/balding/ and /finasteride/ general - hair is love, hair is life!Sticky: http://tuxbell.com/index.php/BaldingReminder that if you can clearly see down to your scalp when your hair is wet, your hair is thinning, lots of small new hairs sprouting at the hairline or crown is a sign of hair recession.Holy trinity:Tabs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FinasterideLotion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MinoxidilShampoo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KetoconazoleFinasteride/Dutasteride are 5-alpha reductase inhibitors that prevent free T from being converted to DHT, a byproduct of testosterone that serves no purpose after puberty but to choke out your hair follicles and make them thin out and die in a few short years, a condition known as androgenic alopecia.5ar inhibitors prevent your hair from getting any worse, mild regrowth is expected, rapid onset diffuse thinners see a significant recovery on fin alone. Can be taken orally or topically.5ARIs are not dosage dependent, taking as little as as 0.2mg daily fin can reduce serum DHT by 68%, while 5mg reduces by 72%.0.5mg daily dut reduces serum DHT by 95%, but is considered a second line treatment, and can be more expensive and harder to get prescribed. Start with fin.Fin has been used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) for 30+ years, it's very well studied and is tolerated well in almost all men, however, there's a 1-2% risk of erectile issues in controlled studies.These can be avoided by reducing dosage, spacing out dosage, or stopping the drug. Fin takes days to fully bio-accumulate, the half life of fin is about 8 hours, adverse effects occuring within minutes of starting fin or persisting long after stopping fin are not real and have no basis in reality. Please note that dut has a much higher half-life of 5 weeks, if you're prone to fin sides, dut may cause them for far longer.Refer to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3481923/ before responding to PFS trolls.
Minoxidil (liquid and tabs) is a vasodialator that opens potassium channels and widens blood vessels bringing nutrients to your hair follicles, stimulating them into thickening, accelerating growth and elongating the growth phase. Min is taken with fin to restore your hair to it's original hairline, thickness and vigor when hair loss is caught early enough, (pre-NW2). Can be taken orally or topically.Topical min does not work in 1/3 of men because they lack the required enzymes in their scalp, all men have this enzyme in their liver so the oral route is a good fallback.The FDA formulation for 5% liquid minoxidil is food safe (vape juice, ethanol and water) and can be safely taken orally if oral min tabs are expensive or rarely prescribed where you live. As a general rule, ~4 drops (0.1ml) = 5mg minoxidil.There's a 1-2% risk of fluid retention with higher oral dosages, start with the lowest dosage possible and work your way up when you're sure it's well tolerated.Ketoconazole is an anti-androgen and antifungal that inhibits DHT on the scalp and used to treat fungal infections of the scalp that may be making your hair loss worse such as seborrheic dermatitis, a condition where you exhibit severe greasy, flaky large dandruff flakes with dried yellow crystals (blood plasma) embedded in the scalp. Some people may only have traction alopecia (hair loss from scratching or friction), but it will not cure androgenic alopecia on it's own. Can only be taken topically.Do not use spirolactone. Spirolactone is a diuretic which, in large doses, inhibits testosterone and, by extension, DHT.It is regularly prescribed as an anti-androgen for male to female HRT, and thus, comes with an astronomically higher risk of sexual side effects in men including ED, gynecomastia, and can cause potassium toxicity.Previous thread: >>18650456
Use spironolactone. Spironolactone is a diuretic which, in large doses, inhibits DHT.It is regularly prescribed as an anti-estrogen for female to male HRT, and thus, comes with an astronomically lower risk of sexual side effects in men.
>ctrl+F tret>no resultsAmateur hour.
>>18666569>the father and brother/uncle in the backgroundpoor dude never stood a chance with those genes
>>18666717Pro tip: You can tell if a dude has a wig on from looking at their temple peaks. It’s not normal to have recessed temple peaks (implies a Norwood) with full density on top and no M shaped hairline. Most hair transplants don’t bother with restoring temple peaks either due to graft limitations.
there is nothing you can do against balding, stop with these irritating ass threads
Balding is based.
>>18666732There are both preventative and restorative options. You could have saved your hair if such information was available to you when you still had, aka the entire point of these threads.
>>18666568>___ is love, ____ is lifeWhat the fuck does that mean?
