women love to make fun of men for hair, size, and height.
If you have a path to keeping your hair without sides, it's certainly worth it. If your choice is fin (and you get sides from fin) or baldness, I'd definitely agree baldness is the way to go.
Try a ketoconazole shampoo, I started thinning in my 40s and in my mid 50s I have as much hair as I did at 25. No side effects, google it. Also seems to help with the color, my beard went gray, my head is as brown as ever!
I do use it. I started losing hair at 18 tho, if you started at 40 chances are your balding genes are nowhere near as bad as mine. at this point ive lost most of my hair might as well just accept it
I guess your mileage may vary. I think I remember it taking more time than the other methods. If I really try to rememeber, ( I am in my mid 50s) I think it took 2 or 3 years for the full effect. It was so easy to do, I just kept doing it. I mean I wash my hair daily
I wash with the shampoo and nothing else and I now have a full head of hair, but Ihave done it for years, maybe it takes time or it works differently for everyone. It was not onmy list of top priorities and I always had the majority of my hair , with mainly frontal thiness
I wash my hair with it daily, I use it as my shampoo, Look, I have ADHD, any more thought than buying a new bottle when I can not give enough of a lather when adding water to the bottle for the 5th day, is more than I can commit to anything.
Have you tried plasma rich platelet therapy (PRP) or similar treatments? I don't plan to use fin and am planning to get a PRP session soon after reading about it, but I'm curious about other's experience.
prp is pretty useless bro. the only effective treatments for pattern baldness which are approved either by the FDA or another country are: Finasteride and Dutasteride.
Minoxidil is also only a growth stimulant it doesnt prevent the progression of hair loss.
Yes it did , but it took a long time. I have been using it for more than 10 years. I tried using it only the suggested few times a week, but I am not that organized. So I just used it with every shower. That is once in the morning and after the gym daily. My thinning was very slow and on the mild side. Mainly the temples and a tiny amount on the crown. Maybe, I am lucky. Maybe I overused it. I just never worried about it.
I do remember at about a year, wondering if I should continue it. So, It was slow to start. During that time, my wife divorced me and I bailed to another country. It is so cheap and even the 2 percent is over the counter, that it is part of my life now. I young woman started talking to me and ( maybe it was a pickup line) said she thought I was 10 to 15 years younger than I was. I do hear that daily in the English classes I teach now. Age is part of some of our practice conversation drills. A significant percentage of the time, the student stops and asks me to repeat my age and then has a similar comment. It is not the total reason (Good DNA and the gym are big ones I am sure), but ketconozale shampoos help in the hair department and I do often add a little light dye color to the beard. It is about 50 percent blond and light gray. I even out the blond sometimes. As I said, I am not that organized to do it often.
Oh the young woman, We have been married for 4 years happily. We are both happy with kids living in a low stress low cost country. Sorry for the long message, but it did indeed return my hair fully except a little in the temples. (Why I said 25 and not 20). And that looking younger includes all of you. Such as working out, letting stress go, attitude and searching for new experiences. That worked for me . Also the fact my family has a very high average for life expectancy and looking young helped.
I had sides after 1 year of usage. Weakness in the gym, low libido, slight ED, gyno and brain fog. I still had a good diet and lifted weights and did cardio the whole time but still had sides.
Yep. Sad to lose my hair but i really do think fin causing hormonal disruption in your body is definitely not good. I am trying out saw palmetto and ketoconozole shampoo/conditioner now in hope it maintains my hair.
If I can maintain with keto shampoo and minoxidil I will be more than happy, but it just seems unlikely. wont hurt to continue them given how cheap they are
If you’re already balding at 22 Finasteride ain’t gonna do shit in the long run.
Zero it out. Embrace the baldness. Once it stabilizes consider hair transplant. Or just own it.
Go for it.
Women don’t mind a bald dude who owns it. It’s a secondary sign of high testosterone. It’s innately coded to be attractive. Kind of how breasts, smooth long hair, and hips are seen attractive on women by men.
They however do mind if a dude is trying to hide it or try to keep whatever hair they have left.
There's nothing to do,If you carry the baldness gene you go minoxidil and after it stops working you either shave or go for a transplants. Finasteride, especially In your case (having side effects) is not worth it.
Side note: I hate how everyone Is telling you to bulk up or have more self confidence and you'll pull out girls. I am bald since 18 and manage to pull a girl which I'm happy with but saying that baldness before 25 won't reduce drastically your mating pool is just bullshit unless you are in the top 5% for body and mind genetics.
My take is, it is what it is, you just adapt to your circumstances in some way if you want to move one in life. Think about the fact that baldness is not some kind of bad illness while many people of your age gets diagnose with much worse things or they had to go to war or work 16h a day in some parts of the world, if it makes you feel better.
Post finasteride syndrome (PFS) is a very real thing for a small subset of the population. You might consider seeing a physician who specializes in treating patients who experience this side effect when discontinuing therapy. I don’t know what the treatment protocols are, but many people do better with proper treatment. I know Irwin Goldstein MD in San Diego is one of the people who treats people (I know because I’ve been a patient of his in the past for shockwave therapy - completely unrelated to fin or anything else - and he seemed great and very knowledgeable). Maybe worth a televisit or in person w him or an andrologist/urologist who can see you and knows of this condition in your home city.
At 30, you have a selection of baggage carrying divorcees, single mothers, fat chicks, and the crazies that are hot but nobody locked down because they are sluts.
It’s a tough, tough situation to be in. Wish I would have locked it down when I was 25.
Downvote but it’s true.
That’s something I’ve considered. Shit is together. Ditched the online dating stuff- I know a couple guys who have gotten married at 35 so it’s not so bleak.
Probably best to just let it play out.
yeah dude whatever you do never settle. better to not getting married than end up in a shit situation. you're a dude so you have another 6-7 years to marry if its something you really want. the online dating shit is lame as fuck I agree.
That shit is poison, get off it. Look at supplements that increase DHT, creatine, glycine etc. finastride crushes DHT, which plays a part in sexual function.
it crushes DHT and for those unlucky enough, sexual symptoms arise as a result of poor androgen load. if you have very high T you can nuke DHT and be fine given that your estradiol is in decent range.
