A new update: after a long and cautious steady decrease in dosage amounts, I'm now down, technically, to 1.8 mg a day from the original 5 mg of months ago. In actuality, I'm alternating between a half pill of Proscar (2.5 mg) and a quarter pill (1.25 mg) each day, so the daily average is ~1.8 mg.
I'm not noticing much improvement in function, semen amount, or libido, so I'm getting ready to retest with an endocrinologist for cholesterol levels, testosterone levels, and other health markers. I eat well, exercise like banshee 3-4 days a week, don't smoke, and drink only moderately.
A thought that arises, is that this situation of taking a varied amount every other day could be problematic on the endocrine system looking to settle into a steady state. It seemed I was doing better during an earlier stage in the titration process, when, for example, I took a half pill for 5 days in a row, before stepping it down 1 day with a quarter pill, and then returning to a half pill for the next 5 days. At any rate, I'm doing this slowly and cautiously over many months, as discussed, to avoid losing hair, and that's been a success: no real noticeable loss of follicles over several months despite now taking substantially less finesteride.
Onward to 1mg, and then 0.5 in the coming weeks/months.
Any thoughts about this flip-flopping 1.25 mg one day, and 2.5 mg the next day point and its effect on the endocrine system? I could jump ahead to the next level (usually done in 3 week stages to date) and take a more steady 1.25 mg for 2 or 3 days before alternating with 2.5 mg. Or just drop to 1.25 immediately now, but I hesitate, as the slow and gradual titration has been a success for retaining hair.
I'm not noticing much improvement in function, semen amount, or libido, so I'm getting ready to retest with an endocrinologist for cholesterol levels, testosterone levels, and other health markers. I eat well, exercise like banshee 3-4 days a week, don't smoke, and drink only moderately.
A thought that arises, is that this situation of taking a varied amount every other day could be problematic on the endocrine system looking to settle into a steady state. It seemed I was doing better during an earlier stage in the titration process, when, for example, I took a half pill for 5 days in a row, before stepping it down 1 day with a quarter pill, and then returning to a half pill for the next 5 days. At any rate, I'm doing this slowly and cautiously over many months, as discussed, to avoid losing hair, and that's been a success: no real noticeable loss of follicles over several months despite now taking substantially less finesteride.
Onward to 1mg, and then 0.5 in the coming weeks/months.
Any thoughts about this flip-flopping 1.25 mg one day, and 2.5 mg the next day point and its effect on the endocrine system? I could jump ahead to the next level (usually done in 3 week stages to date) and take a more steady 1.25 mg for 2 or 3 days before alternating with 2.5 mg. Or just drop to 1.25 immediately now, but I hesitate, as the slow and gradual titration has been a success for retaining hair.