Fin or Dut? Your opinion please

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!!

Both are dangerous but Dut even more so. Fin 0.5mg is a reasonable first step. Anyway you should be sure that you gave naturals enough time to take effect. Going into synthetic 5ar inhibitors will anyway damage your hormonal balance and put you at risk. Believe my sad experience. Dut should always be avoided. Real s***t.

Sorry, misspelling: s**t.

Dutastride is better than finasteride -

J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006 Dec;55(6):1014-23

The importance of dual 5alpha-reductase inhibition in the treatment of male pattern hair loss: results of a randomized placebo-controlled study of dutasteride versus finasteride

BACKGROUND:
Male pattern hair loss (MPHL) is a potentially reversible condition in which dihydrotestosterone is an important etiologic factor.

OBJECTIVE:
Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of the type 1 and 2 5alpha-reductase inhibitor dutasteride in men with MPHL.

METHODS:
Four hundred sixteen men, 21 to 45 years old, were randomized to receive dutasteride 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 or 2.5 mg, finasteride 5 mg, or placebo daily for 24 weeks.

RESULTS:
Dutasteride increased target area hair count versus placebo in a dose-dependent fashion and dutasteride 2.5 mg was superior to finasteride at 12 and 24 weeks. Expert panel photographic review and investigator assessment of hair growth confirmed these results. Scalp and serum dihydrotestosterone levels decreased, and testosterone levels increased, in a dose-dependent fashion with dutasteride.

LIMITATIONS:
The study was limited to 24 weeks.

CONCLUSION: Dutasteride increases scalp hair growth in men with MPHL. Type 1 and type 2 5alpha-reductase may be important in the pathogenesis and treatment of MPHL.

brm… the s***t thing is so funny.

» Dutastride is better than finasteride -
»
» J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006 Dec;55(6):1014-23
»
» The importance of dual 5alpha-reductase inhibition in the treatment of
» male pattern hair loss: results of a randomized placebo-controlled study of
» dutasteride versus finasteride

»
» BACKGROUND:
» Male pattern hair loss (MPHL) is a potentially reversible condition in
» which dihydrotestosterone is an important etiologic factor.
»
» OBJECTIVE:
» Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of the type 1 and 2 5alpha-reductase
» inhibitor dutasteride in men with MPHL.
»
» METHODS:
» Four hundred sixteen men, 21 to 45 years old, were randomized to receive
» dutasteride 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 or 2.5 mg, finasteride 5 mg, or placebo daily
» for 24 weeks.
»
» RESULTS:
» Dutasteride increased target area hair count versus placebo in a
» dose-dependent fashion and dutasteride 2.5 mg was superior to finasteride
» at 12 and 24 weeks. Expert panel photographic review and investigator
» assessment of hair growth confirmed these results. Scalp and serum
» dihydrotestosterone levels decreased, and testosterone levels increased, in
» a dose-dependent fashion with dutasteride.
»
» LIMITATIONS:
» The study was limited to 24 weeks.
»
» CONCLUSION: Dutasteride increases scalp hair growth in men with MPHL. Type
» 1 and type 2 5alpha-reductase may be important in the pathogenesis and
» treatment of MPHL.
» =============================================================================
»
» brm… the s***t thing is so funny.

so you are basically telling guys to just take DUT with no warnings, amazing

» 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!!

when you say you need more than this what do you mean by that? you still have rapidly thinning hair or high fallout?

» 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!!

Hi Rnoram:

You can look for my experiences here which I was charting week-by-week about being on Dutasteride.

The main difference between Finasteride and Dut is that Fin stops only one form of DHT whereas Dut stops both. This seems to explain Dut’s greater head-to-head efficacy and also its more potent, but similar, side effects.

The other thing is that Dut has a half-life in the blood stream that can last weeks if not months whereas Fin’s effect goes away nearly instantaneously when you stop taking it.

My conclusion about Dut is:

  1. It’s as effective an 5-AR inhibitor you are going to find, IMO.
  2. It comes with significant unwanted side effects, in my case as follows:
    a) decrease of libido (this wasn’t a problem with me because my libido gets me into personal trouble sometimes as I chase too many skirts, frankly, and I need a break from that) marked by some curb of desire and by lessening of ejaculate. In terms of performance, I hedge my bets and take 2-3,000 mg of L-Arginine before bedding a woman (nature’s viagra) and don’t have problems except that I can’t repeat as much as I’d like.
    b) headaches initially
    c) memory lapses and depression long-term

It also had a huge benefit that was kind of unexpected:
a) Eliminated scalp itch of the sort that had been starting to drive me crazy and that correlated with where my hair loss was occurring on my scalp.

It’s a big mixed bag. I haven’t figured out the right answer.

