Do finasteride and minoxidil actually work? I’m 21 and just got on both because I noticed some receding and wanted to be proactive because I’m not big or charismatic enough to be a balding/bald guy.
Do finasteride and minoxidil actually work?
Do finasteride and minoxidil actually work? I’m 21 and just got on both because I noticed some receding and wanted to be proactive because I’m not big or charismatic enough to be a balding/bald guy.
Microneedling and minoxidil apperantly works
I'm one month into minoxidil and it's beginning to yield some effects. Gf and family already noticed. Can't wait to see what I look like in another three months.
It works differently for everyone, though.
are you using the foam or taking it orally?
Like that Buttrock style haircut
I highly recommend not going down this road. It seemed to work for me, but came at a cost :
- libido took a nose dive
- suicide ideation
- erection "quality" deteriorated
For reference, i'm in my early 40s. Thin and decently fit.
Took it for four years no sides.
The erection thing is worrying on the off chance that I ever get laid before I graduate college. On the other hand, a lack of interest in sex would probably make me happier and honestly more likely to get laid. This drunk goth chick once said I seemed burdened by something and I immediately recognized that my mental preoccupation with my khv status was bleeding out even without me uttering a word. I had terrible side effects from accutane as a high schooler so we’ll see how this works out, but if I go bald I’ll probably anhero anyway.
>same post style
>Tries to hide samefag by waiting 15 minutes
hmm...
Could have just been copying the previous poster's format. People are very suggestible. Sometimes I'll use a specific, not-so-common word talking with someone and they'll use it themselves a few minutes later because it's salient in their mind, and vice versa.
What dosage and frequency are you taking it.
Pretty much everything I've read about the libido effects are from guys taking it that already had too high estrogen and finnasteride is just that extra push to put them into high-estrogen sides territory.
(For lurkers reading, finn slightly raises circulating testosterone as well, thus slightly raising estrogen, so it's theorized by some that this slight raise in estrogen for some guys puts them into this state, but that's just an asspull theory)
5mg pill cut into 4 so 1.25mg per day.
That's too much, big sides big L bro
0.5 ED is all you need rizzcat. Don't poison your temple dawg fr
That's higher than what I've seen around. I've seen guys taking .25mg a day or 1mg every other day.
I'm not a doctor, talk to yours about changing the dosage.
literal overkill, taking i take 0.25 mg worth topically.
Can you teach me?
Side effect maxxing. .2-.25 is optimal dose for effects vs sides.
The way I understand it, testosterone has multiple breakdown chains into different hormones. Finasteride inhibits one of them - into DHT - which means it might raise free test slightly but also increase the probability said test gets broken down into different byproducts like estradiol.
This raises the obvious question of what happens when you stack fin with an aromatase inhibitor (which would impede conversion to estradiol) but apparently nobody knows.
Endocrinology like this is very difficult to understand when you want to start getting specific for oneself, like there's the simple stuff but when you factor in your own hormonal levels and then genes (like if you break some things down differently etc), the way what you're ingesting interacts with everything (how your dietary choices are influencing hormones) that after a while I just have to throw up that I might understand parts of it but not in such depth that I can speak on it with total confidence.
Like to your point about an AI, human systems abhor unbalanced situations like this so I'm going to guess it'll be some kind of horrible cancer is shit goes somewhere it shouldn't and binds to something it shouldn't.
Thing is that finasteride doesn't just inhibit DHT but also essential neural chemicals that maintain a healthy brain.
Such as?
Ok I went and read the abstract of the study wikipedia cited there and it's referring to pregnant women with epilepsy and was done on mice.
Not to say that's it's useless, but it's not happening as straight forward as you are saying as if it were all men would be joyless zombies while on it and it's not shaking out that way. So something else is occurring inside the human body.
As a complete asspull, maybe lower amounts of these things are produced but the body can become more sensitive so it balances out, shit like this can happen with drugs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allopregnanolone
>but also essential neural chemicals that maintain a healthy brain.
