I just stopped fin after 13 months. It did wonders for my hair but gave me boobs.

[InterestingPal]

I tried to post this on Reddit but it got automatically deleted for some reason. Thought I should at least share my experiences some place.

I started at 27 years old.

Noticed that I was slowly thinning for quite a while and was considering starting fin for years. My hair always looked fine (to me) in the mirror, but thinning was noticeable on pics. Took an overhead pic in natural lighting in July 2020 and almost fell off my chair. I was horrified. I went down a YouTube rabbit hole and discovered Kevin Mann. Trash hormone, you say? Started fin in the August.

Initially, I had the usual increased libido and no other noticeable sides. I started going all out pro-fin on forums or anywhere the topic came up. Over the months, my libido definitely dropped, my erections became a bit weaker, morning wood was a thing of the past, but I considered it manageable (and worth it to keep my hair).

I then noticed I was having a harder time remembering words or thinking of something then instantly forgetting what I was thinking about. Basically just weird memory problems.

I always had slight gyno from puberty. I noticed new lumps forming and then they started looking much "rounder", basically resembling actual female breasts. It is now considerably worse than it was 13 months ago. I need to get surgery.

The sad part is, my hair density increased by like 50% or more. It was AMAZING for my hair. It felt and looked as thick as it did when I was 21. The crown was still a bit thin but not noticeable unless in direct sunlight. Fin blew my expectations out of the water when it came to hair growth.

I decided to hop off 3ish weeks ago after realizing that messing with hormones forever probably isn't a good idea. All I can say is that I never believed the people who would say "you won't notice the difference until you stop". It really is true (for me at least). My libido is through the roof. I keep waking up with boners in the night, morning wood every day, my memory is a lot better, overall just feel more motivated and positive.

My plan now is to try topical dutasteride or combine a hair transplant + SMP and keep it shaved (if dut doesn't work). Basically hope to look like someone who intentionally shaves their head with a good hairline. I still refuse to be a slaphead.

This is not anti-fin propaganda. I know for a fact a lot of guys do ok on it. I do believe it affects everyone, but some are mild enough to not notice or it's seen as an acceptable trade off to keep hair. I was never worried about "post finasteride syndrome" as I truly don't believe that's a thing.

Edited October 12, 2021 by InterestingPal

[Melvin- Admin]

Can you share pictures? Which reddit? I see so many obvious spam and promotions there that never get deleted.

[JDEE0]

I assume he means Tressless.

And to OP, yeah, if you developed Gynecomastia (to the point you now need surgery no less) and had all your other sides as well then you definitely had some unwanted Estrogenic side effects from Fin. It's quite rare, but in some people the extra Testosterone 'created' (by not converting T to DHT) that aromatases into Estrogen can lead to an unwanted or unfavourable imbalance hormonally and lead to Gyno etc. It's no surprise you noticed a difference upon stopping considering this...

Hope you get it sorted with the surgery, but tread carefully using topicals going forwards too if you're clearly this sensitive to changes in Testosterone (that 5-ar inhibitors inherently cause).

 

Edited October 12, 2021 by JDEE0

[Curious25]

2 hours ago, InterestingPal said:

I tried to post this on Reddit but it got automatically deleted for some reason. Thought I should at least share my experiences some place.

I started at 27 years old.

Noticed that I was slowly thinning for quite a while and was considering starting fin for years. My hair always looked fine (to me) in the mirror, but thinning was noticeable on pics. Took an overhead pic in natural lighting in July 2020 and almost fell off my chair. I was horrified. I went down a YouTube rabbit hole and discovered Kevin Mann. Trash hormone, you say? Started fin in the August.

Initially, I had the usual increased libido and no other noticeable sides. I started going all out pro-fin on forums or anywhere the topic came up. Over the months, my libido definitely dropped, my erections became a bit weaker, morning wood was a thing of the past, but I considered it manageable (and worth it to keep my hair).

I then noticed I was having a harder time remembering words or thinking of something then instantly forgetting what I was thinking about. Basically just weird memory problems.

I always had slight gyno from puberty. I noticed new lumps forming and then they started looking much "rounder", basically resembling actual female breasts. It is now considerably worse than it was 13 months ago. I need to get surgery.

