How Exactly And At Which Dose Does Finasterid Effect The Neurosteroids In The Brain?

couldntthinkofaname

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i mean are there any studies on this?

like we know 1mg finasteride everyday blocks like 70% of the dht - do we have similar knowledge regarding the effect on neurosteroids?
 

couldntthinkofaname

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i was more hoping for sth like this

propecia-dht-inhibition-curve-jpg.jpg


just for neurosteroids


im starting to think that most problems including ed come from the neurosteroids and the receptors
 

abcdefg

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i was more hoping for sth like this

View attachment 84733

just for neurosteroids


im starting to think that most problems including ed come from the neurosteroids and the receptors

I would go for this over the hormone ratios, but its hard to say. There are guys with higher estrogen and lower T/DHT that dont have sexual issues.
Sex isnt a completely physical thing part of it is mental. Brain fog, and that kind of thing would all be a result of the neurosteroid part and probably the level of 5 ar 3 inhibition.
 
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abcdefg

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This is all very unsettling

You need to take some of this with a grain of salt though its not as black and white as a wikipedia article seems to state. Its not just hormones and its not just estrogen that can cause some of this. Its very hard to pin down what hormone changes really end up doing.
Lets say this there are men out there with higher estrogen then others, and not all of them have sexual problems. So just having high estrogen alone doesnt grow you boobs or break your dick. Only like 2 percent of all the men on finasteride got gyno but you assume 100 percent had much higher estrogen and lower DHT so why dont all men on finasteride have sexual dysfunction and gyno? If high estrogen caused this all men would have it right? Its clearly not the case.
 

g.i joey

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I think @abcdefg is missing the point. A 15% increase in testo and estro will effect everyon very differently. For some people that 15% tips them over the border for what THEIR specific hormones and causes symptoms like Gyno etc.. some people won’t feel any difference at all.

I think people dive to deep into it, your hormones are directly effect, there really is no need to look further
 

Afro_Vacancy

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Most of the problem from finasteride come from the increase in estrogen and the ratio between test:estro ratio
That's not what he's discussing.

A lot of the problems are definitely due to the effects of neurosteroids. For example,. it's now measured that people with PFS have no differences in their serum hormones, whereas they have significant differences in their cerebrospinal fluids.

It is also the case that people with PFS don't recover when taking treatments such as extra testosterone, clomid, etc. The one treatment that has helped people with mental slides is that of prolonged fasting, which is known to have a significant positive effect on the brain. You can go to any PFS help forum. Fasting helps them. Steroids do not help them. That refutes the position that it's due to testosterone and estrogen.

It may be that some of the sides that people report while taking finasteride (different from PFS) are due to testosterone and estrogen. However those sides have a simple solution -- stop taking finasteride. It's only the persistent sides that people need worry about.

I think people dive to deep into it, your hormones are directly effect, there really is no need to look further
"I think people dive to deep into it, your neurosteroids are directly effect, there really is no need to look further."

Come on man.

Deep down, most of this forum understands that inhibiting 5ar is a bad idea. That will be proven within a year or two, people will mostly drop finasteride for treatments such as Brotzu and CB0301 if they become available and are confirmed to be efficient.

I can't read the paper that @Armando Jose posted. I'm at home and they want me to pay $39.95. No thank you.

As far as I know, we only know the dosage response curve of finasteride in the serum and in the scalp. That suggests that ~0.10 mg/day is the minimal effective dose, though it might be as high as 0.20 mg/day. Above that, the curve saturates. The person popping 1 mg/day doesn't keep more hair than the person popping 0.20 mg/day.

We have no idea what the response curve is in the brain, the liver, etc. If it flatters at a higher point, that suggests that going to ~0.20 mg/day would be beneficial, as you'd have every single benefit for hair, but none of the damage to the brain. However, we don't have measurements, and the anecdotes are few and far between as well as unreliable.
 

abcdefg

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That's not what he's discussing.

Come on man.

Deep down, most of this forum understands that inhibiting 5ar is a bad idea. That will be proven within a year or two, people will mostly drop finasteride for treatments such as Brotzu and CB0301 if they become available and are confirmed to be efficient.

We have models showing inhibiting 5 ar 2 isnt bad though. Many men have been castrated before, and they have hormonal profiles that fit exactly what finasteride does and id argue probably much less T then those on finasteride. Castrated men live normal lives. Pseudo herms that finasteride was based around its the same thing. Inhibiting 5 ar 2 is not proven to be bad. There are guys taking it today that have used it for what 25+ years now? There is a proven model for it. The argument removing a bunch of DHT has to be bad and evil is just bro science. So far its not proven to be unsafe.
The whole safety issue is around 5-ar 3 and why does finasteride inhibit this at all? Its inhibiting this that alters neurosteroids, and the effect of that is unknown, and not in any model that I know of although we can only wonder if they studied the levels of this in castrated men or pseudo herms. So I guess finasteride does inhibit this, and this part is not safe, but the original intent of finasteride was probably just to inhibit the 5 ar 2 and not the type 3 which if it did that might be perfectly safe. We dont know because it doesnt.
 

Afro_Vacancy

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We have models showing inhibiting 5 ar 2 isnt bad though. Many men have been castrated before, and they have hormonal profiles that fit exactly what finasteride does and id argue probably much less T then those on finasteride. Castrated men live normal lives. Pseudo herms that finasteride was based around its the same thing. Inhibiting 5 ar 2 is not proven to be bad. There are guys taking it today that have used it for what 25+ years now? There is a proven model for it. The argument removing a bunch of DHT has to be bad and evil is just bro science. So far its not proven to be unsafe.
The whole safety issue is around 5-ar 3 and why does finasteride inhibit this at all? Its inhibiting this that alters neurosteroids, and the effect of that is unknown, and not in any model that I know of although we can only wonder if they studied the levels of this in castrated men or pseudo herms. So I guess finasteride does inhibit this, and this part is not safe, but the original intent of finasteride was probably just to inhibit the 5 ar 2 and not the type 3 which if it did that might be perfectly safe. We dont know because it doesnt.

