TESTOSTERONE AND DHT

[Guest jody h]

what does the Dihydrotestosterone converted from testosterone affect in the body. ive seen the stories about guys who have take the hair loss preventer finasteride then said its turned them female. it blocks the convertion to dht so what does the testosterone affect in its unaltered state???????

[Cyndee]

I am not a medical professional, I took finasteride for a year, it did not help my scalp hair loss all that much, did not hurt me either.

what does the Dihydrotestosterone converted from testosterone affect in the body.

It kills the hair on the top of your head.

it blocks the convertion to dht so what does the testosterone affect in its unaltered state???????

Testosterone made me angry, raised my blood pressure, and generally made me very unhappy among other things. My brain apparently was not wired correctly for it. I can tell you this, now that i have suppressed T in my blood I can look back and honestly say I am so much happier, it was poison for my body and mind. It was like trying to run a 454 V8 rat on diesel

[Guest jody h]

well hun i cant agree with you more that testosterone seems to conflict with my brain wiring. i did wonder if finestaride does help with hair loss or if it was a sales thing.

[Guest Jo-88]

Im no Dr. so take this with a grain of salt, but I do know a bit about the subject. Finasteride or dutasteride isnt going to make someone female, there was a story awhile back that it had, but there is more to that story. Lets put it this way... men have been taking DHT blockers for years to halt or reverse baldness without many negative side effects (everyone is different though). I would not consider a DHT blocker a good general anti androgen, I would not take it alone with the hope that it will feminize your body because you will most likely be disappointed. Now DHT blockers are considered an important part of a MTF HRT regimen by a lot of people... but theres also a lot of people that consider them optional, it all depends on what your doctor thinks is appropriate. So what I am saying is, even though some people take it as part of HRT doesnt mean that alone it will have much of a feminizing effect.

As a side note I take dutasteride as part of my HRT regimen but I have been on it since the beginning so I cant really say if it has made a difference or not. I have noticed that my widows peaks are filling in with this fine hair and that *may be a result of the dutasteride but there is no telling for sure.

[Guest jody h]

i wouldnt take any hrt drugs without a docs say so having said that i take red clover on and of as it seems to lift my mood but that could be imagination. i was just curious after seeing the story if the dht had more effect than unconverted testostrone. i think i need a wizard to convert me lol lol

[Guest jody h]

small question did the finestaride stop any erections??????

[Guest Jo-88]

I am not sure if you meant to ask "does the finasteride stop erections" or if you meant *did... anyway here is an excerpt from drugs.com's info page on finasteride, maybe it will answer your question.

"

Genitourinary side effects have included impotence (1.1% to 18.5%), abnormal ejaculation (7.2%), decreased ejaculatory volume (0.9% to 2.8%), abnormal sexual function (2.5%), gynecomastia (2.2%), erectile dysfunction (1.3%), ejaculation disorder (1.2%), and testicular pain. The manufacturer has reported that in controlled

clinical trials

, 1.2% of patients on finasteride tablets discontinued therapy because of a drug-related sexual adverse experience. Postmarketing reports have included sexual dysfunction that continued after discontinuation of treatment, including erectile dysfunction, libido disorders, ejaculation disorders, and orgasm disorders; male infertility and/or poor seminal quality (normalization or improvement of seminal quality has been reported after discontinuation of finasteride); and testicular pain."

So to answer your question it appears that yes it *can* stop erections but that is very unlikely... according to the above statement only 1.3% of the sampled patients experienced erectile dysfunction (and that doesnt necessarily mean NO erections, just erectile problems...) So yea, like I said before, men have been taking this drug for years without major instances of negative side effects... there is a big difference between blocking DHT conversion and completely blocking testosterone, the effects are not the same (hence why it is not a good general anti androgen). Alone finasteride and dutasteride are generally only used for hair loss.

