33M: Adjusting Finasteride Dosage After Cognitive Side Effects - Seeking Advice

General
1

33 Yo M on finasteride 1mg for nearly 4 years. Hair loss is stabilized with some regrowth present. I’ve recently felt like my cognition has not been what it’s used to. I took a 10 day finasteride holiday and felt fantastic. I restarted and for 4 days now have felt like a zombie with fogginess/poor concentration. I understand this is probably temporary during restarting.

I’m looking to either

  1. Reduce dosing to 0.5mg EOD or 0.2mg EOD

or

2. Switch to .25-.3% topical finasteride with minoxidil

Of course, the ultimate goal is to maintain hair while prohibiting inhibition of neurosteroids synthesis.

Wanted to see if anyone had luck or recommendations?

2

You could try reducing fin to 0.5mg or 0.2mg EOD to see if it helps with the cognitive side effects while still managing hair loss. Alternatively, switching to topical fin with min might cut down systemic absorption and side effects. Both methods could work, but it’ll depend on how your body reacts, so some experimentation might be needed. Check out the Beginner’s Guide for more on these options.