Taking .05mg finasteride effective with fewer side effects?

[chrisis]

phlifter, cutting down would certainly seem logical if you're experiencing problems.

I'd recommend minoxidil, although it's different to finasteride in terms of its function and effect, so I can't say one is better than the other. It is however safer than finasteride, so a bit of a no brainer if you want to do something about your hair loss.

You should go see a doctor to get some bloodwork done, but if your problems are caused by finasteride, they won't be able to help. Try not to worry though - many men come off the drug and recover. If you do decide to quit, weaning off seems to be the best route.

[StayThick]

yes I know this is a dead tropic, but please someone respond. I just turned 22, took fin for about a year and didnt see a problem, now I feel like my erections are not there! I switched over to 1mg tablets of Fin and still see this problem with my erection. I have just for the first time tonight cut the 1mg in half and took half! after reading every page I decided to cut the 1mg into 4 pieces and take one every mon,wed, fri. no matter how little I take this stops my hairloss so I'm not afraid of losing hair, I'm afraid of losing my manhood! do you guys recommend trying this new regiment of mon,wed,fri? also I don't take any minox, what's the best one? thanks and someone please help me! hopefully one of the pharmacists or someone who is just trying to help this 22 year olds life :/

phlifter, I hear you and understand your concern. I noticed the sides continued when I cut the dosage to .50 EOD (1/2 a pill every other day). I did this around the 8 month mark after taking 1mg (full pill every day). At this point the drug was already stabilized in my body, so reducing the dosage did little to nothing for me personally.

I would definitely try cutting the dosage back to your proposed Mon, Wed, Fri and see how that pans out over the next couple months. That's what I did before making the decision to stop usage. I hope all clears up and your hair improves. I would definitely considering adding Rogaine or any generic based Minoxidil to your regimen. I have found minoxidil to be extremely efficient for me with little to no sides. Hope this helps. Keep your head up.

[phlifter]

you guys are incredible thank you so much! few more things lol, I'm sorry. is there a certain minox you think would be good (shampoo, topical spray like spectral dnc-n) I'm scared for a massive shed as I don't want that and I really don't want it to shed and then just be thin or something...and I'm 22, would Rogain really just keep my hair, same worries about the shedding and then not regrowing if it doesn't work! I forgot to say I have enough to where I want to maintain, regrowing isn't a huge factor because my hair is just enough where I'd love for it to stay at this amount although it is thin and you can tell certain temple patches! when I stop Fin my crown starts to show way more, as well as thinning from temples
sorry for the long message but you have no idea how thankful some people responded to a thread which was so old! but I read all of it and have put too much time into research!

[unk]

Well since you read the thread, the topic was that the effective dose starts around .05mg (1/20th of a pill), so if you want to try and reduce side effects, my opinion would be that you would have to trial doses close to this and below, to reduce DHT any less than 1mg does. I think trying spaced out days (up to 3) can't hurt your hair loss, and is worth trying. I usually go for every few days, something close to .125mg, and I think my libido has been up since, but i'm just speculating, I can't say with any certainty.

Minoxidil may well cause some form of a shed, but most, including myself didn't notice any visible difference at all. So long as you stick with it (for months) once a day, you'll likely see results after 4-6 weeks, but it could take months so stay regular. It definitely made a difference for me, but remember it only lasts as long as you're still dosing. Rogaine/regaine foam has been the cleanest (non-greasy) i've used, but is certainly not the cheapest option. My cheap alterative is the far greasier kirkland liquid minoxidil (could be used at night, though I heard is less effective than foam, potentially due to less effective dispersion than the foam). I haven't tried other formulations, it's too much work for me to investigate all these bizarre concoctions, rogaine gets good results.

Nizoral shampoo (2 or 5% keto) every 4-8 days can't hurt either in reducing scalp DHT. More often and it will probably dry your scalp out, causing damage.

[phlifter]

thanks everyone for helping! so your saying I should get rogain foam? money is not an issue and also are there different types of rogain foam? if so which should I get? lastly would it be ok to only use once every night as it would be very difficult to apply twice! and is there any Normal shampoo I could use to if not help just maintain and not make worst...I'm a little skeptical about nizoral

[unk]

You can't go wrong with the foam no. The liquid will be greasier.

rogaine (US)/regaine (europe) - identical. The men's version is 5%, womens 2%.

It's a 22 hour thing apparently, so once a day is what I do. You could imagine twice a day could yield minor improvement in results, but it's double the cost and effort. I've done it before and got good results, but now i'm lucky if I manage every other day. Need to get back on it really.

Sure, try and get a daily shampoo that doesn't contain sulphates as they can potentially cause damage to hair (e.g. sodium laureth sulphate). You should be able to find a branded "natural" one that doesn't contain sulphates. I just get a shampoo/conditioner in one up that is nearly all natural, so has no sulphates in the ingredients.

