Finasteride/antiandrogen changes to other parts of the body.

[HelpfulFriend]

Hey all,

Potential can of worms here, and not something I necessarily subscribe to, but I was wondering what people think of the claims that Fin changed their face?

I find it to be unfounded when looking at the literature, but people claim that finasteride changed their facial structure in the same way that transgender hormone therapy does (de-masculinisation). 

Do any doctors on here have any thoughts on this? Seeing as it targets DHT, and not testosterone itself, then it shouldn't be able to have a significant impact on bone structure, correct? Unless it can impact other aspects of the face that can appear to change it's overall shape.

I also understand that there is limited research on this topic.

For reference, I've been taking finasteride for 5 years, and I'm in no way anti-fin. 

[Britanium]

@DrTBarghouthi any thoughts on this ? 🙏

[Melvin- Admin]

I think this is one of the more ridiculous claims. My father had prostate cancer a three years ago, part of his treatment was taking a lupron injection, which basically removes all testosterone from the body. His face had no changes. The only thing that changed was the amount of body and facial hair. In order for your face to change you would have to take the female hormone estrogen and block testosterone in combination. Even then, your facial structure cannot change without surgery. If you look at Caitlyn Jenner, even after plastic surgery, the facial structure is still like Bruce. 

[Britanium]

I have never heard of anyone saying this ? Where was the source ? 

[ciaus]

15 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

I have never heard of anyone saying this ? Where was the source ? 

The internet is pretty much a toilet, infested with trolls who get off on causing drama and confusion in other people's lives by spreading disinformation.

@HelpfulFriend , unless there's at least a shred of supporting evidence, its not really being helpful or friendly starting topics like this, even to debunk them.

Guys are under enough stress and paranoia about their hair loss already when they come here. We should be striving to be the safe harbor in the sh*tstorm that is the internet.

[Ajamilo]

I've been on it for 6 months. I was quite thin before the shutdown, so have now gained 8 kg and had a strong jawline but it is gone now tbh and i have got "fat face".  Lmao i dont think it has anything to do with it, but will provide an update when I start to lose weight again

[Britanium]

7 minutes ago, ciaus said:

The internet is pretty much a toilet, infested with trolls who get off on causing drama and confusion in other people's lives by spreading disinformation.

@HelpfulFriend , unless there's at least a shred of supporting evidence, its not really being helpful or friendly starting topics like this, even to debunk them.

Guys are under enough stress and paranoia about their hair loss already when they come here. We should be striving to be the safe harbor in the sh*tstorm that is the internet.

Oh I totally agree, just wondering where this particular nonsense has come from. First the waves of hts will fail after 10 years, and now this? 😞 

Edited January 12, 2021 by JohnAC71

[TorontoMan]

Think about it rationally, if it had that effect it would have been documented. It would have applied to a large sample of men and appeared in one of the studies, other scientific literature, and not just some kid's comments on a forum. 

[Ajamilo]

34 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Oh I totally agree, just wondering where this particular nonsense has come from. First the waves of hts will fail after 10 years, and now this? 😞 

Yeah i know.

one thing i noticed is that, u can still grow beard while on finasteride. I heard people say it is impossible on Reddit.

I’m literally using minoxidil on my beard and have like 1-2 year plan to stay with it to grow a decent beard. My progression has been good tbh so i don’t believe anymore on randoms  says on the internet 

[DrTBarghouthi]

3 hours ago, JohnAC71 said:

@DrTBarghouthi any thoughts on this ? 🙏

I did not come across anyone with such claims or observations and I find it scientifically difficult to happen. Finasteride is an androgen synthesis inhibitor and works specifically on a specific enzyme isoform. So not all of your body DHT levels are affected even. To change bony structures you would need a much stronger hormonal therapy and even with that, it won’t be enough to create radical changes. 

[Britanium]

Thanks for the explanation, no nor have I. It’s good to get these squashed 👏

[UnbaldEagle]

It just doesn't work that way. In order to effeminize your face, you'd have to 1. reduce or block serum testosterone significantly, almost to child levels , 2. supplement estradiol. Really, both these conditions should be met. 

5-ar inhibitors don't reduce your testosterone levels, on the contrary. Both fin and dut increase your testosterone levels as less gets converted to DHT.  But even if you take something that would reduce your testosterone levels, that on the other hand would lead to less estrogen production, which btw incidentally would also lead to hair loss (yes, even men produce some estrogen). So yeah, the point I made earlier. 

[Future Hair Doc]

It's a bunch of malarkey, is putting it mildly. 

[staciclubb]

No, your face doesn't change when you lose testosterone. That is to say. Your facial features cannot change depending on the amount of testosterone in your body. Sure, a beard changes a man's face, but it is not a feature, a bone, or a muscle. Testosterone affects people's ability to grow muscle and affects the body and facial hair. There's a lot of info about this on laweekly.com. So most likely, the statement you wrote is wrong. Check more reliable sources. Testosterone doesn't work the way you think it does.

Edited January 5, 2022 by staciclubb

[kakemuchi]

I don't mean to offend anyone here, but this sounds ridiculous. Did you witness someone going through such facial changes, or is it just hearsay? Or something you've read on some weird, sketchy, unreliable source? If you look at people who changed their gender, you will see that all of them will have the same facial features (except those who opt for plastic surgery, of course). My advice would be not to trust every scammer or troll on the internet. Instead, find a professional in the field who can clarify those things for you. I've found a lot of answers to my questions in a blog by Alycia Watts . Do some research, and find a pro to get some enlightenment lol

Edited July 19, 2022 by kakemuchi