1. Not a single proof whatsover fin inhibits anything but 5-AR type 2, type 3 and weakly type 1.
2. Fin has been on the market for 31 years now
3. The Swedish observational study indicates that men on finasteride live 6 years longer on average
There are literally hundreds of boards and internet support groups dedicaded solely for the masses of people who are dealing with the irreversible side effects of finasteride.
These clowns who try to convince people that finasteride is not only perfectly safe and totally harmless magic pill for hairloss, but also improves your mood, makes you happy, strenghtens erections and makes you live longer ect should be banned from the internet.
When I was younger the same type idiots tried to convince kids to cut their frenulums off to cure phimosis and to microwave their phone batteries to dry them. Finasteride seems to be the latest meme to exploit peoples harwired vulnerabilities and insecurities.
With enough time and repetition, someone will eventually fall into the trap and face the dark reality of finasteride ride.
There's hundreds of boards and internet support groups dedicated solely to trannies, but that doesn't make them women does it? All I'm reading from you is a whole bunch of cope as to why you're letting yourself go bald. And honestly, the kind of person who obsesses over potential side effects like this is exactly the type of person who will end up with psychosomatically-induced limp dick syndrome when they're eventually forced to take it
>psychosomatic
>nocebo
>it's in your head bro
Imagine trying to convince yourself this much to keep using finasteride when there are proven and free ways to reverse your hairloss. This is what sunken cost fallacy and cognitive dissonance does to your brain cells.
Im back to norwood 1 in my 30s and want others to do the same without any side effects, because that has been literally one of the experiences of my life. All thanks to some random guy years ago who wanted to help others.
You trying to convince others that all of those negative side effects of nearly millions of ex-finasteride users are just imagination is just retarted reasoning and further evidence of your cognitive blindspots. Keep poisoning yourself if you want to, but dont try to drag others to hell with you to feel better about your bad choises. Shoo shoo.
I read reddit anecdotes about people who got ED from vitamin D. Does that mean shit? No. PFS is a fake condition. Finasteride has been around for 31 years and Merck got sued repeatedly by the PFS Foundation, yet every time Merck won because the PFS Foundation had literally zero fucking proof.
based
>There are literally hundreds of board
There's basically one https://forum.propeciahelp.com/
And it's well known for being full of batshit insane autists.
It would be unrealistic to say there is zero chance of side effects, any drug with zero side effects is a drug that doesn't work in the first place. The problem is the side effects often discussed are extremely overblown to the point of comedy.
Nice get.
But dude, just do a google search.
Just in the front page there are literally +10 webpages full of ex-finasteride patient stories about negative side effects.
This stuff is sold everywhere and even in my small european country, there are multiple boards just dedicated to this stuff. Finasteride is high risk hight reward substance, but there is no denying it can transport you into the same hell realm as SSRIs benzos or oxycodone can do. Anyone denying this fact is automatically retarted or just an a another finasteride troll.
Here's a fascinating study where a large part of sexual side effects from finasteride were "nocebo".
As in they thought it would cause sexual side effects and so it did, whereas another group who also finasteride got them far, far less.
>Link:
https://academic.oup.com/jsm/article/4/6/1708/6890112
This is actually good news, it means a lot of anons have it "all in their heads".
Although some people still do get these effects they're a very small percentage and it seems that's occurring more often in higher (eg:5mg/day) dosages.
That said I'm still nervous about getting on finasteride, but I'd start at very low doses and work up to reduce the risk.
Short term study with only handful of people taking finasteride 5mg under a year and still every fifth developed real ED symptoms. And that doesnt even include all the other side effects they didnt factor in. Same type of sponsored junk science is used to sell chocolate and beers benefits.
Why to even babystep yourself into something like that. Whats the long term plan here? To always take more pills and then suddently loose all your hair gains when you cant deal with the worsening side effects anymore that can be permanent and irreversible. Just shut your ego down for a moment and listen to your instincts. Vertigo, depression, gyno, ED and heart palpatations for the rest of your life after you cant take the compounded finasteride side effects anymore after the first 4 years. You can reverse hairloss naturally in 6-48 months and not ruin irreversibly the next 40 years of your life, because some stupid internet trolls and vanity.