>>18666732Except for all the stuff mentioned in the first two posts.
>>18666809you don't remember shrek is love shrek is life?
anyone else thinking of doing spiro for a year then hopping off? apparently skin gets a lot better too. no one gives a shit about muscles or gym anymore so being more handsome with more hair cant hurt?
>>18666901You first
>>18666808the only free cheese is in a mouse trap
>>18666901>before: bald spots fully exposed>after: combovereverytime
>>18666920clearly the midscalp has hair
>>18666921Clearly the bald is still showing through the combover, and clearly one should be doing before/after comparsions without adding unnecessary confounding factors, to do so is a sign of either severe retardation or an attempt to manipulate the perceived results.
>>18666923it's not a 1:1 angle comparison but on the left the midscalp is almost slick bald while the one on the right clearly has thick hair
One interesting thing I read recently is that lots of Japanese men wear wigs due to their very materialistic society. You don't see many balding ones, either full head of hair or then "boom" once over 70, many completely bald. The reason is black hair is very easy to get cheap human hair wigs from India that look convincing compared to white people's hair. So most working age men wear a wig in Japan until retirement unless they specifically want to rebel from the trend and rock a skinhead. Would you guys wear a wig if it was more commonplace among men in the West?
>>18666945You forget that taking hair loss meds has less stigma associated with it in Asia (even Dutasteride is approved for hair loss there). But If I HAD to, as in NW7 with no chance of normal looking hair even with a transplant, yes. The horseshoe look isn’t for me. And people who shave their head with advanced hair loss don’t fool anyone.It’s extra bizarre when you realize how common it is for women with no hair loss to wear wigs and paradoxically how stigmatized it is for men with a condition that makes them bald to wear one.
>>18666568keki leave more hair in the shower than you have on your heads
>>18666952Laugh it up while you can, chances are without meds you will end up like the 90% of men who experience hair loss.
>>18666950Yea in the West women, and especially black women get hair extensions, perms, "weaves", and wigs. 30% of women lose significant amounts of hair and they have their copes for it that men somehow are not allowed to partake in.
>>18666953ok. laughin nowlaughin tomorrowstill laujghinlol
>>18666950>It’s extra bizarre when you realize how common it is for women with no hair loss to wear wigs and paradoxically how stigmatized it is for men with a condition that makes them bald to wear one.It's not bizzare at all. Women wear wigs for fun. Men wear wigs to alleviate genetic signs of aging. The opposite sex never likes when the other is trying to hide signs of aging because it interferes with their ability to make an accurate judgement on whether you're of good enough genetic quality to mate with. Men don't like it when women cake on makeup, get botox, ass/tits makeup, etc. Women don't like when men have to gymrat to have a good physique, wear a wig to have hair, etc. Both sides want the other to be naturally attractive, because that's what their kids will be getting if you fuck.
>>18667015>ass/tits makeupimplants*
Do you guys prefer minoxidil foam or liquid (fast drying vs PG penetration etc?)
should I supplement my temples with topical minox or just keep taking oral 2.5mg? are there any pros or cons do this?
>>18667103Yes so long as you are a responder.
>>18667070oral. topical is gay
>>18667166Oral doesn’t do shit for me outside of my lashes. My body fr cursed or something, fin also didn’t do shit. Dut shows promises tho
>>18667015and yet it's completely accepted by society for women to wear makeup. it's the same thing as men wearing wigs but that's not socially accepted
Been on fin+min oral for ~9 months now, and I'm noticing that the volume of my ejaculate is way less than it was before - Is this normal?
>>18667015No one's having kids these days in part because everything has turned so superficial. It's all bullshit, women fraud, men fraud, fraud all you want you're not leaving anything behind anyways.
>>18667202you're taking a hormone blocker. there are no free rides here
Does anyone here know if post finasteride syndrome is a real thing or if it's just hogwash?
>>18667229probably real but inflated numbers by hypochondriacs
>>18666568I’m 30 years old, is that too old for a textured crop? I want to cover my fivehead but I don’t want to come off as an unc trying to look like a zoomer.
>>18666910>the only free cheese is in a mouse trapyeah, that's why i pay for it with money instead.