I don't agree on the use of castrated men as a comparison group. They have a lot of hormonal changes going on, not just a reduction in DHT. They also have higher levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2141717
And probably many other changes. If you feel like puking, here is a detailed discussion of the effects of castration. I could not read it:
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/84/12/4324/2864451

The pseudo-hermaphrodites that finasteride is based on actually do have problems. For example, most of them are infertile:
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/5-alpha-reductase-deficiency
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/5680/5-alpha-reductase-deficiency
Most affected individuals are unable to have biological children without assisted reproduction.

Most likely, both 5ar2 and 5ar3 are worth having and have many beneficial uses in the body. Fortunately, many people can adapt with reduced levels.
 

abcdefg

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I don't agree on the use of castrated men as a comparison group. They have a lot of hormonal changes going on, not just a reduction in DHT. They also have higher levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2141717
And probably many other changes. If you feel like puking, here is a detailed discussion of the effects of castration. I could not read it:
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/84/12/4324/2864451

The pseudo-hermaphrodites that finasteride is based on actually do have problems. For example, most of them are infertile:
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/5-alpha-reductase-deficiency
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/5680/5-alpha-reductase-deficiency
Most affected individuals are unable to have biological children without assisted reproduction.

Most likely, both 5ar2 and 5ar3 are worth having and have many beneficial uses in the body. Fortunately, many people can adapt with reduced levels.

Id agree finasteride isnt the ideal solution, but its results are undeniable. Its the only real treatment we really have, and might have for a long time to come so its easy to crap on it, but until something better no one has a choice. Its probably good though to inhibit the least amount of 5 ar 2 possible
 

Afro_Vacancy

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Id agree finasteride isnt the ideal solution, but its results are undeniable. Its the only real treatment we really have, and might have for a long time to come so its easy to crap on it, but until something better no one has a choice. Its probably good though to inhibit the least amount of 5 ar 2 possible

It's definitely the best widely-available treatment. However, I don't expect that to last.
 

IdealForehead

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Here's another one that page linked to which is freely accessible:

A second factor influencing mood is the impact on the production of neurosteroids (androstanediol, allopregnanolone, tetrahydrocortisol, tetrahdyrocortico-sterone, and tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone). These neurosteroids modulate seizure susceptibility, anxiety, stress, and depression and require 5AR for synthesis.27 Finasteride administration decreases CSF and plasma neurosteroid levels and increases the amount of precursor steroids.28 The decrease of neurosteroid levels also as a consequence decreases dopamine levels, which theoretically could play a role in depressive thoughts and feelings.29,30GABAergic receptors are also modulated by 5AR and may possess antidepressant and anxiolytic effects.31In 2010, Romer32,33 published research on the effects of finasteride on mice and found that 5ARI administration decreased neurogenesis of the hippocampal region, which was associated with depression. Additionally the behavior changes in the mice were found to be reversible once treatment was discontinued. Other proposed mechanisms include 5AR acting in the amygdala as well as reduced metabolites of progesterone and deoxycorticosterone in the brain.

As of now, however, no direct link exists between 5ARI and depression, yet it is postulated that in some individuals, the link exists31 and there is concern for depressive symptoms arising in a small percentage of those treated with 5ARIs. However, further long-term studies would be helpful to better understand finasteride’s effects over the course of a lifetime. Further studies on the reversibility of psychiatric mood symptoms are also needed since the data on the matter is not conclusive.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5023004/
 

couldntthinkofaname

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@Afro_Vacancy

Exactly - once you quit the dht, t and estrogen goes back to baseline real fast and you start losing hair again

However sideeffects often stay longer like ed. I suspect its due the different brain chemistry that needs longer to adjust.

I mean SSRIs can cause many of the problems finasteride cause like ed but they dont affect dht..just neurosteroids
 

Afro_Vacancy

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@Afro_Vacancy

Exactly - once you quit the dht, t and estrogen goes back to baseline real fast and you start losing hair again

However sideeffects often stay longer like ed. I suspect its due the different brain chemistry that needs longer to adjust.

I mean SSRIs can cause many of the problems finasteride cause like ed but they dont affect dht..just neurosteroids

Yup. I think that there are two separate clusters of finasteride-related sides:

1) Sides related to the 70% drop in DHT, and resulting ~15% increase in T and E. These sides happen while on the drug, and do not last when one is off the drug. They vary from person to person, in part because the two increases of 15% in T & E are averages which may vary between individuals. We see people report a reduction in finasteride sides when they take other treatments like aromatase inhibitors, zinc, etc. Some of these side effects have been reported by people who take high doses of RU. These side effects should be present at any dose of finasteride which is effective in maintaining hair.

2) Sides related to neurosteroids. If these sides manifest, they may persist after stopping the drug, so these are the sides that people need to worry about. Individuals with PFS report a consistent set of symptoms. Studies have shown that they have normal serum hormones, but abnormal neurosteroid levels. Anecdotal reports show that anabolic steroids (testosterone, clomid, etc) do not help their condition, but long-term calorie-free fasting does. These side effects might be reduced at lower doses of finasteride (e.g. ~0.20 mg/day) that are effective in helping hair, but we don't know at this time.

3) ETA: Some people suck as @buckthorn and @Dench57 report a consistent set of sides that resemble androgen receptor up-regulation. After stopping the drug, or even while taking it, their hair loss accelerates, feel constant itch on their scalps, etc.
 
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