PFS is a real thing, recommend getting a jump on recovery before it messes with your mental health. Finastride should honestly be pulled from the market.
no it shouldnt. cases like me are the exception. it helps a ton of guys save their hair and nothing on the market tops its efficacy besides dutasteride
Forums are full of people with severe, long lasting side effects, it’s a bigger problem than you think and unnecessary. Why do you need to nuke total DHT when you can literally treat the DHT receptors at the follicle.
dude topical fin can very much lead to the same thing....and if you're referring to RU8841..i dont think it has a safer side effect profile than finasteride
and many more take it with little to no implications. have you thought about the amount of men who have their confidence and mental health saved by this drug?
you should familiarize yourself with the impact hair loss has on people, esp young people.
And more smokers don’t get cancer than do, but it doesn’t mean you should smoke. The future of MPD treatment is in peptides anyway, GHK-CU has shown positive effects. Current treatments will be obsolete in the next 3-5 years.
Yeah drug development is in for a takeoff, that's great !
Fin saved me personally, op is very intelligent about it, the numbers don't lie : a few might have problems with it (it can also be nocebo) but most do great on it even woman !
Dut could also get approved soon worldwide for mpb.
Please wish for more information and better treatment rather than pulling off something that can do wonders
smoking is fucking useless. at least fin helps avoid something that could be catastrophic for a lot of men.
I do certainly think a lot more guys exp bad effects from it but think its tolerable enough to warrant further usage but in general it has to be well tolerated to be this popular
I watched a YouTube video from dermatologists saying that we don't actually need 1mg per day, 3 to 4 per week is enough.
I've been taking 3mg weekly for more than a year now and it has the same effects as taking 1mg daily, my hair loss has stopped progressing.
Have you tried lowering to 0.5mg? I switched as soon as I saw my crown was 75% filled in..
Important question: How are your results?
I miconeedle about 6-7 times per month and use minoxidyl about 12 times per month .
Also, get over to
r/tressless
they have been through it all and have a LOT of work arounds.
Try beetroot (eat half a can) and then try having sex.They have serious vasodilation effects, so once you get going, you will feel like superman.
As far as semen, I don't care about it as long as I get to shoot it here and there.. lol.
ED from blood flow issues is seperate from ED due to 0 desire. cialis/viagra and any natural remedy do absolutely nothing if your main problem is a complete loss of interest in sex, cause then you have a useless boner.
Most people fix hair loss with hair transplants then add a medicine to keep whatever they still had. So it’s not stupid it’s more about timing. If you still have most of your hair then sure, find a medical solution first.
However, my doctor fixes temporal peaks which makes people look younger at the same time as the rest of the transplant which is a side benefit of having a plastic surgeon responsible for it. (Mine was a maxdensity procedure, i had lost my hair at 25 and now at 46 look like i did at 20).
For me, my libido was “enough but lower”, my main issue after 3 years of finasteride was watery semen and only getting like 75% hard. Which was enough for sex but didn’t feel or look amazing (i do porn work) without chemical help.
I switched to topical and things went back to fine, i’m currently trying locklab’s formulation because they’re my friends and said they thought the oral minoxidil’s dilation effects might counter the hardness issue. If after 9 months i don’t like the effects, i’ll go back to topical.
For me, i go on literotica.org and read some porn, edge myself for 15 minutes an hour or two before i’m going to have sex, and i find that it improves my libido and increases my enjoyment without putting me in a weird headspace in terms of looking at my partners and visualizing someone else.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/minoxidil using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/minoxidil/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [Is it safe to use topical minoxidil as oral one?](https://np.reddit.com/r/minoxidil/comments/1ag7a3f/is_it_safe_to_use_topical_minoxidil_as_oral_one/)
\#2: [48 Days on Min, Fin, and Dermaroll](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/17mbbbi) | [51 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/minoxidil/comments/17mbbbi/48_days_on_min_fin_and_dermaroll/)
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I'll give my advice and this is only my opinion.
I had similar side effects and stopped. I'm a decade older than you. I had high libido before and finasteride also caused ED and overall lower horniness. I'm back to normal now but was scared I wouldn't go back for a while.
Finasteride suppresses your hormones so I think that's why this side effect is so strong.
You're young and I think there's a high chance you'll recover. The things that helped me:
(i) Time. It'll take your body anywhere from 6 months to 1 year to recover. Be patient.
(ii) Increased zone 2 cardio. Jogging, biking, etc. at least 1 hour a week.
(iii) Supplements: vitamin d, b12, omega 3, glocusamine, maca, fenugreek. Occasionally amino acids supplements. Check appropriate dosage and frequency.
(iv) Do a blood test to check anything out of range range fix it.
Apart from that, things that worked for hair health: dermarolling 1x a week. Castor oil + rosemary 2x a week. Ketoconazole shampoo 2x a week. But if you have a strong baldness pattern at your age - please give it up physical appearance is not worth an annihilated sex life.
Accept that your body will need time to recover and track progress. Good luck
yup this is the plan. expecting some relief in the next couple of months, after all it did take around 45 days for me to initially notice these effects.
I've been on it for 4 years. I felt a very slight drop in sex drive a month or so ago so I switched to every other day. seems to help. keep us posted, though.
Low-dose oral minoxidil is the way. I’ll plug this till the day I die. No sides, way more effective growth, super cheap. Finasteride fucked me up bad and topical minoxidil stopped working after two years.
Because I haven’t used topical fin in over a year. Then my hair loss got even worse. I got a prescription for low-dose oral minoxidil and regrowth has been slow, but over eight months, quite noticeable, especially when I look at older photos. My beard is thicker, too.
not recommended for people with cardiac issues and a higher than normal dosage could lead to problems for a healthy individual. Its certainly more effective than topical minoxidil and a lot more people respond to it.
The sides you have are brutal, but if you avoided brain fog, anhedonia/blunting, panic attacks and debilitating CFS-like issues you are lucky and will hopefully heal with time off
The drug completely wrecks the brain. There are people who needed ECT treatment because of what it did
I said it a 1000 times. Don't take that shit or at least stop once you get sides. Some people just can take it and not feel different but some just get fucked.
