A question regarding finasteride

[Keira]

The mechanism is like this,
T not converted to DHT, free testosterone levels increase
pituary says whoaaa, reduce production from testes.
Also, excess T gets aromatise locally into E increasing E level (but still way way below female level).
In some people more sensible to E, in particular if your overweight (fat is very good at aromatising T to E and E levels in overweight people is already higher than average) the T to E balance will be disturbed enough that enough E receptors in the breast will be stimulated to get mild breast devellopment (its very very rare that it produces substantial gland tissue, though it may produce substantial fat accumulation if overweight).

[Seshatneferw]

Yes, that's about what I've understood, with the possible addition that according to some DHT itself has some E-blocking properties.

What baffles me in my own case is that I'm not overweight (although admittedly close to the upper edge of the 'normal' range), and (especially) that what I've got in the past three weeks does not feel like fat either to my fingers or to, er, what's in there. Like I said, it's not supposed to happen, and while I'm most emphatically not complaining it's clearly something to bring up when going to renew the prescription.

  Nfr

[Autumn]

I was on Propecia for a year before I switched to avodart this month. About 7 months in I went off propecia and my multivitamin for about 2-3 weeks (actually it was spotty/intermittant) and basically lost the hair that I'd recovered during that time. After I got back on it religiously I began recovering it.

After taking Propecia for a couple of months, little blond hairs appeared where I'd been thinning to my widow's peak, but they never managed to do much besides grow a little then fall out. They're back again, thank god, and I'm hoping they'll stay and thicken up now that I'm on avodart.

What I personally found was that propecia was not enough. I was losing a handful of hair each shower when I was off my multivitamin, after getting back on it, I typically lose less than 6 hairs per shower. Going from actually balling up a wad of hair in my palm to sticking 3 hairs on the wall is fantastic.

Also during my anorexia phase I lost a tremendous amount of hair to poor diet and stress. Be sure you're eating as healthy as you can, lack of nutrients causes hair to go into crisis.

I swear that my bodyfat distribution is different than it was pre-propecia, but I have no proof. It just feels like my body looks more feminine.

[Urban Christina]

What I am concerned about is I have heard that it doesnt work when the hairloss is for genetic reasons which mine is.  Hopefully it works out in the end!

I know this is old but may I ask if DHT-blocking worked for your hair?

[KayXo]

It takes genetic predisposition AND DHT. Without DHT or very little, you will not experience hairloss.