Gyno and worse hair loss

[YouKnow]

Well I have been taking Propecia for arond 2 and half months and I think I am getting gyno. I noticed around four weeks ago that my chest kind of felt funny. Now I can tell that I have more fat around the chest area than normal, especially on the left side. I have currently lowered my dosage to .25 mg, and I am going to see a doctor tomorrow. The funny thing is that my hair loss seems to have gotten worse since starting propecia. My hair has thinned out all over the top of my head and the sides of my head. I am getting really frustrated and depressed. I don't think I will look that good with a buzzed head, and I am scared to get a haircut because I think I will end up seeing a lot of scalp. I am hoping that maybe I can gradually increase my finasteride dosage as my body adjusts. Other than that I have not had any side effects, I have even grown some hairs along the hairline. This sucks, I am only 23 and I never pictured myself losing hair. And I know that if I cant take finasteride that there really isnt much more I can do. When I started finasteride my hairloss was very minimal, and I was hoping that after a year my hair would be back to normal, but now I feel like I am destined to be bald. Has anyone here gotten rid of gyno, or had success with a lower dosage of finasteride?

 

[casperz]

I think everyone starting finasteride should be required to take pictures
and measurements of their chests so when the Gyno panic
starts they can re-assure themselves they have always had
boobs.

Gyno as I understand it is a hard area under the nipple area that
causes the nipple to stand out which is awesome on a woman, not
so much on a man.

 

[YouKnow]

I dont have anything hard behind the nipple, just more fat as it would seem. I am hoping that lowering my dosage will help me see if this goes away. I also do work out like 3-4 times a week. I was trying to bulk up so I was on these protein shakes that had like 700 calories and 60 grams of protein, but I have stopped drinking those in the last week.

 

[casperz]

I'm guessing it's just fat. If it were gyno your nipple would be hard, at
least that is what we use to call gyno.

If your not working the crap out of your body (and I mean to failure),
protein shakes are not going to build all muscle, you're going to gain fat
too. I've had the same experience many years ago before I started any
hairloss treatments and if I could drive home after a workout I would
gain a lot of fat if I was drinking lots of protein drinks. And if your
benching a lot the pecs are going to be that much bigger. Not sure
what you bench but any guy that can bench a couple of hundred pounds
is going to have man boobs and it's not gyno, it's just muscle.

 

[YouKnow]

Thanks for the support man. I do work out pretty hard, but not as hard as I should. I usually do 3 sets of bench at 5 reps at 185. Then maybe I ad in flys or something. Around the same time I started noticing hair loss I got on this new workout from this book "Scrawny to Brawny" where they have you do a lot of heavy lifting with less workouts. Example: Bench 5x5, pull ups 5x5, flys 2 sets of 6-8, 2 sets of weighted sit ups. The diet I followed had me eating around 4500 calories a day without shakes, mostly eggs and beef. I have since gotten lazy and just drank 2 or 3 of those 700 calorie protein shakes. I am going to try and get a lower calorie protein shake. The truth of it is it is hard for me to gain muscle, but I do have a little gut with this chest fat, but I (just stopped doing this) drink a lot of beer. I know you can tell me that this will be the cause of my fat, but I am still going to see a Doctor and see what he says. My left chest just seems to be drooping too much near the nipple, and there is some extra fat under my arms. I let you know what happens, but until then I will keep taking my .25 mgs of finasteride. My hair loss just sucks because this summer my hair was fine, now I am totally thinning out to where I cant gel my hair anymore. I guess its good to vent sometimes.

 

[Mew]

I let you know what happens, but until then I will keep taking my .25 mgs of finasteride

Makes no difference due to near flat dose response of drug. Until you get down to microscopic doses, you'll still be inhibiting nearly same amount of DHT wether you take 0.25mg or 5mg:

http://www.physics.upenn.edu/facultyinf ... peciafda2/

Correspondingly, don't expect a major resolution in terms of side effects even at a lower dosage.

 

[YouKnow]

But to be honest, I have been taking a lower dosage for about four days now and I do not feel anymore weird feelings in the chest area. I know everyone reacts differently to these drugs.

 

[YouKnow]

I forgot to add that I have only been on finasteride for 2 1/2 months, so I dont expect to see results yet, but I feel like my hair has thinned out worse and I dont see any massive shedding.

 

[cuebald]

I am very skinny but I always had slight "boobs" - I actually liked them as they kinda looked almost like "pecs" - I don't work out at all.
I've been on finasteride for a few months as well as some herbal anti-androgens, and I've noticed no difference in "boob" size whatsoever. Nothing.
The only side I've noticed is a slight decrease in sex drive - I wank once every 2 days instead of every day. I am 22 years old FYI.
This side effect is a very good thing for me.

 

[follicle84]

Talking from experience lowering the dose does help, but thats not to say you wont get side effects. For me lowering the dose slowed the build up of gyno and fatigue greatly but it eventually caught up with me in the end. For this reason i have abadoned finestride after nearly 5 months. I too noticed my hair thinned but i also gained some hair back too. Its really bizzare but i guess finasteride made my hair worse in some places and better in others. I guess finasteride takes along time to work round all the scalp. I have also read that more hair enters the resting stage (telegon stage) whilst on finasteride than usual, which may explain the lack of density your hair maybe experiencing.

I think it a good idea not taking those protein shakes. finasteride causes more free circulating estrogen to inhibit muscle production by turning it into fat. I know you can take anti estrogen tablets to prevent this like body builders do, using such brands as novadex. However i think it wouldnt be a good idea to use these as they may block too much estrogen in your body and do more harm than good to your body. Estrogen has many important roles in your body such as maintaining the overal functions of your heart, liver, central nervous system and bones. You can however take a serm such as tomaxifen to only target certain types of estrogen receptors such as your breasts. This of course inhibits the production of gyno without reducing your estrogen levels by binding estrogen at its recepor sites.

I think you should know however even tomaxifen isnt competelly side effect free. It has its own side effects such as liver damage, hot flushes, shedding, insomnia etc.

Thats not to say you will get those side effects but it is a possibility. I think you should know tomaxifen losses its effect quite quickly so you shouldnt take it for long probably no more than 3 months without taking a break from it otherwise you will be immune to its effects.

A safe alternative method might be to take green tea. I wouldn't expect much from it but its a weak estrogen blocker that might be worth looking into.

For the record i was on 0.25 mg of finasteride and quit 2 and half weeks ago. I dont work out and gyno has gone down a bit meaning it must have been a build up of fat and water retension. It still their however and wasnt their prior to starting finasteride.

 

[YouKnow]

Well I was gonna go see a doctor today, but he canceled on me for the second time. I am going to ask what he thinks. I am also going to get blood work done. I think that I have gained weight on the belly area too, so it might just be fat build up. I am still going to take this lower dosage, as I have not had any gyno symptoms since lowering, and will try and gradually increase my dose. I dont know, its a weird process, one that I would not wish anyone. I just got my hair cut today and there is a spot on the back of my head that is thin, but I do not think it is as thin as I thought it was when I had longer hair. Like I said, I am only 2.5 months into using finasteride so I dont expect results yet, but I definitly do not want gyno. I will hope for the best but keep monitoring my hair and weight.

 

[follicle84]

I am only 2.5 months into using finasteride so I dont expect results yet

Yes, i would give finasteride six months before giving it an assessment. It can be torcher waiting for results so soon. My hair looked pretty bad after two months because of the excessive shedding but it grew back in the end.

I think that I have gained weight on the belly area too, so it might just be fat build up.

Yeh, I forgot to mention green tea is meant to be a natural fat burner too. If your gaining weight you should look into getting some. You can buy it in capsules so you dont have to bother making cups of tea. I think this helped me keep my weight down but its hard to tell because i am already slim.

 

[YouKnow]

I just started taking green tea capsules, and I got a natural Aromatose Inhibitor as well.

 

[YouKnow]

Maybe I was drinking too much beer.