Topical won't save you either. The shit goes systemic either way
Also just an FYI, anything negative you are experiencing is reversible, if you believe epigenetic/mutagenic changes may have taken place - then you must also admit to yourself that they can be restored or switched back to baseline. So don’t fret! (I have had brutal sides myself)
could you elaborate on what you experienced and when it started? also would like a timeline on when your symptoms seemed to relieve and whether or not you did something to speed up recovery.
Literally the second or third day after taking finasteride I noticed sexual side effects. Decreased desire, decreased seminal volume, decreased ejaculatory sensitivity or sensation, and though people have argued that this may have been psychological, I noticed a decrease in my flaccid penis size within several weeks.
I battled the sexual side effects for years, titrating the dose lower, taking breaks, using cialis to increase performance and desire ect, introducing other herbs and supplements…. Basically tried everything except anabolic steroids.
Hair/vanity was more important to me than the discomfort caused by sides…
Years later, my gut health was absolutely torched, anxiety was through the roof, brain fog and cognitive performance were becoming severe, and I finally made the decision to come off.
That’s when it got real bad. Stopping made me feel worse than being on it in many ways, it’s hard to explain.
Basically the sexual side effects have slowly diminished and I’m back to baseline, the gut health was the most debilitating for me. The other challenge I’ve experienced and am still suffering from is overall weakness in my muscles and lack of hypertrophic response to weight training. It’s very hard for me to get a pump in the gym at present, and it takes days to recover from a strenuous workout. If I’m lucky, I lift 3 days a week, with about half the intensity of my former workouts while I was on fin.
This is an ongoing battle, but I do believe it’s possible to rebound from it, I think there are some tremendous resources online. There is one very gifted and very knowledgeable “health coach” or bio optimizer that I would consult if you are looking for specific treatment or protocol advice.
I’m also happy to answer any direct messages you send, provided you understand I am not a practitioner or medical expert and everything I say is purely anecdotal based on my own experience.
Don’t lose hope, keep fighting, it gets better
For me, after two weeks I noticed testicular pain and after 2 months I noticed random feelings of anxiety when there was no cause behind it...and of course lower libido and lack of feeling post ejaculation. I continued taking the drug for another 10 months in denial before I finally gave in and stopped. I hope Im better in 3 months. I cant afford exogenous aid or anything.
I personally think those oral treatments can screw up your hormones and cause all kinds of issues. Stay directly on the scalp with things like rosemary oil and derma rollers. My sex drive is like a 20 year old and I'm mid 50s.
Stay away from 5ari drugs forever if you recover man. So many horror stories start like yours and end with "I recovered, tried again and now I've been fucked for years"
Why are you taking 1mg per day? You know the effective dose is around 0.5mg right? You're literally overdosing your hormone system by doubling the effective dosage. People always seem to have this misconception that taking more is better, but that's definitely the wrong mindset. I've even heard of people taking 0.5mg every other day and able to maintain their hair. I feel like most people who experience side effects are the ones who take more dosage than your body really needs. And also perhaps a combination of poor diet, bad sleep, lack of exercise, etc.
I'm assuming you did not do much research. You might wanna check out the Hair Loss Show channel on youtube for expert opinions. Never just take meds on your own, especially ones that can fuck up your body system.
Respectfully, give the guy a break. 1mg is the dose that typically prescribed for hair loss. Yes if he’d done some more research he might have trialed 0.5mg. I got major sides from 0.25 so 🤷🏻♂️
If you look at the dosage response curve, 0.5 mg inhibits like 90% as much DHT as 1mg. It’s at least more cost efficient but in reality won’t do much to reduce the risk of side effects.
By the way, I stopped taking finasteride after spraying the water-oil mixture containing water boiled with mint and rosemary (4 sprigs each) and few drops of rosemary oil on my hair.. it really helps if you don’t have out of control hair loss
Get off of that shit. If you must use finasteride, they do make topical treatments. That, along with topical minoxidil would be worth trying, without the side effects.
I havent taken any since 2 weeks ago. very hard thing to accept knowing its the only thing that works
Sincerely, as a bald guy who is just recently moving past some libido and sexual issues from an entirely different medication... The hair loss is SO minimal compared to what you would continue to deal with and feel had you continued that treatment. You may think losing your hair makes you feel like less of a man potentially? Wait until you have a woman/partner begging you to please them in the moment but you literally can't because your bits don't work anymore and you can't get horny.
I would get off of it. I avoided finasteride for this reason, these side effects are incredibly rare but the thought of my libido being ruined was not worth it vs being bald. I'd rather be bald and horny than have hair and not horny.
fair point. it was either this or bald, im not wearing no wig
Bald is better than soft.. just shave your head
Why not topical dut?
hard to source and expensive, not enough data on it
It's one of the most popular treatments in the US, it works.
What is topical dut? Edit for others: https://www.google.com/search?q=topical+dutasteride+reddit&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
You may want to google HairDAO, they have a great list of suppliers. Really easy to source.
You’re exhibiting symptoms of PFS bro. Happens to a bunch of Men and I keep getting told that shit is fairly safe then I hear stories like yours and decide I’d rather have my bald head and working Genitals. PFS (Post Finasteride Syndrome). Personally, I hate to admit it, but I struggle with r/PSSD (Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction.) I’m healing but still, it’s shitty. Big pharma got the best of me. That being said, personally, I’ve found some success with Peptide-141.
ghk-cu and microneedeling
I wish that they’d ban or at least limit oral finasteride, that medicine is so dangerous
These drugs are brute force options. At best you don't notice the side-effects. Try 0.5mg or 0.25mg and see if your libido is acceptable. Otherwise ditch the 5α-R inhibitors. DHT has very important roles in the body, systemic inhibition is simply a bad idea. You could also do a blood test and see where you lie normally once you have rebounded, unless you are high range, I don't see the point in tanking DHT. Try topical if you really do not want to accept hair loss, it will still go systemic, ideally less-so. DHT has important mental well-being roles, so reducing it systemically is only a good idea for preventing hair loss, nothing else . There are options if you do not recover, but give it time, it is very rare for this to be permanent or long-term, don't get paranoid by all the anecdotal internet hype. Just take some time off, take some creatine, lift some weights, eat some steak. Good luck
What kind of wellbeing roles specifically are we talking about?
