Hey everyone,
I’m currently on the fence about starting finasteride. I’ve given myself a 3-to-6-month buffer zone to get decent physical shape and optimize my diet.
The physical side effects are well-documented, but I’m interested in the neurological side, and this question is aimed at the general population, not only the 2% who suffer side effects.
From what I understand, finasteride is a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor. Besides blocking DHT, 5-AR is also responsible for synthesizing neurosteroids in males. Because things like allopregnanolone acts on GABA receptors and plays a role in hippocampal neurogenesis , there’s arguably a theoretical link to changes in mood, memory, and neuroplasticity.
Thing is almost everyone (~98%) adapts completely fine, reaching homeostatis, without reported cognitive or emotional issues. Maybe anxiety over hair loss induces chronic stress, and by taking finasteride that massive drop in daily anxiety might actually cause a net increase in BDNF, who knows?
Either way, I’d love to hear from people who have been on Fin for a while, especially those who are love to learn new things, who are analytical, self-aware, or empathetic:
On the cognitive side - Have any of you gone through periods of intense mental training, heavy studying, or learning highly complex new skills while on Fin? Did you feel any sort of “ceiling” to your memory retention or mental stamina, or did your brain learn just as fast as before?
Emotionally, for those who identify as emotional, did you notice any subtle shifts in how you process (new) complex emotions, empathy, or new life perspectives? Did you feel any plateauing, or did your emotional growth continue as normal?
Obviously, by the average age people jump on fin, the brain is considered to be developed. But I still value the neuroplasticity very much - be it emotional or rational. And yes, nobody has a fin-less clone for a control group, but subjective experience can still be a worthwhile feedback.
Hell, if I do jump on fin, I will test this on myself, I plan to learn chess. I’m going to strictly monitor my ELO rating over time as a baseline cognitive test to see how my memory, pattern recognition, and spatial learning adapt, adjusting for the increasing difficulty of the player pool. I’ll make sure to come back and post the data here.