Reversing hairloss should be about a realistic long term plan, not about some instant gratification simple minded short term thinking. Thats like smoking only one tobacco a day, instead of building real lasting sources of happiness.
All addicts love their drug and for most finasteride users, questioning finasteride means losing their self worth, because they dont know/trust/believe that there are better methods out there. It has becomed their only hope, and their ego is in full defence mode to protect it from all opposing ideas, no matter how much proof there is out there. You see the same effect in religious people and flat earthers.
Well i'm certainly open to putting aside my ego and asking what other options there are, are you implying something like topical finasteride? a new class of drug entirely like GT20029? It's a fair point though about relying on it forever, but one way you can imagine it is like makeup you put on every day, it just becomes routine. What's your realistic long term plan?
>What dosage and frequency are you taking it.
>Pretty much everything I've read about the libido effects are from guys taking it that already had too high estrogen and finnasteride is just that extra push to put them into high-estrogen sides territory.
>(For lurkers reading, finn slightly raises circulating testosterone as well, thus slightly raising estrogen, so it's theorized by some that this slight raise in estrogen for some guys puts them into this state, but that's just an asspull theory)
>had too high estrogen
>took it because they lost hair from DHT testosterone being too high
HMMMMMMMMMMM BITCH SOMETHING DONT ADD UP SHILL ASS PET FUCKER
You do know you can have high estradiol along with high DHT and test too before fin, right? So by inhibiting the 5ar enzyme, that dht is now being transformed to both test and estradiol, thus landing you on high estrogen territory.
try taking a mild dose of dhea supplementation
You IDIOT. So many of you people that say this are actually just getting *GASP* OLDER! Why is it that anyone who starts finasteride in his early 20s or even 18 do not have these issues? Because it is NOT finasteride. You were too scared to get on finasteride until you got older and older and what happens when you get older? You lose libido, you stop getting morning wood and your erections are not as strong. All of this is what happens to men when they get older. You state that you are in your 40s, well guess what? Many men get these issues in their 30s without finasteride. Consider yourself lucky that you got to your 40s before all of this happened.
I've been on it for 2 years.
It halted my receding hairline about 6 months onwards but with some sides that got really bad at the 2 year mark (now).
- Poor sleep quality
- Tinnitus
- Brain fog
- Mood swings
- Lack of interest in sex
I'm going to stop for 2 months to see if the sides get better and then reconsider whether I want to continue on this stuff.
>brain fog
This is the killer for me. Don't care about libido and erections but if this shit drops my IQ it's not worth it.
Brain fog isn't a real condition to begin with.
Bush kinda bad tho
If we only knew back than how much worse the next republican president would be…
Bush was pretty bad, he was the definition of a puppet
A puppet to whom?
Raytheon, Boeing. He’s a war criminal
Big if true.
Don't forget Cheney, Haliburton, and the deal his father made with the Saudis!
We can say "Israel" here.
Biden may be the worst president in history
Nah Trump takes it. One term fascist loser who tried to start a coup
Bush was worse by a long shot
So here is what I take:
>0.25mg fin x3 a week
>ketoconazole shampoo once a week
>biotin, saw palmetto, zinc supplements daily
You think this is enough to maintain my hair?
Hair loss really isn't that bad.
you take saw palmetto with fin ? no side effects from that ?
why would it cause sides? I don't get sides period.
because they do basically the same thing, i was just wondering because i take the same dosage of fin and i have of a bottle of saw palmetto but didn't really take both at the same time
>because they do basically the same thing
really? i was worried about fin because it's an unnatural lab-made drug vs saw palmetto is just a berry
so i can get away with just eating berries?
are there studies on saw palmetto?
i've been using minox on my beard for a month and i already have a bunch of new hairs around my mustache
be wary though, the alcohol based shit is absolutely brutal on your skin. you need to buy a good moisturizer or you're face is going to look like it's shedding a snakeskin. i fucked up and bought a six month supply of the kirkland brand liquid with alcohol, once i finish it i'm gonna switch to foam.
