Odd Experience on Zinc & finasteride

[FromHairy2LarryDavid]

Thought I'd share a strange incident which I attribute to Zinc (for lack of a better explanation).

For reference, I've been on finasteride for a solid three years now. Thus far it's maintained my NW2 alright, however - I recently noticed a significant loss of frontal density, compared to something like a year ago.

Although the shape of my hairline is still intact, I can't deny the substantial decrease in volume. I consider Zinc the main factor because it's been about a year on it, which is consistent with the timeline of loss plus it's been shown to boost T.

Now whether that's to any notable extent or not, I can safely say that the signs of significant DHT presence are back (from before finasteride). Memory's sharp af again (never gave a fck) and so is some serious sperm volume (same here). It also feels all weak and "androgen-riddled" to the touch like it did before finasteride. Also the temples itch like crazy which was mainly a thing before treatment as well.

After reading a handful of similar cases, I promptly quit it. Ever since so, I'm having inhumane amounts of shedding - almost like when starting finasteride, which fits the theory but it's devastating to go through with long hair.

Will see how things develop with my (re-)adjusted regimen. Won't blame anyone for chalking it up to either placebo or the usual seasonal sheds or finasteride wearing off
.. just sharing my thoughts for some discourse.

 

[fashy]

I started taking Zinc at the start of August and right now am going through a terrible shed that has made my hair significantly worse than it has been in the past year or so. I read that some people experience loss with Zinc but I also read about the Zinc - Prolactin link and how it may actually be beneficial. However this shed is really conveniently timed with the start of me taking Zinc so maybe it is related?

What dose of Zinc (and what kind) did you take daily. I take 30 mg of Zinc Picolinate. For reference I also only use minoxidil and needle.

 

[fashy]

This is an interesting study which shows that oral Zinc administration can increase both T and DHT so maybe we're on to something?

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/01485018109009378

 

[FromHairy2LarryDavid]

Seems like an interesting paper on Zinc and its lesser discussed effects. Based on my personal experience, I can attest to a probable increase in both T and DHT, however there's in fact benefits to it as well, like you mentioned.

In any case, considering I strive for simplicity (both in life and treatment), I won't be taking chances with my hair for any slight benefits, with even the dimmest signs of potential counter-intuition.

Spoiler: off-topic

At this point and time in my journey, I would say I'm just hanging on for dear life until Kintor blesses us with one of its upcoming drugs.

What dose of Zinc (and what kind) did you take daily. I take 30 mg of Zinc Picolinate.

Always been on 25 mg throughout the one year period. The period that just so happened to divide my frontal volume by half, essentially. I assume you're past the initial shedding on minoxidil by now? (to avoid mistaking it for Zinc)

 

[fashy]

I've been taking Minoxidil for a year and 2 months now so it is definitely not an initial minoxidil shed. It could be that the minoxidil is starting to lose some efficacy and I've started shedding from that, but for most people it seems like that happens after they hit their 2 year mark so I dunno it's impossible to say really. But the potential DHT increase from Zinc certainly isn't helping in theory.

Also, funny that you mention frontal hair volume decrease as my most noticeable thinning has been dead center at the front of my hairline, to the point where there are patches of hair on the left and right side of the front of my hair that are 2x thicker than the rest so the whole front looks ridiculously patchy. Apart from that there has also been some thinning on the sides.

And yes, it's either Kintor or HMI or it's pretty much over at this point it seems, they are certainly my last hope.

Did you get any noticeable side effects from finasteride which made you take Zinc in order to try to counteract it?

 

[FromHairy2LarryDavid]

I've been taking Minoxidil for a year and 2 months now so it is definitely not an initial minoxidil shed. It could be that the minoxidil is starting to lose some efficacy and I've started shedding from that, but for most people it seems like that happens after they hit their 2 year mark so I dunno it's impossible to say really.

Oh then you're deep into treatment indeed. As for its degrading efficacy, I doubt it would show just a year in. Even without 5ARI's it should yield you some results for at least a couple of years imo.

Apart from that there has also been some thinning on the sides.

That could be retrograde alopecia. I'm not very knowledgeable on that but I suppose minoxidil could help reverse that.

Did you get any noticeable side effects from finasteride which made you take Zinc in order to try to counteract it?

Only side effects were a very slight sense of brain fog and a mild decrease in seminal quality.

While they're statistically negligible to happen (so I encourage you to start it yourself), I accepted them as price but again, they somehow subsided over a year, while my hair got visibly worse so I needed a culprit. Zinc made most sense.

 

[Norwoody]

Update?

 

[Doingitright]

sounds conclusive....

 

[Norwoody]

I just saw now that this was a long term thing. Well, I mean, zinc is a part of zix. Maybe if you’re really deficient it could cause a spike in androgens and hence a shed. But I still don’t see it as a reason to avoid it. If you’re taking a very large dose then maybe cut it back to something more modest. Also, upregulation from 5ARIs can happen too, so sheds seem to happen periodically on those drugs regardless. I can see there being a combination.

I would go further to say that those with higher baseline androgen levels to begin with probably experience less heavy sheds than low T guys. For one, low T guys generally have more sensitive receptors. Say one guy has T of 300 and another guy 1000. If the first guy increases his T by 100, that’s a whopping 33%, whereas it’s only 10% for the high T guy. Perhaps that could be triggered by deficiency/supplementation. Also, don’t forget that E may also be the culprit since that is derived from T.

 

[Don Flamenco]

There's so little evidence that zix or zinc do anything. I'm surprised so many people swear that it works in comparison to all the people who say ketoconazole does nothing despite the studies showing its effectiveness

 

[FromHairy2LarryDavid]

Update?

Still off Zinc (for good) because the shed since quitting is growing rather drastic (150+ hairs of all lengths) so I'm trying to mitigate that with megadoses of MSM (helped others) and Castor oil.​

low T guys generally have more sensitive receptors. Say one guy has T of 300 and another guy 1000. If the first guy increases his T by 100, that’s a whopping 33%, whereas it’s only 10% for the high T guy.

I'm definitely low T myself which further solidifies the case. That and a total lapse of temper that has since returned on top of the fogginess.

Nonetheless, I genuinely hope Zinc is the answer because there's another reasonable hypothesis. Took a single search outside of the androgenic angle to discover Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia (FFA) and Cicatricial Alopecia in general. It's an autoimmune illness where inflammatory cells will attack your follicles.

Manifests in constant inflammation, hurting follicles and a rapid onset. All check out. FFA would explain not only the weakening front and insane shedding but even the latter symptoms which I never took seriously. This thread explains how it might as well affect half of this board for all we know, considering how vastly under-diagnosed it is.

I'll have a biopsy to confirm then return here to continue discussing this nightmare.​