I think what I will do is stick with the topical regime I have been using – i.e. squeeze one capsule of Dut into about 30ml of aloe vera gel (get this at Trader Joe’s) apply it on my wet scalp and let is stay there for a couple of minutes. But I’ll only do this a couple of times a week, and I won’t let it stay there that long. The longer it stays, the more it’s absorbed into the bloodstream rather than acting more locally (or at least that’s the theory).

I can deal with the libido loss, but the headaches/memory/depression seem like a bad thing to put up with for any length of time.

BRM had a very bad experience and it would be wise to heed him. Mine has not been so bad, but I am no means a “jump into this thing without worrying” kind of booster. For me, though, I feel that now that I am taking a break from Dut, I can already feel is unwanted effects diminishing.

Also, I take Super Miraforte from LEF to try to stave off negative effects.

And if you aren’t doing it, you should be eliminating pro-inflammatory substances from your diet: sugars, fried foods, carbs. And you should be taking oils: fish oil, flax, borage in signicant quantities. The oils, particularly if you are heavy on the Omega 3s, are anti-inflammatory. Hogan38, a user on this site, has the best information on this.

Good unbiased report by Goingallout.

» 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:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

» » 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:
»
» 1) 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.
»
» 2) 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.

Dude, let me know if the once-a-week deal gives you less side-effects. I’m just really worried about those side-effects you’ve had. I tried propecia a couple of years ago, and after a month I could barely get aroused or have any libido drive.

I’m currently having a shed, the only thing that changed is that I’m out of beta-sis and I haven’t re-ordered yet…

GO LAKERS!!!

Per studies conducted employing the scientific method - which is how all protocols should be judged - Dut is the more powerful anti-andro.

Don’t pay any attention to the opinions offered here. I’m not saying they aren’t true, but its impossible to get an accurate picture of the side effects from 3 or 4 opinions. Look closely at the side-effects as observed in the trials and make a decision. Finasteride has an increadibly low occurance of side-effects, and in particular, those affecting the libido are less than 3% (maybe even lower, as reported by a recent study posted by Hairsite Admin). Fin has been on the market for over 20 decades without problems. I’m not familiar with the exact numbers, but I believe Dut has a higher incidence rate of side effects, but they are still in the single digits.

For what its worth (which is nothing), I have experienced no libido-related side effects with either drug, but I did have some “brain fog” while on Dut, so I discontinued its use. Its affects on my hair, however, were better than what I have experienced on Finasteride (which have been incredible).

My history: I started losing my hair at 20 and got on Fin shortly there after. 10 years on, I have maintained my hair so that, cosmetically, I look like a NW1. There are people on this board who began losing their hair at my age but didn’t use Fin. Many of them are a NW6 or worse (there’s a guy on the HT forum that had my exact history; he’s slick bald and just got his first HT).

» I’m not familiar with the exact numbers,
»
»

No, indeed, you’re not but Mercks and Glaxo aren’t any more than you. How long shall we have, us victims of sexual sides, to warn against those preposterous single digit figures? Visit propeciasideeffects.com
Fin and above all, dut, are dangerous drugs. Period.

» » I’m not familiar with the exact numbers,
» »
» »
»
» No, indeed, you’re not but Mercks and Glaxo aren’t any more than you. How
» long shall we have, us victims of sexual sides, to warn against those
» preposterous single digit figures? Visit propeciasideeffects.com
» Fin and above all, dut, are dangerous drugs. Period.

I’m not denying that you may have suffered side effects, but that doesn’t mean most will. If you’ve administered a separate study that conforms to the scientific method and employs a double-blind protocol, and have numbers that contradict those derived from the the trial studies, then provide them. Until then, its all anecdotal, and really, anecdotal evidence is - at best - correlation, not causation. Finasteride has been around for two decades. If it had unacceptable side effect rates that exceeded those observed in its initial trials (its gone through two sets, btw; one for Proscar and one for Propecia), they would have presented long ago.

» Fin has been on the market for over 20 decades
» without problems.

Wow! I didn’t know finasteride has been around that long! Maybe our Founding Fathers used it! :slight_smile:

.

»
» I’m not denying that you may have suffered side effects, but that doesn’t
» mean most will. If you’ve administered a separate study that conforms to
» the scientific method and employs a double-blind protocol, and have numbers
» that contradict those derived from the the trial studies, then provide
» them. Until then, its all anecdotal, and really, anecdotal evidence is -
» at best - correlation, not causation. Finasteride has been around for two
» decades. If it had unacceptable side effect rates that exceeded those
» observed in its initial trials (its gone through two sets, btw; one for
» Proscar and one for Propecia), they would have presented long ago.

What? 3 or 4 anecdotes? Thousands of them that indeed do not make a sample size, only a full website board whose members are growing everyday (propeciasideeffects.com).