>>18667229Almost certainly not real, these guys were depressed and retarded before they started it, and will be depressed and retarded after. The difference is now they can blame it on a pill instead of take responsibility, so they weave a folktale of mean ol' big pharma stealing their spirits away instead of manning up.
>>18667218Yeah, I get that and I can live with it, I just found it odd that I hadn't seen it reported as a side effect by anyone else
>>18667257I've never noticed it, if anything, I got even more horny with longer lasting orgasms after starting fin and later tapering it for dut.
>>18667229No evidence, not even a plausible mechanism of action. The last guy i saw talking about it was complaining about feeling bad mentally while clearly being on roids, that's the caliber of these claims.>muh big pharma is covering up the truth!It's a fucking generic that costs pennies, big pharma isn't making shit.
>>18667202yes that can happen. same with more frequent urination, as inhibiting the production of DHT over time will weaken muscles around the prostate. but it doesn’t impact fertility, generally the sperm is still healthy and capable of fertilizing an egg>>186672185AR inhibitor ackchyually
>>18667229Ask yourself why nobody on Proscar for BPH gets it. >because old men take itSo, a population that should be at higher risks of ED? And yet we have…fucking nothing.
>>18667229If you look at topical finasteride the rate of pfs among users plummets. Why? You still absorb a ton of it into your blood stream, which does cause a sizable systemic drop in DHT levels. Yet the rate of pfs is still lower. Almost like it’s a placebo effect. I’ve been taking finasteride since August and have had no side effects. It does seem to make me a little drowsy so I take it at night instead of in the morning.
>>18667249Depends on your hair, if you’re losing it then any style with a fade looks comically bad since they are associated with teenagers. Honestly, past the age of 25 fades and lineups look bad, unless you’re black. Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt in the 90s-00s had all sorts of looks and they were in their 30s, use them for inspo
>>18667346Then what hairstyle would you suggest?My hair isn’t that bad. The crown has a spot where the thinning is really bad but I can easily cover it with a little bit of hair fibers. At this point I just have a big forehead.
>>18666950>And people who shave their head with advanced hair loss don’t fool anyoneI don't think the point is to fool peopleUnless you have a particularly unpleasant skull shape, most men look better with a shaved head than with advanced hair loss, and in a lot of cases it's involved with the confidence boost you get from "taking control" of your looks instead of having to contend with genetics
>>18667423>I don't think the point is to fool peopleThe point is to feed balding men a narrative that boils down to giving up, telling them that growing a nasty beard while shaving their horseshoe bald daily is “winning” against their genetics. Looking like a cancer patient is mildly better than having a NW67 horseshoe. But most of us aren’t at that stage. A shaved shiny scalp cannot frame the face anywhere close to what a guy without hair loss has with a buzzcut. https://youtube.com/watch?v=nYgMV3tugzA
>>18667436>telling them that growing a nasty beard while shaving their horseshoe bald daily is “winning"When the alternative is George Costanza, the soijak look can be a small mercyKeep in mind that this advice is reserved for men that are already too far gone for one reason or another, whether they react badly to meds or they didn't have the info available at the time or they were just plain stubborn, or maybe they simply don't careUnder these conditions, it's the very opposite of giving up
>>18667325These companies offering topical fin are cashing in on it by propagating topical as the only means of avoiding the dreaded PFS symptoms. There is no reason for topical fin to exist other than to profit off of fear at a heavily marked up price.
>>18667356Buzz it or start treating it and hope it gets better. You may as well just wear a wig if you're looking for techniques to avoid looking bad.
>>18667229Entirely anecdotal, I can anecdotally tell you I've been on fin for 4 months now with no side effects, but my hair density did improve.
>>18667458What makes you think I’m not on treatment? I have been on 1mg finasteride with topical minoxidil and tretinoin since August. I’m going to try to make my hair look as good as possible. My hair loss isn’t that severe.
>>18667167same. dut seems to be working for me
>>18666945god i didnt realise he is wearing a wig. makes sense, his hair is always really shit looking.
>>18667436>neurotic feminized 40+ year old looksmaxxer who's OCD about his hair no thanks, i'm not a faggot
>>18667652You're on the fashion board.
