Propecia - is having no side effects a BAD thing?

[DCHR]

So, I understand this as a 0 to 100 scale.

 

Like this 0------------50-------------100

 

where 0 is you are losing hair because of the DHT and 100 is where you do not lose any hair.

 

at the same time with 0 you probably have a lot of DHT and are very sexually active, while at a 100 you dont have much if any DHT so you arent sexually active.

 

If you take propecia to supress DHT, then you are essentially going from 0 to 100, correct? Or at least trying to get there, to stop losing hair and supress DHT. If there is no DHT that means you are less sexually active, less sexually active meaning have all those side effects.

 

So, question here is, if you are taking Propecia and you are having side effects, doesnt that mean that its working, and is getting you on the 100 side of the scale?

 

While at the same time if you are taking propecia, and have NO side effects that would mean its not powerful enough to take you to that side.. therefore you will still lose hair because it cant supress all of the DHT???

 

Am I understanding it right that no side effects is a bad thing? Essentially the side effects are proof of the medication working and supressing what we want it to supress? i.e. sexual hormones?

[TakingThePlunge]

DHCR,

 

I understand your reasoning and it does make sense unless you take into account the differing physiologies of the individual patients. Finasteride seems to affect everyone differently.

 

Personally, I've had some mild side effects and most of them diminished over time. I do believe that the drug has slowed the progression on my hair loss and may have increased density in my crown.

[mahhong]

DHCR,

 

A lot of your arguments make sense but one thing to clarify; propecia is not supposed to block 100% of your DHT. Firstly, there are two types of DHT (I and II); propecia only blocks one type (levels of your other type are found in the brain and therefore considered by some to have a potentially important function). Of the type of DHT that propecia does block it's only able to block between around 65-80% of it (if my memory serves me correctly). It's almost definitely a fact that you do need some DHT in order to maintain a healthy sex life and that, to put it simply, DHT is an important part of your balance of male sex hormones.

 

In my opinion the aim is to find the balance between reducing your DHT to levels where it noticeably stops affecting your hair, but not to drop it so much that you incur serious side effects. The truth is I think most men would trade a slightly reduced libido for an extra 5 or 10 years good hair, but I don't think any man would be willing to entirely lose his libido - even if they could keep every hair on their head!

 

As David said, the ambition really is to find the happy medium you're comfortable with. Unfortunately propecia usage is not an exact science; some men see wonderful results on propecia, some moderate and some none at all. Similarly some men seem to suffer drastic side effects whilst others (the majority) suffer few or none. But I am a believer that, if you are on propecia, you should monitor your dosage and tweak it accordingly. I think a lot of men take the pill, have side effects, get a bit worried and stop taking it. I reckon it would pay to introduce a regime where you start off taking a very small dosage of the pill and work your way up to say a maximum 1.25mg (in other words a 1/4 proscar). That way your body would be introduced to the change in hormone balance gradually and you'd probably have a much better read on what dosage was optimal for you.

 

I don't think you necessary "need" side effects for propecia to work (many men have good or better results and report no side effects), but I think you're probably right in saying that the optimal dosage is at a level where you may experience a very small reduction in overall libido but, in return, good progress with your hair. That probably indicates the maximum tolerable dose with no major effects, and therefore the lowest your DHT can go in your own personal "safe zone".