blocking androgen receptor makes things worse?

[Bryan]

Low levels of androgen stimulus benefiting hair (as in castrates) while low levels of androgenic stimulus causing upregulation of androgen receptors... How do you reconcile this?

I don't see any need to "reconcile" it, that's just the way our bodies operate. The evolutionary step that first caused our scalp hair follicles to become sensitive to androgens (damaged by them, in other words) was probably a relatively recent event, happening in the last few hundred-thousand years. But it was long long BEFORE that, that our body hair first acquired a NEED for androgens, and developed the trait that a lack of androgens caused an increase in androgen receptors. The later development of balding had no effect on the specific issue having to do with androgen receptor upregulation; I don't find that the least bit surprising.

Are you saying upregulation may occur in castrates, but with no noticeable consequence?

There's no doubt in my mind that castrates have upregulated levels of androgen receptors. No, it has no noticeable consequence, in the sense that the extra androgen receptors aren't at all able to counteract the sharply reduced levels of androgens in a castrated individual.

 

[Lloyd Braun]

So would your androgen receptor count/sensitivity return to normal once you get off finasteride? Say for instance that I was due to start thinning in the crown in 15 years from now. Would finasteride work better if I started it right before the thinning was due to start than if I just took it all 15 years? Does this mean I should consider backing off of it since I kind of don't need it?