what r ur experiences on fin

[mogs_me]

i started fin 6-7 weeks ago. stopped coping and realized that i'd progressed to a NW2 and this wasn't just a "mature hairline" (what a retarded cope btw)
been taking 1mg EOD because I'm a pussy, will probably increase to every day soon
as far as side effects the first few days I had mild ball ache and watery semen. ball ache went away on its own, i think watery semen probably went away on its own, but I also started taking zinc supplements, so I don't know if that contributed
for about 3 weeks after that i felt higher t than ever before, super horny and smashing PRs in gym. as far as im aware this is normal due to T levels increasing due to lack of conversion to DHT, until your body eventually regulates T back to baseline
after that I had a crash for a week or two where I felt lower T, was getting weaker boners, etc. maybe some of it was in my head
now for the past few weeks i'm back to baseline, if not a bit higher, in terms of libido and other markers of T. i feel hopeful that it will continue like this in the future. altho im still paranoid about symptoms (e.g., the other day something brushed against my nipple and had me freaking out, "are my nipples always this sensitive? am i getting gyno?" etc retardation)
i wanted to do a blood test before starting but both my derm and PCP rejected it which i thought was pretty stupid. they just said it "wasn't necessary". whatever

anyways now i basically feel suicidal because i think im hitting a shed. this was surprising to me cuz altho my hairline was receded i didn't think I had a lot of active miniaturization. but I feel like I'm getting a decent amount of hair fall in the shower, and I can see through my hair to the scalp in certain areas in certain lighting that I couldn't before. of course I was not expecting my hair to look better in this time frame but I think it looks worse, and it's hard to cope with. ppl say a shed is a sign the medication is working well, but how are you meant to distinguish this from a poor responder who is continuing to regress?
now I'm feeling desperate and want to add on minox as well (oral or topical I am undecided), but now I feel too scared due to increased shedding risk. what is the move here? do I wait for the fin shed to end and hopefully regrow back, or do I just get on minox now and rape my hair and shed into a diffuse nw7 and get it over and done with?

ive already watched every mpmd video on hairloss, every haircafe video, along with like 100 other yt channels, ive read through every single thread and comment in the history of r/tressless, my hair is all I think about, it feels terrible. I guess it's not even that bad right now but if it continues to get worse I think I'll kill myself. but basically i was just curious what your guys' experiences are. does anyone have similar experience to me with early shedding? is it worth to add minox if im already shedding?

 

[traeyoung]

Don't know if youre joking or not but dont kill urself bro. Absolute worst case scenario you can get a hair system.

It seems like your side effects with fin are because the increased T levels will eventually aromatize into estrogen causing hormonal imbalance leading to the side effects you mentioned. Try adding in a natural or over the counter aromatase inhibitor to help restore hormonal balance (something like tongkat ali maybe but do your own research). Ideally though you should get bloodwork first. If your PCP isn't letting you, I believe there still should be other labs you can go to depending on your country.

The shed is perfectly normal and from everything I've seen indicates that the medication is effective.

Also wanted to add that if finasteride doesn't end up working for you because of side effects, you can look into topical non-steroidal antiandrogens. Fluridil is one that has a good side effect profile, but is hard to source and fairly expensive. RU is a bit more effective, easier to source, and cheaper, but there isn't a lot of human data on it, so it's kind of a gamble (some people have reported heart problems with it). Pyrilutamide's currently in phase 3 trials and may be difficult to source as well, but look into it.

 

[traeyoung]

Also wanted to add that you can try switching to topical finasteride, which may have a better side effect profile as less of the medication goes systemic, but some of it still will. I'd also recommend not using minoxidil unless you need regrowth, but if you are content with wear your hair was at baseline, I'd recommend sticking with just fin through the shed. Minoxidil is a temporary soluition that doesn't actually address the cause of AGA.

 

[nuisance]

if youre on Finasteride 1mg its highly unlikely the hair won't grow back. Fin causes pretty significant sheds every couple of months but it always grows back. 6-7 weeks is absolutly nothing, in fact if you are shedding that means it is working. It will take a while to grow back but just keep taking it and wait.