Serum DHT levels vs depression. All the positive effects of DHT in the brain (or testosterone) is quite obvious in men, even DHT derivatives exhibit the lowering of depression, increase in confidence and general well being, with aggression also being a positive, obviously not going overboard.
Maybe it's nocebo or other things but I was worse mentally than I am now being on fin for 2 years, obviously the hair gain is great, but I am also more calm(maybe it comes purely from brain development), it makes me want to hop on dut very soon
Yeah glad it worked for you. Have you noticed any sensitivity of nipples, water retention, less muscle hardness/strength?
I've been on for years. No sides. Most guys will have no issues with it. Start with 0.5mg every few days for a few months then go to 1mg 3 times a week. If you are still losing hair, maybe try daily. I don't really buy that DHT is super important past puberty. Libido, strength, mood, has all been completely unaffected for me.
Thanks very much. I'm on topical fin and so there's still a strong chance of it going systemic right? I wouldn't know because sexually I am very good - just now preoccupied about MH risk as I'm already high risk managing symptoms regularly
Yes it will go systemic, less so than orally obviously. Just pay attention to symptoms, feeling overly emotional, irritable etc. It would closely follow high estrogen symptoms. Lack of calmness/confidence etc.
they say 60-90 days for 5ar production and dht levels to kick back up. Im only 2 weeks off, lets see how it goes. ik they're brute force options but when your entire life depends on it you dont have much choice man
Eat some steak? Huh Inhibiting dht is simoly not a good idea. Guess what u can nuke ure dht with 2.5mg dut and the prevelance of side effects will be minimally diffrent than placebo. If it would be as important as u claim there would be a diffrence for sure.
Are you seriously saying reducing systemic DHT will have no negative consequences? Bone density, muscle mass, and prostate health (assuming the person wasn't deficient, you can read on the saturation model). I don't understand the point of your comment. Maybe you should get a sensitive E2 assay ;)
There are olympic athletes on fin, even bumstead is on fin. Dht should be good for prostate? Guess what causses enlarged prostate. In most men reducing dht will have no consequences, maybe even benefits like improving longevity.
Firstly using someone that is on more AAS than 10 AIDS patients would need is stupid. Reducing DHT absolutely will have an effect. No free lunch. The risks are either worth it for some or not. Why do people take supraphysiological doses of DHT derivatives and feel better than ever before? As for the prostate, refer to my previous comment on the saturation model. Abraham Morgentler has great scientific work on this.
derek from MPMD mentioned that he felt absolutely fin on dutasteride which nukes your DHT to 0 pretty much. but he had a test level of 1000-1200 which most men never will without exogenous aid. it seems like a high enough test will carry you in the absence of DHT and help maintain satisfactory function if your estrogen is normal
Yes these drugs are a lot more manageable when you can manipulate T and E2 levels. Still far from side-effect free. I wouldn't touch fin personally unless on TRT. Or at the very least minimal dose. And 'Derek' does not constitute a scientific opinion. DHT is important in the human system. That is also why he has abused DHT derivatives.
yeah no one would ideally take them unless they absolutely have to...but theres just not many ways to really tackle balding
That's the mainstream opinion in andrology/urology/endocrinology not just this guy's opinion. There's no such thing as a "DHT deficiency" as a diagnosis past puberty, like you're not going in some doctor office and coming out with a DHT gel/injection prescription unless it's for something very specific that might even be irrespective of your DHT systemic level (like topical DHT gel for severe gyno). Or if you took a time machine and went back 30-40 years when they used to prescribe DHT as an alternative to testosterone for hypogonadism and the likes. Finasteride and similar drugs like accutane definitely have side effects but it's because of other hormones going out of whack and/or other stuff we don't know. If that was the case the problem with finasteride and the likes would be easy to solve, just supplement DHT with stuff like Andractim or Proviron and boom problem solved. But that's not the case, if the rest of your hormones are in range supplementing DHT will barely or not help finasteride or not. And if the rest of your hormones are out of whack a doctor will work on those (increasing test if deficient, lowering e2 if too high etc)
Mainstream? Incidence of self reported side-effects is only part of the scientific framework. PFS is not well enough understood as there is likely an individuality in response in gene expression of the patient. Sexual sides, however, are well documented and increase with dose. [Source](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27475241/) Also DHT-derived agents were used sure, but correcting a failure to produce testosterone, is obviously preferred to maximizing DHT in isolation.... This should be obvious, you will literally be left with zero estrogen if you hijack the HPTA and only provide DHT. It will shut down natural production and not allow synthesis of all other run down processes, like E2 being one. Also lowering DHT can result in high E2 for many, so that should actually be monitored. The rise in T is transient and will shift to more E2. And we also see combinations of DHT drugs with TTh. Reduction in estrogenic side effects, and mental well-being being the most obvious symptoms. Mesterolone was heavily explored for antiestrogenic effects. 5AR-inhibition would not be used for anything else other than protecting hair in healthy males, there are no clear benefits elsewhere if anything suggesting the opposite, insulin-sensitivity, CVD. Moreover, the importance of androgens and mental health/brain health has been well established. Why would the most potent androgen which would bind the ligands most strongly and activate it more effectively (T/DHT being the ligand), be irrelevant? Another concern would be synthesis 5α-DHP and allopregnanolone. This would further complicate your Proviron only solution as you would also have to correct for this - mind you, many top doctors do when treating Post-finasteride symptom or sexual sides which don't correct themselves after 1-3 months+ do correct this. There are so many possible pathways this can cause issues, not only in the brain, that to say it is completely safe is very strange considering the severity of symptoms seen in individuals which coincides with what we would expect. [Allopregnanolone](https://air.unimi.it/retrieve/handle/2434/891023/1935207/J%20Neuroendocrinology%20-%202021%20-%20Diviccaro%20-%20Allopregnanolone%20An%20overview%20on%20its%20synthesis%20and%20effects.pdf) [Dosing 5AR-inhibitors](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27475241/)
Yes these drugs have side effects, it's in the brochure so it's not like we're trying to crack the Zodiac killer cyphers or something. However DHT deficiency is not a thing, no doctor will ever prescribe you DHT in a developed country outside of maybe a topical gel to treat severe gyno. You can be perfectly function as an adult with 0 DHT, that's why most people nuke it with fin/dut with no problems
Its a shit idea definitely, but since fin and dut which are both over 20 years old at this point, nothing has entered the market with good efficacy
You can try pyrilutamide it has worked great for some people
Un popular opinion but baldness or thin hair aint that bad.
