Karel1
#155
3 Likes
Agetron
#156
From the article: āItās just a little pill. You take it and donāt really think about what it can do to you,ā he says. "Every day I beat myself up saying like āYou had a perfect life, you didnāt have to risk something over hairā.
"It was vain of meā¦but when you get insecure you do stupid things.
āIf I were made aware of what it can do I never would have took it.ā
And, maybe this is true - just like some people on rapamycin have horrible physiological responses.
On the other hand - I too started the little blue pill for hair loss at at 33 years or so - I will be 67 years in a few months, so about 34 years of constant use. Still have my hair - but also a very - very small prostate and possible cholesterol clearing from research-- coronary calcium score of zero - heart of someone under 35 years. No libido or ED issues - at 67 years. I read - that whatever age you are - that percent of the male population has ED issues at 40 years 40% ā at 50 years 50% - I guess 67% - lol.
The point is many have benefited from this medication in many ways - and some have seen no effect - and some have bad effects. Thatās how your physiology reacts to material introduced into the body. In most cases - stop the medication and the side effects vanish - like with rapamycin. Could be other issues. Or, maybe not.
2 Likes
Personal anecdotes on trash media are not even listed on the pyramide of evidence.
Google āreddit X ruined my lifeā for any substance X known to man and you will find a horror story.
Depression, ED, low libido and various other conditions do naturally occur in men over the age of 20 at ever-increasing rates. As the FDA stated, there is no evidence that finasteride causes any permanent or prolonged side effects after cessation despite a decade of the PFS Foundations attempts to sue Merck.
Or perhaps I am just invincible because I am triple-vaccinated, take finasteride, statins, tirzeptatide etc. and havenāt even died once.
4 Likes
Agetron
#158
Antoine - not sure if this is helpful. But while checking benefits of estradiol from my last blood test, I came across this information - about Parkinsonās Disease.
Estrogens appear to have a protective effect on neurodegenerative disorders characterized by major cognitive dysfunctions, including Parkinsonās disease and Alzheimerās disease.
Link: The Role of Estrogen in Menās Health
4 Likes
Yes - keep in mind the pyramid of evidence:
6 Likes
Karel1
#160
Dear @RapAdmin,
I would be very pleased if all n=1 ātrialsā and reactions would be excluded from this forum and we as forum participants would be limited to contributions that have either a sound theoretical basis and/or a sound experimental basis. And of course test results or info about diseases or adverse effects that participants are willing to share.
1 Like
That would take far more moderation time than Iām willing to devote here. Ultimately all of our experiences here are n=1, and while they hold minimal value from a scientific standpoint perhaps over time they can provide some sort of signal that can be investigated by our researcher friends, which is when the real value is derived.
7 Likes
adssx
#162
Youāre right I think some papers showed neuroprotective effects of 17b-estradiol in animal models of PD. But I donāt know if thatās also the case for 17a-estradiol. Iāll have to do more research on that 
2 Likes
What a surprise, the guy mentioned in the BBC article had a reddit account where he mentioned taking finasteride again (despite allegedly suffering from PFS from taking finasteride over a year ago), was very active on the minoxidil side-effects subreddit and is also an anti-vaxxer.
1 Like
Bicep
#164
BBC are the culprit. They would have paid no attention to the guy if they werenāt looking for a way to do a hit piece on it. Probably could have picked a better guy too.
2 Likes
Powe
#165
Was your lp(a) high pre statin? My lp(a) doubled slowly over time when I started a statin. I had always been told I had great lipid numbers, but my cholesterol began to increase from a pretty steady 165 up to my age of mid 60s. Once cholesterol got to 200 with estimated LDL about 130 my doctor recommended a statin. I tried diet to no avail. And requested a coronary artery calcium scan. After a lengthy Covid delay, I tested and I thought I would have a great score. I also requested a more accurate test of APOB and of lp(a) to establish a baseline. Then I started a statin and identified the rise in lp(a). I also had my genome decoded by Nebula Genomics and they calculated propensity risk scores for many diseases and conditions using parameters estimated by recent publications. I discovered I have a very high propensity risk score for cardiovascular disease and strokeāhaving a predicted risk greater than 95% of their sample and in a few cases 99%. Whatever is going on in my body is not due just to lipids ā otherwise I would not have had so much arterial calcification after only a few years of inadequate lipids. (If Nebula were still in existence Iād recommend testing with them if only to get the propensity risk scores which can provide some hints about mechanisms.) I recently dropped the statin and added a PSK9 inhibitor (Praluent 75). My lp(a) which had hit the 95th percentile, has been more than cut in half. And my APOB and LDL (APOB more highly predictive of risk than LDL) is in the mid 50ās. Unfortunately the numeric values of lp(a) vary by lab ā they arenāt standardized. And all you get from a lab is the identification of the value at the 95th percentile. So hard to say if I have achieved a healthy value of lp(a) or even what percentile it is. (My current age is 77.) Iād be interested in hearing more about your lipid protocolāyour rationale and your experience.
2 Likes