How long does it take for minox to work? I used it for like 1 week on my hair and stopped, noticed some minox baby hairs falling out.
for your hair you literally have to use it forever or you'll just go back to balding. for the beard you have to wait for the hair to turn terminal, which is when the baby hairs fall out and normal hair regrows in their place. people typically run it for 6 months minimum. i'm planning on running it until may of next year just because that's when my birthday is, but i'm also gonna play it by ear and if i get to a point i'm happier with earlier, i'll probably stop
ur beard wont fall off when you stop?
no, male pattern baldness is caused by dht, and dht doesn't cause hair loss in the beard area
the beard hairs will fall out if they're not fully terminal though
why not use fin to maintain your hair once it's grown
i really don't know anything about the scalp protocol or finasteride
I'm balding and my life is over.
have you already tried regrowing your hair?
what stage ?
well then you are not balding
It's fucking over bro. Time to shave it off. Can't believe you go out like that.
This mf doesn't even have a forehead.
u can see his scalp
he is diffuse shedding
No one but a paranoid balding man will notice or care
That's a part. Everyone has one.
Diffuse thinning among adult men is 1/45. Your hairline will recede before you thin at the crown
Brendan Frasier is special
>drug addiction
>molested
>broke his back
>divorce raped at the height of his career
Stress exacerbated
What about the topical stuff that has fin/minox in it from one of those TV commercials (keeps, hims, roman, etc.).
How long does it take for minoxidil to start working?
I've been using it for almost three weeks and lately I've noticed I'm getting dandruff.
it's slow as fuck unless you're a hyper responder. even slower if local DHT is high
if you're not already, repeatedly blast your regrowth area with 1.5 mm depth microneedles every couple of weeks (depends on how fast you heal)
What do you think?
No hairloss yet, but got bald dad.
Smart. Wish someone had said something to me before I started losing hair. I'm surprised you're taking oral fin already though. Why not just use topical stuff unless there's a major issue?
Fin is like almost 100% going to stop it. Min MIGHT grow some back. Although long-term fin might also grow some more full.
30yo how fucked am I?
Finasteride. NOW.
>Finasteride. NOW.
remember the shills are trying to emotionally bait you like when they call women fat to give them anorexic mental disorder. it's psychological warfare to get you to react by doing what they want.
your are still incredibly fine. maybe its your mature hairline and stay that way.
only hop on chud drugs when you certain you balding. I was in similar position at 30. now Im 35 and I am basically bald.
that's a decent amount of hair on top. i mean it's bad but not "basically bald"
not catastrophic, not good but it can turn extremely bad in no time. my right temple and side is way worse, Im starting to think there is something truth about the scalp tension theory of balding. I only chew food on the right side, only sleep on the left side. Im right handed and also touch right side of my head and hair more often.
anyway I asked my docs twice about fin and min and they talked me out of it every damn time. I am also slightly afraid of finasteride but I think I will hop on minoxidil in a couple weeks. problem is it takes a lot of effort to put that oily shit on your scalp every day and you cant walk around with hair like that, you have to apply at home, at night, then wash it out in the morning.
I am experimenting with rosemary oil, will order peppermint too but Im not very consistent with it and its a pain in the ass to apply and wash it out.
Hmm interesting... my right side is also worse too but then again I don't think I touch one side more than the other. And yea minox is annoying as shit. The longest I managed to consistently apply it was like 4 or 5 months coupled with sporadic microneedling, and while I did get some decent regrowth the hairs never became terminal. Guess they needed more time. Finasteride and more microneedling probably would've helped too
>I did get some decent regrowth the hairs never became terminal.
I heard when you stop applying minox you will lose your 'gains' so it will never become permanent solution. Fin def helps but I consider it risky. maybe its not but who knows. I would be happy is I could find some other more natural solution. will try microneedling with rosemary or peppermint oil and see what happens.
lets hope some miracle drug will come, there are promising stuff in trials but can take 10 years before something comes out of it and also treating baldness is much more profitable than solving balding.
Just started fin 4 months ago and min this week. Is that middle part of my temples fucked? Can I just regrow the edges if I'm lucky?
it's heavily pushed by shills so I will never trust it.
