does finasteride prevent your from reachin bodybuilding potential?

[hereforadvice]

Does it really have a negative effect on muscle growth and definition basically?

I understand it has a negative effect on strength somehow neurologically because of DHT

but

purely bodybuilding

does it matter?

 

[Power Cord]

I'd be curious to hear opinions/facts on this as well...

 

[CoBra666]

Look in the Science, Biology, Pharmacology forum for a post by The Mondster called Propecia dangers. Very informative

 

[hereforadvice]

Exogenous testosterone (T) alone or ... [J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005] - PubMed - NCBI

this study says it doesnt have a negative impact

but it's about old guys on low test

not close to bodybuilding

 

[hereforadvice]

Look in the Science, Biology, Pharmacology forum for a post by The Mondster called Propecia dangers. Very informative

that's not informative at all

just more fear mongering from propeciasideeffect.com......

 

[CoBra666]

that's not informative at all

just more fear mongering from propeciasideeffect.com......

Well then how bout ur gonna be bald dude! So just give it up. It's only a matter of time

 

[EliteFitnessGuy]

Does it really have a negative effect on muscle growth and definition basically?

I understand it has a negative effect on strength somehow neurologically because of DHT

but

purely bodybuilding

does it matter?

Quite technically: The results are fairly consistent. Finasteride dosed at 1 mg/day lowers DHT by 70%, increases total testosterone by 10-15%, but lowers free (active) testosterone.

Recently, I found a very interesting study on this topic: Finasteride taken by 15 Egyptian men in the course of 9 months:
- lowered serum DHT by 68% (from 42.1 to 13.5 ng/dl)
- increased total testosterone by 13% (from 446 to 503 ng/dl)
- decreased free testosterone by 27.4% (from 25.3 to 18.4 ng/dl)

The lowered DHT and free testosterone are positive changes, as for the risk of hair loss. However, it is possible that the decrease of free testosterone can influence muscle gains. On the other hand, the value 25.3 ng/dl is pretty high, and 18.4 ng/dl is optimal. It has already been documented that men suffering from MPB may have normal testosterone and DHT, but higher levels of free androgens. So, in this case, finasteride normalized levels of free testosterone. Note also that DHT 13.5 ng/dl is almost the level of pre-pubertal children (reference range 3-13 ng/dl). This explains, why finasteride is so effective in the long-term (86% men using finasteride for 10 years maintained or regrew hair in a recent longitudinal study of Rossi et al. 2011).