It would seem that anecdotal evidence supports nizoral, it really does aid in blocking scalp DHT. It's just an anti-dandruff shampoo that was popular and was realised it was slowing hair loss I think. It's just the ketoconazole in the nizoral that is thought to have an effect, a couple of other shampoos market themselves as these keto shampoos. Might only be able to get 1% concentration in the states, 2% here is known as the stronger dose, and for me in Europe it's easy to order. Like I say though, you can use it every 5-7 days, leaving it on for 5 minutes to be absorbed (i step in the shower, wet my head, apply, then enjoy the shower for 5 minutes whilst I wait), and use a good conditioner after, it's pretty drying on the scalp.


Cheers

[ChrisM]

Rogaine foam has Minoxidil 5% in it and is the best. Regaine is the brand name of the European equivalent.

Nizoral is nothing to be skeptical about. It is so good that right now it is in short supply which is why many have turned to either scrips for prescribed versions of the shampoo or Regenpure. Nizoral has an ingredient in it called Ketoconazole. Ketoconazole acts as a topical DHT blocking agent.. effectively leeching out the androgen that is calcified and blocking the follicle shafts within the surface of the scalp dissolving the crap out of them to return them to a healthier state allowing the miniaturized hairs to derive more blood and circulation to feed into them making them fuller darker terminal hairs or shedding them pushing out the weaker hair to give birth to a new fuller healthier hair shaft underneath it to grow in its place.

Between using the shampoo once a week, the Minoxidil on a daily basis with Finasteride the combination is quite powerful in fact. Powerful enough that some have seen nearly to fully restored hairlines

[phlifter]

thanks alot bud your really helping someone out! ok so my new update! i ordered rogaine foam today and it should be here soon, i am gonna use it on my temples/lobe area. although i have been reading and i really would rather do it only once a day instead of two...what do you guys think about that? some people say it is still effecting, OFCOURSE IT WONT BE AS EFFECTIVE, but will it still be sufficient? im gonna look into nizoral as well because hopefully if nizoral and rogaine works i can get of fin .05 every monday wednesday friday which i really wanna quit! a little background- i am 22, i bodybuild (no my protein is not whats causing it, its heredity) and my hair loss is noticeable to me especially but when i sweat at the gym it is very noticeable, although when dry is pretty good on most days! please keep this valuable info coming!

[ChrisM]

Minoxidil has a half life of 8 hrs. Which is why people recommend two uses once in the day and once in the evening covering 16 hours total in a 24 hour day. The temples might not work but then people have different sets of results depending on hair follicle miniaturization and over how long a period of time they were miniaturized AKA there is a point of no return and the baby hairs will stay baby hairs no matter what you do. So its a worthy gamble I suppose all in all.

[phlifter]

ive started rogaine and i actually like how it styles my hair! im also taking .25 fin every monday, wednesday, and friday! i would also like to start nizoral, there a special type or can i just call CVS and ask if they have Nizoral? also do i get the 1% or 2%...i know im only supposed to use it two days a week! so 1% or 2%? and is there a special name or something, or just nizoral from CVS good? thanks

[unk]

Minoxidil has a half life of 8 hrs. Which is why people recommend two uses once in the day and once in the evening covering 16 hours total in a 24 hour day. The temples might not work but then people have different sets of results depending on hair follicle miniaturization and over how long a period of time they were miniaturized AKA there is a point of no return and the baby hairs will stay baby hairs no matter what you do. So its a worthy gamble I suppose all in all.

8 hours orally, 22 topically to the skin I believe. Though half lives are funny old things, since dosing at the time you're body has eliminated half the drug doesn't make perfect sense. Either way, rogaine recommend 1-2 times per day, and people get results on both.

[unk]

ive started rogaine and i actually like how it styles my hair! im also taking .25 fin every monday, wednesday, and friday! i would also like to start nizoral, there a special type or can i just call CVS and ask if they have Nizoral? also do i get the 1% or 2%...i know im only supposed to use it two days a week! so 1% or 2%? and is there a special name or something, or just nizoral from CVS good? thanks

Cool man, yeah it's not too bad at all is it. Try not to apply it to a wet scalp, you get too much absorption systemically (in your entire system, via blood), you could start getting some hairy ass ears or something.

You got the whole setup right there, your hair will be bullet proof. Your best bet is letting it fade out of your mind and run in the background, enjoy the peace of mind.

Like I say, 2% ketoconazole is better, more active ingredient, and it's standard in Europe, but you might only be able to get 1% without prescription. I just ordered mine from any old pharmacy, and looks like this: http://www.expresschemist.co.uk/pics...zoral-60ml.jpg
Perhaps somewhere from USA could chime in on that one bud. Google shows a few different nizoral packagings, as long as their active ingredient is ketoconazole you should be fine.