Thoughts on nanoxidil? My dermatologist prescribed it to me instead of minoxidil
>>18667873you got scammed
>>18667875I haven't bought either one yet, but how so?
>>18667879isnt topical min otc where you live?
>>18667881I'm assuming it is, I JUST left the dermatologist's office and haven't really explored any options yet
>>18666596What's a good telehealth to get tret from? I'm on adapalene and have been thinking about switching over for anti-aging gainz.
>>18668022Seconding this anon. I've been on OTC retinol for 3 years (started same time as fin) and I was thinking about bumping up. I asked Gemini about adapalene and it said that it purposely avoids stimulating a retinol receptor (alpha) which is key for deeper collagen remodeling, and tretinoin does, so I'm sure we'd both see gains on tret.
Does it make sense to take more than 0.5mg Dutasteride a day? Also if 5mg of oral minoxidil don’t show any real effect (or side effects), should I titrate up to 10mg? I feel like most medications don’t seem to take effect for me unless it’s in higher doses like 800mg ibuprofen
>>18668220Honestly I would be very hesitant in upping oral minox doses. I already keep having second thoughts on my daily 2.5mh because of the studies about how its potential long term side effects, but I just fucking HATE having to apply a shitty foam/lotion to my scalp every day, especially cause I have sensitive, dermatitis prone skin.
>>18668224Most people taking topical twice daily will get around 2mg absorbed systemically, more if you microneedle and people safely take it for decades. I don't think you need to worry about long term sides until you get into high doses (>5mg) as the half life is relatively short until you exceed 5mg in which case it can be present for 24 hours and increases linearly the higher your dose past 5mg.
>>18668220If 5mg oral minoxidil isn't producing any growth then it's almost certainly one of 3 things.1)Hair loss is not caused by MPB2)You haven't taken it long enough (3-6 months is the earliest you can expect to see initial results)3)Your follicles were left untreated for too long and have essentially died. (Rare)
>>18668224What long time effects? I’ve read minoxidil can reshape your heart and cause cardiac effusion but other than that it seems safe if you’re healthy and young. It’s just that I read a new dec 2025 study from Spain how 10mg oral minoxidil is actually very efficacious but that shit scares me because I can’t go to the cardiologist. >>18668282Not gonna lie I think I need to visit a thyroid doctor. My GP told me it’s MPB so I started with finasteride and oral minoxidil over a year ago. It didn't help outside of my lashes (also no hypertrichosis). I’ve used topical minoxidil for a lot of years and got vellus hair all over my forehead but they aren’t going terminal (haven’t done micro needling yet but I’ve punctured one hole into my forehead with a needle and a thick and dark hair has been growing out of it) Now I’m on Dutasteride for almost 4 months and I think it’s helping but all I want is hairline regrowth.
everyone itt (including me)how does topical min taste?
>>18668347like medicine, i put like 9 drops in a glass and add water to make sure I drink all of it
>>18668342You've probably been looking for regrowth in the wrong places then. The hairline in most cases cannot be lowered by meds alone once it has receded. You might get a little bit of density and shaping but you're not going to reverse a norwood level.>>18668347Reminds me of vodka obviously heavily diluted
>>18668347It smells like alcohol so probably alcoholic?
>>18667882>Gives advice about something he knows nothing aboutThanks for the Reddit advice
>>18668372What? I'm literally asking FOR advice, did you read the wrong reply chain or are you just illiterate?
I'm shedding less hair in the shower, but is there a chance of evening the temples out with finasteride? My hairline is even less symmetrical compared to my temples so I'm assuming that won't happen.I wish dut was easier to prescribe in my country.
>>18668381It's possible but nobody can tell you for certain how you will respond to fin. To increase your odds at least apply minoxidil directly to the temples, ideally orally.
>>18668381Best way to know is to see if you have baby hairs left near your temples or hairline. Try using flash in a pitch black room to take a photo of your temples, if there are no baby hairs around the hairline, you might be SOL.
Guise I hope you’re all stockpiling your fin before the fuel crisis kicks in
>>18668381Is dut superior to fin? Should I make the switch from fin?
>>18668486Only hurdle is getting a prescription, but yes, it's strictly superior to fin. Dut even shrunk my pores a bit thanks to type 1 5AR enzyme suppression. About $5 more per refill when compared to fin but it's generic so very cheap still.
