» Hi- I need more than rogaine foam, niz cream, sp, hair vitamins, nettles
» and pigeum.
» In the simplest terms, what is the main difference between Fin and Dut?
» Which one would you recommend and does one give less side effects that the
» other?
»
» Thank you!!
http://books.google.com/books?id=kUDc9cS50fcC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=5+alpha+reductase+and+brain&source=web&ots=6Nr1aC7JVp&sig=Lyf7pP2kYl1coq83BdVLkuIuJfk&hl=en#PPA84,M1
I am still trying to figure out what to do vis-a-vis using Dutasteride topically. I have a dilemma because it clearly does good for my follicular situation, but it has some significant unwanted side effects.
I let, I don’t know, about 10 days go by without using it. The occasion was I was going to hang out with my French girlfriend for a few days in a hotel room and I knew I’d want to have good libido/functioning. That aspect went fine, except that as usual I didn’t have as much, uh, “juice.” The good news is that the side effects seemed to be slowly reversing themselves. (The bad news I guess is I’ll go back to being a satyrmaniac).
More importantly, my intermittent headaches, brain fog, memory loss, and vague depression have been relenting – i.e. getting slightly better each day I do not use dutasteride. These are clear side effects for me.
This morning I did a two-minute application of topical dutasteride on my wet scalp, the first application I had done in about 10 days (as I said). I had started to sense a vague scalp itch coming on, very slight.
My two-minute application worked on the incipient returning scalp itch. It went away instantaneously. And I didn’t get the strong feeling of heavy systemic effects coming on; when I ingested dutasteride or put it on my scalp for a long period of time on a daily basis I could feel my blood racing a bit (or something like that) and just felt an overall difference that is hard to describe. I felt very little of this after the application today.
What I am hoping is that the great effects I received from dutasteride in terms of stopping my scalp itch (which was correlating heavily with areas of heavier hair loss) can be maintained by a once a week quick application. Of course, I am hoping that the unwanted side effects from the daily systemic dosing will be non-existent or much less apparent at the same time.
I seemed to have needed to spend a couple of months on dutasteride, though, changing some basic scalp chemistry. For awhile my scalp felt tight and itchless and then it just starting feeling great, particularly with the application of minoxidil.
Is this a model? Using dutasteride regularly for 2 or 3 months and then maintaining some/most of its good effect with a weekly maintenance dose after that?
Two things I have noticed in research:
-
5 Alpha Reductase is apparently needed for several neurological functions. (I am not talking about the function in fetuses/children of making sure a man is a man, though that is an important one.} I am talking about its heavy concentration in parts of the brain (white matter) and spine. Clearly it’s doing something important. If I have headaches and brain fog, even if it seems mostly faily negligible, it doesn’t make me feel confident that all is right.
-
In the article above, it says that congenital lack/shortage of the 5 Alpha Reductase type that dutasteride blocks is associated with men not having Androgenetic Al. or BPH. But that the Alpha Reductase type blocked by Finasteride helps, but does not solve AA or BPH. This article didn’t say what happens to people who have a deficiency of this type of 5AR other than their not having AA hair loss.
My conclusion: Just like a good supply of DHT is a mixed bag for some of us – we have a good libido, but diminishing hairline – suppressing it through dutasteride is also a mixed bag: perhaps our hairline improves, but we are faced with known and unknown consequences. I am trying to balance the mix in that bag for optimal results.
On a side note: I was finishing off with my girlfriend a couple of nights ago and as things were coming to their conclusion, I felt an intense headache. This has never happened before. My first thought was maybe it’s another dutasteride side effect.