Got blood test. Start finasteride or not?

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red_man

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Hey guys,

My hairline is receding and shedding a lot every day. Here's some pictures http://www.gourmetstylewellness.com/interac...nds-Minoxidil-if-you-can-t-stop-the-treatment

A few days ago I took some blood tests and got my total T levels around 350 and estradiol(e2) about 60 which is 3 points over max range.

For my age, testosterone levels should be about 600-700 and cortisol lower....that's why I'm afraid taking finasteride because I already have some hormonal imbalance. I heard that those who did get PFS had some hormonal problems before. I'm thinking that if I start finasteride my E2 levels will get even higher and I might suffer from gyn.

Any advice on this? I'm paranoid?
 
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Dikek

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You are not paranoid, i'm going to do the exact same thing you did, i would still take propecia with that level, 0.25 every other day and see the reaction of the body, 6-7 month later take another blood test and if the hormonal level are still **** quit, you have an awsome hairs density so you will be fine
 
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red_man

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Update:

My free t level is high 57 (max 45). Why does that Total T is so low and free T and E2 are high? Will this affect the finasteride sides?
 
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red_man

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I went to 2 doctors, all said it was normal. I said everywhere it's saying that 350 is low for 25 male...they say "no, it's ok". WTF is with this people?
 
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diablodh

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350 is way to low you should be no less than 700 at this age, and your free T is high because your liver do not produce enough SHBG due to low level of total testosterone.
Raise total testosterone to 700 and lower your estrogen levels below 30 and your hair loss will stop.
 
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abcdefg

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Your hormone levels are ultimately second fiddle to the sensitivity of your hair. You could lower androgens a lot and lower estrogen and still keep going bald if your sensitive enough
 
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red_man

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I also have some liver levels out of place like GPT(ALAT/ALT) 53 (max 40), Total bilirubin 1.31(max 1.2), direct bilirubin 0.62(max 0.52).

I put that on heavy getting drunk 2 times a week, and 5 days before the test I was wasted like hell and 16 hours ago I eat some fat pork chop.

Even so, the liver may be a cause of the higher E2, but I don't think it affects the level of Total T.

@diablodh: yea, i need to get to normal levels. I start changing my diet with more healthy fat, brocoli, avocado, etc and I'll take Zinc and start going to gym 3 times a week. In 3 months I will make the test again. But if I have male pattern baldness(which I'm pretty sure I have) I don't think the shedding will stop if I get to normal levels without finasteride.
 
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diablodh

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First get your levels in check and then see if hair loss will stop. You can always get prescription for finasteride however with such high estrogen levels you can expect sides.
 
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red_man

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Any endocrinologist here?

Since I have low testosteron, everywhere it says eat lots of saturated fat. HOWEVER, as you can see I have liver problems, and everyone is recommending to avoid fats and alcohol in order to fix my liver. So if I avoid fat, I'll do **** with testosterone? Or liver can bring up testosterone levels?

I'm so eager to try finasteride, but I already have slight gyno, skinny fat and I'm pretty sure I'll get sides, I can't have even more E2 levels, there are already over healthy male limit.


I already take zinc, d3, fish oil for a week, but I don't feel any improvements. I also can't sleep at night, I wake up every 3 hours and I sleep back very hard, max 6 hours of sleep/day.

I will start minoxidil since I'm shedding like crazy. I see most of the guys here or who experience hairloss, don't shed too much before taking medication, but for me, is like getting 5 hairs on my hand each time I put my hands through it, losing hair on the desk, laptop, when eating, there is always hair in the house. I'm really really scared, and with that ****ing hormonal levels out of place, I can't take finasteride, I'll probably **** up my hormonal system for good.

What to do guys? I'm at a pretty low point now. I'm not good looking, and without hair I'll be doomed. Now, it's like every odds are against me.

Anyone who was in my position and is not bald? Anyone legit who knows about hormonal levels to help me out with advice?
 
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hope777

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Hi amigo, I'm not an endocrinologist but I've read a lot on the subject before starting to take Finasteride.


