Finasteride? Should I start it or no?

[glutesforthesloots]

So hairs been receding and thinning. 32 years old. Use minoxidil twice a day, keto shampoo and microneedling once a week. Been thinking of trying fin. Have a bottle on hand already but am worried about the sides and have a few questions.

Does it have any affect on gains and building muscles.

Heard it can reduce sperm quality and such. Wife and I plan on having another kid in a year or so so would it be not worth it to hop on now.

Any experiences would really appreciate it thanks !

 

[glutesforthesloots]

Pics as you can see lots of recession and forehead looking like a billboard

 

[Millard]

MESO-Rx contributor @PeterBond wrote a nice series on hair loss prevention and treatment. I highly recommend reading it.

For now, I will include an excerpt that specifically addresses the effectivenes of finasteride. In sum, some studies show hair growth in around 50% of people who use it. But those are men who do not use steroids and have normal physiologic levels.

There are some special considerations that you should know as a AAS user:

"However, it’s important to highlight that all these studies are done in men with physiological testosterone levels. There’s a logical difference between this situation, and the situation in which an anabolic steroid user administers high doses of testosterone, often in conjunction with other anabolic steroids. First, it’s unclear how effective this treatment modality is with high doses of testosterone used alone. After all, despite the decrease in DHT, there will still be significant increased androgenic action resulting from the high levels of testosterone itself. Second, because it works through inhibiting 5α-reductase, it will, practically speaking, not work on other AAS than testosterone. After all, of the commonly used anabolic steroids, only testosterone is converted into a more potent androgen in the body to a significant degree. Moreover, concurrent use of a 5α-reductase inhibitor with nandrolone might make things worse. The reason for this is that, unlike testosterone, nandrolone is converted to a less potent androgen (dihydronandrolone) [11]. So whereas testosterone’s effect is amplified by 5α-reduction, it’s weakened in the case of nandrolone. It therefore stands to reason that this class of drugs is most effective in anabolic steroid cycles using relatively low doses of testosterone. It stands to reason that higher dosages, as well as stacking it with other anabolic steroid compounds, make this treatment modality exceedingly less effective."

There's more about the side effects. If you are concerned, maybe consider topical finasteride?

Read more below:

Treatment and Prevention of AAS-Induced Hair Loss, Part 1

In my previous article on male-pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia, I narrated how hair growth and this condition roughly work. In this article

thinksteroids.com

 

[HB_22]

I once had the thought of taking it, too. But honestly I don't think it's worth the risks. What scares me the most is the very minor risk of post finasteride syndrom (PFS). So I had to decide would I rather live with PSF, even if the chance is really small, or just lose my hair instead?

 

[Millard]

Same. Although I did try making my own topical solution to apply to my scalp along with minoxidil. I can't say it made any difference. And it was a pain in the ass. So I stopped.

In retrospect, I was young and unnecessarily paranoid about AAS side effects like this and I really probably didn't have any significant AAS-related hair loss.

Oh, but the hair loss did come.. eventually. I just don't think it was due to my history of AAS use. It happened very quickly perhaps at a genetically pre-programmed age. Once it started, I said fuck it and just embraced the "voluntary" shaved bald look

So, if anyone decides to forego finasteride-type treatments, it migh make you feel better to look at all the great things about DHT!

Here's a piece by Pat Arnold that made me feel better back in the day:

DHT: Is It All Bad?

A considerable chunk of my work day is always spent answering people’s questions about prohormones and steroids. Of course, one of the biggest concerns

thinksteroids.com

 

[ggilemonona]

I’ve been taking it for years. I knew nothing of any side effects as my doctor never shared a word about them with me. I immediately found out that it did not go well with caffeine. Shaking and anxiety was crazy. I’ve avoided it for years and maybe have a small cup or less when I do and only recently- 3 months or so ago- have my side effects stopped. I may have other sides but this is all I ever noticed. I can now drink coffee and consume caffeine without any irregularities to my knowledge. Hopefully it stays that way

 

[bornSkinny]

I’ve taken 1mg a day since I went went on test about 8 years ago. When I hit about 30 I had signs of thinning classic mpb and I was concerned testosterone use would accelerate it.
I’ve used it a 1mg orally regardless of whatever anabolics I would be on or just trt. Also used Nizoral shampoo and topical minoxidil, and held my hairline fairly well into my 40’s. Good enough I don’t need to shave it all off yet anyway.
Obviously it’s impossible to say how much of that is just genetics.

I’ve experienced no real side effects I can directly attribute to the finasteride. I did have three kids in the last eight years, and the middle one ain’t right so hey maybe?
But I was on a lot of gear for all of them so hard to blame that if anything. And the other two are great so who knows.

 

[ggilemonona]

Is there any reason to take the Nizoral besides dandruff?

