Coming off Dutasteride

Hi guys,

I posted about this a few days ago - basically, I am hoping to have kids next year so am keen to stop taking dutasteride. I've also experienced some mild side effects such as lower libido and mild depression, and am just not comfortable taking a pharmaceutical drug over a number of years.

I've done quite a bit of research into the current natural alternatives and have come up with what I hope is a decent sounding plan for the next year. I'm planning to post monthly progress updates on this and the HairLossHelp forum for the next years so that guys in a similar position (i.e. on dut and wanting to stop it) to me can se exactly what progress, or otherwise, I'm making.

Before I do start (and put in my iHerb order!), I'm hoping to get some feedback / suggestions on the regimen I have planned for the next year. I'd be extremely grateful then, if those of you in the know could have a look at this and see what you think?

If you don't feel like reading through the whole plan, essentially I'm slowly reducing dut over the first 9 months. I'll be starting Maca at day 1, then adding PM and 7HMR Lignans at month 3.

THE PLAN:

Age 36 and losing hair since 19. I still have a good covering of hair and am not obviously balding. Previous treatments over the past 17 years not listed below include finasteride, folligen, emu oil and lysine.

Current regimen:

Topical:
polysorbate 80 with biotin & niacin before shower in morning
5% min + Azelaic acid + beta sitosterol + saw palmetto morning
xandrox 15% in evening before bed
Oral:
dut 0.5mg daily (Dr. Reddys)
Green tea extract
Ashwagandha approx 1 week on, 1 weeks off
+ lasercomb (6 laser) every 2 or 3 days

Plan for first 3 months of new regimen:

As above but reduce dut to 0.5mg every 2nd day
Add Maca (iHerb Now Maca) 1000mg / day
+ Thinking of building a laser helmet?

Plan for months 3 - 6:
Oral:
As above but reduce dut to 0.5 mg twice per week
Add 7hmr Lignans (dosage?)
Add Pueraria Mirifica 500mg / day + Arginine 1000mg / day (want to hold off on this until more guys have reported results)

Plan for months 6 - 9:
As above but reduce dut to once per week

Plan for months 9 - 12
As above but -
Stop dut
Start looking for an alternative to minoxidil

Next spring
Kids??!!

As before, thanks so much for any input. It is such a great thing to have found a positive, productive forum like this.

Ha ha, well I guess I've been a bit long-winded to invite any response!

Well, I'll be following that plan when the Maca arrives, and if any guys find themselves in the same position as myself, hopfully they'll spot this thread and can follow progress. Will post again when I start the new regimen, then every month after. Cheers all.

I think your plan is smart, cold turkey from fin/dut is never a good idea. You know plenty of people i've come across on-line have stayed on fin and had kids...

Alternative to minox could be proxy - n

Thanks mate, appreciate it. - Aye, quite honestly fin is an option if I start to lose badly on the supplements. I will be off dut whatever happens, but may substitute fin later on. I don't have any qualms having kids on fin if it comes to it, think that is well researched enough to be fne.

ataman - Looks pretty good. Make sure the Arginine is pyroglutamate rather than standard arginine.

If libido ever becomes a problem, this stuff here is awesome:

http://www.iherb.com/MRM-Natural-V-90-Capsules/4644?at=0

Thanks, I'll check those out. Ordered some Maca off ebay today. It seems hard to tell the good from the bad but the stuff I've ordered is organic and Peruvian so I think will be OK. I'll hopefully start the new regimen at the weekend. Both looking forward to it, and not at all.

For anyone interested:

Tomorrow is day 1 of my attempted switch from dut to naturals. I'll be initially cutting the dut dose from 0.5mg / day to 0.5mg 4 times per week (easier to remember to take on specific days rather than EOD), and introducing Maca: Organic, non-geletanised powder - at 2 heaped tea-spoonfuls per day. I will be cycling this 4 weeks on, 1 week off.

I also started taking bacopa 2 days ago (450mg/day) for mental clarity, and will be rotating this with 450mg ashwagandha (sensoril) for the same reason every three weeks.

See the first post in this thread for my full plan if you're thinking of doing the same. Will update in a few weeks (or sooner if anything dramatic happens). Cheers.

Look into curcumin too.

Thanks, been reading lots of good things about that...maybe an option for month 3.

2 days on Maca and 4 on Bacopa and already feeling mentally much clearer.

Ataman, hey I hope you are doing well.
I just want to share my experience with getting off of dutasteride.

Simply put, my hair went to shit after coming off of dutasteride. I didn't do it the way you are doing it (gradual) but I was taking a lot of supplements at the time.

I just want you to be prepared for the shedding that can take place. I think that you are in a much better situation than I am because of how you are doing it but you still have to be ready for some shedding. I don't think there is a way to totally avoid shedding when coming off of such a powerful drug like dut.

I have reintroduced Dut back into my regimen on a less frequent basis simply because it helps slow down, not stop, the progression of my hair loss. I also have received a transplant a few years ago and have a strip scar, so I am in a perdicament, because I can't simply go bald and shave my head.

I really think that DUT is an awful drug, effective, but awful for our bodies. It gives me such awful brain fog, to the point where conversations are just pointless. Furthermore it makes me tired as hell. Researchers DO NOT know the long term effects of taking dutasteride. It may be doing really awful damage to us and we don't even know it.

Interestingly enough I think that curcumin is helping with my scalp inflammation which is really good news as NOTHING has ever helped with that. I am just not completely sure if the curcumin is what is doing it as I also started using Nizoral at around the same time. Even though my inflammation in the crown is down, inflammation at my temple points is still there and my hair continues to shed.

I am using my laser helmet, taking fin and dut on different days, taking my supplements, and trying not to eat really unhealthy. But I am depressed because of the state of my hair.

I guess this post turned into a self reporting rant lol.

Good luck ataman.

I think it's positive that your body reacts to strong towards DUT, if not, you would probably consume it for many years to come and, just like you say, we know very little about it's long term effects.

Is finasteride too weak for you?

Perhaps it is the combined powers of curcumin, nizoral and laser that helps keep the inflammation down?

Well I definitely have aggressive hair loss. I really think that I am headed to a NW 7. Currently if you saw me on the street it wouldn't be that obvious that I am thinning as I still have a full head of hair, kind of.

So no, I don't think finasteride is strong enough for me. It is really strange because my inflammation went away recently and is now coming back. I am really starting to think that it is stress and anxiety. The more I stress and thinking about my hair, the worse that it gets I think.

The reduced inflammation seemed to coincide with me "feeling good" recently. I usually am highly anxious and mildly depressed, which apparently could be exacerbated by using these awful drugs.

halfempty - Have you tried the Curcumin/Resveratrol combination?

A new study that came out earlier this month explains that this combination can block Cb1 (Cannabinnoid receptor-1), which is responsible for negative hair growth signals due to stress & anxiety.