I rather be bald and have a working penis then have hair and impress a women, reach the bedroom, and have her reject me because I can't perform in bed.
SOMEONE want's all of IST to be castrated
I took Finasteride for 1 year, post hair transplant at the age of 26. I took dutasteride for 1 year after that. I stopped them both completely at 28 and I still have serious side effects now at 36.
>depression
>fatigue
>brain fog
i had no idea about the sides, as the medication was given by my HT surgeon post procedure, so to anyone saying 'its all in your head bro' you can stop. I've seen 3 docotors to try and fix it, none have been able too. EVERYONE gets side from Fin, they just dont know it because their body gets used to suppressing their DHT - here's a test: come off or 4 months and see how much better you feel, then decide if you want to get back on it. You will not.
Post blood work before and after
>here's a test: come off or 4 months
lol sure. You shills are so transparent.
Topical finasteride is apparently more effective with no side effects. I got it from keeps, but there are other places you can get it.
Just 1.5 years of only dermarolling, scalp massage, nizoral shampoo, castrol/rosemary/peppermint oil, clean eating, perfect nutrition, good sleep, meditation, excersice and lifestyle changes.
Perfect hair. Zero side effects.
Fuck these finasteride shills trying to meme you into chemically castrate yourself to cure hairloss.
can you teach me how to scalp message
OP here.
There is no special fucking magic massage technique. You dont have to pay anything to massage your scalp d'uh. Rub and pinch, thats it. With both hands preferably.
Just watch a youtube video for free and repeat it twice a day. Doesnt cost you anything and only takes 10 minutes daily. Why are people overthinking this shit.
(ಥ﹏ಥ)
no way pls post more proof thats unbelievable levels of recovery.
how old are you? any progress pics? any advice on how to dermaroll, how to use rosemary/castor/peppermint?
I already have castor and peppermint oil, use it maybe once a week but Im now upping my game. what is nizoral shampoo?
this
balding cunt is me, would be nice to recover.
how long do you massage and how often? sounds like your whole protocol is very time consuming but it seems like it done miracles.
I meant rosemary and castor oil*, I just ordered peppermint.
Post pic with time stamp
Why does this response always follow this post?
i wanna learn how to do it
>Why does this response always follow this post?
??
yeah Im skeptical a bit more proof would be nice.
this is troll bait, right?
He posts things like this in every thread.
>I achieved these results with my special techniques.
Followed up by
>Can you teach me how to massage
When a reply that isn't a self reply comes he'll probably link to his blog or some shit. Saying this result was achieved without at least Minoxidil is a fucking joke and I refuse to believe it.
yeah I vaguely remember seeing this shit posted before. now I feel bad about my rosemary and castor oil
Nobody is saying it doesn't work to keep hair healthy. It's just those results posted above are fucking joke. That would be an amazing result from fin.
Rosemary was clinically proven to help regrow hair
It wasn't. The study design was weak as fuck with barely any participants.
Pic with timestamp or GTFO
Before on the right
2.5mg dut >> 0.5mg dut > 1mg fin > 0.5mg fin > 0.25mg fin >>> minoxidil >> fluridil > alfatradiol > stemoxydine >>>>>....> cat piss > scalp massages
pee(no im not kidding look into it)>>>
oil>peppermint oil
oil>2.5mg dut >> 0.5mg dut > 1mg fin > 0.5mg fin > 0.25mg fin >>> minoxidil >> fluridil > alfatradiol > stemoxydine >>>>>....> cat piss > scalp massages
oh I was replying to a braindead frogposter my bad. I'm sorry for your retardation
YALL broS BETTA TELL ME HOW THE FUCK TO ASK MY BARBER FOR THAT HAIRCUT RIGHT FUCKING NOW. WHAT IS IT'S NAME.
NO I WILL NOT SHOW A FUCKING PICTURE OF GEORGE BUSH TO MY BARBER.
SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS MY KEYBOARD IS BROKEN
>barber
It's a curtains hairstyle and I guarantee a barber can't do it, you need to see an actual hairstylist.
i dun wanna go bald
I remember taking it when I was around 19 or 20. It was for a preventative measure since I was paranoid about losing my hair. I only had a very slight, minor recession at that point.