  1. From the very mechanism of dut’s and fin’s action, that is reducing drastically a major male hormone or metabolite, tell me how sexual side effects could be anecdotal.
    2)As to proscar’s “seniority” being a warranty of its harmlessness, don’t forget that it is mainly prescribed to men over 60 whose sexual health is neither tops (anymore) nor a priority.
  2. What a naive thinking! Glaxo and Merck have obviously downplayed their figures for marketing purposes.

» » » 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:
» »
» » 1) 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.
» »
» » 2) 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.
»
»
» Dude, let me know if the once-a-week deal gives you less side-effects.
» I’m just really worried about those side-effects you’ve had. I tried
» propecia a couple of years ago, and after a month I could barely get
» aroused or have any libido drive.
»
» I’m currently having a shed, the only thing that changed is that I’m out
» of beta-sis and I haven’t re-ordered yet…
»
» GO LAKERS!!!

RNORAM:

First of all regarding people who tell you not to pay attention to anecdotes, they are absolutely correct in terms of getting the overall picture. The overall picture suggests that Dut is the most effective anti-androgen and Finasteride is second. (Through scientific (non-anecdotal) studies, they determine whether some treatments have significant impact or not.)

This doesn’t mean you’ll find that either of them – Dut or Fin – works for you. You need to test what works for you. In using these boards, you need to take into account that people are reporting their own anecdotal experiences. Adopt a skeptical attitude and move forward.

Clearly anti-androgens cause you libido/performance loss. My personal opinion is that this happens for a lot more than the reported percentage by the drug companies. However, I think this because of my experience, not because I have conducted studies. What matters is that you have had the same experience, so forget whether other people tell you this isn’t the case; for you it is.

My opinion is as follows:

  1. You are always going to face the fact that the anti-androgens you use cause libido/performance loss. (For me, a diminished libido is a fact. I handle performance by taking L-Arginine before I am in a situation where I’m going to get laid.) You are the one who needs to decide what balance is important for you.
  2. Anti-androgens and other drugs like minoxidil won’t work to create miracles if you’ve already lost a lot of hair. They will help keep you pretty well off at about the level you are currently at when you start using them. In my opinion. This is what has happened with me. I still have a decent head of hair, a bit more loss than I’d care to have, but while the Dut is effective, I am not going to have the head of hair I had 10 years ago I can tell after about 4 months.
  3. My intermittent use of dutasteride topically so far is working well for me. I measure this using a subjective reading – i.e. whether or not I have the scalp itch that bothered me until I had been taking it orally for a few weeks and then started applying it topically (at which point, all the itch COMPLETELY cleared up. This itch coincided with where my hair loss was the worst. A lot of people suggest there is a correlation.) I have been applying the dutasteride topically about once every 5 days. In between I take SP and Beta Sis. These have some libido impacts for me.
  4. On intermittent topical Dut my brain fog, depression, memory probs have been going away and my libido is stronger and I seem to have more “juice”. My theory/hope (without much basis other than hope) is that the topical dut applied every few days for no more than 2 minutes can keep scalp DHT at bay without heavy systemic spreading (systemic referring to it going into the bloodstream and spreading through the body to affect other systems throughout the body).

Quote: From the very mechanism of dut’s and fin’s action, that is reducing drastically a major male hormone or metabolite, tell me how sexual side effects could be anecdotal.

This is the one that boggles my mind. Actually having to debate with people whether sexual side effects could be a real risk with dht suppression.

» 4) On intermittent topical Dut my brain fog, depression, memory probs have
» been going away and my libido is stronger and I seem to have more “juice”.
» My theory/hope (without much basis other than hope) is that the topical dut
» applied every few days for no more than 2 minutes can keep scalp DHT at bay
» without heavy systemic spreading (systemic referring to it going into the
» bloodstream and spreading through the body to affect other systems
» throughout the body).

From what I remember both finas & dutas work through systemic route only. And the reason you’re probably getting scalp relief for few days is because of dutas longer half-life.

» » 4) On intermittent topical Dut my brain fog, depression, memory probs
» have
» » been going away and my libido is stronger and I seem to have more
» “juice”.
» » My theory/hope (without much basis other than hope) is that the topical
» dut
» » applied every few days for no more than 2 minutes can keep scalp DHT at
» bay
» » without heavy systemic spreading (systemic referring to it going into
» the
» » bloodstream and spreading through the body to affect other systems
» » throughout the body).
»
» From what I remember both finas & dutas work through systemic route only.
» And the reason you’re probably getting scalp relief for few days is because
» of dutas longer half-life.

Not in my experience. My side effects have abated, but my scalp feels better, as it did when I ingested Dutasteride. Remember, Dutasteride absorbs through the skin, and Finasteride doesn’t. For me, it seems that the best way was to take Dut for three months daily and then make the switch to applying it topically every few days. Taking it every day stopped a lot of my scalp itch and spurred some hair growth, but the cost was in horrible side effects. And now that I am applying the topical every few days it seems to maintain good effects and stop with the bad side effects.