Need advice about using Finasteride.

[sp2000]

what is creepy in it?

[Brenda E]

You're asking the same odd question in multiple threads and not listening to any answers.

[katiej]

I'll add another voice and maybe we can pull this thread back on track.

I took finasteride and rogaine for 6 months before starting HRT last month.  I can tell you that I've had slight hair regrowth on the crown, and have had no side effects.  No regrowth on the temples, but I've been happy with the results otherwise.  But I certainly have not had any feminization at all.  None.

Studies have shown that dutasteride is actually better for hair regrowth, but it's much more expensive until the generic version hits the market late 2015.  (but that's another conversation)

SP, we need a bit more backstory.  Your question is really unusual, and a bit confusing.  And your insistence on orchi before any medication is not something I've ever heard anyone else advocate.  If you're wanting the orchi because of body and gender dysphoria, then that makes sense.  And it's a very different conversation.  But if you're wanting it for hair regrowth purposes, then it would seem that you don't really understand what the orchi will do for you.  And you'd likely have difficulty finding a surgeon to perform that surgery for that reason.

[KayXo]

There's no point in taking it if you have no testicles. None at all. What part of this is hard to understand?

I don't agree. Post-op, even though serum (blood) T reduces very markedly, by 95% according to this one study, there still remains 40% of DHT in prostate tissue so that for those who may be especially sensitive to DHT, finasteride may be perhaps be useful as it will reduce DHT even further.

[kelly_aus]

I don't agree. Post-op, even though serum (blood) T reduces very markedly, by 95% according to this one study, there still remains 40% of DHT in prostate tissue so that for those who may be especially sensitive to DHT, finasteride may be perhaps be useful as it will reduce DHT even further.

Yeah, I was looking at hair loss studies, as that seems to be the OP's issue.. The studies I was reading indicated post-orchi levels would not cause an issue in most.

[Beverly]

I don't agree. Post-op, even though serum (blood) T reduces very markedly, by 95% according to this one study, there still remains 40% of DHT in prostate tissue

I find the way you have phrased this unclear. Do you mean that 40% of DHT is in the prostate and will get used up or just as much DHT gets produced as before but 40% of it in the prostate?

Can you clarify what you meant please?

Also, after a few years on HRT with low T levels, the prostate shrinks to 1/4 of its normal size and will therefore be less active.

[Steph34]

I'm not understanding the whole "I want to cut my testicles off" part of this equation.  Finasteride is effective at preventing hair loss when your balls are still attached.

Finasteride alone does not work for everyone. I seem to recall a study finding it only reduced scalp DHT levels by about 37 percent. Finasteride alone did not stop my androgenetic alopecia. Dutasteride stopped most of the loss, but it was not until I started E and a T blocker that my strands began to thicken again. Even with all of that medication, I still feel unwanted tingling in the testicles, and often I lose hair when that happens. So yes, I do think my hair would benefit from an orchiectomy even with all my medication. For me personally, hair loss was the 'crisis' that caused me to decide I could no longer live in the wrong body, and it was all I could think about early in the process, so I can see where the OP is coming from. Good hair is more than just another desirable feminine feature; it is the one thing I would lay my life down for. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working for me; my hair is almost gone for other reasons, and without hair what is the point of feminization? No one cares to hear my rambling about hair. The world would be a better place without me. 

[Brenda E]

Good hair is more than just another desirable feminine feature; it is the one thing I would lay my life down for. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working for me; my hair is almost gone for other reasons, and without hair what is the point of feminization? No one cares to hear my rambling about hair. The world would be a better place without me. 

Absolutely agree on the idea that good, natural hair is hugely important to many of us, myself included.  There's almost no limit to what I'd do to keep my hair.

As to your latter sentences, I hate to read that you feel that way.  While natural hair is nice, there are many here who find a decent wig is a more than adequate replacement - far better, in many cases, than fading natural hair, and certainly undetectable to even the most persistent onlookers.

The world would be a far worse place with the loss of any one of us.

[Steph34]

Absolutely agree on the idea that good, natural hair is hugely important to many of us, myself included.  There's almost no limit to what I'd do to keep my hair.

Most women feel very strongly about hair, regardless of whether they are cis or trans, but hair has special meaning to me. My hair was the reason I could sometimes pass as female even with a rectangular body shape and men's clothing. Through all the years of my dysphoria, hair was the one thing that comforted me. Knowing that my hair was there gave me a reason to go on. As I typed that, I broke down in tears, something that has never before happened to me while typing a post. 

As to your latter sentences, I hate to read that you feel that way.  While natural hair is nice, there are many here who find a decent wig is a more than adequate replacement - far better, in many cases, than fading natural hair, and certainly undetectable to even the most persistent onlookers.

The world would be a far worse place with the loss of any one of us.

For most trans women, HRT is the end of hair loss. For me, nothing helps.