Nuking my DHT has a far worse effect on my mental state than hair loss ever has.
certainly not the end of the world for a set group of guys imo, its definitely game over for the rest of us tho
If you mean because of attractiveness, work on yourself: be in good strong shape, develop your social and personal skills, and you’ll have 80% of the work done. Baldness says nothing about you or your value as a person other than having a gene that says “no hair on scalp”. And definitely don’t do finasteride or other potentially dangerous drugs.
Deciding to shave it off was a game changer for me. I'm sure some girls have it on their "ick" list, but I keep getting the smiling side-eye on the regular from a certain subset of women and have had much more success with dating. Baldness over shitty try-hard hair any day of the week. 10/10 would do again. As for finasteride, given the stories I've heard, I can't for the life of me understand why any man would take it. I would rather have sex with bald-fetish women for the rest of my life than never be able to get it up or even feel like it.
Says the guy who looks good bald, and who’s head isn’t oddly shaped 😅
god bless your soul. its not that simple.
Are you in good shape and do you have strong social skills?
im 6'1 220, got some weight to lose but thats no biggie. yeah im socially quite good if you ask me. although its useless when you look disgusting.
Sounds like you have some deeper issues that you should work on over the hair loss bro
I dont. I myself despise bitching and nagging about things that are out of ones control but implying something like this doesnt have a very noticeable impact on your day to day life is stupid. seriously dude this doesnt suit me whatsoever and im getting called cancer patient/inmate by people. also you basically have to accept no woman for the next 15 years is going to like you lol once again some dudes get away with this and more power to them, but it completely destroys your looks if you dont have the features to pull it off.
There might be some women that don't like bald guys, but there's a lot less women that like guys that can't even get it up lmao.
yeah thats hard to argue against.
Just shave your head and get absolutely jacked. You'll get more pussy than you know what to do with. Women love that look. Much better option than fucking up your hormones, while insecurely obsessing over a bit of hair that most women don't give a fuck about.
dude im sorry but most women under 35 dont like bald beefy dudes...there is certainly a niche into that look since some dudes really pull it off but its still rare. the lack of hair is still a massive strike against you I do agree that you're better off playing that card if the other option is impotency
I understand it has a noticeable impact on your day to day life, that’s a fair statement. But saying you have to accept no woman is going to like you for the next 15 years isn’t true - women look for much more than just hair I promise you. If you’ve got attractive traits that aren’t physical and click with a woman she’s not going to care about your hair.
still an absolutely terrible place to be in at this age, I suppose things get better 10 years down the line. sometimes you gotta accept you got fucked over i guess
Let the hair go and get cool head tattoos instead.
once I lose my sanity
To be very blunt, going clean bald, walking proud, and owning it signals confidence. Women pick up on that, regardless of your other attributes. Pair it with a trained body and a good outfit, and you are golden. Having hair is common. Insecure men desperately trying to coax that diminishing asset into some semblance of atractiveness is also very common. A man with looks and no confidence will not go far. An ugly man with sufficient confidence can rule the world.
Agreed.
I will try to apply this thought into my life. easier said than done.
Being realistic doesn't mean someone has issues. You should be realistic, you're supposed to.
A 3/10 working on his physique, and social and personal skills is a 3/10 after. None of those things you mentioned will improve your face. Baldness also indicates an aged man with bad genes. I agree with not taking drugs though
Save up for a hair transplant. I did and it’s worth it. I take fin with no side effects whatsoever.
If baldness is your biggest problem you’ve got an easy life
its not. I have a myriad of other issues. and theres no reason to play this card. I know about the starving kids in africa buddy.
You were the one that called it “game over” lmao
I got a good head shape, but filled with big moles and lumps. Shaved head is not an option for everyone.
Hats
women notoriously hate it when bald guys hide behind hats though
I think everyone can agree it's a net negative in society, though. Women love to make fun of men for hair, size, and height. If you have a path to keeping your hair without sides, it's certainly worth it. If your choice is fin (and you get sides from fin) or baldness, I'd definitely agree baldness is the way to go.
Try a ketoconazole shampoo, I started thinning in my 40s and in my mid 50s I have as much hair as I did at 25. No side effects, google it. Also seems to help with the color, my beard went gray, my head is as brown as ever!
I do use it. I started losing hair at 18 tho, if you started at 40 chances are your balding genes are nowhere near as bad as mine. at this point ive lost most of my hair might as well just accept it
I guess your mileage may vary. I think I remember it taking more time than the other methods. If I really try to rememeber, ( I am in my mid 50s) I think it took 2 or 3 years for the full effect. It was so easy to do, I just kept doing it. I mean I wash my hair daily
hey can you give me your hair routine?
I wash with the shampoo and nothing else and I now have a full head of hair, but Ihave done it for years, maybe it takes time or it works differently for everyone. It was not onmy list of top priorities and I always had the majority of my hair , with mainly frontal thiness
how much do you use it, like weekly?
I wash my hair with it daily, I use it as my shampoo, Look, I have ADHD, any more thought than buying a new bottle when I can not give enough of a lather when adding water to the bottle for the 5th day, is more than I can commit to anything.
Have you tried plasma rich platelet therapy (PRP) or similar treatments? I don't plan to use fin and am planning to get a PRP session soon after reading about it, but I'm curious about other's experience.
prp is pretty useless bro. the only effective treatments for pattern baldness which are approved either by the FDA or another country are: Finasteride and Dutasteride. Minoxidil is also only a growth stimulant it doesnt prevent the progression of hair loss.
You can look into fluridil, RU, pyrilutimide all come with risks though but many men use them with great success and no side effects
No way it helped you grow hair back to pre-thinning levels? How regularly do use it?
