Does finasteride block dht or cause the body to produce less dht?

[Davey Jones]

No, this is a good theory.. I unfortunately dont even know much about hormones, but I did read that estrogen levels might go up a bit when taking finasteride because DHT has been lowered. Im not sure if this would cause side effects, but it might! Maybe some guys (2&#37 just cant handle high estrogen, or maybe their estrogen levels are already high and propecia pushes it up over the edge? I really dont know.. I havent seen any studies that can really explain even why propecia causes side effects.. It would be nice if we could get some input from some medical experts in here!

Yeah, it might be possible that if their estrogen levels were slightly elevated to begin with, they may suffer side effects if the levels were caused to raise higher, past a "break point." That, or if aromatase was elevated to begin with. Or it could simply have to do with ratios (testosterone:estrogen, aromatase:5alpha-reductase, etc.) rather than a particularly high level of anything. Any number of things could be happening, but I would have to guess it has something to do with aromatase/estrogen. I'm surprised they didn't check these things.

Where did you read that they suspected that estrogen levels may go up if DHT was lowered? That would seem to support this idea. I'd like to read that, if you remember where that came from.

I bet what with these new FDA rulings and the few people who suffer being so vocal about it, Merck will want to get this figured out. And hey, guys, let's go easy on people who are suffering. You gotta understand why they may be a little passionate about the subject, even if they number very few. I mean, shouldn't you want this talked about. Wouldn't you like it if they figured this out and 100% of people could be helped by finasteride instead of 98%?

And hey, if they figured it out, you'd get to quit hearing all this whining. There's a plus, right?

[SoothSayer]

I bet what with these new FDA rulings and the few people who suffer being so vocal about it, Merck will want to get this figured out. And hey, guys, let's go easy on people who are suffering. You gotta understand why they may be a little passionate about the subject, even if they number very few. I mean, shouldn't you want this talked about. Wouldn't you like it if they figured this out and 100% of people could be helped by finasteride instead of 98%?

And hey, if they figured it out, you'd get to quit hearing all this whining. There's a plus, right?

So far Merck has responded to the FDA warning by denying any connection between finasteride and persistent erectile dysfunction which is agitating but unsurprising. They will not do so unless the court system/ FDA legally forces them to since they don't really have a culture that cares about patients but is more concentrated on profits. Lawsuits, executive action, or money are really the only few things that motivate such a callous company. They especially would not like to publicly admit anything due to the fact these side effects seem to be permanent since very, very few recover or improve from them, even as far as ten years off the drug.

[the_charger]

So far Merck has responded to the FDA warning by denying any connection between finasteride and persistent erectile dysfunction which is agitating but unsurprising.

I honestly dont give two craps about these big pharma companies, but like we have been arguing there isnt (much) proof in terms of hard evidence that propecia actually causes persistent erectile dysfunction, other than the one PLESS study we are still debating.. but other than that there isnt much, so if Merck doesnt have any proof that it happens, why would they admit it? also they are being sued right now so the second they admit it, they would automatically have lost all these lawsuits right?

its not surprising to me that they are keeping their mouth shut... you are right, these companies dont care about people, they care about profits... I dont even take merck brand propecia so they arent getting any money from me thats for sure.