lowest poss. finasteride dose

[curbed my enthusiasm]

Hi, I wanted to ask some advice from anyone that might have some insight about how to best handle this situation. I believe i may be developing gyno. Unfortunately the form i suspect i have is the kind with lumps which i understand can be difficult or impossible to correct non surgically after a certain point.

I have since read alot of the posts reguarding this and realize it is incredibly rare, and that generally finasteride is an incredibly safe drug for the vast majority. I realize i need to see an endochrinologist but i don't know when i will be able to get in to see one.

The purpose of my post is to find out if i should completely stop taking finasteride til i see a Doctor. Or could i lower the dosage and frequency? and what would be the lowest and least frequent dosage to keep finasteride in my sys. just enough so that if i decide not to get off it entirely after i see a Doctor. I won't have to restart the process of building finasteride back up in my system from scratch?

Also is there anything else i should bring up to the Doctor. or info to print out so he has a better idea of my situation. like info on nolvadex,arimidex,finasteride? thanks.

 

[Bryan]

and what would be the lowest and least frequent dosage to keep finasteride in my sys. just enough so that if i decide not to get off it entirely after i see a Doctor. I won't have to restart the process of building finasteride back up in my system from scratch?

Finasteride doesn't "build up" in your system to any significant extent, because its half-life is only on the order of six hours or so (give or take a couple of hours). You probably reach "steady-state" after only three or four days or so of taking finasteride.

You're probably confusing finasteride with DUTASTERIDE, which does indeed take a few months to slowly build up to "steady-state".

Bryan

 

[gonna_win]

curbed my enthusiasm. If you could please let us(fellow forum members) what exactily it is you have been taking, what amount and for how long. This would help us to determine what your current condition is. Also if you could post a picture of your chest, maybe this could help us determine your situation.

Good Luck in your fight against male pattern baldness

 

[Guest]

0.2mg daily has almost the same effect on DHT levels as 1mg

 

[not me!]

0.2mg daily has almost the same effect on DHT levels as 1mg

Very true, but you will develop a resistance over time and need to up the doseage. As far as exactly "when" you will need to do this...just like almost every other "advanced" Finasteride question - noone knows for sure.

 

[curbed my enthusiasm]

Bryan, I guess i worded it wrong. what i mean is it takes a certain amount of time for finasteride to be effective, usualy 8-12 months or whatever it is. I was under the impression that if you stopped taking finasteride and then restarted you would be back at the beginning of the process (as if you never took it) and would have the whole 8-12 months before it takes effect. I've been on finasteride for almost 3 months, so i figured if i could keep taking a smaller amount consistantly then i would be 3 months along in the process as opposed to starting from day one if i interupted the finasteride treatment.

I have no clue how this stuff works scientifically, i was just assuming. am i wrong, could i lets say stop taking finasteride for a month and then restart where i left off at the three month mark of the finasteride hair saving process (whatever that is).

gonna_win, thanks for the reply. unfortunately i don't have any way to put up pics. my chest may be alittle swolen but it's not that noticable visually, but i also only suspected the gyno nine days ago. i got concerned bec. i have felt some small lumps below my nips which were tender if i squeezed lightly. i also have been having some of the symptoms as far as sensativity w/o touching my chest. i've been on proscar 1/5 everyday for almost 3 months.

 

[curbed my enthusiasm]

up

 

[curbed my enthusiasm]

anybody?

 

[Bismarck]

0.2mg daily has almost the same effect on DHT levels as 1mg

Very true, but you will develop a resistance over time and need to up the doseage. As far as exactly "when" you will need to do this...just like almost every other "advanced" Finasteride question - noone knows for sure.

???
Could you elaborate what you mean by "resistance" ?

Thank you,
bis

 

[not me!]

Uh, sure.

Resistance: you WILL build up a tolerance to the medication.

 

[Bismarck]

Uh, sure.

Resistance: you WILL build up a tolerance to the medication.

How can this happen ??

 

[Rage]

Easy.. the body detects that there is insufficient DHT in the body, upregulates the production of 5ar and testosterone.

But never ever never ever seen any evidence to support this.

 

[Bismarck]

Easy.. the body detects that there is insufficient DHT in the body, upregulates the production of 5ar and testosterone.

But never ever never ever seen any evidence to support this.

If upregulation of 5aR is the reason for the "tolerance" or "resistance" then simply upping the finasteride dose would solve that problem. And that's the reason I do not believe 5aR-upregulation is responsible for that tolerance.

bis

 

[Bryan]

There is evidence that less DHT will upregulate the production of testosterone, but it probably works opposite to that with the 5a-reductase type 2 enzyme. I have an in vitro study that was done with human hair follicles. Increasing amounts of androgenic stimulation in the form of added testosterone caused INCREASES in the production of the type 2 enzyme, and had no effect at all on the type 1 enzyme. Therefore, it seems to me that decreasing levels of androgenic stimulation (less DHT) would cause LESS 5a-reductase type 2 production, not more.

Bryan