Hello, I wanted to share my experience with finasteride so far and wanted to seek advise from anyone that has been in the same situation.
I got a hair transplant 2 months ago and began taking finasteride (1mg) 1 month ago. No physical or sexual side effects (so far), but I've been experiencing brain fog, which I will define as feeling a bit high, slow, and disoriented, and also as having some trouble focusing. For the first 2 weeks, I was taking 1mg daily every morning on an empty stomach and I started experiencing brain fog after a few days. For the following 2 weeks, I took the pill at night before bed, the brain fog cleared initially, but then it came back a few days later. There was a night 2 weeks ago where I took the pill with alcohol in my system and I felt nauseous the following day (terrible idea obviously), but there was also a day earlier this week where I felt extremely tired but it could have been an effect in combination with jetlag since I'm traveling. In both of these episodes I stopped taking the pill for 1-2 days and felt much better, but I am still experiencing mental fog. I've also noticed my mental fog peaks about 12 hours after taking the pill.
I am now considering getting off finasteride for several days to clear the mental fog and try again with a lower dose. If any of you could answer any of all of the following questions, I would greatly appreciate it:
I got a hair transplant 2 months ago and began taking finasteride (1mg) 1 month ago. No physical or sexual side effects (so far), but I've been experiencing brain fog, which I will define as feeling a bit high, slow, and disoriented, and also as having some trouble focusing. For the first 2 weeks, I was taking 1mg daily every morning on an empty stomach and I started experiencing brain fog after a few days. For the following 2 weeks, I took the pill at night before bed, the brain fog cleared initially, but then it came back a few days later. There was a night 2 weeks ago where I took the pill with alcohol in my system and I felt nauseous the following day (terrible idea obviously), but there was also a day earlier this week where I felt extremely tired but it could have been an effect in combination with jetlag since I'm traveling. In both of these episodes I stopped taking the pill for 1-2 days and felt much better, but I am still experiencing mental fog. I've also noticed my mental fog peaks about 12 hours after taking the pill.
I am now considering getting off finasteride for several days to clear the mental fog and try again with a lower dose. If any of you could answer any of all of the following questions, I would greatly appreciate it:
- Is it safe to get off finasteride cold turkey, or should I wind down the dosage (e.g., 0.5mg every other day, then 0.25mg every other day) until I completely stop?
- How long did you stop taking finasteride for before resuming with a lower dose?
- If you've experienced brain fog with 1mg like me, what dosages have been effective for you? I'm thinking 0.25mg every day or 0.5mg every other day, but I've read other people microdosing smaller amounts, which seems to still be effective.
- I've seen the finasteride/DHT response curve, which starts flattening after 0.25mg. Does anyone know of a response curve for finasteride and neurosteroids (i.e., allopregnanolone)? I'm interested in understanding if there's any difference between these two curves to help identify an optimal dosage, although I speculate it will vary from person to person.
