Hey guys, so I purchased and began using topical dutasteride (0.5% solution with azelaic acid) last week and thought I'd share my experience so far.
Background
I'm 20 years old. I've been slowly thinning in the crown since 16, and more recently my temples are starting to thin as well, though I am still NW1. My hair loss is not that rapid yet but I'm trying to get it under control early, if I could stop shedding and thicken up my crown I'd be satisfied. Initially, I tried microdosing finasteride at 17 -- it gave me sides and made me shed continuously, so I stopped after a year. Since then, I've been on minoxidil and microneedling for 2 years and RU for 1 year, but I've been losing ground again this year, shedding 50+ hairs every day in the shower.
I think finasteride made me shed more because my hair is more sensitive to the testosterone spike than the average user. So I was confident to try topical dutasteride now that I'm on RU -- according to the earlier info posted here, topical dutasteride will ideally reduce scalp DHT by 80%, and RU58841 should block most of the excess testosterone from binding.
Topical dutasteride dosage and effects:
I've been applying 0.5ml (equates to 2.5mg of dutasteride on the scalp) approximately every 4 days so far. On the first day, about 12h after applying it, I noticed that my scalp was less oily and the itch/soreness was significantly reduced. Like
@Mustang reported, on the second day my shed was reduced, I only lost around 20 hairs in the shower. On the 4th day I noticed my scalp started to itch more and the shedding was increasing again, so I applied it again with the same effect.
So far it's been 8 days since I started, 3 applications of the topical, and no sides to report other than some tenderness in the chest area today. I already have gyno from puberty though so I was expecting it, but to avoid making it worse I will try to reduce the application frequency to once a week or once every two weeks if it persists.
If this sh*t really stops my shedding long term without f*****g up my d*ck I'll be extremely grateful, it seems to be the best treatment so far for me.
Questions:
- How long does dutasteride stay in scalp tissue? We know the serum half life is around 1 week, but what is the half life in the scalp tissue? It seems shorter.
- How is it possible for shedding to reduce so quickly, since hair is supposed to shed on a 2 week delay due to the length of the catagen phase? Perhaps Androgenetic Alopecia shedding occurs differently from the normal hair cycle, with a much shorter catagen phase?