2018-05-25 10:35:272018-05-23 08:33:20Reddit Reader Puts Together Side Effects from Drugs Used for Hair Loss
Does finasteride make a man more feminine?
I’m a gym bro, have healthy testosterone levels and considering fin. As I understand it. Fin increases testosterone, increases estrogen and decreased DHT, it’s the last two I’m worried about. Talks about ED and gyno, although rare, make me worry for my “manliness”. Can anyone speak to muscle building, voice tone, behavior/deamenor while on fin?
No, the dose of finasteride is far too small to overcome the impact of all of your male hormones.
Releasing Clinical Trial Results, Follow-Up
Note: One of my favorite contributors to this site is a reader (that wishes to remain nameless) that has provided wonderful insight into areas like LLLT (hair lasers) and the FDA. I’m admittedly not an expert in everything (no matter how much I wish I was), and he’s corrected my initial thoughts about companies publishing ongoing clinical trial results. His email is as follows:
Dr Rassman,
As someone who has worked in the drug development industry, I try to keep your readers updated with accurate info on how this process works. One of your readers asked whether “Aderans…would send out an update on their Phase 2 trial data……..and whether there are rules requiring such info to be confidential.â€There are no rules to keep trial data confidential. The sole reason why data from an ongoing Phase 2 trial is not released is because it is not available. That is, no data is available to a sponsoring company until a drug study is complete (or in rare cases, when an “interim analysis†is done). When a company begins a trial the data (and identity of the participating patients) is kept secret from the company during the conduct of the trial. This is to ensure that no data is manipulated; extraordinary safeguards are put in place. Intentional violation of such safeguards with hiding of the act is a form of scientific fraud and would result in failure of drug approval and public sanction of the company by regulatory (and other)
authorities.The FDA (and regulatory agencies, in general) have no jurisdiction of when a company reports data to the public (and do not care). However, public reporting of inaccurate data can result in sanctions from both regulatory agencies and, if the company is public, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The latter relates to how public release of trial data typically affects a public stock (good data raises the stock price, bad data lowers it).
Nearly all public companies release Phase 2 clinical trial data (regardless of positive or negative) on trial completion for 2 reasons: (a) to communicate results to the scientific community, and (b) to communicate the results to shareholders. Withholding such data from shareholders can be perceived as having “inside information†of results that are considered “material†(i.e. important for shareholders to make decisions on purchase or sale of the stock). In cases where a company is private (rare when a company is at the stage of Phase 2), trial data is usually released to encourage future investors (positive data) or explain why a program is not moving forward (negative data).
Bottom line: Aderans can not send out a trial update because the data will not be known until study completion and analysis (the FDA has nothing to do with this). There are no rules to keep trial data confidential when a study is completed and, in fact, there are many reasons why public companies are required by the SEC to divulge these results. In fact, the SEC has brought legal action against some companies that they feel have not released “material” clinical trial data in a prompt fashion.
Does Gyno Go Away If I Decide to Take Finasteride and Develop It?
If you develop it shortly after taking the medication, stop it. If it doesn’t go away, see a doctor
2019-12-10 04:00:432019-09-12 12:20:10Does Gyno Go Away If I Decide to Take Finasteride and Develop It?
Renewing My Propecia Prescription
Hi, thanks for your site, it’s been a tremendous help.
I’ve been taking finasteride for about two years now, and wanted to go about renewing my subscription. Unfortunately, my doctor is swamped seemingly, and I’ve had to make my appointment 85 days from now.
I’ve had a very positive reaction with the drug and have grown back most of the hair I’d lost (I started in its early stages) and was wondering what the best way to ration out the pills would be in order to minimize hair loss. Should I continue taking the 23 remaining pills and then tough out the next two months, or would I be able to squeeze some benefit out of taking one roughly every 4 days until my appointment?
Thanks a lot!
Why don’t you call your doctor’s office and explain that you would just like a renewal of the same medication that you have been taking at least until he/she is able to see you? I am sure the doctor would have no issues with this.
The half-life of Propecia is short, so if you HAD to ration them out, I’d think splitting each pill might be the best bet so that you get at least some finasteride each day. But first, call your doctor and see if that resolves the renewal problem.
