Therein lies your answer. These drugs would no longer exist if they did not work. Generally, guys responding well to TRT, etc. are not on internet forums looking for help. Certainly individual results apply.
I have seen some guys who would not give up these drugs. They have hair, so I suppose they think they can get the girl, but they can’t do anything if they get one…
Personally, I do not feel they are worth the risk.
I am contemplating using the topical RU58841 only while blasting. My hair is thick and I want to keep it that way.
I think RU blocks the receptor of DHT (or androgens) in the scalp. It doesn’t lower DHT levels. I think of it like a SERM vs an AI.
Disclaimer, I am early on in my research on this compound. Reportedly some do get sides from it. It appears less sever than fin or dutasteride. Topical fin doesn’t make sense to me. It appears it lowers serum DHT to about the same level as oral. Topical dutasteride has a lot of conflicting data, so it is really tough to make a determination.
I am not a huge fan of lowering DHT. It seems as if one would end up with more E2 if they lower their DHT, but I am not sure to what degree.
Topical supposedly lowers locally to a higher degree than systemically. I think RU does not work on its own for many people because DHT outcompetes RU for the androgen receptor.
I’ve heard this too. It would then help to a degree, right? It isn’t going to do everything, but it might block out a percentage (some amount that I don’t know) of the receptors.
Topical Dutasteride seems to have the most promise for actually being a topical product (Fin goes into the serum just fine). I am unsure on many details about it though as I keep finding conflicting info about it.
A significant proportion of the side effects from 5-AR inhibition come from impaired progesterone → 5aDHP conversion, which in turn leads to a decrease in downstream allopregnanolone production - the latter being a potent allosteric modulator of the GABAa receptor.