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Lars2210
Habitual line-stepper
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2020
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Disclaimer [1]: if you are using a topical anti-androgen (RU, CB, Spiro) this is not for you
Disclaimer [2]: this info is all hypothetical but I will be experimenting it soon
Disclaimer [3]: don’t self-medicate (srs). Hormones are complicated & you need to be under the supervision of a doctor. You might think you know all what one drug does but if you miss something you are fucked
- Personal Exposition:
So last year my hair finally started shedding & I took the bullet & jumped on the finpill. Needless to say the internet fucking sucks & there is barely any substantial info that can help you find a straight-cut answer on whether this shit will fuk you up or not. Personally, I got the common fin sides. Low libido, weak erections, mood swings etc. being the dumbass I am, I just attributed it to fin without locking into the hormonal & pharma-kinetics of the issue. Surely enough, hair started shedding again. Tried to cope with topical fin & RU but both didn’t do shit. So atleast my 2 actively functioning brain cells figured out that the problem is DHT-induced (duh). That’s when I started gettin the blood work done periodically [will include pics later]. The problem is that every single endocrinologist & urologist I’ve gone to has so far turned to be a bitch. Most of them really go by a blueprint & do not assess you on individual cases. Responses I’ve got:
- muh 1 mg finasteride is too weak to cause any sexual side-effects
- you have high total T levels & normal free T levels it’s all in your head
- DHT is not important & I can’t prescribe you TRT
- and ofc the worst one: just stop taking the pill & shave it bro
So by now I wasted a shit ton of money on consultations & blood tests for nothing just cause these assholes don’t want the hassle of giving you a prope diagnosis. Yet they have zero problems putting women on low dose deca as a contraceptive lmao fuk the medical system.
So i got to the point of either give in to the Norwood reaper or salvage every bit of info on the inter webs that I can find. This is what I found
- The REAL reason behind finasteride sides:
You are a male. Your primary sexual functions are dependent on your androgenic hormones (& estrogenic to an extent). The higher the androgenic:estrogenic balance the better you are going to function physiologically given that your estrogen levels are NOT TOO LOW.
What finasteride does is it nukes your dht. A steroid the has waay higher binding affinity than testosterone with less anabolic effects. But that does not mean that it does not have significant ANDROGENIC EFFECTS. So by reducing it by 70% by taking 1 mg of fin or 90% by taking 5 mg of dut, your basically depriving your body from these androgenic effects. What is even worse is that it increases your total testosterone. Whilevthis might sound good, more total test = more aromatization. So what happens is you end up with high total Test, high Estradoil & (sometimes) High SHBG. Here is where the problems kick in.
So why do some ppl not get fin sides? It depends on hormonal profile. The key word here is androgens. As long as you have sufficient androgens floating freely to keep you physiologically functioning then you are good. So if your Free Test is high enough relative to your Estradol, you might not be needing the dht & you can operate just fine. This is important as it is part of the solution.
In my case, I did suffer from sexual side effects but they were not extreme. I could still have sex, I could still get hard & I had libido, it was just all toned down & that is what most ppl go through.
- The Solution (hypothetically):
So now you know what is causing your “finasteride sides”. While stupid docs don’t really bother trying to address some cosmetic bs like hairloss, they have luckily given us enough steroidal options to take care of the problem.
OPTION [1]: INCREASE YOUR SERUM DHT
By far the riskiest option from a cosmetic stand point. DHT is the enemy to your hair. If you wanna increase it you need to do it very carefully & in a trial & error approach. Best way to do so is to micro-dose provirin. There isn’t much scholarly info on the increase in serum DHT from taking a standard dose of provirin which is between 25-50 mg. But assuming the DHT spike is dose-dependent, you should look into starting with the lowest dose possible. Try 5 mg & work your way up to 25, but don’t exceed that. Provirin is virtually non-suppressive for your endocrine system (meaning you don’t need pct) and is non-toxic. Only side effects is it raises cholesterol so make sure you tell your doc to monitor that AND STAY AWAY FROM IT IF YOU HAVE CARDIOVASCULAR ISSUES. Bonus is that it also decreases SHBG which will increase your free Test so at very low dose it’s p much a cure for finasteride side effects (hypothetically). This is the option I am trying & honestly if it works this should be an adjunct prescription to finasteride imo.
OPTION [2]: REDUCE YOUR ESTRADIOL LEVELS
this is by far the riskiest option physiologically. E2 is very important & too low is arguably worst than too high. Finasteride will usually raise your E2 & eventho the increase is marginal (approx. 15%), if all your other androgenic markers are low, it can be significant. Personally I don’t think E2 spike is the problem here as far as sexual side effects, in fact, If E2 rise was the issue you’d see more complaints about depression & Gyno among finasteride users, but it’s always sexual sizes that are under the spotlight. Nontheless taking an aromatose inhibitor is a way to optimize that androgenic:estrogenic balance & counter-act sides. However, again, micro-dosing is the way to go cause you really don’t wanna nuke your E2 levels.
OPTION [3]: REDUCING SHBG LEVELS
This is the most underrated aspect of finasteride sides treatment. Ppl always talk about DHT, Test & estrogen when this is an important piece in creating that balance. SHBG p much delineates the free test you have floating around. Low SHBG = more free test. The more free test you have the more your androgenic hormones will be able to support your androgenic functionality. If you have sufficiently high free test, you might not even need the serum DHT for sexual activity. Do note however that your hair is also sensitive to all androgens not just DHT, so too high free T is also dangerous to some. I’ve found the best way to decrease SHBG is to micro-dose danazol. The reason we are micro-dosing is because we are trying to create a balance not push anything into supraphysiologial territories. Danazol will reduce your SHBG thus freeing up more T. If you have high enough total T this is a good solution for you, if not well then too bad I guess.