Does Increased Shedding with Finasteride Mean Its Effective?
gday doc,
great blog.
l’ve been on 1mg finasteride for about 9 mths and have recently noticed increased shedding (about 2-3 times more hair than usual).
lve read that finasteride causes synchronization of the hair cycle and as such this can occur and might be taken as a sign that the medication is effective.
Is this correct?
No one really knows for sure. I have heard reports from patients and readers such as yourself that starting finasteride may cause shedding. Aside from the anecdotal evidence, I have not heard or read about a scientific research on this phenomenon. I would hope that the shedding is the result of the drug and the hair going into another growth cycle rather than an acceleration of the hair loss that is due to your genetics. Time will tell the answer here as the shedding should stop and reverse by the 4th month if it is caused by a change in your hair cycle.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of finasteride (Propecia) has been well studied and documented. Thus, it would not be a good idea to stop taking the medication if you are experiencing hair loss. The hair loss may be worse if you stop the medication as your body will play “catch up” and go back to the state as if you were never on the drug.
2007-01-29 12:34:412007-01-29 09:13:51Does Increased Shedding with Finasteride Mean Its Effective?
Response from Propecia in 49 Year Old Man (with Photos)
I am often asked if Propecia can really make a difference. I want to state that I am not a salesman for Merck. I own no stock in the company and my only focus here is to educate the readership and share the things I see in my very large hair practice in the hope that I can help people.
Here is an unusual response from Propecia in a 49 year old man who had been on Propecia for just 3 months. The hair in the frontal area filled in very nicely and will probably fill in further. If the drug works, most of the results are usually seen in the first 8-9 months when the hair has had the opportunity to grow some length and pass through a hair cycle. In most cases, some continued growth can be seen as far out as 2 years into the treatment process. What makes this unusual is the patient’s age. When I see such results, they are more often in young men in their 20s, but periodically I see them in men 40-70 years old as well, just less common.
I suggest that those readers that find this of interest to zoom into the photos and actually look at the hairs to estimate hair counts on their own. The darkness of the picture on the right is a photographic problem and I apologize for it. I am trying to get this patient back to get better photographs and a more advanced view of his growth over more time.
Before photo is on the left — after photo is on the right. Click to enlarge.
2007-03-06 15:34:132007-03-07 15:17:38Response from Propecia in 49 Year Old Man (with Photos)
Does Ozempic Cause Hair Loss?
Some evidence suggests that taking Ozempic causes individuals to experience telogen effluvium. We see Telogen effluvium when there is rapid weight loss, particularly in people who are not balding; however, those individuals with genetic balding who undergo rapid weight loss can accelerate their hair loss, significantly impacting miniaturized hairs on the head. If it is just a telogen effluvium, then it probably will reverse when the rapid hair loss stops, but if it impacts miniaturized hairs, these hairs may not return. It is also known that rapid weight loss can impact thyroid function, another thing to worry about.
Results from One Year on Finasteride (Photos)
Does Sexual Arousal Increase DHT?
This isn’t another “does mastrubation cause baldness?” question but it is related. Many people seem to think that mastrubation increases testosterone which increases dht levels but does simple sexual arousion cause a rise in testosterone levels too? If I am sexually aroused, and find myself with an erection, is that enough to influence dht levels or is it ejaculation of semen that is the prime testosterone booster?
I guess this is another way to answer the same issue. Masturbation, erections, sexual arousal, ejaculation, etc do not cause hair loss. Your genetics are the cause of male pattern balding.
I’m not trying to be rude here, but I get this question many times a week and have answered it dozens of times already. And every time I write about it, I get emails from guys that disagree and tell me tales of going celibate with all of their hair regrowing on their previously balding scalp. I don’t buy it. If that was the cure to balding, I think the world would look very different.
If you believe masturbating or sexual arousal can lead to hair loss, then feel free to leave your genitals alone and stay away from anything or anyone that might sexually excite you. If you see your balding continue, you could probably find something else to blame it on.
2012-05-10 14:49:372012-05-10 11:19:12Does Sexual Arousal Increase DHT?