Taking Finasteride is the biggest regret of my life

20YearsOnFin

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I would always suggest to do blood work beforehand but for me Finasteride saved me for now. I'm 23 and was a borderline NW3 with continuing loss at 20. I have stabilized and regained a lot in the last few years. I also had no side effects.

I'm a person that trusts science and does not think that everything is a conspiracy nor do I think that I know more than actual experts. Going with the science, reading studies and knowing how to differentiate between credible sources and bs always served me well until now.

Finasteride is a safe drug although there are always possibilities that it can go wrong. But the fear mongering that I read in forums like these is toxic and almost made me not start finasteride which would have been the worst decision I could have made.

Normally I wouldn't even be in a forum like this anymore but I still get Email notifications and decided to look at it again. Yep.. the same sh*t as always.


I have attached some pics and although they are not the best comparisons in terms of lighting I think it is clear what progress I made and how bad it gotten before finasteride. I owe a lot to the drug and credible people in this forum that are scientifically literate.

The first four pictures are before finasteride. The next four are after starting with it and in chronological order. The last two are how it looks when I literally do nothing with it and just keep it casual which is passable I guess even tho the hairline is far from perfect. But without the drug I wouldn't be where I am today I'm sure of that. I will try to maintain that and when I'm older get a small transplant to fill the temples in a bit and/or counteract future loss.
A Night and Day difference............ You must be ecstatic with that.
 

PRIMEN

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DHT does play a huge role in teens but it’s not as important afterwards in adulthood.
For some people yes, for some people no, everyone's different. For example, when I try to inhibit 5α-Reductase I become a different person and experience lots of side effects. My body wants my baseline DHT to work properly.
 

20YearsOnFin

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For some people yes, for some people no, everyone's different. For example, when I try to inhibit 5α-Reductase I become a different person and experience lots of side effects. My body wants my baseline DHT to work properly.
In those incidences, then people should refrain from using them and look to other options.
 

20YearsOnFin

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Haha more priceless advice......

Its laughable how anyone can look at @Niki99's post and interpret it as an example of somebody making the wrong choice, and imply at the age of 20, he would have been better off to start the first in a series of FUE transplants instead.....LoL
 

Renovation

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End of the day whether finasteride works or not for hairloss suppressing DHT is suppressing the primary male sex hormone. This will affect some people at any age - women go through the menopause at an average age of 50 and it messes some of them up big style, mainly due to changes in female hormones. It's not rocket science.
 

Niki99

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A Night and Day difference............ You must be ecstatic with that.
Yes I'm really glad that I made the right call for me back then.

I'm aware of the fact that side effects can exist and that you should always check yourself before you start but like I said.

In my experience the science and the well known studies are supported by the anecdotal evidence that I gathered in real life. For most people it's fine, a small portion of people gets side effects but they either start to disappear with continued usage or they stop when discontinuing. And for very few, very unlucky individuals side effects can even persist after stopping.

But the nocebo effect is also real, people are often unhealthy anyways when experiencing side effects, had them before but now notice them more and the fear mongering here is overblown by 1) wannabe experts 2) the fact that people that are unhappy or have problems are way more likely to write in these forums and seek advice and 3) by conspiracy theorists that likely also believe that Ukraine is bad, Covid doesn't exist or is a cover up and that the earth flat. Supported by "studies" that are often laughable in terms of quality or are taken out of context. I often notice a correlation there. It is also well known that people that tend to score relatively high on naivety and/or lack an academic background are more susceptible to brainwashing through conspiracy theories.

As a Journalism student it is quite shocking sometimes to read in internet forums since the lack of scientific understanding is staggering. It's actually quite a good large scale representation of the Dunning Kruger effect lol.
 

Renovation

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Yes I'm really glad that I made the right call for me back then.

I'm aware of the fact that side effects can exist and that you should always check yourself before you start but like I said.

In my experience the science and the well known studies are supported by the anecdotal evidence that I gathered in real life. For most people it's fine, a small portion of people gets side effects but they either start to disappear with continued usage or they stop when discontinuing. And for very few, very unlucky individuals side effects can even persist after stopping.

But the nocebo effect is also real, people are often unhealthy anyways when experiencing side effects, had them before but now notice them more and the fear mongering here is overblown by 1) wannabe experts 2) the fact that people that are unhappy or have problems are way more likely to write in these forums and seek advice and 3) by conspiracy theorists that likely also believe that Ukraine is bad, Covid doesn't exist or is a cover up and that the earth flat. Supported by "studies" that are often laughable in terms of quality or are taken out of context. I often notice a correlation there. It is also well known that people that tend to score relatively high on naivety and/or lack an academic background are more susceptible to brainwashing through conspiracy theories.

As a Journalism student it is quite shocking sometimes to read in internet forums since the lack of scientific understanding is staggering. It's actually quite a good large scale representation of the Dunning Kruger effect lol.
I understand what your saying about the nocebo effect in general but with DHT blockers the side effects are not easily confused with poor health. Low sperm count and even mild erectile dysfunction is very noticeable. Nocebo also works both ways, if you do develop mild side effects ie poorer erection etc these become the norm and you carry on with the new you, unless they are very severe.

I'm glad you have had great success without side effects, and at only 23 I truly hope you avoid them in the future.

I'm approaching 40, I tried finasteride when I was about 25 for just over a year, that being the only year of my life when I had noticeable lower sex drive, watery sperm and crap erections. Luckily only lasted as long as I was on finasteride and now it's better than it's ever been and my hairs not changed much at all in the last 10 years party by controlling DHT rather than suppressing it.

Some people are not so lucky unfortunately so it's not all conspiracy theories. Lowering DHT is absolutely going to affect a large amount of men's sexual health being that it is the primary sex hormone, and that's speaking 100 percent scientifically.
 