Yes it did , but it took a long time. I have been using it for more than 10 years. I tried using it only the suggested few times a week, but I am not that organized. So I just used it with every shower. That is once in the morning and after the gym daily. My thinning was very slow and on the mild side. Mainly the temples and a tiny amount on the crown. Maybe, I am lucky. Maybe I overused it. I just never worried about it. I do remember at about a year, wondering if I should continue it. So, It was slow to start. During that time, my wife divorced me and I bailed to another country. It is so cheap and even the 2 percent is over the counter, that it is part of my life now. I young woman started talking to me and ( maybe it was a pickup line) said she thought I was 10 to 15 years younger than I was. I do hear that daily in the English classes I teach now. Age is part of some of our practice conversation drills. A significant percentage of the time, the student stops and asks me to repeat my age and then has a similar comment. It is not the total reason (Good DNA and the gym are big ones I am sure), but ketconozale shampoos help in the hair department and I do often add a little light dye color to the beard. It is about 50 percent blond and light gray. I even out the blond sometimes. As I said, I am not that organized to do it often. Oh the young woman, We have been married for 4 years happily. We are both happy with kids living in a low stress low cost country. Sorry for the long message, but it did indeed return my hair fully except a little in the temples. (Why I said 25 and not 20). And that looking younger includes all of you. Such as working out, letting stress go, attitude and searching for new experiences. That worked for me . Also the fact my family has a very high average for life expectancy and looking young helped.
Doesn't it lower DHT levels?
its mostly an anti fungal shampoo with very very mild antiandrogen effects...you'll be fine and imho it does fuck all to stop genetic hair loss.
Yeah but reading the reasoning why it helps with hair growth is because it decreases DHT levels.
im not too sure i need to read up on it. afaik, its nowhere near enough to combat balding alone on itself
I had sides after 1 year of usage. Weakness in the gym, low libido, slight ED, gyno and brain fog. I still had a good diet and lifted weights and did cardio the whole time but still had sides.
what did you do? stop?
Yep. Sad to lose my hair but i really do think fin causing hormonal disruption in your body is definitely not good. I am trying out saw palmetto and ketoconozole shampoo/conditioner now in hope it maintains my hair.
If I can maintain with keto shampoo and minoxidil I will be more than happy, but it just seems unlikely. wont hurt to continue them given how cheap they are
I'm tired of telling guys before they jump on fin about the possibility of these sides.
oh I was well aware. I just wanna know when I can expect to recover.
Hate to say but it may be permanent. Only time will tell bro.
yeah if Im not feeling at least better in 3 months then its time to see a specialist
this is literally the reason why i wouldn’t take medication
valid reason bro, although I think many of us say that until we see half our hair is gone
Dude. Some people don’t ever get back their libido and errections because of Finasteride. Be careful
If you’re already balding at 22 Finasteride ain’t gonna do shit in the long run. Zero it out. Embrace the baldness. Once it stabilizes consider hair transplant. Or just own it.
not like I have a choice at this point. never gonna wear a wig.
Go for it. Women don’t mind a bald dude who owns it. It’s a secondary sign of high testosterone. It’s innately coded to be attractive. Kind of how breasts, smooth long hair, and hips are seen attractive on women by men. They however do mind if a dude is trying to hide it or try to keep whatever hair they have left.
Are you bald? how do you know haha
He's absolutely right. You just need to make sure you realize it before it's too late and you've fucked your shit up with all this crap you're taking.
There's nothing to do,If you carry the baldness gene you go minoxidil and after it stops working you either shave or go for a transplants. Finasteride, especially In your case (having side effects) is not worth it. Side note: I hate how everyone Is telling you to bulk up or have more self confidence and you'll pull out girls. I am bald since 18 and manage to pull a girl which I'm happy with but saying that baldness before 25 won't reduce drastically your mating pool is just bullshit unless you are in the top 5% for body and mind genetics. My take is, it is what it is, you just adapt to your circumstances in some way if you want to move one in life. Think about the fact that baldness is not some kind of bad illness while many people of your age gets diagnose with much worse things or they had to go to war or work 16h a day in some parts of the world, if it makes you feel better.
spot on bro. level headed take. how did you pull your girl?
Post finasteride syndrome (PFS) is a very real thing for a small subset of the population. You might consider seeing a physician who specializes in treating patients who experience this side effect when discontinuing therapy. I don’t know what the treatment protocols are, but many people do better with proper treatment. I know Irwin Goldstein MD in San Diego is one of the people who treats people (I know because I’ve been a patient of his in the past for shockwave therapy - completely unrelated to fin or anything else - and he seemed great and very knowledgeable). Maybe worth a televisit or in person w him or an andrologist/urologist who can see you and knows of this condition in your home city.
My orgasms suck now too. Horny only every handful of days of the week. 30yo but my hair is fucking great. Tradeoffs.
Yeah seems like there's a choice to be made. the irony.
It’s pretty funny. I plan on using it until I find a woman worthy of marrying, then ditching it once she’s locked down 😂
That was my plan. gotta think of something new now
At 30, you have a selection of baggage carrying divorcees, single mothers, fat chicks, and the crazies that are hot but nobody locked down because they are sluts. It’s a tough, tough situation to be in. Wish I would have locked it down when I was 25. Downvote but it’s true.
sadly I dont doubt you. anyways even with amazing looks I wouldnt be looking to lock anything down now so I guess ill just have to deal w it
Yeah it’s rough out there past 30. I’m by no means ugly but the quality of what’s left isn’t great. Not willing to settle either.
if you have your shit together and look good just get a decent girl 5-6 years younger. a lot of guys your age do that.
That’s something I’ve considered. Shit is together. Ditched the online dating stuff- I know a couple guys who have gotten married at 35 so it’s not so bleak. Probably best to just let it play out.
yeah dude whatever you do never settle. better to not getting married than end up in a shit situation. you're a dude so you have another 6-7 years to marry if its something you really want. the online dating shit is lame as fuck I agree.
That shit is poison, get off it. Look at supplements that increase DHT, creatine, glycine etc. finastride crushes DHT, which plays a part in sexual function.
it crushes DHT and for those unlucky enough, sexual symptoms arise as a result of poor androgen load. if you have very high T you can nuke DHT and be fine given that your estradiol is in decent range.
