Swapping to Dutasteride, need some help

[potatopirate]

I hear alot of people talking about "loading phases", like taking 2.5mg once a week alongisde your finasteride and slowly hiting 0.5mg a day, I want to swap from finasteride, to duta, as I feel I have lost abit of ground on finasteride over 3 years

I have some RU ready aswell, I just wanna know how to go about this swap, theres alot of misinformation online about half lifes etc.

 

[Norwoody]

I hear alot of people talking about "loading phases", like taking 2.5mg once a week alongisde your finasteride and slowly hiting 0.5mg a day, I want to swap from finasteride, to duta, as I feel I have lost abit of ground on finasteride over 3 years

I have some RU ready aswell, I just wanna know how to go about this swap, theres alot of misinformation online about half lifes etc.

If I recall, Bryan said that 1.5mg a day for the first 10 days is probably the optimal "loading" dose to reach steady-state plasma levels of the drug the soonest. However, keep in mind sooner might not always be better. Such a sudden shift in hormones might trigger telogen effluvium / upregulation. It just depends on how aggressive you want to be. Some users introduce it once a week and stay on that routine. Others introduce it gradually into a daily dose.

 

[potatopirate]

If I recall, Bryan said that 1.5mg a day for the first 10 days is probably the optimal "loading" dose to reach steady-state plasma levels of the drug the soonest. However, keep in mind sooner might not always be better. Such a sudden shift in hormones might trigger telogen effluvium / upregulation. It just depends on how aggressive you want to be. Some users introduce it once a week and stay on that routine. Others introduce it gradually into a daily dose.

I would prefferable like to switch none aggressively, what would be the method there? I want to eventually just be on dutasteride

 

[Derelict]

Just drop finasteride and take dutasteride daily. Dutasteride will very quickly inhibit 70% same as finasteride and build up serum levels to reach peak inhibition. You have nothing to worry about dropping finasteride and starting duta, you are not risking your hair.

 

[FromHairy2LarryDavid]

Do it as gradually as possible. I’d try carefully crossfading them. Perhaps .5 mg a week alongside finasteride in the beginning then slowly decrease finasteride little by little, slowly start dutasteride 3x a week then eventually taper off of finasteride and increase dutasteride to every other day, then finally daily. Don’t go cold turkey on it or jump over to dutasteride overnight. Nothing to lose in playing it safe.

 

[Norwoody]

I would prefferable like to switch none aggressively, what would be the method there? I want to eventually just be on dutasteride

Add in 1-2 dutasteride per week and see how that goes.

 

[potatopirate]

Add in 1-2 dutasteride per week and see how that goes.

Do I skip the finasteride on those days? Theres alot of misinformation about it taking 6 months for dutasteride to build up? So I am abit confused as to how I would effectively switch over long term

 

[Norwoody]

Do I skip the finasteride on those days? Theres alot of misinformation about it taking 6 months for dutasteride to build up? So I am abit confused as to how I would effectively switch over long term

You can. I don't think it matters much if you take it or don't take it on that day. Yes, dutasteride works by building up in your system via its extremely long half life. And, since its half life is soooo long, the more you take in a shorter period of time, the more you will spike the drug concentration and the faster you will nuke DHT. But this obviously has a greater risk of causing a shed compared to introducing it more gradually. You have to decide whether you want to risk getting results sooner vs. a worse shed.