My hair was part of my identity (notice the past tense). Without stopping the hair loss and regrowing my natural hair, I cannot be myself. All I can ever be is a pretender, and I already decided that I can't live my life that way. Pretending that I can be myself while living in a male body did not work, and pretending that I can be myself without my hair is no different. My parents and several therapists have also recommended wigs. I find it offensive because it implies 1) that there are alternatives to my natural hair (no such thing as an alternative) and 2) my hair loss is a hopeless, lost cause (given its recentness and suddenness, my age, and my use of androgen blockers, it is hard for me to see how it is a lost cause). I would get a wig only if totally bald, and somehow I doubt I will live to see that happen, even though it seems only a few months away. I kind of hope something happens to me - either hair regrowth and cessation of loss, or the next best thing, a 5 letter word.

If you made it that far, thank you for hearing me out. It is nice to know someone cares.

[Brenda E]

If you made it that far, thank you for hearing me out. It is nice to know someone cares.

Steph34, yes I made it that far.  I do care.

Sorry if the wig suggestion was inappropriate.  I didn't mean to reopen wounds that you'd already dealt with.

I honestly don't know what to say.  You've probably rehashed the whole wig issue over and over already, so I won't dwell on it.  Suffice to say that I somewhat get where you're coming from: I'm not sure how I'd deal with my hair loss if it continued, and I'm lucky enough to have stayed its progression through HRT.  Had it continued, I'm sure I'd be beyond upset.

I'll leave it at that; not sure that any suggestion I could make will either be helpful or offer anything new that you haven't already thought about.  Just know that there are people out there who do care what happens to you, even if you don't quite know how someone you've never met can care so much about a stranger.

[KayXo]

I find the way you have phrased this unclear. Do you mean that 40% of DHT is in the prostate and will get used up or just as much DHT gets produced as before but 40% of it in the prostate?

Can you clarify what you meant please?

That post-op, DHT tissue levels in prostate reduced by 60% so that levels were 40 % of what they were pre-op.

[Kristinadiva]

when I started my hrt regimen a little over a month ago ( estradiol,spiro) I asked my doc about taking finasteride as well because I had heard of the benefits for hair regrowth and had been advised from group members to take it if available. The way it was explained to me the fact that I was already on spiro that the fin* wouldn't have much of an effect with the dht in my testosterone being already blocked by the spiro. I apologize if I'm not making much sense because I don't quite understand the logistics of it yet. Basically that it wasn't cost effective and the patients that had started under his care with fin* had chose to stop because of how little results were produced vs cost.

[katiej]

If you made it that far, thank you for hearing me out. It is nice to know someone cares.

I made it that far too, and I'm so sorry to hear that you're having such a difficult time with this.  I do understand.

[Steph34]

Thank you, Brenda and Katie. I appreciate your replies, but at the end of the day, I can't help finding the hair loss depressing and frustrating. It really takes away my will to live, and prevents me from appreciating other aspects of feminization, most of which have also been rather poor lately. That I may never get the chance to live full-time as female in my own body - complete with hair - makes me cry. It is as if all my self-improvement efforts for so many years amounted to nothing. Why me? 

Steph34
I am happy you understand that even after removing Testicles there might be DHT in your body.
May I ask if you are already on Fin and have removed your tisticles?If yes to both then how long have been on Fin?
thanks

I have not yet had surgery, and I only used finasteride for about 2 months before replacing it with dutasteride for superior results. Although my rate of hair loss slowed with each decrease in DHT, I have since lost most of my hair anyway and had poor regrowth. Sorry I can't help.

[kira21 ♡♡♡]

It is my understanding that a 5 alpha reductase inhibitor such as finasteride affects more than just DHT, it also affects the conversion of progesterone to allopregnanolone for example and almost certainly has a number of other associated and unassociated effects - these things are not immensely well understood. I have read studies that tie finasteride to long term depression that continues indefinitely after the cessation of it, in some cases. This is the reason I stopped taking it. That and the fact my T level was very very low. None the less, I still noticed a reduction of my hairline after stopping it. When I started I already had a good hair line, after a few months on it, my hair line was becoming progressively more feminine and my hair was starting to try and reach down to my brows across my temple. That said, I didn't notice any issues with depression, but its so hard to extract depression from dysphoria that we are quite possibly a poor barometer to use to provide any sort of measure in that respect.

[Steph34]

Depression as a side effect of medication is rather rare, and 5 AR inhibitors are tolerated well by the vast majority of users. It is important to remember that almost any medication comes with a long list of scary side effects, but that most people will not experience any of them. Fear of unknown side effects or interactions should be weighed against the very real threat of thinning and falling hair. Everything in life has risks associated with it; progress is only possible when one is willing to take chances to be the best person possible. Hair loss is the most serious health problem I can imagine - even worse, to me, than living in the wrong body. I would rather be depressed than bald, although the way things are going I will soon be both...