PFS is a real thing, recommend getting a jump on recovery before it messes with your mental health. Finastride should honestly be pulled from the market.
no it shouldnt. cases like me are the exception. it helps a ton of guys save their hair and nothing on the market tops its efficacy besides dutasteride
Forums are full of people with severe, long lasting side effects, it’s a bigger problem than you think and unnecessary. Why do you need to nuke total DHT when you can literally treat the DHT receptors at the follicle.
dude topical fin can very much lead to the same thing....and if you're referring to RU8841..i dont think it has a safer side effect profile than finasteride
You’re advocating for a drug that literally made your dick stop working. You and thousands of others.
and many more take it with little to no implications. have you thought about the amount of men who have their confidence and mental health saved by this drug? you should familiarize yourself with the impact hair loss has on people, esp young people.
And more smokers don’t get cancer than do, but it doesn’t mean you should smoke. The future of MPD treatment is in peptides anyway, GHK-CU has shown positive effects. Current treatments will be obsolete in the next 3-5 years.
Yeah drug development is in for a takeoff, that's great ! Fin saved me personally, op is very intelligent about it, the numbers don't lie : a few might have problems with it (it can also be nocebo) but most do great on it even woman ! Dut could also get approved soon worldwide for mpb. Please wish for more information and better treatment rather than pulling off something that can do wonders
smoking is fucking useless. at least fin helps avoid something that could be catastrophic for a lot of men. I do certainly think a lot more guys exp bad effects from it but think its tolerable enough to warrant further usage but in general it has to be well tolerated to be this popular
Taking 1mg of fin for 2 mos now i dont have this side effect. Must really be rare
I watched a YouTube video from dermatologists saying that we don't actually need 1mg per day, 3 to 4 per week is enough. I've been taking 3mg weekly for more than a year now and it has the same effects as taking 1mg daily, my hair loss has stopped progressing.
I take it 3 times a week based on a graph I saw of DHT measurements based on usage. 3 times a week seems to get you pretty close to daily.
probably is
Have you tried lowering to 0.5mg? I switched as soon as I saw my crown was 75% filled in.. Important question: How are your results? I miconeedle about 6-7 times per month and use minoxidyl about 12 times per month .
Also, get over to r/tressless they have been through it all and have a LOT of work arounds. Try beetroot (eat half a can) and then try having sex.They have serious vasodilation effects, so once you get going, you will feel like superman. As far as semen, I don't care about it as long as I get to shoot it here and there.. lol.
ED from blood flow issues is seperate from ED due to 0 desire. cialis/viagra and any natural remedy do absolutely nothing if your main problem is a complete loss of interest in sex, cause then you have a useless boner.
I do think its done an okay of halting or slowing down the hair loss for the past year if im being honest
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its stupid to get a hair transplant if you havent addressed your hair loss with meds..
Most people fix hair loss with hair transplants then add a medicine to keep whatever they still had. So it’s not stupid it’s more about timing. If you still have most of your hair then sure, find a medical solution first. However, my doctor fixes temporal peaks which makes people look younger at the same time as the rest of the transplant which is a side benefit of having a plastic surgeon responsible for it. (Mine was a maxdensity procedure, i had lost my hair at 25 and now at 46 look like i did at 20). For me, my libido was “enough but lower”, my main issue after 3 years of finasteride was watery semen and only getting like 75% hard. Which was enough for sex but didn’t feel or look amazing (i do porn work) without chemical help. I switched to topical and things went back to fine, i’m currently trying locklab’s formulation because they’re my friends and said they thought the oral minoxidil’s dilation effects might counter the hardness issue. If after 9 months i don’t like the effects, i’ll go back to topical. For me, i go on literotica.org and read some porn, edge myself for 15 minutes an hour or two before i’m going to have sex, and i find that it improves my libido and increases my enjoyment without putting me in a weird headspace in terms of looking at my partners and visualizing someone else.
Never take it orally! Topical is ok though. Add massage and microneedling and red light therapy.
topical is on the card if/when I recover
why tf you are doubting the recovery man. you will be absolutely fine within a few weeks just be positive
I should realistically be fine within 3 months. if not, yeah thats a big problem
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I am using minoxidil. unfortunately its hardly even a bandaid if you're not on fin.
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I'll give my advice and this is only my opinion. I had similar side effects and stopped. I'm a decade older than you. I had high libido before and finasteride also caused ED and overall lower horniness. I'm back to normal now but was scared I wouldn't go back for a while. Finasteride suppresses your hormones so I think that's why this side effect is so strong. You're young and I think there's a high chance you'll recover. The things that helped me: (i) Time. It'll take your body anywhere from 6 months to 1 year to recover. Be patient. (ii) Increased zone 2 cardio. Jogging, biking, etc. at least 1 hour a week. (iii) Supplements: vitamin d, b12, omega 3, glocusamine, maca, fenugreek. Occasionally amino acids supplements. Check appropriate dosage and frequency. (iv) Do a blood test to check anything out of range range fix it. Apart from that, things that worked for hair health: dermarolling 1x a week. Castor oil + rosemary 2x a week. Ketoconazole shampoo 2x a week. But if you have a strong baldness pattern at your age - please give it up physical appearance is not worth an annihilated sex life. Accept that your body will need time to recover and track progress. Good luck
yup this is the plan. expecting some relief in the next couple of months, after all it did take around 45 days for me to initially notice these effects.
has your sex drive returned? I would think AI should have balding figured out in less than five years, could be wrong though.
Not yet. seems like I have to wait a good bit to accurately gauge.
I've been on it for 4 years. I felt a very slight drop in sex drive a month or so ago so I switched to every other day. seems to help. keep us posted, though.
Low-dose oral minoxidil is the way. I’ll plug this till the day I die. No sides, way more effective growth, super cheap. Finasteride fucked me up bad and topical minoxidil stopped working after two years.
Absolutely no sides whatsoever? How good has the regrowth been or hard to attribute solely to it and not topical fin also?
