AnUser
#181
That could be the reason why my microdose previously with rosuvastatin didn’t work so well. Do you know what the failure rate is, or how to prevent it?
Why are you avoiding systemic DHT supression? Couldn’t that have healthspan benefits at least for prostate?
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If you’re already using topical finasteride might aswell add minoxidil.
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I’m far from an expert and if there were a compounding pharmacist on the forum, I would ask them, so the following should be fact checked and maybe someone will correct anything that’s wrong here. [End disclaimer]
What I’ve gathered by reading discussions on pharmacist forums is that our odds are best when we have a uniform consistency in the source powder (any coating material makes that a bit harder), and we need to use a capsule filler material that has good dry flow properties to avoid clumping. I purchased Firmafill from lfamachines dot com for this purpose, though you can make your own as well.
(Some will go as far as carefully scraping coatings off with a knife.)
Adding a dry tracer dye like carminic acid to the initial mixture (i.e. the first step in the geometric dilution) can help provide some confidence that the final mixture is more or less consistent. One assumes that the dye has been thoroughly mixed/crushed into the first, small batch of powder.
Commercial mixing is often done with an expensive tumbler device like a v-mixer, but the rest of us are probably forced to use a shaker approach of some sort, and we may have electrostatic issues to contend with. I suppose one could try to make a v-mixer, but I don’t have welding skills.
To really have confidence in the final product, I’d want to send some finished capsules out for testing, but that’s pretty expensive.
All this is to explain why my preference is to look up solubility properties on pubchem or elsewhere and dissolve powders in an appropriate, non-toxic solvent. Bodybuilders (who have experience “homebrewing”) will alternatively use a suspension method if they don’t like ingesting DMSO or PG, for example. I’d have to search for the favored suspension liquids/oils because I don’t remember, but mixing and suspending can work very well providing you remember to shake the bottle.
DHT: I’m simply afraid of potential side effects, have no interest in being less masculine, and my PSA is already fine. But I understand the soundness of the healthspan argument.
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“To control dosing more precisely, I just crush a few pills with a mortar and pestle, then dissolve in Costco Minoxidil.”
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Unless finasteride gives you a huge estrogen imbalance, I don’t see how finasteride could make you less manly. My beard is still becoming denser, I can get angry, my muscle growth is great and my virility is going strong. The only thing I’ve noticed is slightly less body hair but I was already very hairy as a teen so I don’t really care.
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I don’t want to wade into the finasteride and DHT debate. For me, it’s as pointless as discussing politics.
Alex posted a link above with one anecdote about lowered masculinity. I personally choose to not lower DHT until it becomes a problem. It’s one area where I’m not interested in a preventative approach.
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The half-life of dutasteride is 5 weeks compared with 6 to 8 hours for finasteride. You are mixing between them
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Not that you want to take it this far, but…
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Thank you for the clarification
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nikney
#191
Libido is mostly formed by the effect of testosterone. So I think that lowering DHT should not affect libido too much, maybe it may have a psychological effect. But finasteride 1mg once a week can significantly reduce the 5 alpha reductase enzyme activity in the hairy tissue, which is enough to solve baldness. Also DHT is important for the development of external genital organs in the fetus, child and during puberty, but it does not seem to have much of a function after maturity, because testosterone already does its job. From this point of view, DHT, like mTOR, is an unnecessary legacy after maturity.
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Dr.Bart
#192
The only way 5 alpha reductase inhibitors could cause issues with libido if the resulting increase in testosterone is converted to estrogen, which seems to be more of an issue in obese people.
Of note, I remember when I first tried finasteride 1 mg PO QD in my 30s my libido shot up so much to a point of being uncomfortable (like being 17 again), I had to reduce my dose to 0.25 mg.
Now at 50 I have a full set of hair with few grays and I piss like a race horse. If it also reduces my chance of prostatic cancer, this it the best healthspan intervention known to men IMO.
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This is happening to me. 
increase in libido and my testosterone serum levels seemed to double on finasteride 1mg daily. Have been taking it for 1 year (29 years old).
Am taking it for prostate cancer prevention and of course hair loss prevention.
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Agetron
#194
Exactly…
Stay the course Jensen. I started at 32 years… and like me and Dr. Bart … you retain your hair, have a small prostate… a god send if you are older… might prevent prostate cancer and recent research, helps to control cholesterol in your blood preventing arthrocleurosis. WIN… WIN… WIN… and WIN!
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Dr.Bart
#195
the efficacy for hair loss prevention doesn’t change all that much with lower dose, you could probably get same effect for hair with 1/4 or 1/2 with less side effects… unless you enjoy them
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Agetron
#196
Here’s why you want to take finasteride and keep your prostate small.
The prostate tends to grow larger as a man ages. When men are in their 20s, the normal prostate is about the size of a walnut. By the time a man is 40 the prostate may have grown slightly larger, and by age 60, the prostate is often the size of a lemon. Age increases the risk of prostate problems, such as [BPH]… Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also known as prostate enlargement, is a noncancerous condition that causes the prostate gland to increase in size. It’s the most common benign tumor in men and the most common prostate condition in men over 50
A large prostate can affect one’s ability to pee.
Being on finasteride for 33 years.
My prostate’s size, according to my urologist, is the size of a walnut. The same as a twenty year old male. Feeling great.
No issues!
Jason
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Plasma half life of finasteride is 6-8 hours and tissue binding is 4-5 days. Does it make sense to consider intermittent dosing: every other or 3rd day, considering that? Any opinion on that?
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Dr.Bart
#198
Hormone can be pulsed dosed but finasteride is a testosterone reductase inhibitor so by pulse dosing the blocker you will allow DHT to act on your hair follicles or prostate on the off days - which will undermine your goals.
So short answer is better to take it daily… the way it was studied.
However you can try using lower doses down to 0.25 mg daily.
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I am still tending to intermittent dosing. While finasteride has a short plasma half-life, DHT primarily acts locally (paracrine signaling) in tissues like the scalp and prostate. The graph below shows plasma DHT recovery after a single dose, but tissue DHT suppression lasts longer due to finasteride’s persistent binding in local tissues. This suggests that intermittent dosing (every 2-3 days) can effectively maintain DHT suppression in target tissues, potentially reducing the need for daily dosing while minimizing side effects.
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According to graph above you are still in the game and have ±57%-±43% decrease in DHT… (also found this simulation - in line with study results → link)…
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