dutasteride dosing schedule
- Thread starter JWM
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That is a bit of a concern, in my opinion. I suggest a reasonable compromise: take two Avodarts a week. That's a slightly higher dose which will improve the half-life some, and also it'll reduce the time in between doses a little. I think that's the best bet.
Bryan
Bryan
1 Avodart 0.5 mg every 5 days = Proscar 5 mg ?
I thought all along and for several years now we came to the conclusion that 1 Avodart 0.5 mg every 5 days (or dutasteride 0.1 mg/day) is equivalent to Proscar 5 mg. There should be 5 days worth in 1 Avodart 0.5 mg tablet and it should correspond (in half-life terms) to the same as taking dutasteride 0.1 mg/day with a half-life of about 3 days?? And just several months ago on another site I brought up that 1 Avodart 0.5 mg weekly is roughly equivalent to Propecia 1 mg every other day (Bryan confirmed) (a dose that my doctor and many doctors now prescribe)?? Why are we recanting now?? I mentioned quite a few times on other sites that my best results from Avodart (less hair loss, thickening, and some regrowth) came only when I reduced my dosage from daily to 1 every 5-7 days. Thanks.
I thought all along and for several years now we came to the conclusion that 1 Avodart 0.5 mg every 5 days (or dutasteride 0.1 mg/day) is equivalent to Proscar 5 mg. There should be 5 days worth in 1 Avodart 0.5 mg tablet and it should correspond (in half-life terms) to the same as taking dutasteride 0.1 mg/day with a half-life of about 3 days?? And just several months ago on another site I brought up that 1 Avodart 0.5 mg weekly is roughly equivalent to Propecia 1 mg every other day (Bryan confirmed) (a dose that my doctor and many doctors now prescribe)?? Why are we recanting now?? I mentioned quite a few times on other sites that my best results from Avodart (less hair loss, thickening, and some regrowth) came only when I reduced my dosage from daily to 1 every 5-7 days. Thanks.
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I'm not exactly "recanting", because it's always been a _bit_ of a concern for me what effect (if any) there would be from that extra little fluctuation of dutasteride levels in the blood from taking an Avodart every 5 days. It would be fascinating if they had calculated and included such a graph in that Gisleskog study, along with the others. But it's probably nothing to worry about.
Bryan
Bryan
Yeah, it's tough because we're trying to calculate the half-life(s) within the 0.5 mg Avodart capsule as it applies to dutasteride 0.1 mg/day which is 3 days. Don’t you think there are 5 equal doses of 0.1 mg in that 1 Avodart 0.5 mg capsule that equates to 0.1 mg/day? Wouldn't you think that because of Avodart's unique molecular structure as it corresponds to its long half-life that this reaffirms it?
Avo05
Can you give us a little history about your dutasteride experiences? What is your loss pattern like? Are you using generic or GSK? Did your front thin on every day dutasteride? When you say you take one pill every 5-7 days, how do you determine if it's going to be 5 days or 7 days or is it whenever you remember to take it?
Thanks!
Can you give us a little history about your dutasteride experiences? What is your loss pattern like? Are you using generic or GSK? Did your front thin on every day dutasteride? When you say you take one pill every 5-7 days, how do you determine if it's going to be 5 days or 7 days or is it whenever you remember to take it?
Thanks!
I'm a Norwood 2-3, not diffuse. I use brand name Avodart. When I took Avodart daily I just shed more. No frontal loss, just shedding at the same rate. Maybe if I took it longer daily (more than 6 months) I would have noticed frontal shedding. It wasn't until I reduced my dosage to 1 every 5 days did my results improve (less shedding, thickening, and some regrowth). I basically thought I should just try to model finasteride in the amount of DHT reduction. That's when I decided to take 1 every 5 days, but every 7 days seemed to work best as far as results and with the least amount of side effects, namely tiredness that I experienced. I think it's a law of diminishing returns with finasteride and dutasteride and that blocking DHT more than 85%-90% does more harm than good -- results and side effects wise. My best experiences have come from taking finasteride every other day and Avodart once a week. For me, it’s like toss a coin – it’s all the same.