>>18668485Meds will never not be prioritized. Non issue unless you're in some backwoods eastern euro country.
>>18668496Cope. An oil crisis will lead to a petrochemical shortage and in turn a critical drug shortage. Production of essential drugs such as penicillin and cortisone will be prioritized over nonessentials like fin and min. The impact on supply chains will cause soaring prices in all aspects of the medical industry. We already had this exact thing play out in the 1973 oil crisis, what makes you think it will be any different this time around?
What's the average dose for Minox taken orally? I am pretty sure my dermatologist is doing half of that for some reason to make me stop asking for Minox. It's 5mg, right? Or is that just the topical dose?
>>18668499Fin is not a cosmetic hair loss drug you nonce.
Also, whichever one of you retards in the last thread was trying to push that Minox isn't potentially fatal to dogs should rope.
>>18668503Nobody has ever said it wasn't. They probably told you not to be a slob putting minoxidil all over your pets accidentally.
>>18668506>inadvertent contact with humans (i.e. pet licking human skin or contaminated bedding)It's very easy for minox to spread topically because it's so greasy. It seeps into everything. Someone was insisting that it only is deadly if they lick you (which the article supports, but conveniently skips the other half of what inadvertent exposure means).
>>186685015mg is the max for hair loss, 2.5 or below is standard. Your derm isn't lying
>>18668507Seeps into what your dogs bed? How hard is it to be a responsible adult.
>>18668502It’s still lower priority compared to something like penicillin you absolute nigger faggot. And prices are going to rise anyway so you might as well stock up while it’s still cheap and plentiful you fucking bald brown nigger troon.
>>18668514You sound delusional and borderline insane. You need a break from /pol/ at all costs.
Just realized after shower that my hair is getting absolutely JUSTed and my thinning is happening evenly in a full blown pic related pattern across my crownFound a top rated hair specialist in my city but wanted to inform myself before scheduling an appointment - is min the first treatment that I will get prescribed or are they going straight for fin Also are the memes true that it can affect your homones?
>>18668790I went to a dermatologist and he explained everything to me. It doesn’t affect your hormones in the way you think it does. It doesn’t suddenly pump you full of estrogen like a tranny. What it does is inhibit the production of a testosterone byproduct, leaving the estrogen you already have to be useful.Men produce more testosterone than women, and women produce more testosterone than men. That doesn’t mean one sex is 100% testosterone or estrogen. The hormones have roles in helping your body. For example, estrogen is for wound healing and preventing your body from deteriorating. If you were 100% testosterone, you’d look like a bald wrinkly ape with decay like a corpse. Too little and you’d be youthful, but completely flabby and soft like a puddle or Humpty Dumpty.I’ve been on fin and min tablets since the beginning of January. No erectile problems, if anything, better erections because I have free test now. Skin is also better as well. The only downside is the shed phase around the beginning of the third month which eventually subsides.What it’s like:>Sudden growth within a month and a half, impressive gains >Gains suddenly shed around the second month near the end of the month and beginning of the third month>Shedding stops and you get this weird regrowth of little hairs around the edges all over that you’re so tempted to touch because it feels like little springs.>Ass hairs suddenly grow fast
>>18668790Tell your derm you have tried minoxidil before and it wasn't giving you the results you wanted. They will offer you that first in most cases, you want finasteride, minoxidil is only supplementary and not a first line defense.
How long does a treatment shed last and how long does it take for the shed hair to grow back? I started taking fin 3 months ago and it nuked my frontal hair density and recently I switched to dut which feels like its re-nuking it. Im losing hair in the shower like crazy.I have long thin almost translucent dirty blonde hair so I can see my scalp through it on the hairline. I didnt do my due diligence taking progress pics so now Im left second guessing myself and thinking my hair just looked this bad before treatment and I didnt notice. Its gotta be a treatment shed right? Also trying to look for fuzz or miniaturized vellus hair or something but I cant see shit. I need some reassurance chooms.