Firstly, for general knowledge:
1. I've read in one study (don't remember where) that people with Androgenetic Alopecia (androgenic alopecia) have lower testosterone level in average (although intuitively you would expect it to be the other way around - my guess is since more is converted into DHT)
2. For sides such as gyno what you should care about is not the absolute T value but rather the ratio between angrogens to estrogens (most importantly T to estradiol).
3. the free T level is the biologically active one (while only some of the bound (not free) T is somewhat biologically active).


I think that your estradiol level is quite high (which in turn may be the reason for the relatively low T, since estradiol suppresses levels of T in more than one way).
The reason for your high estradiol may (or not) be the liver problems you are referring to (since the enzymes in the liver are responsible for the elimination of estradiol from the body).


From what you're already doing:
1. vitamin D3 is indeed good for raising T.
2. zinc will help raising your T only if you're already deficient in it (if you have normal level of zinc it shouldn't change).
3. omega 3 shouldn't matter for your T (although it's an essential fatty acid and good for inflammation and other things).
4. saturated fat should be good for raising T, although the evidence is not very conclusive (many sites make claims and link to studies but when you read the study you find only correlations and not conclusive evidence).


In my opinion, you should focus on lowering your estradiol, rather raising your T.
Body Fat - estradiol in synthesized from T. most estradiol in man is synthesized in fat tissue. so if you have excess fat make sure to lose it, that would make the biggest difference for you estradiol and T levels (dumping excess body fat doesn't mean you can't eat fat though!)
Alcohol - alcohol lowers your T and raises your estradiol, so maybe better have less of that one, sorry buddy.
Sleep - lack of sleep hurts your T levels badly (the evidence is very conclusive on this one).
There are anecdotal evidences over the internet (not concrete studies) that taking vitamin D at night causes sleep problems . For that reason, I personally take it only between morning to early noon.


One last remark - worrying and bad sleep raises you cortisol level which in turn causes hair shedding (raised cortisol also suppresses further T level), so should take care of it!

Good luck.
 
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red_man

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Thanks for your detailed reply.

I do have bodyfat, around 23%, i'm skinny fat, however, i can't get to a very low BF and not put any muscle mass because I'm already a narrow shoulders, slim built and kinda short(5'9), I already look weaker than avg guy so I'm trying to bulk first than lose fat. However, at this e2 levels and test, the chances are I'll put only fat or nothing. I have a sedentary life style and even if I ate about 1200 cal/day at 150lbs for the last year, I didn't get any of my fat levels down. My maintenance is >2000 and even if I eat 1000cals i don't lose fat....so strange. My body is a bit ****ed up. Since I had a gf for 3 years, I gave up sports, didn't took care of myself and diet and I got in a bad place. Now we break up and that makes me do a restart, including taking care of hair loss which I ignored.

I really do hope to low the E2 levels and be able to try finasteride.
 
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diablodh

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red_man said:
Thanks for your detailed reply.

I do have bodyfat, around 23%, i'm skinny fat, however, i can't get to a very low BF and not put any muscle mass because I'm already a narrow shoulders, slim built and kinda short(5'9), I already look weaker than avg guy so I'm trying to bulk first than lose fat. However, at this e2 levels and test, the chances are I'll put only fat or nothing. I have a sedentary life style and even if I ate about 1200 cal/day at 150lbs for the last year, I didn't get any of my fat levels down. My maintenance is >2000 and even if I eat 1000cals i don't lose fat....so strange. My body is a bit ****ed up. Since I had a gf for 3 years, I gave up sports, didn't took care of myself and diet and I got in a bad place. Now we break up and that makes me do a restart, including taking care of hair loss which I ignored.

I really do hope to low the E2 levels and be able to try finasteride.
Click to expand...

The best thing for you is to get on aromatase inhibitor that is pretty much the only thing that can help with high estrogen level and low T level.

When you are on it try to make some mussle
 
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red_man

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I'll try to take Arimidex. Do I need a prescription for that? So if I take for a month, when I stop the E2 levels will get back right?

Any good anti-estrogen supplements?
 
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