In my opinion, 4 times a week is still too much. You only need to take 2 Avodarts 0.5 mg/week to mimic approximately what Proscar 5 mg/day inhibits (70% overall DHT). I even think that taking 2 Avodarts 0.5 mg/week goes slightly over the 70% mark. For me this is the maximum dose of Avodart that I would ever take on a weekly basis.
I still (and this is just my opinion) would not take more than 2 Avodarts per week. Any more in my opinion is overkill in the law of diminishing returns. 85%-90% DHT inhibition (of the type 2 enzyme) is still pretty substantial. As we know, Avodart 0.5 mg/day is the dose for an enlarged prostate as is Proscar 5 mg/day. I tried these dosages and they both seemed counterproductive -- results wise and side effects wise.
proscar 5mg reduces DHT from 5ar2 by 90%, not 70%. When researchers take a blood sample from the scalp, they get 70%. That is because DHT is leaking out of the sebum glands as well, which have 5ar1. The DHT made inside the follicle does the majority of the damage. The DHT from 5ar1 that is in the blood does only a small fraction of the damage when it leaks in, and should not be considered much until almost all DHT from 5ar2 is gone. Next comes testosterone.
If you don't believe be, they transplanted balding scalp to a forearm where the blood DHT levels were lower, and it went bald at the same rate as the hairs it was originally next to. Just when you go from 0.5mg/day to 2.5mg/day does the difference in DHT from 5ar1 start to matter.
As for reducing your dutasteride dose, this is a bad idea if your hair loss is on top of your head or especially in the vertex. The phase II trials show higher doses grow more hair there. Bryan saw the trials and says they did not even measure the front. I don't know what study it was I saw, or if someone just took the time to make it up, but it showed that avodart 2.5 mg/day did regrow some hair in the temples, just not as much as proscar. I think it was 60-70% as much. This pissed me off because it showed that there is no ideal dose that regrows the max in both areas. It showed I have to pick one or the other.
If you are taking 2 or fewer dutasteride per week, go ahead and take a finasteride halfway between doses if you want. I don't think it is necessary for the 2 per week, but could be good for the 1 per 5 days.
2-3 pill per week was not tested. The results i saw said proscar did better in front than dutasteride 0.5mg/day, but we don't know if proscar is the best, or if the best is on one side or the other from proscar. I'm placing my bet that it is between the 0.5mg/day and the proscar, maybe at 2-3 per week. The good thing about this bet is I know it is stronger on the back than propecia is. Also, this cheap regimen means I can spend that money on spironolactone or something else and apply that to the front.
Do matter how much finasteride or dutasteride you take, you still have testosterone making its small attack. Topical AR inhibitors will take care of that. I'm going to go with spironolactone 2% mixed with a cheap fatty acid mixture.
If you don't believe be, they transplanted balding scalp to a forearm where the blood DHT levels were lower, and it went bald at the same rate as the hairs it was originally next to. Just when you go from 0.5mg/day to 2.5mg/day does the difference in DHT from 5ar1 start to matter.
As for reducing your dutasteride dose, this is a bad idea if your hair loss is on top of your head or especially in the vertex. The phase II trials show higher doses grow more hair there. Bryan saw the trials and says they did not even measure the front. I don't know what study it was I saw, or if someone just took the time to make it up, but it showed that avodart 2.5 mg/day did regrow some hair in the temples, just not as much as proscar. I think it was 60-70% as much. This pissed me off because it showed that there is no ideal dose that regrows the max in both areas. It showed I have to pick one or the other.
If you are taking 2 or fewer dutasteride per week, go ahead and take a finasteride halfway between doses if you want. I don't think it is necessary for the 2 per week, but could be good for the 1 per 5 days.
2-3 pill per week was not tested. The results i saw said proscar did better in front than dutasteride 0.5mg/day, but we don't know if proscar is the best, or if the best is on one side or the other from proscar. I'm placing my bet that it is between the 0.5mg/day and the proscar, maybe at 2-3 per week. The good thing about this bet is I know it is stronger on the back than propecia is. Also, this cheap regimen means I can spend that money on spironolactone or something else and apply that to the front.
Do matter how much finasteride or dutasteride you take, you still have testosterone making its small attack. Topical AR inhibitors will take care of that. I'm going to go with spironolactone 2% mixed with a cheap fatty acid mixture.