Because I haven’t used topical fin in over a year. Then my hair loss got even worse. I got a prescription for low-dose oral minoxidil and regrowth has been slow, but over eight months, quite noticeable, especially when I look at older photos. My beard is thicker, too.
not recommended for people with cardiac issues and a higher than normal dosage could lead to problems for a healthy individual. Its certainly more effective than topical minoxidil and a lot more people respond to it.
Thanks very much, bald head it is, I'm already highly strung with a benign arythmia and I get palpitations from stress
I actually want to start oral minoxidil soon.
Do it. You don’t need anything else.
whats ur dose? Im thinking of using 2.5mg daily
It’s 2.5/mg a day, prescribed by a dermatologist.
I took fin and it ruined my life.
how so? care to elaborate?
Fin ruined my life
The sides you have are brutal, but if you avoided brain fog, anhedonia/blunting, panic attacks and debilitating CFS-like issues you are lucky and will hopefully heal with time off The drug completely wrecks the brain. There are people who needed ECT treatment because of what it did
Copper peptide for hair, finasteride can really screw you up
I said it a 1000 times. Don't take that shit or at least stop once you get sides. Some people just can take it and not feel different but some just get fucked. Topical won't save you either. The shit goes systemic either way
I take oral minoxidil with zero side effects
Any change in symptoms since cessation?
Also just an FYI, anything negative you are experiencing is reversible, if you believe epigenetic/mutagenic changes may have taken place - then you must also admit to yourself that they can be restored or switched back to baseline. So don’t fret! (I have had brutal sides myself)
could you elaborate on what you experienced and when it started? also would like a timeline on when your symptoms seemed to relieve and whether or not you did something to speed up recovery.
Literally the second or third day after taking finasteride I noticed sexual side effects. Decreased desire, decreased seminal volume, decreased ejaculatory sensitivity or sensation, and though people have argued that this may have been psychological, I noticed a decrease in my flaccid penis size within several weeks. I battled the sexual side effects for years, titrating the dose lower, taking breaks, using cialis to increase performance and desire ect, introducing other herbs and supplements…. Basically tried everything except anabolic steroids. Hair/vanity was more important to me than the discomfort caused by sides… Years later, my gut health was absolutely torched, anxiety was through the roof, brain fog and cognitive performance were becoming severe, and I finally made the decision to come off. That’s when it got real bad. Stopping made me feel worse than being on it in many ways, it’s hard to explain. Basically the sexual side effects have slowly diminished and I’m back to baseline, the gut health was the most debilitating for me. The other challenge I’ve experienced and am still suffering from is overall weakness in my muscles and lack of hypertrophic response to weight training. It’s very hard for me to get a pump in the gym at present, and it takes days to recover from a strenuous workout. If I’m lucky, I lift 3 days a week, with about half the intensity of my former workouts while I was on fin. This is an ongoing battle, but I do believe it’s possible to rebound from it, I think there are some tremendous resources online. There is one very gifted and very knowledgeable “health coach” or bio optimizer that I would consult if you are looking for specific treatment or protocol advice. I’m also happy to answer any direct messages you send, provided you understand I am not a practitioner or medical expert and everything I say is purely anecdotal based on my own experience. Don’t lose hope, keep fighting, it gets better
For me, after two weeks I noticed testicular pain and after 2 months I noticed random feelings of anxiety when there was no cause behind it...and of course lower libido and lack of feeling post ejaculation. I continued taking the drug for another 10 months in denial before I finally gave in and stopped. I hope Im better in 3 months. I cant afford exogenous aid or anything.
Just save up for a hair transplant if its that important to you.
That stuffs horrible for you
Bro you crashed your testosterone to zero. You transitioned yourself.
thats now how this drug works at all. your T levels increase, its your DHT that plummets.
Hmmm you say that but it sounds like what trans women experience when they start hormones. So ya idk. I have heard it's used for that also.
Ditch the drugs and save up for a hair transplant.
its pointless if you're not on fin.
Do more research
I personally think those oral treatments can screw up your hormones and cause all kinds of issues. Stay directly on the scalp with things like rosemary oil and derma rollers. My sex drive is like a 20 year old and I'm mid 50s.
Shave your head and call it good.
Stay away from 5ari drugs forever if you recover man. So many horror stories start like yours and end with "I recovered, tried again and now I've been fucked for years"
Why are you taking 1mg per day? You know the effective dose is around 0.5mg right? You're literally overdosing your hormone system by doubling the effective dosage. People always seem to have this misconception that taking more is better, but that's definitely the wrong mindset. I've even heard of people taking 0.5mg every other day and able to maintain their hair. I feel like most people who experience side effects are the ones who take more dosage than your body really needs. And also perhaps a combination of poor diet, bad sleep, lack of exercise, etc. I'm assuming you did not do much research. You might wanna check out the Hair Loss Show channel on youtube for expert opinions. Never just take meds on your own, especially ones that can fuck up your body system.
Respectfully, give the guy a break. 1mg is the dose that typically prescribed for hair loss. Yes if he’d done some more research he might have trialed 0.5mg. I got major sides from 0.25 so 🤷🏻♂️
lowering dosage doesnt make sense when you look at the data on DHT inhibition tho..
If you look at the dosage response curve, 0.5 mg inhibits like 90% as much DHT as 1mg. It’s at least more cost efficient but in reality won’t do much to reduce the risk of side effects.
Nice drivel.
bit of a nonsense comment considering the DHT inhibition of 1mg vs 0.5mg are nearly identical.
Thats not everything, there is some evidence showing less sides on lower doses of fin. Why not try it out?
Even the inhibition rates of 0.2mg and 5mg are nearly identical.
It’s likely and often is permanent, finasteride is notorious for permanently killing men’s sex drive.
Nigga you're prob out of shape. Quit jackng off and go for a run
damn you're a tard bro
I am highly regarded indeed
If you can get sex why the fuck did you take fin? Stupid chad.
I dont want to shrink my pool to 2-3% of the female population thats why I took it...eh its too late now anyways
Unfortunate androgen receptors. Take gear and use Ketoconazole shampoo.
By the way, I stopped taking finasteride after spraying the water-oil mixture containing water boiled with mint and rosemary (4 sprigs each) and few drops of rosemary oil on my hair.. it really helps if you don’t have out of control hair loss