>>18668868Shedding varies from person to person. Some of it is quick, some of it is gradual. Some people start early, while some don’t shed until the middle of the third month. I know this may come off as Reddit-tier, but be happy you’re shedding and shedding good. That means that it’s working and that means it’s going to eventually stop. Kinda like puking, you don’t wanna do it, but you’ll feel better once you get it over with. You’ll be fine. Just work out and occupy your time until the summer. Maybe go for a hike every week.
>>18668509>never put your head against your couch, in fact, never lay on your couch>never lean back into a chair with a headrest, ever>never let your dog onto your bed, not once>and you better make sure they never, ever lick your face/head!Stop being fucking retarded.
>>18668868Did you switch cold turkey to dut? It's best to overlap them (daily fin and daily dut dose) at first for like 3 months. While true that dut starts working immediately, it takes longer to fully saturate tissues like the scalp. Could be that the extra 10% scalp supression compared to fin started a shed, but that extra 10% is only when you have dut fully built up, it shouldn't trigger a shed immediately if you're overlapping fin.
Reminder that finasteride nukes your hormones and makes your sperm stop working. The guys who have been on this drug 10-20 years are basically trannies with feminine faces and are sterile
>>18668903The foam dries completely in about 30 minutes. Stop being a belligerent slob.
>>18668946nice grandpa ring baldcel
>>18668946What does he mean by feminine faces?
I posted before/after pics of myself in the last thread, here's a hairline closeuphonestly impressed how steady the regrowth has been, nearly linear over the last 10 months (excuse my eyebrows)
>>18668983That's a shitposting cretin, inhibiting the production of DHT leads to more testosterone which can lead to more estradiol (that is not necessarily bad, since 5ar blockers are increasing testosterone in the first place) and that can improve skin/hair. Dutasteride blocks the type 1 5AR isoenzyme which up-regulates sebum production and worsens pores/acne. Like Kevin Mann said, I'm GLAD that Finasteride and Dutasteride increase the amount of testosterone in my body as less is wasted on producing the trash hormone DHT.
>>18668989you are both dumb as fuck tbqh and don't think you have a grasp on biochemistry plz
>>18668990DHT is trash and adults don't need it. Even IF you were to inhibit all 5AR enzymes fully, the body has other pathways to synthesize DHT that don't rely on the 5AR isoenzyme, so your nEuRoStErOiDs are fine even on 2.5mg+ of Dutasteride.
>>18668988What’s your protocol and when did you start after first discovering hairloss?
>>18668988From your eyebrows, I guess you're on oral min? Insane how much hair is present lower on the temporal peaks (your eyebrows are practically touching your temporal peak at the bottom) but the fronto-temporal region is still bare with some regrowth at the hairline. Reversing a NW2 to a NW1 is fucking hard.
>>186689940.5mg dut + 2x topical min 0.5%I was NW2/pre-pic hairline at 17-18, acknowledged recession at 25, started treatment at 26 and am 27 now>>18668996no oral min I'm just hairy as fuck + probably topical min AoE
>>18669003also dermastamping 0.6-0.8mm weekly
>>18668989you've used the wrong picture>>18668992sup troons, hope ya'll troonin'
>>18669004Seems like microneedling mixed with minoxidil is some kind of miracle treatment. How often do you take dut and where did you get it from?
>Brits can get 360 pills of Avodart for 250£Why can’t the EU be like this?
>>18669006once a day, at first I used jeet Urodart off the 'net, then generic dut by a reputable local brand and now Avodart since it's the same price as generichonestly there's no difference, but I didn't feel any difference between fin 0.25mg and dut 0.5mg either
>>18669021I pay €13 for 30
>>18669005he looks horrible. male wall impact victim
>>18669023>30Lole. Price isn’t the problem but getting huge amounts of it is
>>18669021I got my doctor to write the prescription for 180 pills per refill and I pay 38$ at Costco for Dutasteride generics. I'm glad it's easy to get prescribed here in the US.
>>18669033How often do you get refills/how many mg do you take per day?
>>18669034I only get two refills per year, so 0.5mg daily. I could probably stack prescriptions if I wanted to do higher doses daily, but 0.5mg is going strong for me.
>>18668992Enjoy turning into a scrawny feminine troon with a broken sterile micropenis
>>18669046Most bald men look like that and maybe with some cope facial hair.
>>18669024Bogged actually
