finasteride makes my T levels that high?

[preservationist]

I just got my total testosterone levels checked and it is 717 ng/DL. I am 35 years old. I am healthy, my diet is good, I am active but not athletic or gym rat by any means. I have been taking 1mg of finasteride non-stop for the last three months. I wonder what are your levels? This level is pretty high. Looking at my pictures I don't see my balding progressing a whole lot. I actually experienced the worse hair loss while I restarted minoxidil so maybe I could do away with 0.5 mg

 

[Agustin Araujo]

The normal range of Testosterone is usually between 300 to 1,000 ng/dL so I'd say you're good at 717 ng/dL to be honest. Since Finasteride inhibits the conversion of T to DHT, it can cause an increase of Testosterone.

Experiencing more hair loss can happen when first starting or restarting Minoxidil, it happened to me but I recovered what I lost plus more. I would just stick with the approved 1 mg dose of Finasteride but trying 0.5 mg should help and has for many men.

 

[shookwun]

You have good testosterone levels for someone your age, and in general. O the upper end of the spectrum which is a good thing!

 

[buckthorn]

I just got my total testosterone levels checked and it is 717 ng/DL. I am 35 years old. I am healthy, my diet is good, I am active but not athletic or gym rat by any means. I have been taking 1mg of finasteride non-stop for the last three months. I wonder what are your levels? This level is pretty high. Looking at my pictures I don't see my balding progressing a whole lot. I actually experienced the worse hair loss while I restarted minoxidil so maybe I could do away with 0.5 mg

we are almost literally twins in this regard. Mine was like 750 after 3 months. I am 34 (was 33 at the time), healthy, good diet and active. hopefully you respond to finasteride WAY better than me. Not to scare you, but it shredded the f*ck out of the entire top of my head, quick. Along with this was an incredible increase in libido and erections all through the night. Four months off and my libido is still higher than normal.

 

[preservationist]

Thanks for the responses guys. @buckthorn, sorry to hear about your sides, yeah I am doing fine, I consider myself lucky because I have no sides while on finasteride. That does not mean that I am not concerned about taking, I am thinking about switching to 0.5 mg but it is hard to judge what is the difference between 1 and 0.5mg looking on my head. It probably is only effective in slowing down the long-term hair loss. It seems that being more strict about minoxidil is more important. I decide to stop finasteride for a week or two and take another testosterone test along with other hormones. I wanna see what is my base level. How long should I wait off finasteride, for the testosterone to drop down to my base line?

 

[buckthorn]

Thanks for the responses guys. @buckthorn, sorry to hear about your sides, yeah I am doing fine, I consider myself lucky because I have no sides while on finasteride. That does not mean that I am not concerned about taking, I am thinking about switching to 0.5 mg but it is hard to judge what is the difference between 1 and 0.5mg looking on my head. It probably is only effective in slowing down the long-term hair loss. It seems that being more strict about minoxidil is more important. I decide to stop finasteride for a week or two and take another testosterone test along with other hormones. I wanna see what is my base level. How long should I wait off finasteride, for the testosterone to drop down to my base line?

that's really an unanswerable question. What you (and I) have done by taking finasteride is causing a feedback in the body to increase testosterone, due to the dropped DHT levels. I personally believe, even when you get off of it, there's a chance that your test may stay high for a very long time. I am four months off and it's still the same. Everyone is different though.

 

[farley]

I've been on once a day rogaine and 1mg finasteride for 9 years (!). I'm 33 and probably a NW1.5, but I'm starting to experience sides (low energy, gyno, no morning wood) so I'm thinking of getting off it. I had my Total Testosterone tested and it was 403ng/DL (range 348-1197). My DHT is very low at 9.3ng/DL (range 30 to 85).

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

When I had my T tested a few weeks back, one number was 26 or 27, the other number was 630, approximately. There are two different measures of testosterone and I don't know which means what.

 

[Fullhead1day]

Mirin the high test. Now go f*ck your wife, exuberate all that Testosterone manliness.

 

[nate30]

When I had my T tested a few weeks back, one number was 26 or 27, the other number was 630, approximately. There are two different measures of testosterone and I don't know which means what.

The smaller number is your "free" T and the larger is your total T. Free T is the unbound or "active" level and thus is often considered the more important measure, whereas total T includes both unbound and bound forms. Men with higher SHBG levels typically have lower Free T as that is the protein primarily responsible for binding and "deactivating" T.

 

[preservationist]

I have never tested my T levels before I started taking finasteride, after taking it for 3 months the levels are 717 and 16.2. How long does it take after I stop finasteride for the T levels to go back to my "baseline?"

 

[Pavi]

Why do u want your test to go down.... If u aren't losing hair then high T is good. I'm 20 and have 509ng/dL...testosterone keeps a man mentally stable and keeps a man interested in sex and in life in general. It's very healthy to have that T level

 

[jd_uk]

Mine was 850 about 4 years ago. Not had it taken since.

 

[preservationist]

Thanks for yall's input! I am happy to find out that my T levels are good, even when on finasteride. The whole reason for which I was getting the test is to find out if my hormone levels ok or off and if that has been causing my body to be skinny-fat. I am thinking if the T is fine maybe I should look at estradiol and cortisol instead...

I am also trying to decide if I should continue taking finasteride. I made a mistake of stopping minoxidil+finasteride in November last year. Realizing what it had done to my hair, I have restarted both around march, went trough a shed and now regrowth. Was it not doing minoxidil or finasteride or both that was worse for my hair. I don't have bad side effects but would rather not take it or postpone it a few more years. I want to find out if I could continue just on minoxidil.