Control DHT: A Cure For Acne & Hair Loss?

[babyface58]

I have been forced to quit TRT twice now because of two side effects:

-Hair loss
-Terrible cystic acne

I've been off TRT for 2 years now and my life is shit.

- Constant anxiety.
- Depression.
- Dull feeling.
- Tired a lot.
- Hard to get out of bed in the morning.
- Low appetite.
- Emotional.
- No sense of wellbeing.
- I don***8217;t feel happy in general.
- Lack of motivation for life.
- Lack of energy.
- Lack of confidence.
- Lack of aggression and assertiveness.
- Uninspired to take action.
- Withdrawn from relationships and other people.
- Brain fog.
- Not feeling very smart.
- Difficulty concentrating.
- Indecisive.
- Bad memory.
- Sex drive is good, but goes down in the evening.

Over the past 2 years I've had basic bloodwork drawn 5 times:

Total Testosterone: 538, 542, 628, 531, 485
Average testosterone = 544 ng/dL. (Reference Range: 348 - 1197 ng/dL)

Free Testosterone: 9.6, 10.7, 10.7, 7.6, 9.9
Average free testosterone = 9.7 pg/mL (Reference Range: 8.7 - 25.1 pg/mL)

Estrogen has always hovered around 20 pg/mL (Reference Range: 8.0 - 35.0 pg/mL)

At 6' 2", 200 pounds, I feel like I need more than mid 500 T levels to feel optimal.

And it looks like my low free testosterone levels prove that.

Anyway, before I start my TRT protocol again, I'd like to hear if anyone has experience taking "micro doses" of Dutasteride to control DHT levels, and thus prevent acne and hair loss.

I know that Dutasteride is known to CRUSH your DHT levels, and I definitely don't want to do that because I know DHT is important for well-being and for sex drive, among other things. (I know this first hand after taking a small dose of finsateride once, and not being able to fuck my girlfriend, as well as some weird psychological issues like anxiety and losing my sense of well-being.)

So...

I saw a source that has Liquid Dutasteride 0.5mg/mL. I figured that with a liquid dropper, I could measure out maybe 1/6 of the dose and take that every day, or every other day.

Then see if I get side effects, and get bloodwork done to check DHT levels in a couple weeks.

Is anyone successfully taking Dutasteride to control hair loss and/or acne without side effects?

Looking forward to your feedback!

 

[babyface58]

So nobody here has any experience with Dutasteride?

 

[jojo25jj]

DHT in blood is the same chemical, but not the same thing for acne and hair. DHT is build up in the skin cells itself and there it has the bad effects. Better to try it topical instead to kill your whole DHT. It could end really bad if you take finasteride or so.

 

[babyface58]

DHT in blood is the same chemical, but not the same thing for acne and hair. DHT is build up in the skin cells itself and there it has the bad effects. Better to try it topical instead to kill your whole DHT. It could end really bad if you take finasteride or so.

Thanks for your reply! Doesn't the high systemic DHT cause the build up in skin cells?

I agree, I would much rather use some kind of topical treatment rather than resorting to this. But I got off of TRT in the past because I've tried everything except accutane for the acne...

And for the hair loss I've tried Minoxodil, but at the end of the day, when your androgen levels are high minoxodil isn't going to do shit really. Plus minoxodil is greasy as hell in your hair, and take about 2 hours to dry... And when it dries, it dries with a white film/crust, so it makes my hair look grey! I really don't understand how anyone uses this and then actually leaves the house like that.

That's what lead me to think about manipulating my DHT levels, just to keep them mid-range.

Last time I checked my DHT levels while off TRT, they were 49ng/dL (30 - 85 ng/dL).

While on TRT, I've seen my DHT levels at 76, 58, 63.

So my "hypothesis" is that if I can keep my DHT levels down around 40ng/dL, then maybe I can keep some of the acne in check, as well as slow down my hair loss?

The standard dose of Dutasteride is 0.5mg. I saw a study that showed taking 0.05mg still has an effect, but it lowers DHT much less than the full 0.5mg dose. So that's what I was thinking about doing.

 

[jojo25jj]

You canb try it, but could be also have really bad side effects. DHT is a main hormone in men and has also security function aganinst cancer and so on. You should be careful and better you test really low dose finasteride instead of long living dutasteride.
Dutasteride also works first after months of usage on good level. You can't use low dosage with it.
Duta are soft capsules... how would you divide them?
... hairs are not all!

 

[babyface58]

You canb try it, but could be also have really bad side effects. DHT is a main hormone in men and has also security function aganinst cancer and so on. You should be careful and better you test really low dose finasteride instead of long living dutasteride.
Dutasteride also works first after months of usage on good level. You can't use low dosage with it.
Duta are soft capsules... how would you divide them?
... hairs are not all!

Yeah I definitely don’t want to lower DHT levels too much.

Since I just started TRT again, I’m going to get bloodwork and see where my DHT levels are to begin with.

Then I plan on taking dutasteride for maybe a week or two and the getting bloodwork right away to make sure DHT isn’t TOO low, and I can make any adjustments I need then.

Finasteride apparently doesn’t block the 2nd type of DHT that causes acne. Where dutasteride blocks both. That’s why I’m testing dutasteride instead. There was a user on here years ago named Cashout who was on Finasteride for years and when he switched to dutasteride he said his acne cleared up.

I actually found liquid dutasteride which comes with an oral syringe so I can measure very small doses.

And you’re right, hair isn’t everything, but Im also doing it for the terrible cystic acne I get on TRT. I feel like I have to give it a try because this is the reason I had to quit TRT 2 years ago: Because I couldn’t control the acne and hair loss.

 

[jojo25jj]

Ok, hoping it will work...

 

[babyface58]

Ok, hoping it will work...

Thanks, will post an update with bloodwork and a details of how it worked