Has anyone found a way to deal with 'moon face'?

location1

Member
Reaction score
3
I experience moon face when I use finasteride/dutasteride and Nizoral. Basically any DHT-fighting drug. It seems to be some kind of allergic reaction maybe. I've used male pattern baldness drugs for years so I'm not imagining things.

If I stop the drugs my face goes back to being its lean self after a couple of days. The facial puffiness makes the face look noticeably less attractive.

Has anyone successfully dealt with this?

Note: I understand not EVERYONE experiences this, but in my case I unfortunately do, it's not imaginary.
 

Agustin Araujo

Moderator
Moderator
My Regimen
Reaction score
331
I've never read about this 'moon face' before, and I haven't experience it either. How do you know for sure it's coming from the hair loss drugs, because you stopped for a couple of days? I don't think the 'side effects' would go away in that short amount of time. Maybe you stopped something else for a couple of days coincidentally and resumed, during the same time with the hair medications, which were causing those side effects?
 

location1

Member
Reaction score
3
I've never read about this 'moon face' before, and I haven't experience it either. How do you know for sure it's coming from the hair loss drugs, because you stopped for a couple of days? I don't think the 'side effects' would go away in that short amount of time. Maybe you stopped something else for a couple of days coincidentally and resumed, during the same time with the hair medications, which were causing those side effects?

I have been using hair loss drugs including finasteride, dutasteride, minoxidil, etc etc for well over a decade. Believe me, I have some solid first hand experience in the stuff I'm talking about. I've tried endless doses, combinations, applications, intervals, etc.

I don't know if I should call it moonface, but it's definitely facial swelling, and it happens when I take any DHT drug.
 

balding2early

Member
Reaction score
6
There's probably some drug you could use for it I've got the same issue due to rogaine I heard there is some drug that stops the facial bloating just don't remember what it's called.

I'm gonna look into it.
 

Saurabhaj

Senior Member
Reaction score
1,239
Instead,you should measure body weight and see the effects precisely.Fat deposition mechanism is pretty complex.some people have tendency to have facial fat increase instead of increasing fat at abdominal girth.You must be gaining weight and that is causing fat deposition on face.
 

location1

Member
Reaction score
3
There's probably some drug you could use for it I've got the same issue due to rogaine I heard there is some drug that stops the facial bloating just don't remember what it's called.

I'm gonna look into it.

PLEASE FIND IT! I WANT TO KNOW!

Instead,you should measure body weight and see the effects precisely.Fat deposition mechanism is pretty complex.some people have tendency to have facial fat increase instead of increasing fat at abdominal girth.You must be gaining weight and that is causing fat deposition on face.

It's not fat, it's facial swelling. It happens shortly after I take any DHT-blocking drug.
 

MI92

Established Member
Reaction score
12
I used to take steroids and even when I was dieting and low calories/carbs by face would still bloat even at a low bodyfat. Before steroids my face would be sharper at a higher bodyfat. Only thing that really seemed to get rid of it was stop the offending compounds. Clean diet, low carbs, cardio, electrolyte balance, ephedrine and diuretics would work to a certain extent but especially with diuretics it isn't something you should mess with. But you can try "natural" diuretics such as green tea, vit c, dandelion root (not leaf, which is a laxative). But it is definitely some hormonal issue.
 

location1

Member
Reaction score
3
Yeah it only goes away when I stop. When I take any DHT blocker, I get facial swelling and sagging, where my face is normally sharp. Kinda like this

7ecf8b9aa5ef19cfd6b4db88ec6983bc.jpg


You can see it's a young guy but his face is sagging a bit. It only takes a little sag to destroy your good looks.
 

I.D WALKER

Senior Member
Reaction score
868
You may try to reduce your finasteride. dosage or frequency to lessen alleged side-effect(moon face). What's your diet and overall physical activity like? Thanx 4 share.
 

location1

Member
Reaction score
3
You may try to reduce your finasteride. dosage or frequency to lessen alleged side-effect(moon face). What's your diet and overall physical activity like? Thanx 4 share.

Lower dose still causes the same effect. Diet and exercise have no effect on hair loss, let's keep this forum clean from all the broscience and old wives' tales. I am fit and eat well.
 

Saurabhaj

Senior Member
Reaction score
1,239
Man this may be idiosyncratic reation...you must keep this in your diary and tell your close one about this that you have this reaction to this.Many people sometimes suffer from Idiosyncratic reaction that are not in side effect profile of a drug.My room partner had idiosyncratic reaction to cetrizine.
a
 

location1

Member
Reaction score
3
Man this may be idiosyncratic reation...you must keep this in your diary and tell your close one about this that you have this reaction to this.Many people sometimes suffer from Idiosyncratic reaction that are not in side effect profile of a drug.My room partner had idiosyncratic reaction to cetrizine.
a

No not at all. Finasteride is well known to cause these side effects. Here are some of the documented side effects on the label:


  • Bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet
  • breast enlargement and tenderness
  • hives or welts
  • itchy skin
  • rapid weight gain
  • redness of the skin
  • skin rash
  • swelling of the lips and face
  • tingling of the hands or feet
  • unusual weight gain or loss
 

I.D WALKER

Senior Member
Reaction score
868
Lower dose still causes the same effect. Diet and exercise have no effect on hair loss, let's keep this forum clean from all the broscience and old wives' tales. I am fit and eat well.
Never said diet/exercise impacted male pattern baldness. I believe you initiated an inquiry to ascertain possible helpful ideas/solutions for your facial edema and insofar that I personally experience similar issue I was merely offering possible reasons/solutions. By the way you neglected to preface that you already experimented with dosage reduction using finasteride., or min. for that matter.
 

location1

Member
Reaction score
3
Ah my bad, I just get frustrated because I see so many people spewing nonsense like, "I ate two baby carrots a day and went from NW5 to NW0" or "Western diet kills hair follicles" and other nonsense
 

I.D WALKER

Senior Member
Reaction score
868
That makes a lot of sense. If you've already cut back on dose strength and frequency (finasteride./min. etc..,.) I'm not sure what more to suggest, since quitting treatment probably is no option(understandably). What is your opinion of topical finasteride.?
 

location1

Member
Reaction score
3
Topical finasteride is not legit in the sense that topical will still get absorbed into the blood stream before it can work. It doesn't target follicles.

Unless there are some studies that show that topical administration is different than oral administration.
 

I.D WALKER

Senior Member
Reaction score
868

xetudor

Established Member
Reaction score
127
No not at all. Finasteride is well known to cause these side effects. Here are some of the documented side effects on the label:


  • Bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet
  • breast enlargement and tenderness
  • hives or welts
  • itchy skin
  • rapid weight gain
  • redness of the skin
  • skin rash
  • swelling of the lips and face
  • tingling of the hands or feet
  • unusual weight gain or loss

Those side effects are on nearly all meds I've taken in my life. Even today I took something for diarrhea lol and the prospect listed all kind of nasty side effects. Sometimes these side effects are from the excipients, not from the active substance. And they have to list all the symptoms they found during the clinical trials, some people are allergic to some stuff, some happen with the same rate as the placebo group but they still have to list them.

My finasteride doesn't list any swelling issues though.
 
Top