Although you already know i'm against 5AR for hair loss this thread made me think twice about what would i do if i was diagnosed with BPH and i believe i'd started either fina or duta. And shortly after i'd probably bang my head for not starting earlier and save some hair lol.
On the other hand i don't think it's fair to compare a health implication that requires medication in order to have a normal and healthy life with using that medication to prevent hair loss.
If i had to chose between a potential libido/erection issue and hair loss, me personally i still believe to this day i'd chose the latter (maybe i'll reconsider in the future, who knows) but chosing between a potential libido/erection issue and a potential prostate cancer with a resection of the prostate as a solution then it's a no brainer.
Also a honest question since you seem to have an answer for every question related to hair loss. What could finasteride or dutasteride for hair loss prevention do to a gear user who stacks test deca primo masteron and all these basic compounds in his regimen? I've heard test and nandrolone with use of finasteride is recipe for disaster, also the other compounds are already DHT derived. How 5AR help with that?
I think it's a false choice between hair loss and ED/Libido issues.
I also think a lack of .25mg tabs is a crime, since that dose has proven so effective against hair loss and sides are nearly unheard of. Quadrupling it to 1mg barely moves the needle on hair preservation, but ramps up the chance of sides. .25 should be the starting dose imo. No sides? Then maybe move to .50 or 1mg:
I know most guys will put on a brave face regarding hair loss, but in this society it can be psychologically devastating. Far worse than a month of ED and low libido.
As for exogenous DHT, of course that's not going to help, but don't let the search for "perfect" be the enemy of "good".
Hair loss is not seeing hairs fall out. It's the slow, progressive destruction of hair bulbs called "miniaturization".
Level of DHT, *time of exposure*, and how many receptors you have as a result of genetics all play a factor.
So reducing your endogenous DHT production will always help: Keeping DHT derivative cycles short is probobly more important than levels of DHT. There are only so many receptors that can be hit. Once saturated, higher levels of DHT won't make things worse. but time will, as it takes some time from activation to stem cell death.
A good hair preservation plan must be built on a 5-AR inhibitor, but once you've done that other steps can really shine.
2x week Keto shampoo, a topical anti-inflammatory, left on for 5 minutes will cool the inflammation in those follicles with DHT receptors activated, delaying the damage and maybe saving them to recover once DHT levels drop.
Minoxidil will enhance oxygen and nutrient flow to the follicles, making them more robust and harder to kill.
Scalp massage can help with blood flow too.
If you have greasy skin/hair consider accutane to fix what's. called "hyper-seborhea", excessively oily skin. I recently learned the excess oil can block follicles, preventing oxygen from entering pores, speeding male pattern baldness. Generally you feel scalp pain/burning/itching if you have this, which are the tiny hair erector muscles spasming from lack of oxygen.
It's diminishing returns from here on out and not worth the effort in my opinion but can help if you're obsessed and willing to put in the time, ie, micro needling, laser caps, etc.
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The venn diagram between these anti fin/dut guys and the 80 iq hypochondriacs that cannot contextualize anything they read is basically a circle.
It's the dumbest people that think they "feel" the vitamin they took that day , or come on here STATING they need to "fix" their shbg because their libido is low, without even having bloodwork, then come to find out their natty or some shit. Who knows, they read one sentence from anything medical or hear a clip from a youtube video and they jump to whatever conclusion their brain spits out. like some path of least resistance dunning-kruger effect.
This is the subset of people that are why we cannot readily access these medications in the first world without doctors permission.
I've waited a long time to talk mad shit about these people incase karma comes to bite me in the ass but I've been on for months and the only one time my libido was reduced and I had brainfog , looking back was just caused by low estrogen.
I took some 5mg doses, thats 10 pills. i MIGHT have felt a little off the next day.
They truly are just the loud minority on the internet, I have not seen a single guy say "Its been 2 months and my libido isnt coming back, I'm stopping fin and adding masteron" or anything common sense would say. It's always something insane and they are CONVINCED the only thing that will fix them is most complicated and extreme solution. Honestly I don't read into their stuff, because i don't want the neuroticism to rub off on me, but this is the vibe i get.
That even if I took the time to read what they are saying, and some of it makes sense, that eventually I'd find out some GLARING problem with them or their logic that invalidates whatever their reasoning was.
regardless, I see now that these guys have poisoned the well on any serious topic about hairloss or 5AR inhibitors. I see why no one wants to talk about it and they brush off all discussion flippantly, because
you'll end up with a bunch of these obsessive guys counting hair follicles in the mirror. some random guy from wherever in the world has internet connection ,thats not even on gear or finasteride
The terror in guys who've never used finasteride is palpable.
I wanted to validate my belief that fin was awful badly. I scoured the research, the evidence. Eventually, it just couldn't. hold up to scrutiny and collapsed.
I took that .25mg with all the fear of my previous traumatic experience hanging over my head. I had a plan, if it went bad I'd try one every other day. Of still bad I'd quit.
First day I swear I "felt". it hit my libido. Maybe, maybe it was psychosomatic. Kept going. By the end of a week I forgot to keep "checking" my libido, realized I was fine, and never looked back. Hell I toyed with upping to a dose to .5mg for more benefit, but it's all good so why bother. My prostate shrank, and I go weeks without noticing a shed hair on my hands when shampooing. It feels great to have stopped the progressive loss and nearing 4 months, seeing visual improvement. My scalp "feels" much better now too. I never realized constant low level inflammation was making it irritated.
