nyvic20
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I have been taking finasteride for the past 9 months; starting off on Propecia for the first 3 months and then cutting Proscar pills in to quarters. For the past couple of months, I have been exhibiting symptoms of fatigue (partially due to the inability to sleep), loss of weight, and rapid mood changes which would involve becoming more emotional than usual about a situation (I also understand from what I have researched that this may be due to finasteride also blocking the conversion of pregnanolone into allopregnanolone which acts on the GABBA receptor regulating anti-anxiety; this also known widely as "brain fog"). Regarding loss of weight, I am also having problems building muscle even though I regularly work out (3 times per week) at my gym, and maintain a healthy diet which includes taking multi-vitamins daily. I had a feeling that all these problems that I was experiencing, somehow had to do with how finasteride was affecting my hormones and I decided to ask my regular doctor for a script to check my hormone levels. The following are the the results from Quest Diagnostics;
TSH= .88 (norm is .70-6.40 mIU/L),
T4=10.2 (norm is 5.6-14.9 ug/dL),
T3= 138 (norm is 60-181 ng/dL),
Testosterone= 784 (norm is 241-827 ng/dL),
Estrogen=196 (norm is 130 or less pg/mL),
DHT=26 (norm is 25-75 ng/dL).
It seems that although my Testosterone is in the normal range , it is very much on the high end while, my estrogen level is totally out of the normal range. This can be due to the fact that the increase in Testosterone that I have (from the body's hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis feedback loop causing the production of more testosterone when it detects low DHT, and the unconverted testosterone) converts itself to estrogen as well via aromatase. I believe that this is the same situation with people that go cycling anabolic steriods to increase their testosterone levels. However, in my situation, not only is it unhealthy to have a high amount of estrogen, but it is more dangerous especially since that high amount ALSO has a more expressed effect on my system due to the fact that it's main antagonist; DHT is reduced by the finasteride. Surprisingly, I don't have any symptoms at all of the usual side effects experienced with finasteride such as gynecomastia , loss of libido and erectile dysfunction. My general doctor than asked me to come off the finasteride and referred me over to an endocrinologist. The endocrinologist gave me the same recommendation; to either come off finasteride completely or to come off it for a month and then check my hormone levels in order to determine whether the problem is being caused by finasteride exclusively or if this a hormone problem I have in general and finasteride is making the situation worse. It's also important to note, that both my general doctor and endocrinologist lacked a basic understanding of finasteride and its effects on hormones (I had to sit there and explain the whole situation to them; my endocrinologist didn't even know that propecia existed!). I also believe that since they are both in their 40s and bald themselves, they do not understand and can't sympathize with why I would need to remain on such a drug. I am a 20 year old single kid, I can't afford to lose my hair yet! I have done my own research and I have concluded that it's possible to lower the excess estrogen by the means of an aromatase inhibitor much like many people that cycle anabolic steriods do. There are basically two types that I am looking at. The natural type called Chrysin which would need to be taken in high doses (1-3 grams) due to poor bio-availability and absorption in the body, and the synthetic,very expensive FDA approved Arimdex (Anastrozole), which has been shown to reduce serum estrogen levels up to 50% in men. However, I am unaware of the proper dosage for Arimedex; the regular dosage is 1mg daily and I have read that .5mg daily also works as well and I also have read posts that state that .5mg twice a week is sufficient for men. My only concern is, by cutting down on my estrogen levels, I might cause my serum testosterone to further surge beyond the normal levels. I am however leaning towards this route of combining finasteride with an aromatase inhibitor to reduce the excess estrogen. I also need to find out where I can get arimidex without a script. Any advice would kindly be appreciated!!
TSH= .88 (norm is .70-6.40 mIU/L),
T4=10.2 (norm is 5.6-14.9 ug/dL),
T3= 138 (norm is 60-181 ng/dL),
Testosterone= 784 (norm is 241-827 ng/dL),
Estrogen=196 (norm is 130 or less pg/mL),
DHT=26 (norm is 25-75 ng/dL).
It seems that although my Testosterone is in the normal range , it is very much on the high end while, my estrogen level is totally out of the normal range. This can be due to the fact that the increase in Testosterone that I have (from the body's hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis feedback loop causing the production of more testosterone when it detects low DHT, and the unconverted testosterone) converts itself to estrogen as well via aromatase. I believe that this is the same situation with people that go cycling anabolic steriods to increase their testosterone levels. However, in my situation, not only is it unhealthy to have a high amount of estrogen, but it is more dangerous especially since that high amount ALSO has a more expressed effect on my system due to the fact that it's main antagonist; DHT is reduced by the finasteride. Surprisingly, I don't have any symptoms at all of the usual side effects experienced with finasteride such as gynecomastia , loss of libido and erectile dysfunction. My general doctor than asked me to come off the finasteride and referred me over to an endocrinologist. The endocrinologist gave me the same recommendation; to either come off finasteride completely or to come off it for a month and then check my hormone levels in order to determine whether the problem is being caused by finasteride exclusively or if this a hormone problem I have in general and finasteride is making the situation worse. It's also important to note, that both my general doctor and endocrinologist lacked a basic understanding of finasteride and its effects on hormones (I had to sit there and explain the whole situation to them; my endocrinologist didn't even know that propecia existed!). I also believe that since they are both in their 40s and bald themselves, they do not understand and can't sympathize with why I would need to remain on such a drug. I am a 20 year old single kid, I can't afford to lose my hair yet! I have done my own research and I have concluded that it's possible to lower the excess estrogen by the means of an aromatase inhibitor much like many people that cycle anabolic steriods do. There are basically two types that I am looking at. The natural type called Chrysin which would need to be taken in high doses (1-3 grams) due to poor bio-availability and absorption in the body, and the synthetic,very expensive FDA approved Arimdex (Anastrozole), which has been shown to reduce serum estrogen levels up to 50% in men. However, I am unaware of the proper dosage for Arimedex; the regular dosage is 1mg daily and I have read that .5mg daily also works as well and I also have read posts that state that .5mg twice a week is sufficient for men. My only concern is, by cutting down on my estrogen levels, I might cause my serum testosterone to further surge beyond the normal levels. I am however leaning towards this route of combining finasteride with an aromatase inhibitor to reduce the excess estrogen. I also need to find out where I can get arimidex without a script. Any advice would kindly be appreciated!!