The sad part is, my hair density increased by like 50% or more. It was AMAZING for my hair. It felt and looked as thick as it did when I was 21. The crown was still a bit thin but not noticeable unless in direct sunlight. Fin blew my expectations out of the water when it came to hair growth.

I decided to hop off 3ish weeks ago after realizing that messing with hormones forever probably isn't a good idea. All I can say is that I never believed the people who would say "you won't notice the difference until you stop". It really is true (for me at least). My libido is through the roof. I keep waking up with boners in the night, morning wood every day, my memory is a lot better, overall just feel more motivated and positive.

My plan now is to try topical dutasteride or combine a hair transplant + SMP and keep it shaved (if dut doesn't work). Basically hope to look like someone who intentionally shaves their head with a good hairline. I still refuse to be a slaphead.

This is not anti-fin propaganda. I know for a fact a lot of guys do ok on it. I do believe it affects everyone, but some are mild enough to not notice or it's seen as an acceptable trade off to keep hair. I was never worried about "post finasteride syndrome" as I truly don't believe that's a thing.

Good honest post, and I’m glad you’re now on the mend! 

[giegnosiganoe]

Figure I'll tag along here, because I'm pretty sure I'm developing (bilateral) gyno as well! Can't say I've noticed any other sides, though I haven't been sexually active for the past 1-2 years (should be back on dating apps in the next couple months after I get some more recent pics, so maybe I'll find out then).

Been on dut for 2 years now, and fin for half a year before that.

Some previous context: My nipples always stuck out ever so slightly more than the average person (like when they got cold) as far as I can remember, but nothing anyone would ever consider to be gyno. However over the past few months, I've become increasingly aware of my nipples showing more through certain types of shirts, feeling slight sensitivity when rubbed at times, and feeling a small lump limited to the nipple/areola. At first I thought that maybe I already had these symptoms given my history and that I was overthinking it, but now that a few months have passed I'm pretty confident it has continued to get worse and that it's the development of gyno. I'm also surprised it has taken so long for me to notice this (given I've been on DHT blockers for 2.5 years), but I guess it makes sense that the effect would be cumulative.

I went to see a doc yesterday who confirmed that he felt a small lump, and he ordered various hormonal blood tests. Let's see if the tests explain my perceived worsening of the symptoms/possible development of gyno.

If it is gyno, I'm greatly leaning toward staying on dut and just getting surgery.

Edited October 12, 2021 by giegnosiganoe

[JDEE0]

10 minutes ago, giegnosiganoe said:

Figure I'll tag along here, because I'm pretty sure I'm developing (bilateral) gyno as well! Can't say I've noticed any other sides, though I haven't been sexually active for the past 1-2 years (should be back on dating apps in the next couple months after I get some more recent pics, so maybe I'll find out then).

Been on dut for 2 years now, and fin for half a year before that.

Some previous context: My nipples always stuck out ever so slightly more than the average person (like when they got cold) as far as I can remember, but nothing anyone would ever consider to be gyno. However over the past few months, I've become increasingly aware of my nipples showing more through certain types of shirts, feeling slight sensitivity when rubbed at times, and feeling a small lump limited to the nipple/areola. At first I thought that maybe I already had these symptoms given my history and that I was overthinking it, but now that a few months have passed I'm pretty confident it has continued to get worse and that it's the development of gyno. I'm also surprised it has taken so long for me to notice this (given I've been on DHT blockers for 2.5 years), but I guess it makes sense that the effect would be cumulative.

I went to see a doc yesterday who confirmed that he felt a small lump, and he ordered various hormonal blood tests. Let's see if the tests explain my perceived worsening of the symptoms/possible development of gyno.

If it is gyno, I'm greatly leaning toward staying on dut and just getting surgery.

Damn man, that sucks. I would say the sensitivity would be the biggest sign, the rest such as perceiving an increased visibility could just be paranoia as you say, and the lump itself could just have been there since puberty etc. But if you've noticed a sensitivity, then it's quite hard to explain that, especially in conjunction with the other stuff. 

