5mg Finpecia ordered, pill cutter bought -- it's time

[yeahyeahyeah]

But if that hair was going to stick around for another 2 - 3 years then it could make all the difference, I mean if you're 28 and you're a NW2 for the next 5 years its not as bad as taking fin and then suddenly climbing to a NW3/4 in 6 months only for your dick to stop working develop breast enalrgement lose complete interest in sex to maintain this NW3/4 state until you're 40 - 50.

Believe me, if finasteride was an 'effective' drug, you can bet your ass i'd be on it.

Agreed.

In your 20s too, time is so precious. I am representing my company at industry ceremonies, and in the spotlight - photographs are taken. If I started fin, went through a horrible shed it could screw my career up. Just dont have time to waste.

[BigThinker]

I actually skipped fin today. My d*ck and nuts were hanging low all day -- felt good, felt right. I'm definitely going to get back on it, but I think body needs a break. I also am going to go back to low, intermittent doses when I go back. That was my plan in the beginning, but I let the anxiety of hair loss scare me into going 1.25 mg/day instead of respecting my body's hormonal balance.

I'll be honest, the reason I'm doing this is I underperformed with a chick a few weekends ago. Went to her place after bars, got in her hot tub, and I just felt like my d*ck wasn't hanging low -- it felt tight and sucked in (sorry to be blunt).

Afterwards, it took me forever to get hard. Granted, it was like 5AM, I had been drinking in a hot tub after a full night of drinking since like 4 PM. I just didn't feel quite right. I definitely underperformed, although I did perform thankfully.

Funniest thing about all this is the girl was telling me I had nice hair the next morning and proceeded to touch it. I was half drunk still and wasn't put off by it at all. I think I am coming to terms with the state of my hair.

The best thing of all: when I took my shirt off for the hot tub, she asked me if I worked out and was 'mirin my arms -- feeling them up like crazy all night. Never in my life have I been the guy to get attention for his body. Felt so good. The gym is becoming a good addiction that overrides my anxiety from hair loss.

Clothes. Money. Gym.... and, hopefully, hair. For now, I'm taking a break from finasteride and I don't know if I'll ever get back to 1.25 mg/daily. Been off one day and I caught myself eye-balling 45 year old women while my unit was feeling stronger than ever. Placebo effect? I don't know. But, I'm willing to error on the side of caution for once. I'm doing a double dose of minox liquid at night as well until my foam arrives. At that point, I'll go foam in the morning and liquid at night.

Sorry for the long-winded post. I was hesitant to even tell this story, but I feel like it's appropriate.

[Dan26]

Man, it is a bit worrying how sides can creep up months after taking it. I started low and vowed to stay on this dose for 6 months before deciding to up it. Also had baseline tests done before and just got another set monday (two months in). Interested to see how much 0.25mg/day cut my DHT. I have zero sides so its tempting to increase my dose.

Thanks for this post broski. It seems like your being honest with yourself, accepting of any possible outcomes, and just letting the chips fall where they may and focusing on what can be controlled. I like that approach, and am trying to do the same.

[BigThinker]

Man, it is a bit worrying how sides can creep up months after taking it. I started low and vowed to stay on this dose for 6 months before deciding to up it. Also had baseline tests done before and just got another set monday (two months in). Interested to see how much 0.25mg/day cut my DHT. I have zero sides so its tempting to increase my dose.

Thanks for this post broski. It seems like your being honest with yourself, accepting of any possible outcomes, and just letting the chips fall where they may and focusing on what can be controlled. I like that approach, and am trying to do the same.

Thanks, man. I could never confide with my real life friends, so it is nice to get this off my chest somewhere.

I'm not necessarily blaming fin, but I need a little peace of mind. I'm horny less often and my orgasms aren't earth-shattering like they used to. I can't give that shit up. I've experimented with my body aggressively and it's time to experiment with the flip side of the coin.

I just hope I get another shot at this chick when I'm off fin for a week and not brown-out drunk. It'll be a different story then.

[Notcoolanymore]

I'll be honest, the reason I'm doing this is I underperformed with a chick a few weekends ago. Went to her place after bars, got in her hot tub, and I just felt like my d*ck wasn't hanging low -- it felt tight and sucked in (sorry to be blunt).

Afterwards, it took me forever to get hard. Granted, it was like 5AM, I had been drinking in a hot tub after a full night of drinking since like 4 PM. I just didn't feel quite right. I definitely underperformed, although I did perform thankfully.

For the love of god no. Damn!

How are you handling taking fin? I mean, do you let all the sides talk get to you? I am not saying you are not getting sides. I just know that although I am a big fin supporter on these forums, that sometimes I let the fear mongers get to me. When I over think about sides that is when I usually get them. When my mind is busy I never get sides, ever. Hopefully you can get back on fin soon and continue the fight.

[redy]

Funniest thing about all this is the girl was telling me I had nice hair the next morning and proceeded to touch it. I was half drunk still and wasn't put off by it at all. I think I am coming to terms with the state of my hair.

because right now you're hair is completely fine man, if you get keep the density that's all that matters with your current hairline. obviously you need to do something to maintain that, but I wouldn't be so worried about gains.

for me, if I can get my density back I'd be so happy I'd start jumping up and down an' throwin' candy and stuff

If I were you I'd take the fin as long as my body allowed and not blow my hormones up with fin and dut... I understand, obviously, what it's like to lose hair but yours seriously is not bad at all and is better than a lot of people. The quality of your hair is great and it's dense. I would say you probably look your best with the messy bangs look due to your head shape, as do I. But I can't do that well anymore because my density is see through on the left side..

[UK_]

Thanks, man. I could never confide with my real life friends, so it is nice to get this off my chest somewhere.