 

[revono]

Finasteride is known for the fact that if you don't know anything about side effects, then there won't be any)) as a rule, hypochondriac neurotics will have all the side effects that they will read about somewhere. The problem of pfs could be easily solved by banning 5-a-r inhibitors for neurotics, but this is not real, because no one considers themselves like this, everyone thinks they are normal men)) there simply cannot be problems with Finasteride on aas, and those who do not touch aas should better use dutasteride, T increases on it, this is enough to avoid pfs.

 

[bornSkinny]

Is there any reason to take the Nizoral besides dandruff?

Ketoconazole is the active ingredient.

 

[ggilemonona]

@revono do you have any suggestions as far as what possible sides to check for/severity to check? Maybe there’s a forum here I should check out? All I was really aware of was watery sperm and low test but I never had that and started between 200mg test cypionate each week about 6 months ago. Moved to 500mg a week with 500 primo at the beginning of this month

 

[Billenmatthew]

I’ve always heard conflicting theories and experiences on the matter so ultimately I decided to embrace the hair loss and not alter my DHT levels.

 

[skinnyman]

So hairs been receding and thinning. 32 years old. Use minoxidil twice a day, keto shampoo and microneedling once a week. Been thinking of trying fin. Have a bottle on hand already but am worried about the sides and have a few questions.

Does it have any affect on gains and building muscles.

Heard it can reduce sperm quality and such. Wife and I plan on having another kid in a year or so so would it be not worth it to hop on now.

Any experiences would really appreciate it thanks !

You have to try it. I didn't feel bad on it and I've seen people that got higher free test levels on fina.

 

[revono]

@revono do you have any suggestions as far as what possible sides to check for/severity to check? Maybe there’s a forum here I should check out? All I was really aware of was watery sperm and low test but I never had that and started between 200mg test cypionate each week about 6 months ago. Moved to 500mg a week with 500 primo at the beginning of this month

Only personal experience matters. About any medicine, you can read a negative opinion about side effects somewhere and then they are afraid to take it. I use dutasteride once a week to increase endo T.

 

[revono]

Only personal experience matters. About any medicine, you can read a negative opinion about side effects somewhere and then they are afraid to take it. I use dutasteride once a week to increase T.

 

[Big_bowl0tren]

I have been using Topical fin and minoxidil for 6 months regrew the majority of my hair back. (While running tren, mast, test and var for 10 weeks) dosages weren’t high but hair still regrew. I will say I’ve had zero libido, barely get errections anymore.
I’ll spray it on my head in the evening and wash it off before I go to bed a few hours later. There were several times I forgot to wash it out before going to bed and each of the following morning I felt like absolute shit. Physical Flu like Symptoms, migraine, no energy and very depressed. These symptoms would subside after about 28hrs.
I’ll be stopping fin/min in a week will update if there is any PFS.

Are your eye brows really worth it to you considering the side effects?

I almost have a full head of hair now, but fuck what good is it if I don’t feel like fucking..

 

[Lculebra]

I have been using Topical fin and minoxidil for 6 months regrew the majority of my hair back. (While running tren, mast, test and var for 10 weeks) dosages weren’t high but hair still regrew. I will say I’ve had zero libido, barely get errections anymore.
I’ll spray it on my head in the evening and wash it off before I go to bed a few hours later. There were several times I forgot to wash it out before going to bed and each of the following morning I felt like absolute shit. Physical Flu like Symptoms, migraine, no energy and very depressed. These symptoms would subside after about 28hrs.
I’ll be stopping fin/min in a week will update if there is any PFS.

Are your eye brows really worth it to you considering the side effects?

I almost have a full head of hair now, but fuck what good is it if I don’t feel like fucking..

Exactly brother, that's what I think, what's the point of having abundant hair if you can't fuck. It is better to have a beautiful body and a good lip, there are also things like hair micropigmentation which for me is a very good option.

 

[Sampei]

Just fucking do an hair transplant, I wouldn't touch fin or even minoxidil with a ten foot pole.

 

[Big_bowl0tren]

Exactly brother, that's what I think, what's the point of having abundant hair if you can't fuck. It is better to have a beautiful body and a good lip, there are also things like hair micropigmentation which for me is a very good option.

Yea man no point at all. But when you don’t have a lot of hair and you’re willing to think you’ll try anything to regrow it all options sound appealing. Unfortunately now I have the hair. Do I think it was worth the sides for me? Not so much.
Ive never heard of micropigmentation I’ll check it out.

 

[amazonas]

Just fucking do an hair transplant, I wouldn't touch fin or even minoxidil with a ten foot pole.

I agree about the finasteride part, i'm never touching that poison, but minoxidil is super useful without harmful side effects. I've been on 5mg oral for two years now and only seen positives. It doesn't alter your hormones or make you depressed or any shit like finasteride.

It was made as a blood pressure medication at first, which is also a huge plus for me when running gear as it both grows my hair but also improves my blood pressure.