If you don't work out already, you could try doing so, lifting weights/adding muscle and getting fairly lean at 12-15% body fat at the same time could help to produce a more favourable hormonal profile over time. 

Hope it turns out to be nothing for you.

[GrowNewHair]

50 minutes ago, giegnosiganoe said:

Figure I'll tag along here, because I'm pretty sure I'm developing (bilateral) gyno as well! Can't say I've noticed any other sides, though I haven't been sexually active for the past 1-2 years (should be back on dating apps in the next couple months after I get some more recent pics, so maybe I'll find out then).

Been on dut for 2 years now, and fin for half a year before that.

Some previous context: My nipples always stuck out ever so slightly more than the average person (like when they got cold) as far as I can remember, but nothing anyone would ever consider to be gyno. However over the past few months, I've become increasingly aware of my nipples showing more through certain types of shirts, feeling slight sensitivity when rubbed at times, and feeling a small lump limited to the nipple/areola. At first I thought that maybe I already had these symptoms given my history and that I was overthinking it, but now that a few months have passed I'm pretty confident it has continued to get worse and that it's the development of gyno. I'm also surprised it has taken so long for me to notice this (given I've been on DHT blockers for 2.5 years), but I guess it makes sense that the effect would be cumulative.

I went to see a doc yesterday who confirmed that he felt a small lump, and he ordered various hormonal blood tests. Let's see if the tests explain my perceived worsening of the symptoms/possible development of gyno.

If it is gyno, I'm greatly leaning toward staying on dut and just getting surgery.

I've been trying to post this on tressless but it kept got removed by the damn admin.  This dude had gyno from fin. He had a surgery to remove it. Then he went on to try topical dut. The gyno came back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB4g22g-lPk&t=8s

Edited October 12, 2021 by GrowNewHair

[giegnosiganoe]

Also, chance of gyno is about 2% for dut (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2929552/). Unlucky.

2 hours ago, JDEE0 said:

Damn man, that sucks. I would say the sensitivity would be the biggest sign, the rest such as perceiving an increased visibility could just be paranoia as you say, and the lump itself could just have been there since puberty etc. But if you've noticed a sensitivity, then it's quite hard to explain that, especially in conjunction with the other stuff. 

If you don't work out already, you could try doing so, lifting weights/adding muscle and getting fairly lean at 12-15% body fat at the same time could help to produce a more favourable hormonal profile over time. 

Hope it turns out to be nothing for you.

I'd like to think the sensitivity could also be paranoia, as I don't remember rubbing my nipples nearly as much in the past 😆

I've been working out very consistently since early this year, am pretty lean/muscular, 6ft 190lbs, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks, will report back once I get the test results.

1 hour ago, GrowNewHair said:

I've been trying to post this on tressless but it kept got removed by the damn admin.  This dude had gyno from fin. He had a surgery to remove it. Then he went on to try topical dut. The gyno came back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB4g22g-lPk&t=8s

Interesting, I had seen a couple of this guy's videos in the past. Though it seems very odd that he was on topical dut for only 5 days before concluding that it was causing his gyno to flare up? Wouldn't have thought he'd notice an effect that quickly.

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by giegnosiganoe

[Melvin- Admin]

2 hours ago, GrowNewHair said:

I've been trying to post this on tressless but it kept got removed by the damn admin.  This dude had gyno from fin. He had a surgery to remove it. Then he went on to try topical dut. The gyno came back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB4g22g-lPk&t=8s

Which subreddit? Tressless or hair transplants? 

[GrowNewHair]

2 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Which subreddit? Tressless or hair transplants? 

Tressless

[giegnosiganoe]

In case anyone's interested, here are my maybe relevant test results:

Seems like estrogen/estradiol/SHBG are on the high end of the reference range. Meeting with the doc tomorrow to discuss, and will try to get a referral to a specialist.

Feels like the gyno is getting noticeably worse over the past couple weeks.

[giegnosiganoe]

Saw an endocrinologist today. Switching to finasteride 1mg/day and starting raloxifene 60mg/day, let's see if I notice any changes.