I'm not necessarily blaming fin, but I need a little peace of mind. I'm horny less often and my orgasms aren't earth-shattering like they used to. I can't give that shit up. I've experimented with my body aggressively and it's time to experiment with the flip side of the coin.

I just hope I get another shot at this chick when I'm off fin for a week and not brown-out drunk. It'll be a different story then.

Regarding the side effects, are you under no illusion that these are actual physical changes/not psychological? If so, quit the drug completely and get a full blood work done - did you have a hormonal panal before taking fin?

Remember that finasteride has a near flat dose response so 0.5mg inhibits almost the same amount of DHT as 1mg and the reduction remains low for several days.

[BigThinker]

Whoaaaaaa, guys. I'm not quitting indefinitely.

I'm taking one week off -- just because. Give my body a break. See if I feel different. I'm not saying I definitively have physiological side effects.

I've been nothing short of obsessive about treatment (never missed a dose on accident) and the state of my hair. I'm finally getting results (see pics on previous page), and I'm excited to see it get better and better.

I'm resetting my DHT and taking lower, intermittent doses. Again, just because.

BTW, my head itched pretty noticeably today, so I'm excited to get back on fin after a week of giving my body a break.

Sorry for any miscommunication. I don't mean to mislead anyone to think that I got sides and that they shouldn't be on fin. I believe quite the contrary actually, at least about the latter.

[Notcoolanymore]

Sorry for any miscommunication. I don't mean to mislead anyone to think that I got sides and that they shouldn't be on fin. I believe quite the contrary actually, at least about the latter.

Oh ok, sorry. I very often skim through all these posts and fail to fully comprehend what is being said.

Especially since you are finally getting results. Looks like the tide of the war is starting to fall in your favor.

[25 going on 65]

“When the effects of androgens in the body are lessened, e.g. through lowering DHT or by systemic hormone receptor blockade, the body seeks equilibrium through a process called upregulation. This can take the form of increased hormone production and/or increased tissue sensitivity to the remaining hormones. The reason side effects usually gradually disappear with finasteride is probably due to such upregulation. In a small percentage of individuals, it may be that this process overshoots the mark, resulting in significant hyperandrogenicity. This is marked by such signs as greatly increased facial oil, increased pimples, and greatly elevated libido. It’s possible that in certain cases such hyperandrogenicity overcomes the hair-protective effect of, say, finasteride, though this does not appear to be the case for the vast majority of people.”

Evidence for hyperandrogenism from fin is very flimsy, especially people having it so bad that it is worse for MPB than taking nothing

To answer UK's post....no one has ever gone NW3-4 in 6 months from fin, who would have stayed NW2 for 5 years w/o treatments

[UK_]

Evidence for hyperandrogenism from fin is very flimsy, especially people having it so bad that it is worse for MPB than taking nothing

To answer UK's post....no one has ever gone NW3-4 in 6 months from fin, who would have stayed NW2 for 5 years w/o treatments

Yes they can, Ive seen many people take fin at NW2 start and then after long shed they end up maintaining a NW3.

Are you saying this doesnt happen? Do a search on HLH there are many cases.

[25 going on 65]

Yes they can, Ive seen many people take fin at NW2 start and then after long shed they end up maintaining a NW3.

Yes I can believe this, but a NW2 who would have stayed NW2 for 5 years w/o meds is not going to hit NW3-4 in 6 months because of finasteride

Edit- However this brings up something on my mind lately. It does seem like hair in front of the NW2.5-3 region is so sensitive to DHT, not even meds protect it permanently. The one study where the guys on fin maintained there hair for 10 years....pretty sure all those guys were at least NW3. Some were more like NW4+
When I read anecdotes about guys who following the typical MPB pattern, who start to lose ground on fin/dut after maintaining for years, they are usually guys who are NW1-2. & they usually are saying "I see my hair moving toward a NW3"

wtf is happening with this? Are the temples/hairline really just that sensitive to DHT? Or is there a factor in hair loss from that region that does not exist in the NW3 area?

[BigThinker]

Update:

Back on fin. I was able to "perform" this last weekend, which dismissed any concern I may have had about side effects. As previously mentioned, I'm only 0.625mg EOD for now - just because.

Also, my minox foam came in the mail, so I'm using foam in the morning and liquid at night. My hair appears ever so slightly below baseline, but that's when it's covered in the greasy minox (which doesn't do it any favors).

Wish I had started both these treatments earlier, as I now have a noticeable amount of regrowth at the hairline (only place I analyze myself). The regrowth is 70% thin blonde hairs, with the rest being thick dark hairs -- although they may be just naturally cycling hairs. The run-off from the liquid is even causing little blonde hairs to pop up down at my original hairline, a good inch lower than my current hairline. This stuff works.

Finally, my shedding is almost completely stopped. I get about 1 hair per 3 aggressive "pull tests". What a relief. My advice to all: STICK OUT THE SHEDDING. IT'S WORTH IT.

Will post pics soon, but look back a page or two to see the regrowth I'm getting.

Regards, all.

[UK_]

If you're such a good responder to anti-androgens, why dont you go on Dutasteride?

[BigThinker]

If you're such a good responder to anti-androgens, why dont you go on Dutasteride?

I have a packet of Dr Reddys Dutas at this exact moment. I decided I hadn't given fin a sufficient opportunity and would be prematurely switching over to dut. That's why.

I decided I'd rather go weaker anti-androgen + minox (forever) than switch to dut. I know you and handful of other dudes on this site think I'm pushing fin like it has no repercussions, but truthfully I don't to not be messing around with my hormones that much. I decided it's time to stick to what's proven and give it a sufficient chance. If I look worse in 4-5 months, I'll be poppin' dut like M&Ms.