2002 Propecia Began – Forced To Up To Proscar Level, Sexual Impact

Editor Ed

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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.
 

badhabiz

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Endocrinologist is a good decision but you need to get rid of the medication (gradually as you're doing), dont be so sure you find an answer in blood tests.
You need at least 6/8 months without it before worrying
In the meanwhile there are some other patterns to fight hair loss
 

INT

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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.

Hope you will share your test results with us. Good luck.
 

Editor Ed

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After a haircut today, the thinning that occurred over 1 1/2 years ago from which I'm trying to hold ground on seemed more pronounced on the sides than ever, right above the ears and behind them. This one area is a concern now and I'm wondering if loss on the sides alone suggests anything, as far as the cause, as well as whether it's possible to spot treat there more aggressively.
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I've used Minoxidil 5% for over a decade, in conjunction with the varied amounts of finesteride. Should I try 15% Minoxidil now, or should've begun trying far earlier? I've longish hair and have always used the liquid solution as the foam is impossible to apply through long hair. A further note: I've mostly always been a once nightly user of Minoxidil, albeit with about 25% more above the applicator line, due to how it affects the look of my hair for the day, matted down at top and streaked by the solution. So perhaps it may be worth applying in the morning to the sides now, either 5 or 15%. I know most all experience and testing recommends 2x a day; it hasn't been a match for my hair/hairstyle and life, but I can tolerate 2x a day on the sides.

Also, in this long titration process, I've opted not to linger in the current phase of 2.5 mg and 1.25 mg on alternate days for 3 weeks, suspecting this highly inconsistent high and low daily dose to be possibly worse for the endocrine system, and am skipping to 1.25 mg for 2 days then 2.5 mg on the third day.
 
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Editor Ed

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Yes you can strecht it (if you have to cut proscar). help yourself with fenugreek, it calms the itch and inflammation in the meanwhile.

Badhabiz, it seems you were able to foresee that itch and inflammation would arise (perhaps due to cutting down on finesteride in this long titration process, which is doing something hormonally leading to inflamation), and that is now, suddenly for the first time, the case. It's itching. I started back with Nizoral shampoo to help. Is fenugreek a supplement or available in a shampoo formulation to calm the scalp?
 

badhabiz

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Nizorall is useful but a risky business.
I wouldn't use it more than one time a week.
To calm the itch, other than fenugreek (both topical/oral) i would use zinc (heptaidr with B6, topica, and chelate oral)
Another very good idea is topical cetirizine 1%
 

Editor Ed

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Nizorall is useful but a risky business.
I wouldn't use it more than one time a week.
To calm the itch, other than fenugreek (both topical/oral) i would use zinc (heptaidr with B6, topica, and chelate oral)
Another very good idea is topical cetirizine 1%
Thank you - I'll look into all of this. Hadn't heard about a major risk profile to Nizoral yet, but had planned to use the 2% variant about 1-2 per week. Here in Taiwan, some of these ingredients may be hard to obtain. Not zinc, of course.
 

Editor Ed

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Update: Now down to 1.25mg of finesteride for 3 days with 2mg on the 4th day. Though not particularly clear, I'm inclined to believe that after several months now of slow titration, I'm far less negatively impacted, hormonally or otherwise, by the finesteride than I was when originally at Proscar levels. Being able to carry on now for 3 days in a row before having a larger dose feels like a good run at a steady lower level, as opposed to when it was more of a seesaw effect. Looking forward to dropping to 4 days at 1.25 mg soon.

This is a painstakingly slow process, taking, in total, roughly a year, to titrate down to 0.5 mg a day. All to preserve the follicles I do have. And how is that going? The diffuse thinning was becoming a tad more apparent on the sides before the titration began, as I recall. Now, months later, it's somewhat worse on the sides, but not anywhere else. I've tried to better cover the sides with my minoxidil applications, but it's always hard as I have long hair and it's a mess. Never been able to get away with 2x daily application as it interferes with my presentation during the day. Just at night. Going to try a newly found tip on application -- don't squeeze the bulb (it's the liquid form, not foam) and run along the scalp in more places for a slower, more thorough application as opposed to runny squirt that gets lost the hair.

Nizoral has indeed been helping with the scalp irritation, now in use for almost a month. One day, I may not need it, if the scalp returns to how it once was, when I was at 0.5mg of finesteride a day, everyday. It's just this passing period of titration that freaks out the skin. Wish I could make a breakthrough and see some folicular rewards for all this effort. But at least I'm getting away from the negatives of Proscar, which is major. Probably experiencing some upswing in libido and performance, but that's definitely been enhanced by a recent experiment with very low-daily dose Cialis.

The world, however, is a nastier, more stressful place now as we all come to grips with this virus. In all likelihood it'll be so for another 18 months. To even care about vanity -- that it still has a grip on oneself, is astonishing, when the world is running down. Drinking more wine...
 
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