[Ken23]

 

3 hours ago, giegnosiganoe said:

Saw an endocrinologist today. Switching to finasteride 1mg/day and starting raloxifene 60mg/day, let's see if I notice any changes.

Please update us on how this works for you 

Does your endo recommend taking the raloxifene as long as you are taking finasteride or just initially ?

[giegnosiganoe]

1 hour ago, Ken23 said:

 

Please update us on how this works for you 

Does your endo recommend taking the raloxifene as long as you are taking finasteride or just initially ?

Definitely will. I've tried posting this on /r/tressless too but the mods keep blocking my posts, really disappointing. This is the one side people should pay close attention to, mainly because it may not be reversible. And I had no idea that it could start developing 2 years after starting treatment.

The endo doesn't have a lot of experience with using it for gyno, but they recommended trying it out for a few months, and possibly cycling it in the future, but not using it nonstop. The goal is to see if it can reduce the gyno enough to avoid surgery. If I do need to get surgery, I want to be highly sure that finasteride won't cause it to grow back.

[Balding Bad]

On 10/26/2021 at 6:03 PM, giegnosiganoe said:

In case anyone's interested, here are my maybe relevant test results:

Seems like estrogen/estradiol/SHBG are on the high end of the reference range. Meeting with the doc tomorrow to discuss, and will try to get a referral to a specialist.

Feels like the gyno is getting noticeably worse over the past couple weeks.

Hey man -- thanks for sharing your test results. It's making me consider getting a test done myself before I dip my toes into Fin. 

May I ask what precise type of test this was so I can ask for it from my physician? Is this just a standard T test or what is it precisely?

Thanks.

[giegnosiganoe]

9 hours ago, Balding Bad said:

Hey man -- thanks for sharing your test results. It's making me consider getting a test done myself before I dip my toes into Fin. 

May I ask what precise type of test this was so I can ask for it from my physician? Is this just a standard T test or what is it precisely?

Thanks.

There were some other tests as well but I felt that these were more relevant to display. You'll want the full testosterone panel (SHBG, free, total), and estrogen/estradiol/prolactin which if elevated can lead to sides/gyno. Can't hurt to check for DHT as well. But my understanding is that lowered DHT = raised total testosterone = more testosterone converted to estrogen, and that the resulting estrogen-related hormones is what matters the most.

[Balding Bad]

2 hours ago, giegnosiganoe said:

There were some other tests as well but I felt that these were more relevant to display. You'll want the full testosterone panel (SHBG, free, total), and estrogen/estradiol/prolactin which if elevated can lead to sides/gyno. Can't hurt to check for DHT as well. But my understanding is that lowered DHT = raised total testosterone = more testosterone converted to estrogen, and that the resulting estrogen-related hormones is what matters the most.

Much appreciated. I'll look into getting these tests done for myself as well then, so this way I have a baseline established before I hop on Fin.

Sorry to hear that you're suffering from gynecomastia though!

[Balding Bad]

On 11/17/2021 at 12:41 PM, giegnosiganoe said:

There were some other tests as well but I felt that these were more relevant to display. You'll want the full testosterone panel (SHBG, free, total), and estrogen/estradiol/prolactin which if elevated can lead to sides/gyno. Can't hurt to check for DHT as well. But my understanding is that lowered DHT = raised total testosterone = more testosterone converted to estrogen, and that the resulting estrogen-related hormones is what matters the most.

Hey @giegnosiganoe, just to follow up, did your insurance cover the cost for these tests? Or did you have to pay a hefty out-of-pocket price tag for it?

Just wanna get a rough idea of how much something like this would cost before I pull the trigger on it. Thanks!

[giegnosiganoe]

3 hours ago, Balding Bad said:

Hey @giegnosiganoe, just to follow up, did your insurance cover the cost for these tests? Or did you have to pay a hefty out-of-pocket price tag for it?

Just wanna get a rough idea of how much something like this would cost before I pull the trigger on it. Thanks!

Mine was covered but I've got pretty good insurance.

[Balding Bad]

1 hour ago, giegnosiganoe said:

Mine was covered but I've got pretty good insurance.

Okay, great. Thanks!

I've got pretty good insurance too so hopefully it won't cost me too much.