Will update with studies & anecdotal evidence lay-tor
Disclaimer [2]: this info is all hypothetical but I will be experimenting it soon
Disclaimer [3]: don’t self-medicate (srs). Hormones are complicated & you need to be under the supervision of a doctor. You might think you know all what one drug does but if you miss something you are fucked
- Personal Exposition:
So last year my hair finally started shedding & I took the bullet & jumped on the finpill. Needless to say the internet fucking sucks & there is barely any substantial info that can help you find a straight-cut answer on whether this shit will fuk you up or not. Personally, I got the common fin sides. Low libido, weak erections, mood swings etc. being the dumbass I am, I just attributed it to fin without locking into the hormonal & pharma-kinetics of the issue. Surely enough, hair started shedding again. Tried to cope with topical fin & RU but both didn’t do shit. So atleast my 2 actively functioning brain cells figured out that the problem is DHT-induced (duh). That’s when I started gettin the blood work done periodically [will include pics later]. The problem is that every single endocrinologist & urologist I’ve gone to has so far turned to be a bitch. Most of them really go by a blueprint & do not assess you on individual cases. Responses I’ve got:
- muh 1 mg finasteride is too weak to cause any sexual side-effects
- you have high total T levels & normal free T levels it’s all in your head
- DHT is not important & I can’t prescribe you TRT
- and ofc the worst one: just stop taking the pill & shave it bro
So by now I wasted a shit ton of money on consultations & blood tests for nothing just cause these assholes don’t want the hassle of giving you a prope diagnosis. Yet they have zero problems putting women on low dose deca as a contraceptive lmao fuk the medical system.
So i got to the point of either give in to the Norwood reaper or salvage every bit of info on the inter webs that I can find. This is what I found
- The REAL reason behind finasteride sides:
You are a male. Your primary sexual functions are dependent on your androgenic hormones (& estrogenic to an extent). The higher the androgenic:estrogenic balance the better you are going to function physiologically given that your estrogen levels are NOT TOO LOW.
What finasteride does is it nukes your dht. A steroid the has waay higher binding affinity than testosterone with less anabolic effects. But that does not mean that it does not have significant ANDROGENIC EFFECTS. So by reducing it by 70% by taking 1 mg of fin or 90% by taking 5 mg of dut, your basically depriving your body from these androgenic effects. What is even worse is that it increases your total testosterone. Whilevthis might sound good, more total test = more aromatization. So what happens is you end up with high total Test, high Estradoil & (sometimes) High SHBG. Here is where the problems kick in.
So why do some ppl not get fin sides? It depends on hormonal profile. The key word here is androgens. As long as you have sufficient androgens floating freely to keep you physiologically functioning then you are good. So if your Free Test is high enough relative to your Estradol, you might not be needing the dht & you can operate just fine. This is important as it is part of the solution.
In my case, I did suffer from sexual side effects but they were not extreme. I could still have sex, I could still get hard & I had libido, it was just all toned down & that is what most ppl go through.
- The Solution (hypothetically):
So now you know what is causing your “finasteride sides”. While stupid docs don’t really bother trying to address some cosmetic bs like hairloss, they have luckily given us enough steroidal options to take care of the problem.
OPTION [1]: INCREASE YOUR SERUM DHT
By far the riskiest option from a cosmetic stand point. DHT is the enemy to your hair. If you wanna increase it you need to do it very carefully & in a trial & error approach. Best way to do so is to micro-dose provirin. There isn’t much scholarly info on the increase in serum DHT from taking a standard dose of provirin which is between 25-50 mg. But assuming the DHT spike is dose-dependent, you should look into starting with the lowest dose possible. Try 5 mg & work your way up to 25, but don’t exceed that. Provirin is virtually non-suppressive for your endocrine system (meaning you don’t need pct) and is non-toxic. Only side effects is it raises cholesterol so make sure you tell your doc to monitor that AND STAY AWAY FROM IT IF YOU HAVE CARDIOVASCULAR ISSUES. Bonus is that it also decreases SHBG which will increase your free Test so at very low dose it’s p much a cure for finasteride side effects (hypothetically). This is the option I am trying & honestly if it works this should be an adjunct prescription to finasteride imo.
OPTION [2]: REDUCE YOUR ESTRADIOL LEVELS
this is by far the riskiest option physiologically. E2 is very important & too low is arguably worst than too high. Finasteride will usually raise your E2 & eventho the increase is marginal (approx. 15%), if all your other androgenic markers are low, it can be significant. Personally I don’t think E2 spike is the problem here as far as sexual side effects, in fact, If E2 rise was the issue you’d see more complaints about depression & Gyno among finasteride users, but it’s always sexual sizes that are under the spotlight. Nontheless taking an aromatose inhibitor is a way to optimize that androgenic:estrogenic balance & counter-act sides. However, again, micro-dosing is the way to go cause you really don’t wanna nuke your E2 levels.
OPTION [3]: REDUCING SHBG LEVELS
This is the most underrated aspect of finasteride sides treatment. Ppl always talk about DHT, Test & estrogen when this is an important piece in creating that balance. SHBG p much delineates the free test you have floating around. Low SHBG = more free test. The more free test you have the more your androgenic hormones will be able to support your androgenic functionality. If you have sufficiently high free test, you might not even need the serum DHT for sexual activity. Do note however that your hair is also sensitive to all androgens not just DHT, so too high free T is also dangerous to some. I’ve found the best way to decrease SHBG is to micro-dose danazol. The reason we are micro-dosing is because we are trying to create a balance not push anything into supraphysiologial territories. Danazol will reduce your SHBG thus freeing up more T. If you have high enough total T this is a good solution for you, if not well then too bad I guess.
Will update with studies & anecdotal evidence lay-tor
Last edited:
