Has Anyone Recovered From A Reflex-hyperandrogenicity From Finasteride At All?
- Thread starter WMQ
- Start date
- Reaction score
- 481
I didn't recover but stabilized 6-9 months after discontinuing micro-dosed topical finasteride (0,01% daily).
The oily face and scalp itch disappeared rather quickly (a matter of weeks), then the acne (3-6 months) and then the shedding normalized (as in, it went back to its original course before I had taken finasteride).
I have, unfortunately, not recovered as of today.
@trialAcc 's case is weird though: the guy had a successful course with oral finasteride for a couple of years before this bad experience while switching to topical finasteride. It makes me wonder whether this phenomenon, no matter how one would call it, is random and recurring. In other words, if one were to re-attempt another course with 5AR inhibitors following a first failed course with RA-like symptoms, could it be successful?
I tend to agree, and two doctors I've spoken to now (via email) have basically said the exact same thing. I think it's an immediate/acute reaction that the body can have to the changes, but I don't think it's permanent and I 100% don't think it's a sure thing that if it happened once that it will happen every time you try it, I'm proof of that. I think a ramp up and ease into the medication is needed.
I also don't think it's upregulation, to be honest. I think it's more like acute telegen effluvium and has similar symptoms, which means you can correct it within 6-9 months and recover a bit, but because we have male pattern baldness we won't recover like someone without it would.
Similar to you, I just took roughly a month off from oral finasteride, and the itch and oil were almost gone. I took a .5 dose of oral on Saturday and the itch is partially back though, so obviously I need to wait it out longer.
Last edited:
I probably messed up by increasing the dose when i noticed a slow increase in shedding mid January. My hair quality gradually reduced from taking the finasteride. It's now all dry and thin. Also, 1mg of topical finasteride was too little to cover the entire scalp, but probably there was no need for that either...
Shedding is normal. I shed all the time on finasteride but never lost any ground.
I understand, but it seems my hair quality just got worse and worse on finasteride. It's all thin and brittle now
How long have you been on it?
4 months on finasteride. Below baseline now w.r.t. density and all hairs have gotten thinner.. Also the hairloss gradually increased within 1.5 months, but went mental in the last two weeks. These last two weeks were also charcterized by a spike in libido and balls getting sore..
The libido is probably a normal thing, the ball acne I'd be watching for sure. If you're 4 months in you're in the thick of the initial finasteride shed, I almost guarantee it.
When I started finasteride I went through the same thing, eventually I stopped shedding, improved, and I held my loss to a snails pace for years.
Ball ache went away after one day of quiting finasteride. I assume I can go 30 days without finasteride before the DHT starts attacking the follicles again?
I'm thinking of stopping finasteride as I was looking of pictures of myself and noticed how unhealthy I started looking recently. Face got very bloated, especialy in the morning. I just realized the bloating is now gone after a few days off finasteride. Was thinking it was the minoxidil, but im still using that. Beard was developing nicely before adding the finasteride. Now, that has stopped and facial hair has thinned. Also seem to be losing pigment in facial hair, something I found can be caused by finasteride depleting melanin. Overall, I feel the hormone changin finasteride may not be worth it. But i guess I'm stuck to it if I want to regain the hair that i just lost?
I'm thinking of stopping finasteride as I was looking of pictures of myself and noticed how unhealthy I started looking recently. Face got very bloated, especialy in the morning. I just realized the bloating is now gone after a few days off finasteride. Was thinking it was the minoxidil, but im still using that. Beard was developing nicely before adding the finasteride. Now, that has stopped and facial hair has thinned. Also seem to be losing pigment in facial hair, something I found can be caused by finasteride depleting melanin. Overall, I feel the hormone changin finasteride may not be worth it. But i guess I'm stuck to it if I want to regain the hair that i just lost?
Maybe just continue but adjust your dosage? I was doing 3x weekly my entire time on finasteride, never had a problem. I think finding the lowest dosage possible that works for you is very advantageous for the long run.
Yeah, that seems to be the best for now I think. Just trying to find a dose that allows for my beard to develop further while also using min and dermarolling to keep the head hair.
Still afraid my beard may not/never normally and fully develop and that I'll lose my head hair anyways. I'd rather be able to sport an OK stubble if my hair won't look really presentable no more.
Last edited:
Probably not unless you have some telogen effluvium, but the minoxidil would. It effects anything it touches.
Both seem plausible. Could Telogen Effluvium be caused by a sudden hormonal change?
Yup, it's temporary and you can recover from it if that's what it is.
RH isn't even a medically verified occurrence in any literature or study on finasteride on the scalp. People think it exists because it happens at much higher dosages of the drug in the prostate, but again, this has been observed medically and clinically in the prostate, never in the scalp despite thousands of people studied.
It's not Telogen Effluvium, it's when your androgen receptors over compensate for the lack of a certain hormone by getting more sensitive. In the follicle AR receptors case, it would mean less DHT/T does more damage, if it existed.
What I think people mostly confuse for RHA in the scalp, is acute bouts of Telogen Effluvium and inflammation cause by an increase in scalp testosterone that's present from finasteride.
So, basically the only way to know is by doing bloodwork? If hormone levels not significantly different from before, then its likely increased sensitivity?