Just got a script for dutasteride and was wondering if I should completely go off finasteride or take 1.25 mg EOD for a month w/ dutasteride then switch to only dutasteride. Or should I stay on finasteride permanently while taking dutasteride. My fear with the last one is prostate problems in the future.
Switching from finasteride to dutasteride
- Thread starter dusty
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How long have you been on finasteride? Why are you thinking of switching to dutasteride?
I spoke to a hair transplant surgeon today and asked him about it. He basically said that dutasteride was well tolerated long term in men with Benign Prostate Hypertrophy and there doesn't appear to be any long term side effects. If you're worried about your prostate (and it's a strange thing for a young man to worry about) then don't, dutasteride is specifically marketed as a BPH drug so it should actually lessen the potential for future prostate problems, not enhance them.
The greatest risk with switching to dutasteride is upregulation, that is the hair follicles becoming more sensitive to DHT to to the DHT blocking effects of dutasteride. With finasteride it's more cyclical due to it's short halflife so upregulation is less likely to occur as levels go up and down every 24 hours, whereas the consitant presence of dutasteride due to it's much longer halflife may mean upregulation is more likely to occur since the follicles are consitantly subject to much lower DHT concentrations.
Of course there's no actual evidence that upregulation occurs at all in hair follicles due to DHT blockers, it's just a possibility. That said, I'm also strongly conisdering switching to dutasteride. If upregulation doesn't occur (and we really don't know) then long term, dutasteride is by far the more effective of the two drugs.
I spoke to a hair transplant surgeon today and asked him about it. He basically said that dutasteride was well tolerated long term in men with Benign Prostate Hypertrophy and there doesn't appear to be any long term side effects. If you're worried about your prostate (and it's a strange thing for a young man to worry about) then don't, dutasteride is specifically marketed as a BPH drug so it should actually lessen the potential for future prostate problems, not enhance them.
The greatest risk with switching to dutasteride is upregulation, that is the hair follicles becoming more sensitive to DHT to to the DHT blocking effects of dutasteride. With finasteride it's more cyclical due to it's short halflife so upregulation is less likely to occur as levels go up and down every 24 hours, whereas the consitant presence of dutasteride due to it's much longer halflife may mean upregulation is more likely to occur since the follicles are consitantly subject to much lower DHT concentrations.
Of course there's no actual evidence that upregulation occurs at all in hair follicles due to DHT blockers, it's just a possibility. That said, I'm also strongly conisdering switching to dutasteride. If upregulation doesn't occur (and we really don't know) then long term, dutasteride is by far the more effective of the two drugs.
Been on finasteride for about a year and my hair loss is very aggressive diffuse pattern. You can see my pictures from a year back and just a couple weeks ago here http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interac...-years-old-who-decided-to-go-on-the-big-three. To me I have not really had much success so I figured switching to dutasteride would help because from what we have from certain studies show that it is more effective at blocking DHT. Honestly if it works then stops working lets say ten years down the road I will have a great job(pharmacy student) and I will be able to afford a mega transplant. I am kinda always worried about potential side effects of meds to answer why I would be concerned about my prostate.
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Also is 35 dollars a month too much for dutasteride?
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Also is 35 dollars a month too much for dutasteride?
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If finasteride caused no issues but isn't halting your hair loss then dutasteride is a no brainer, go for it.
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It really doesn't make much difference. If you take dutasteride ed or eod, then taking or not taking finasteride will make zero difference whatsoever.
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I switched after 1 year on finasteride, been on dutasteride for a little over 3 months now. The benefit is after the initial run-through of switching over, once it gets in your system you really only need to take it 1-2 times a week at most to keep it in your system. finasteride would stay in my system for 2-3 days, dutasteride stays for about 21 days at the same level as day one. This would be a $ saver.
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I switched cold turkey 3 months ago. I'm starting to regrow but I also started oral min same time so hard to say. No differences in sides whatsoever.
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U been on minoxidil also for 20 ?
so my story is started on Min at 24 when I first noticed signs of slight thinning. At 27 started taking finasteride. I am now 50 and have seriously held most my hair for that time. I must admit for the last year at least. I have been very sloppy with using MIN. In the last 2 months I have noticed some thinning towards the front. My hairdresser even mentioned it. Not sure what to attribute it too. Age? Sporadic MIN use or I need something stronger hence thinking about incorporating DUA twice a week... Any suggestions from some of you veterans would be appreciated as I'm very new here.
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I am a "sporadic min" user (aka lazy as f***) aswell, and all my biggest hair crisis were exactly when I wasn't religiously applying everything. The more obssessed I am the more hair I have basically lol