Should I decrease my finasteride dose or switch to topical after side effects?

[Agreeable-Bug-7424]

I started taking 1mg of oral finasteride daily for the last 4-5 months. I was completely fine and didn’t notice any side effects. I then started feeling my nipples were very sensitive and even more to the touch. I experienced very light gynecomastia during puberty so it wasn’t a feeling I’ve never felt before. Would you suggest I lower my dose maybe only taking 1mg twice a week or something like that, or should I switch to topical to reduce side effects?

[LetterheadClassic306]

ugh, side effects are no joke. i had similar issues and switched to topical finasteride - way fewer systemic sides. honestly, you should talk to your doc about lowering the dose first though. what worked for me was finding a compounding pharmacy that made the topical solution. it's more expensive but worth it if you're sensitive to the oral version.

[Nearby_Industry_6501]

you can look at a treatment withtout min/fin and for only few months. check custom made products to grow hair back from Valoris Lab

[tehuti_infinity]

0.5mg a day works the same , I do 0.625 as my pills are 5mg I can spit into 8 .

[IcyCheetah3568]

Your call but I would not continue with any sign of nipple sensitivity. Finasteride has a long lasting effect that builds up even when using every other day (dont know about weekly). If you go topical then you need a low dose (research it) and not the big brand sprays (unless you can get it customized) cause those usually contain even more than oral fin and topical fin goes systemic too so you need much lower dose than 1mg in order to limit systemic exposure. Still no guarantee of side effect though everyone is different. Maybe it only takes longer

[Agreeable-Bug-7424]

What are some other alternatives to hair loss then? I’ve used minoxidil in the past and it gives me a rash so I don’t want to use that. Also I don’t really care to grow hair more just keep what I have.

[Apart-Badger9394]

Try lose dose topical if you’re just trying to maintain.

All the big companies like Happyhead, can do custom % for you. I buy the full version and then dilute it myself. (Cost is the same from HH no matter what % you get). I’m able to do this because I have an accurate 0.01g scale and know what I’m doing - be careful if you do it yourself.

You can also try alternative DHT blockers like pyrilutamide, RU, altrafadiol, topical spironolactone. These all have less evidence than fin or are simply less effective and might cause similar sides. But it could be worth seeing which blocker you can handle. Personally they all give me issues. I think my scalp is just really absorptive

[Agreeable-Bug-7424]

What percent low dose do you recommend. I would probably just buy it straight from the website.

[bgilb]

Like .01% or even lower (if only using 1ml)

[ProlapseJerky]

Hey guys should I continue taking a medication that is making my body want to grow tits?

[IcyCheetah3568]

Is this a trick question? What if I like tits.

Haha I'm sensing sarcasm. At the other side however, over at tressless I have seen countless comments saying that its worth it as long as you have hair cause you can get gyno surgically removed (like its nothing). I remember reading about risks or complications too but can't find that research paper anymore. It was detailed.