This is a recurring issue I’ve noticed so thought some people might benefit from this post.
Sex Drive - For me the biggest downside of a hairloss prevention regime is the negative effects on both libido and sexual performance.
This is likely related to two aspects, the reduction in DHT levels, a potent male androgen which plays a crucial role in libido as well as other masculine traits.
Strength/Body Composition - While not too useful for anabolism compared to other androgens, DHT also helps strength and by reducing it with finasteride or dutasteride you’re going to be putting yourself at a disadvantage when it comes to improving body composition and strength (dht is also great for cutting you up).
The second aspect linked to sex drive decline is a possible negative effect on dopamine levels. I’m not sure on how finasteride effects this but IME dopamine is more crucial than testosterone levels and DHT levels in the maintenance of a high libido.
Gyno/Estrogen Increases - Using finasteride increases estrogen. While positive for skin tone and texture this is bad on multiple levels leading users to become more likely to get fat and, worse, be prone to man boobs.
Focus/CNS Efficiency - A common complaint is users feel less focused and some will get brain fog on finasteride. This is likely due to lower levels of DHT.
Options to fix issues caused by Finasteride
Now I come to some solutions that you may consider.
ED Drugs - v****, Cialis etc will help with improving sexual performance but they are very much mechanical drugs, they won’t do anything to improve libido or address other aspects of finasteride mediated dysfunction.
Libido Enhancers - While it might be nice to use something like testosterone, this is obviously contraindicated if you are tackling hair loss. Unfortunately any steroid which increases libido is likely to have a harsh effect on hairlines so we need a different solution.
The Natural Option for Libido - Use an AI based around suppressing estrogen, I like this product a lot:
https://www.predatornutrition.com/estrogen-blockers/hydrapharm/alchemy.html
The key ingredient here is a highly potent flavan which suppresses estrogen and produces a rise in testosterone. I was sceptical but this works well and user feedback seems to back this up as a consistent effect. There is also a product called Virtus with the same ingredient but it’s a liquid product so not ideal IMO.
I wouldn’t bother with traditional testosterone boosters like Maca, longjack etc as they aren’t as potent and also wont help suppress estrogen which we want when using finasteride.
To recap: Alchemy or similar can lower estrogen, increase testosterone and help lower risk of gyno. The above should have a positive effect on libido as well.
The Stronger Options for Libido - I’ve not discussed dopamine yet and unfortunately no AI or test booster will help here.
What I’ve found works, and can not only restore libido but increase it higher than ever is the use of a dopaminergic such as Cabaser or Parlodel. I’d favour the former as the latter can cause some unwanted transient nausea likely linked to lowering blood glucose.
These two drugs came to my attention when I was looking to cut up for a football season and get to sub-6% bf (played rush linebacker spot in college).
When you diet your body fights you every step of the way by increasing cortisol, lowering test levels, GH levels etc and the way these drugs work is they effectively act as a leptin mimetic and trick your body into keeping hormones at an optimised level (IOW, fools your body into thinking you’re not as lean as you are and so doesn’t cause hormones to crash when dieting).
For our purposes though, where these drugs really shine is their ability to massively increase libido, and reduce refraction rate AND enhance sexual enjoyment hugely. IOW, you’ll want more sex more often, will be able to c*m more than once and enjoy it more all at the same time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1949087.stm
As a bonus, both of these drugs can also help combat gyno caused by prolactin.
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=825325
From my experience using these, I had some gyno at the time and it definitely helped reduce it while also having the other benefits I’ve described.
Even more estrogen control - If you’re not taking a natural AI like alchemy then you could consider a drug like aromasin which i think is superior to other drug AI’s with less side effects.
Combating Mental Fog - This is the last major side effect to deal with. There are a ton of options with stimulants but personally I’d avoid these and instead elect to use a nootropic.
From experimenting with different ones i think the best options are a drug called selegiline or a supplement called 9-MBC. Both of these will elevate dopamine which means as well as improving focus you will also see a rise in dopamine levels. Here is an example of some feedback on the latter:
http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/98742-libido-too-high-on-9-mbc/#entry836716
So, there you have it. This is how I think the side effects of finasteride can be dealt with and this is something I’d suggest anyone worried about finasteride consider rather than ditching the finasteride entirely.
