Long time dutasteride User chiming in

[Tau Fat]

Hey everyone. Excellent forum here. I am a long time dutasteride user (started Oct 2003) and wanted to share my experiences and ask a question of my experienced posters.

I was on Finasteride 1.25mg per day for 5 years with good results which then started fading. I switched to dutasteride 0.5 mg per day in Oct 2003 and after a few months saw a really strong thickening of the hair again. Sadly, side effects on dutasteride were a big problem (None on finasteride) I had flushing and headaches and bloating. In May 04 I went down to 2 dutasteride pills every week and have stayed there for 2 years with good results (though not as crazy as on 0.5mg per day and no sides). I find now that the hair is slowly losing its weight and fullness. I wanted to ask the experts here (esp College) about the effect on DHT of various dutasteride regimines: (1) dutasteride 0.5 once a day, (2) dutasteride 0.5 mg 2 times per week and (3) dutasteride 0.5mg every other day; and finally (4) finasteride 1.25 every day + a booster shot of dutasteride 2 x week. I am thinking of bumping my dosage up to 3 x week or EOD and holding at that level while watching for sides to come back. Regards and thanks.

 

[CCS]

0.5 mg/day dutasteride is supposed to regrow 50% more hair than the finasteride dose you were taking. Since you had levelled off, dutasteride sped you back up again.

I can tell you how much dht from each enzyme is blocked by different doses of dutasteride. i did in the "who is taking dutasteride EOD" thread. I can't predict from that how much hair you can grow. i can just tell you how much the average guy regrew in under 6 months. the higher the dose, the more you regrow, and the higher the risk of side effects, including in the brain at the highest doses.

since finasteride and dutasteride are metabolised differently, using both could be easier on your liver for the same hair effect. however, I don't think you would change the ratio of type2 to type 1 enzyme inhibited. It seems like you could at first glace, but dutasteride has no problem inhibiting the type 1 enzyme. The reason it does not affect it right away is because it likes the type 2 enzyme better, and is used up on it first, and starts on the type 1 once the type 2 is vertually gone. If you inhibit the type 2 with finasteride first, you will just use it up sooner, and dutasteride will just inhibit the type 1 at a lower dose.

I don't know if giving your liver a variety of small stuff is better than a lot of one thing, but finasteride concentrations vary a lot, too. i'd have to think about this more.

as for side effects, they should just be related to dht levels. a combo will not change that. sorry. you will have to use topical spironolactone cream or RU or maybe free fatty acids if you have a problem with side effects. some people are using topical dutasteride, but I must emphasize that minoxidil evaporates too fast, and you should use something that evaporates slower if you take this route.