If you are curious about this drug you should talk to your GP, they can answer your questions... its a pretty common medication so more likely than not your Dr. will have had some experience with it. Also the manufacturer of propecia (the brand name version of finasteride) publishes the drug info sheet on their website if you want to know more. Also just as an aside, if you do talk to your Dr. mention dutasteride as well, it is newer but it is more effective and can be cheaper, the average dose of finasteride is about ~75% effective at blocking DHT, dutasteride is ~95% effective and requires 1/10th the dosage as compared to finasteride (I cant say what those doses are though, against forum rules). However like I said it is newer so the long term effects arent as well known... again that is why you need a Dr. to answer your questions, I can only repeat what Ive read, I cant interpret that for you.

[Guest Kelly-087]

Finasteride could contribute to ED..

But consider that most of the men taking the product to prevent hair loss are already at an age where problems with gaining an erection become common.

[Guest Paradox]

I'm going to bring up something which I have not seen anyone discuss, but I have come across in my research. HRT reduces DHT and DHT shows relations with "thinking." Whether these are negative is questionable.

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=56355&forumid=1

http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/neur-sci/2004-August/058929.html

[Guest Jo-88]

I'm going to bring up something which I have not seen anyone discuss, but I have come across in my research. HRT reduces DHT and DHT shows relations with "thinking." Whether these are negative is questionable.

http://www.hairlossh...56355&forumid=1

http://www.bio.net/b...ust/058929.html

That is very interesting, I personally haven't experienced this "brain fog" they are talking about but again these drugs affect everyone differently and you are eliminating an important hormone through the suppression of important receptor (the receptors are in your hair follicles and brain)...so yea, better to err on the side of caution.

One thing I ran into earlier while researching was this, it shows one positive side effect beyond stopping hair loss (positive for women that is).... http://www.eje-online.org/content/150/3/351.full.pdf

In that study they found that spironolactone + finasteride was significantly more effective at treating hirsutism vs spironolactone alone (in natal women, but the results in MTF women should be similar). Hirsutism is excess body hair for those that don't know. I did not realize that DHT played a factor in body hair growth but apparently it does (DHT + T make your body hairy and DHT alone makes your head bald... mother nature is a cruel mistress sometimes). So for MTF women suppression of T *and* DHT can be very beneficial.

I stand by my original statement though, the only time you would take finasteride or dutasteride alone would be as a hair loss treatment (or apparently for prostate issues). It can be a positive addition to a MTF HRT regimen... But to take it alone, not as part of HRT and without a hair loss or prostate issue seems completely pointless to me. If you want to reduce your libido and erections you should talk to a doctor about putting you on spiro or spiro + finasteride (but without the estrogen)... its not something you would want to do long term because there are health risks involved with having NO sex hormones (bone decay for one) but it should be ok for a short time just to see if the reduction is something you want... a lot of Doctors do this in preparation for a full on HRT regimen so it is something to talk to your doc about.

[Guest Melissa~]

Finasteride in regular doses does -not- stop erections in my case, even when combined spironolactone and E. That is my prescription regimen. I still have full function after 5 months, it's had a definite effect, but not ED yet. Dosage listing on LP isn't allowed of course, but I'm not on minimal or maximal doses.

[Guest Paradox]

As someone who has been on a very drastic dosage of Spiro for 8 years, I can tell you that being in the middle with no hormones is not only unhealthy, it HURTS! As you said, you have to have some, one way or the other. As for bone decay, I'm lucky enough to have been born with an ultra dense skeleton, so I never really worried about that. Generally doctors do not want to give Spiro to men without good cause. It just is tough on the normal male endocrine system.

[Guest jody h]

im watching the mailbox every day waiting for the appointment letter to see the gid doc. im told in the uk now theres a long waiting list for the nhs so im thinking of going private to see if i can get started on hrt and find out if it makes me feel contented. i was just trying to get educated but theres so much conflicting information pn the net that its better to ask girls that know about it first hand.it was justi got interested in what the to forms of testosterone had an effect on but i guess its not as clear cut as that.

off subject slightly would estrogen make any male feel more female.or does it just have an effect if you need it.

[Guest Robin Winter]

I can't speak from experience, not being several men , but having heard other stories, people who turned out not to be trans that were on HRT got agitated and developed feelings of unease. The opposite tends to be true for people who are really trans. I can only go on the little I've heard though.