Which tests do you recommend before and after starting topical Finasteride?

[bald-and-bearded]

What blood work would decisively tell me if there is systemic absorption of topical finasteride?

A lab near me can measure DHT and testosterone levels. I will definitely get those measured.

[Melvin- Admin]

DHT levels before treatment and after treatment. Testosterone is unnecessary, as fin doesn’t affect test levels.  

[HairRun]

I recently heard about trichotest which can give recommendations if you do better on fin or dut. I don't know much about it, I just heard about it on reddit recently. 

[bald-and-bearded]

On 7/2/2021 at 10:08 AM, HairRun said:

I recently heard about trichotest which can give recommendations if you do better on fin or dut. I don't know much about it, I just heard about it on reddit recently. 

Interesting.

On 7/2/2021 at 3:31 AM, Melvin- Moderator said:

DHT levels before treatment and after treatment. Testosterone is unnecessary, as fin doesn’t affect test levels.  

Fin does affect testosterone. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/finasteride-oral-route/description/drg-20063819

By preventing conversion of testosterone to DHT it increases testosterone.

[JDEE0]

Yes, Finasteride will certainly affect your Testosterone levels. If anything, DHT is probably the least noteworthy thing to look at in your bloods as you already know its going to drop by 60-70 odd percent, so it's expected. Not saying you shouldn't include them in your test, obviously do so, but the results will, expectedly, just show that DHT levels are low, likely well below the reference range. Which is the whole point of course. 

If you want to get your bloods done properly, it's somewhat complicated and most doctors are pretty awful with endocrinology and interpreting blood results, on top of that, you have to use the right methods to get an accurate reading. You really want to get high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry testing, as I learned from Derek from MPMD. without high sensitivity testing, results can be very inaccurate, see this article for detail and try to really understand what is being talked about https://moreplatesmoredates.com/the-most-accurate-testosterone-blood-test/

In terms of what to generally look out for in a blood test, this video will cover absolutely everything you need to know, so take notes: 

 

Hope this helps.

[bald-and-bearded]

Wow thanks for the video @JDEE0

If anyone is interested here is the comprehensive set of tests from the link in the video

070038: Total Testosterone (LC/MS-MS)

070038:  Free Testosterone (Equilibrium Ultrafiltration)

500649: Estradiol, Total and Free (MS)

504026: Free DHT (Equilibrium dialysis, high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS-MS)

082016: Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG)

004317: Progesterone

004465: Prolactin

010322: Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA)

004309: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)

004283: Luteinizing hormone (LH)

006676: Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab

004020: Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEA-S)

140707: Pregnenolone

004051: Cortisol

235010: Lipid Panel – LDL, HDL, Triglycerides, Total Cholesterol, Ratio hdl/ldl

010363: IGF-1

005009: CBC with differential

322000:  Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (14)

081950: Vit D, 25 Hydroxy

001321: Iron serum + TIBC

004598: Ferritin

001453: HBa1c

042045: TgAb+Thyroglobulin,IMA or LCMS

224576: TSH, Free T4, Free T3

070104: Reverse T3

120188: Lipoprotein (a)

004333: Insulin

001537: Magnesium

120766: C-Reactive Protein, Cardiac

001958: γ-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT)

003038: Urinalysis, Routine

fyi @Melvin- Moderator if you're going to test H & W's topical Finasteride. In the video there is a link to a lab which does these tests as a set with home pickup (not vouching for them or anything).

[JDEE0]

No problem @bald-and-bearded.

To be honest it's going to be extremely difficult for a lot of people to be able to carry out this level of testing, and admittedly it probably is overkill. I myself never did any testing before or after taking fin, but in an ideal world I would have done so to the standards set out in the video.

Problem is that a lot of countries just don't seem to have companies/doctors who are readily available to offer any sort of high quality hormonal based blood testing (not just for before starting fin for hair-loss, also for checking because you have low libido/anxiety/depression/fatigue etc, or before starting a cycle of anabolic steroids for example). Here in the UK it's next to impossible; it's hard enough just to get a blood test that is actually accurate and measures basic markers.

If you're in the US though and can do the testing from the Lab that Derek (the guy from the video) is in partnership with, then he is a very credible guy and to be honest I would entrust his chosen labs and the tests they carry out way more than any random GP I could go and see. He's very legit.

 

 

[Melvin- Admin]

There’s a lab here in LA owned by Bradley Martin a bodybuilder/YouTuber. They test everything.