Look at this monstrosity New Zealand pumped out during World War II. Built in case of Japanese invasion, the tank was made by slapping corrugated iron on a tractor and calling it a day. The Japanese tanks were hardly great, but a Ha-Go is infinitely better than this. Nonetheless, I love it for its shittiness.
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I think my hormones aren't working anymore?
I started taking T years and years ago and my dose has been the same for all that time. Easy peasy, I do an injection a week, everything is great.
Except that for the last couple of months, I’ve been feeling like crap. I’ve been actually crying actual tears, for no real reason and have been unable to stop clenching my jaw all the time.
Furthermore, my facial hair isn’t growing as fast as it used to. I don’t even shave twice a week at this point, and I used to have to shave at least that, usually more like 3 times a week.
I also noticed this morning that my skin is really soft and my genitals don’t smell right either.
The only thing I can point to that might have changed is that I’m taking finasteride and minoxidil because I was having some hair loss. I’ve been doing that for like a year now.
What gives? Do I need to take more testosterone to “balance out” the hair loss meds? Is that a thing? Or do people sometimes out of the blue for no reason need to change their dose of hormones even if it’s been steady for at least 5 years?
Minoxidil shouldn’t be having any effect here as it’s (mostly?) just a vasodilator.
Finasteride is a 5α-reductase inhibitor, preventing the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone, which is considered to be a more potent androgen. The anecdotes I’m seeing online say it shouldn’t be an issue once you’ve been on T for a while, which aligns with what I know about it being important in androgenic puberty, but given how individualized hormonal stuff can be maybe it’s having an effect?
Yeah, it’s probably worth mentioning to my doctor at the very least. I’m going to try to get a blood test sooner rather than later to check my levels too. I wish healthcare were easier (and cheaper!) to access than it is!
If you are in the United States you may be able to save money on your blood test by using https://www.privatemdlabs.com/ instead of doing a walk in. Total testosterone and a blood count should be enough.
Finasteride can cause some of the problems you listed, but so can several other things. Sometimes people do just need to change the dose of a drug they’ve been on for a while.
If the T is diy I would wonder if there was a problem with the supplier, but if it’s from a pharmacy it should be solid.
If you would like more hair all over your body instead of just your head, ask your doctor to prescribe you some oral minoxidil next time you see them.
Thanks! I’ll try to get a blood test through there, it does look cheaper than the other options I saw.
My T is from a pharmacy, and I’ve been feeling like this with T from at least 2 different vials, so I don’t think it’s a bad batch. So probably I just need to change my dose. Which is annoying because it’s been constant for years! Why did it change so suddenly?!
If medical care were easy and cheap, I wouldn’t be so worried/annoyed about this whole situation, but oh well, here we are!
Did it change when you started Finasteride?
I started finasteride about a year ago and I’ve been feeling like crap for 1-3 months (I haven’t been doing well checking in with myself, so I really can’t day with more precision when I started feeling shitty). So maybe? I don’t know how long finasteride takes to start working, 9 months feels long though, right?
9 months sounds long to me tbh
It definitely sounds like your hormones aren’t as potent, have you gotten your levels checked since this started happening? I’m concerned you may have a bad batch of T or something. Idk about Finasteride but Minoxidil shouldn’t have this effect.
I haven’t gotten my levels checked yet, no. That’s definitely my next step, the problem being that with work and stuff, I can’t get to the doctor until the end of September. I think I’m going to try to do a walk-in at the local blood test place one evening after work. I’ll have to pay out of pocket and it’ll likely be annoyingly expensive, but I feel like that’s better than waiting almost a month for information, because I for sure feel like crap and would like to know sooner rather than later whether it’s because my hormones are out of whack!