I started with 1/4 or 1/2 of a pill to slowly build up to it... First week I was very paranoid since I read a ton about it for the prior 6 months, so I'm not sure if these were mental/placebo side effects, but I had a bit of "ball ache" (nothing painful, just a subtle ache)... I stopped taking it for a couple days, then got back on. I experienced it once or twice more, got back on, and was totally fine, including once I increased the dose.
I think that was a real side effect that's probably normal as your body gets used to the drug.
Anyway after about 18 months into taking it with no more issues, I ran out and didn't have any finasteride for a couple days until I got a refill... but it was a different brand when I got the refill (same drug, different brand) and when I started taking it again, after just 2 days not taking it.. it seemed like I had a tough time getting hard. So I went on & off a few more times and not sure if it just became psychological, but suddenly I couldn't get fucking hard. It was just annoying, so I stopped taking it altogether. It's been about 8 years since then and thankfully my hair hasn't receded very much at all despite not doing anything preventative. I don't use shampoo although that's only been for the last 1.5 years.
I didn't bother with minoxidil because it's just an annoying as hell mess you have to worry about, plus you'll forever be relying on it. If you stop taking minoxidil, everything you grew with it will be lost and fall out.
>it seemed like I had a tough time getting hard. So I went on & off a few more times and not sure if it just became psychological, but suddenly I couldn't get fucking hard. It was just annoying, so I stopped taking it altogether.
and your erectile function returned to normal?
What are all of 5AR2's and DHT's functions in the human body (or at least those of which we know about) post-puberty? For some reason it's extremely difficult to find this information on the internet. I don't trust Kevin Mann either because he's insanely biased and therefore not dependable.
I know DHT is used for maturing body and facial hair follicles so if you are taking fin im pretty sure it will take longer if not at all to grow a beard/body hair. that's my main concern since im only just starting to grow facial hair. other than that you can just look at side effects of fin such as watery semen so you can assume it has a hand in male sex organs
>take 1mg fin daily
>get brainfoggy feeling, this sorta high frequency almost ringing in ears, less libido and weaker erections
>no scalp burning
>take 0.5mg fin daily
>no brainfog (I think... or it's a LOT less at least), "ringing" not nearly as loud
>erections are strong, libido maybe only very slightly less but dunno if it's nocebo
>no scalp burning
>take 0.5 mg every other day
>no brainfog or anything on day 2, feel sharper
>erections are strong, libido maybe only very slightly less but dunno if it's nocebo
>lots of scalp burning on day 2
Welp, looks like my dose is 0.5mg daily. I'm sure that scalp burning is my hair follicles getting ravaged by DHT. I don't buy all this shit I read online like finasteride half life in tissue is 4-5 days so 0.2mg is effective. Apparently 0.2mg reduces DHT almost as much as 1mg daily but there's a noticeable difference I experience when on 0.5mg EOD vs 1mg daily (I can't do 0.25 daily because I can't split the tablet into four pieces the way its shaped, only two). Also you gotta take the 7 hour blood half life into account, how long after did they test for DHT suppression after giving the drugs? I'd like to know for example how much DHT is in the blood 24 hours after taking 0.2mg fin vs 05mg vs 1mg. Obviously if you take it an hour after the suppression wouldn't be much different but what about a full day after?
Fuck going bald this shit sucks. I'm way too good looking for that, not gonna lose my hair.
It’s already started, hasn’t it?
Visited some dumb bitch dermatologist 6 months ago and been doing her worthless scalp masks since. She also did nothing about my seborrheic dermatitis and said there’s no cure and I’ll just have to “watch my diet and not stress too much :)”
Can’t believe my life is over at 22
eh, you probably have a good five years till it gets bad. that should encourage you to just get a fine bitch while u have the chance and get married, srs. or you could start fin, if u dont get sides ur golden. if u get sides drop it and go back i the shit. gl. could also try RU58848 (or whatever the fuck) and pyrlimitude (or whatever the fuck) topicals, too. they work but they might be dangerous, aint FDA approved.