My Finasteride Story so far...

[Lewis Hamilton]

Uk can't take the sides? I'd be more worried about your personality than your hair with comments like that.
I'm pleased that Desmond that you feel this is now working for you. I can tell you though, that given your reaction to the drug you will start to succumb to systemic effects long term. It will creep up on you and you'll put it down to other things...
All I can say is it isn't worth it, not at all and I'd encourage you to get off it while you can recover.
You've been warned.
LH,

[hair questions]

how many pieces do you cut up the 1mg pills? I take Fin 1mg and I don't think I could cut it into more then 2 pieces

[mpb47]

Thanks Des.

It's been about 9 months and crown has started coming back. Right now I have not decided what to do, I will post more later about that, but have to run for now.

I have a question for those in the know: Awhile back, I read that inhouse now requires an RX for propecia . If I do decide to get back on it, I will eventualy need to refill. Are there any other legit online pharmacys that you can order without an RX? My Dr. has been great about getting what ever I needed for serious medical issues, but she probably thinks propecia is a cosmetic drug and may not be willing to give it to me. I say that based on past experience. I have not decided what to do yet, but want to know my options. Thanks and good luck to everybody.

[Notcoolanymore]

what does that actually mean and why would quitting FIN be the cause of this ?
also why couldnt doctors figure that out even though i told them i used FIN and how long for etc ?

It doesn't matter what it means. Just a bunch of scientific jargon thrown together to try to scare people. UK can't take fin due to sides so he wants to make sure no one else will benefit either so this is his thing, frightening guys so they don't treat their hair loss.

[mpb47]

Oh no! mpb that is horrible. Really sorry to hear that brother. We're not far from CB-03-01 hopefully. Hang in there. Maybe try and maintain using Minox for another 2 years and then your sweet CB-03-01 is just around the corner and is coming through pretty strong.

Thanks Des.

It's been about 9 months and crown has started coming back. Right now I have not decided what to do, I will post more later about that, but have to run for now.

[blondetooth]

Its okay to call it cb31 people. No need to get all fancy and put all those time consuming zeros and dashes in there. cb31 is still correct.

[vinnytr]

The burning is probably your pudendal nerve dying - 5AR is designed to convert other sex hormones into neurosteroids which have protective effects over reproductive nerves, which is probably why so many men coming off FIN are diagnosed with penile neuropathy.

what does that actually mean and why would quitting FIN be the cause of this ?
also why couldnt doctors figure that out even though i told them i used FIN and how long for etc ?

[UK_]

The burning is probably your pudendal nerve dying - 5AR is designed to convert other sex hormones into neurosteroids which have protective effects over reproductive nerves, which is probably why so many men coming off FIN are diagnosed with penile neuropathy.

[vinnytr]

Great to see you guys having great results from lower doses of FIN which makes me want to reconsider going back on it.

Did any of you guys experiencing burning sensation while urinating also experience weak stream ?

I did have this burning fee after quitting FIN without tapering off it. Is not this strange since my prostate should not be shrinking anymore without the affect of FIN on it . I was on 1mg daily for about 10 months.

Btw I have been to doctor about this burning and weak stream problem and after 3 blood , 2 urine test and a full renal tract ultrasound
everything seems perfectly normal and they cant seem to find any problems :/

[stan]

Hey Des!

As usual thanks for responding to our queries. Can you post a pic of your scalp if you dont mind brother? I am in no way doubting your credibility just want to see how effective your dosage with respect to the severity of MPB.

Another question is why do some people dont see results? Like i am 24 year old male (25 in Oct) and going to NW 3 very steadily (At present a NW 2). I upped my dosage .25 mg to .5 mg (past one month) and in totality i am 7 months in with fin. My MPB is not that aggressive yet i dont see results. Please if you could shed some light that would be great. Have a good day brother.

[Desmond84]

Oh no! mpb that is horrible. Really sorry to hear that brother. We're not far from CB-03-01 hopefully. Hang in there. Maybe try and maintain using Minox for another 2 years and then your sweet CB-03-01 is just around the corner and is coming through pretty strong.

[Desmond84]

So taking Fin at such low doses, and optionally alternating days which to take it, can yield comparable results to one that takes 1mg every day? I know it's impossible to answer this as there's no clinical data out there for it, but what's the general efficacy for people on here that take lower doses? Do they merely maintain or are there some that experience some regrowth?

Hi,

When I was trying to convince myself to take Finasteride, I came across the Phase 2 trial papers conducted by Merck back in the 90s. This was probably the most interesting study I had come across and TWO very important things stood out.

1) After a single dose of Finasteride, the plasma DHT levels plummeted for 3 days and then slowly started to rise again, reaching original levels after about 7 days. (This was the first sign that daily dosing is probably unnecessary and overkill. Merck was probably shilling with the dosing to sell more pills and jack up the prices)

2) Both plasma and scalp DHT levels were lowered by about the same amount at any dose above 0.1mg! This was really surprising and made me wonder if Merck just picked an arbitrary number (1mg) and decided to go with it.

Based on these data I chose the doses that I did and luckily for the last 26 months, Fin has completely halted my hairloss and provided some noticeable regrowth in the temple region...at minute doses I should add. So it definitely works and the reason why Merck never went for it is up for another lengthy discussion

These charts from their "Dose-range finding study" speaks a thousand words. Prepare to get your mind blown!

[Desmond84]

Hi Desmond,

I saw this thread and have began taking Fin (0.25mg twice a week). I don't get sides except for the final day of the second break period (being a three day break) do you think this is because my DHT is rising back on that day?? I was thinking move to every 3 days??

My other query is did you see any temple regrowth?? I wish I'd started earlier but if I can regrow lost hair that would be great. I'm currently NW2 (moving quickly to 3) so any regrowth would be amazing!!

Thanks (my hope is to stick with this until CB 03 01)

Wow, good on you. Wishing you some amazing hair brother

Yeah I used to get that too. Your body will reach steady state over the next few months and all these sides will be gone. I tried to overcome in the first few months by taking it exactly every 3.5 days. So I would take one on Monday morning and one on Thursday night. I found it a lot more tolerating this way.

As for regrowth, I probably reversed my hair loss to 6 months prior to starting fin. I had mostly lost hair in the temple region (the rest of my scalp was pretty thick) and a lot of it started growing back just about the 12 month mark and regrowth continued up to the 18th month. I plateued at the 18 month mark and have remained that way since. I've now been on fin for 26 months at very low doses and have no more sides to complain about.

I think taking lower doses may have given results a little bit later (12-18 months post-treatment) rather than sooner (6-8 months). Overall though, you can expect a similar outcome with either doses. Your body will probably tolerate the lower doses better.

Hope that helps. And keep me posted on how ur doing

[mpb47]

I went on .25 in July and got off Mid - late April due to libido drop and also being tired. I did not notice any issues till then and honestly not sure it was the cause. Tiredness is gone but libido is still low but better.

Have not noticed any dramatic shedding, but do notice hair in crown feels/looks thinner so my mpb is probably starting up again. If/when libido returns may try again, not sure at this point.

[Thinn]

I got a few -

Libido definitely dropped.

I noticed that my penis is smaller and harder in a relaxed state.

It takes me longer to become aroused, and i've even had trouble finishing during sex.

No random erections in the morning or throughout the day.

Luckily I haven't noticed any gynecomastia or 'brain fog'.