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How’s your shedding?
24 Yo, 1 Year On Finasteride... Lost A Lot Of Hair.
- Thread starter Credo
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Well I was using generic finasteride but it was bought in the pharmacy with a doctor's prescription. Barring fake meds from the internet, surely there should be no difference between brand name drug and generics as the active ingredient is the same?
I'm on generic dutasteride but yeah I do have side effects (which were close to non-existent on finasteride) so perhaps it'll work.
I am going to retake a DHT test by the end of this month since I have just upped the frequency to every day again and want to give it a few weeks.
My entire top has thinned and I believe it worsened quite rapidly, in the span of days. Could it be a sign that it's actually shedding before strengthening? I don't see many hairs in the shower or on the pillow but when I pull them from the thinned out areas I can usually grab a handful.
I needed to go back to every other day since the sexual sides started again and I couldn't get an erection.
My hair is sadly the worst it has ever been, it's thinned out everywhere. Feels like it's dying. I don't really know what to do... stick with it for a full year and see?
My hair is sadly the worst it has ever been, it's thinned out everywhere. Feels like it's dying. I don't really know what to do... stick with it for a full year and see?
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I think my hair has thinned to a similar degree, but my hair is just longer. I’m gonna stick with it and see what happens, I’ve only been on for 4.5 months but my hair is at its worst too.
Do you get comments on your thinning? Do people notice it?
Do you get comments on your thinning? Do people notice it?
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Try adding derma stamping to your regime, you could also opt for low dose oral minoxidil instead of topical. With dutasteride, minoxidil and dermstamping you are doing everything possible barring full on MTF treatments to regain and maintain your hair.
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If you have inflammation it is. And it looks like your scalp is a bit red so it should help
The dose daily vs every other day shouldn't really matter since it builds up to the same steady state in your body. The reason why .5 mg is prescribed is because that's the dose that's been studied for prostate enlargement. But if you're having serious side effects then you should address this with your dermatologist or physician. They may refer you to an endocrinologist. Did you initially get the prescription from a dermatologist or did you order online? Other than that it can take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year to see the full effect of duta on hair. Other users on here have tried adding additional drugs to combat side effects such as estrogen blockers or ED drugs. But it's risky to start adding drugs on top of drugs because everything has systematic effects and you don't want to overload your body with unnecessary chemicals.
Things that you can look into if these hormonal drugs aren't working:
- Talk to a hair transplant surgeon
- Look into oral minoxidil
- Look into microneedling
- Look into PRP
- Look into laser therapy
- Look into stem cell therapy
The thing is you have to understand what hair loss is. It's essentially loss of blood flow to hair follicles. Almost every solution tries to re-establish this blood flow. Minoxdil is a vasodilater. Microneedling causes small tears and increases flow. PRP has rich blood plasma proteins. But what causes this restricted blood flow? A big part of this is hormonal. DHT binds to AR receptors in hair and restricts flow. But there is also other factors to consider. An emerging theory is that fat tissue decreases with age and this increases pressure to hair follicles and impedes development. This is where stem cell therapy comes in. Again all of these are up to consideration.
Honestly man just relax, step back a bit. Pick something you want to try and stick with it.
Things that you can look into if these hormonal drugs aren't working:
- Talk to a hair transplant surgeon
- Look into oral minoxidil
- Look into microneedling
- Look into PRP
- Look into laser therapy
- Look into stem cell therapy
The thing is you have to understand what hair loss is. It's essentially loss of blood flow to hair follicles. Almost every solution tries to re-establish this blood flow. Minoxdil is a vasodilater. Microneedling causes small tears and increases flow. PRP has rich blood plasma proteins. But what causes this restricted blood flow? A big part of this is hormonal. DHT binds to AR receptors in hair and restricts flow. But there is also other factors to consider. An emerging theory is that fat tissue decreases with age and this increases pressure to hair follicles and impedes development. This is where stem cell therapy comes in. Again all of these are up to consideration.
Honestly man just relax, step back a bit. Pick something you want to try and stick with it.
I got a prescription from my dermatologist but I had to convince him as he was reluctant. I saw an endo and had my hormone levels such as testosterone, LH and estradiol tested, but everything came out fine (estradiol was tested after switching to every other day, which I feel improved the secial sides - hence I don't want to go back to taking dutasteride very day). I guess I'm going to stick with dutasteride for a full year and add dermarolling once a week and Nizoral (again). I don't really have the money to try all the other treatments.
Are DHT test results actually indicative of anything? When I saw an endocrinologist he said that it doesn't mean much since it measures the serum DHT and not the levels in the scalp.
Are DHT test results actually indicative of anything? When I saw an endocrinologist he said that it doesn't mean much since it measures the serum DHT and not the levels in the scalp.
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I don't think they indicate anything aside from duta working. Your serum dht will below normal while on it, about 90% less than normal.
Dutasteride reduced the serum DHT levels from baseline by 84% at 2 weeks and by approximately 90% at 1, 2, 3, and 4 months.
Dutasteride reduced the serum DHT levels from baseline by 84% at 2 weeks and by approximately 90% at 1, 2, 3, and 4 months.
Not necessarily, when using topical minoxidil i was getting bloated face which forced me to stop. 5mg of oral minoxidil taken at night and i have no sides so far.
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I'll take a test. My DHT levels on finasteride were in the upper normal range so I'm wondering whether they'll be lowered on dutasteride. I think I'm going to stick with it for a whole year anyway as I have a stack, but if it doesn't work then I'll change treatments, perhaps to RU and oral minoxidil or some topical anti-androgen. My hair is not that bad yet (dry and styled it still looks alright, just a bit thinned out) so I'll only need a bit of thickening and stopping further loss to be satisfied.
Here's my hair dry and styled in the same harsh bathroom lighting, aka COPE.
I just took a vitamin D test, I'll take a DHT test in a week or so because I had a week long break from dutasteride in the beginning of this month and I want to make sure the blood levels have had time to normalise.
EDIT: I'm deficient in vitamin D at 20 ng/ml. Perhaps this has had something to do with my hair loss going on despite taking dutasteride. I'm starting supplementation.
I just took a vitamin D test, I'll take a DHT test in a week or so because I had a week long break from dutasteride in the beginning of this month and I want to make sure the blood levels have had time to normalise.
EDIT: I'm deficient in vitamin D at 20 ng/ml. Perhaps this has had something to do with my hair loss going on despite taking dutasteride. I'm starting supplementation.
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WTF are you guys twins?
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Nah I think his hair is better than mine
From WebMD:
A level of 20 nanograms/milliliter to 50 ng/mL is considered adequate for healthy people. A level less than 12 ng/mL indicates vitamin D deficiency.
Okay, the DHT test results came in. Lol, just lol. My DHT now is outside of the upper range. It's higher than it was on finasteride (1000 pg/ml compared to ~600). Is this reflex hyperandrogenicity? Perhaps it's my normal DHT and finasteride actually inhibited it a bit?
I think it's time for me to move to something else. I'm probably going to order RU. What are you guys' opinions? Do you think it's worth it to also go back on finasteride? I still have some tabs left.
I think it's time for me to move to something else. I'm probably going to order RU. What are you guys' opinions? Do you think it's worth it to also go back on finasteride? I still have some tabs left.
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Dutasteride, especially if you didn’t have sides with finasteride. It’s the best option imo since it’s gonna lower your shitty high dht by more than finasteride.