Niki99

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I understand what your saying about the nocebo effect in general but with DHT blockers the side effects are not easily confused with poor health. Low sperm count and even mild erectile dysfunction is very noticeable.

I'm glad you have had great success without side effects, and at only 23 I truly hope you avoid them in the future.

I'm approaching 40, I tried finasteride when I was about 25 for just over a year, that being the only year of my life when I had noticeable lower sex drive, watery sperm and crap erections. Luckily only lasted as long as I was on finasteride and now it's better than it's ever been. Some people are not so lucky unfortunately so it's not all conspiracy theories. Lowering DHT is absolutely going to affect a large amount of men's sexual health being that it is the primary sex hormone, and that's speaking 100 percent scientifically.
Oh yeah I'm aware of the fact that it definitely can cause side effects and that they are real. I'm just saying that also for a lot of men the nocebo effect or other reasons play an effect as well. And I'm just not agreeing with the claim that it has an noticeable effect on a large amount of men or let's say for the majority of men.

The effects are real, they have to be taken seriously but the majority of men are still fine or only experience very mild cases of side effects.

But if you read here you would think that 70% will have troubles with getting it up and I just don't agree with that as my experience and the scientific literature doesn't support that.
 

20YearsOnFin

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I'm approaching 40.................. my hairs not changed much at all in the last 10 years party by controlling DHT rather than suppressing it.
If you have managed to reach 40 like you say and have been able get similar results to @Niki99, myself or many other users and have maintained what for all intents and purpose is a full head of hair for the last 10 years, then that is an commendable achievement

My bewilderment is mainly directed at the hypocrisy that is sometimes seen online, where heavily balding critics seem to want to dissuade or lecture people on the error of their ways, so this post isn't directed at guys like you, who have had your kind of success.

Maybe you can do a full write up in the success story section?, as in almost quarter of a century of reading these kind's of forums, I'm finding alternative non surgical side effect free method's that can genuinely replicate these kind of results long term, few and far between.

Going back to the Fue discussion, Fue has made enormous progress over the last couple of decades, and is a real game changer for many, for guys like @Wolf Pack , the combination of stabilization through finasteride and hairline reconstruction with Fue is one of the most powerful tools there is to manage the condition.

But the idea that Fue by itself is the best option (''doing multiple FUE transplants is the best course of action'') and that guys who start balding to a NW3 in their teens and early 20's will simply be able to transplant their way out of trouble without any pitfalls or consequences, is just as dangerous of a suggestion as taking 5-Ari's themselves.
 
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20YearsOnFin

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''End of the day whether finasteride works or not for hairloss''

This forum is called hairlosstalk.com though? it's primary purpose is discussing ways to avoid going bald.

Its not healthtalk.com, the healthy option is to just shave it off.

Nobody who takes medication or undergoes surgery for a cosmetic condition is making a healthy choice.

The hypocrisy is, if you look at the 'New Research, Studies, and Technologies' forum on here, buying unlicensed research chemicals from China is actively promoted with little regard to the possible health implications involved.

So I'm failing to see how adults who are aware of the risks of 5-Ari's and have made an informed choice, need to be constantly lectured about their own personal health.
 

20YearsOnFin

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How not? Hair transplant improves the mental health and social status of the patient among other benefits.
Yes in theory, surgery is never an exact predictable science though, it can still lead to undesired outcomes if all the requirements are not fulfilled.

if you look through those other hair loss forums on the internet, specifically the transplant ones.

There are many many people on there undergoing failed transplant repairs, and many peoples lives have been ruined through poorly executed surgical procedures.
 
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20YearsOnFin

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The healthiest and most natural way of living, will always be to avoid unnecessary medication and surgery at all costs.
 

20YearsOnFin

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1*aNlB8JDH7FjHyhDTv4NrTQ.jpg
 

Warrior87

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finasteride is a great compound for tackling the hair loss, the problem with finasteride and other similar meds is the dosage will reduce the bodies DHT levels by around 70%, which is great for limiting DHT in the scalp, but horrendous for maintaining a healthy endocrine system and keeping your HPTA in balance.

DHT is a critical compound when keeping a healthy sex drive, by blocking testosterones conversion to DHT by as little as 70% to a max of 90% plus with dutasteride you will significantly increase testosterones conversion to estrogen which is not a good thing.

I now only half dose finasteride at 0.5mg a day and I use RU58841 as a topical anti-androgen for the scalp to target and neutralize DHT conversion in the scalp. I dont find any drop in sex drive at 0.5mg of finasteride like I did at 1.0mg of finasteride and have managed to significantly improve scalp density by adding the RU58841 for the past year.

Everyone will have their own opinions on what works best for them.
 

losingbattle88

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Oh yeah I'm aware of the fact that it definitely can cause side effects and that they are real. I'm just saying that also for a lot of men the nocebo effect or other reasons play an effect as well. And I'm just not agreeing with the claim that it has an noticeable effect on a large amount of men or let's say for the majority of men.

The effects are real, they have to be taken seriously but the majority of men are still fine or only experience very mild cases of side effects.

But if you read here you would think that 70% will have troubles with getting it up and I just don't agree with that as my experience and the scientific literature doesn't support that.
Lol RU is a scam, it doesnt work for most people, its just a cosmetic effect on your hair makes it clump together.
 
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Warrior87

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Lol RU is a scam, it doesnt work for most people, its just a cosmetic effect on your hair makes it clump together.
says the chap who has never used it, has no experience with it....

'Its a scam, I have never tried it, ignore all the hundreds of thousands of men that use it, ignore the 'more plates more dates' youtube channel, ignore all the before and after pictures, its a scam, also...the Queen of England is a shape shifting lizard'

lolololol.
 
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