hi my beautiful trans comrades!
so im pretty set on using bica, ive researched thoroughly and know the risks. but i am curious abt finasteride. do any mtf people use finasteride or is the mechanism completely different from bica, spiro, and cypro
just curious, i dont think im gonna change my decision to use bica unless my liver panel shows its causing damage
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i've been taking finasteride for about a month now and so far so good, i'd say. I can't say I've noticed a whole lot so far (which I hope is just because it hasn't been long enough, and not because im not gonna get everything I want out of it - fingers crossed).
I've seen some folks online say that it can have pretty serious mental well-being downsides, but I personally haven't noticed any of that. lately I've been having tons of what im lovingly calling "mega-dreams" (dreams spanning multiple in-dream days) which are out of the norm for me and I suspect it's got something to do with finasteride.
the mechanism is different, as i understand it. I'm not an expert by any means but my doc told me spiro actually suppressed the production of T, where finasteride suppressed the conversion of T to the more active form, DHT. that means that the result of taking finasteride can actually be increasing your T levels, even tho it's decreasing the active form that causes more of the, idk how else to say it, "masculinizing" stuff that T does.
anyway, like I said, so far I've been doing well on it even if I haven't noticed as much as I would like to at this point.
hope that helps a lil bit!
I've been taking Finasteride for two years now, it's been effective so far. Facial hair growth is definetly way slower
I noticed that in some trans women it turns beard hair white which isn't exactly ideal for laser but does make stubble less visible for white trans women
oo thats rlly nice. regardless, im prob ending up getting electrolysis
My understanding is that the mechanism is different from bica, spiro, and cypro and that it's not really an anti-androgen, just something that can be used to supplement them. From what I can gather, finasteride stops your body from converting testosterone to DHT. DHT is a much stronger version of testosterone, which is converted from testosterone using a chemical called 5-α-reductase which is produced by the body. However, while DHT is stronger than testosterone, it doesn't travel around the body as easily and tends to concentrate in the places where it's made, which are the tissues that produce 5-α-reductase, and that's where it has noticeable effects. Finasteride works by reducing the amount of 5-α-reductase produced by the body, which reduces the amount of DHT in those tissues, essential reducing the effect of testosterone on those areas.
However, because the effects of DHT are local, the effects of finasteride are also limited to those tissues which produce 5-α-reductase (I think mainly hair follicles, but I'm sure other stuff too). Because of that, although it can help with hair loss, it doesn't really reduce the effects of testosterone on the rest of the body, and in fact it's primary use is for preventing hair loss in cis men, precisely because it doesn't reduce their testosterone. So you might take finasteride for hair loss or other stuff, but you still need another anti-androgen unless you're doing estradiol monotherapy.
As for bica, spiro, and cypro, bicalutamide works by just preventing testosterone from having any effect on your body, cyproterone acetate directly stops you from producing testosterone, and I think spironolactone actually works by a mixture of reducing how much testosterone you produce and reducing how much it's absorbed by the body, although I could be wrong about that.
(I think mainly hair follicles, but I'm sure other stuff too)
it's skin generally including oil-producing glands. also includes some internal stuff like gonads and prostate.
spiro is also speculated to bond to estrogen receptors so it's thought to have a weak anti-estrogenic effect by occupying some receptors in the place of estradiol. last I checked the science was still out on this though. iirc it mimics a progestin, which is how it downregulates testosterone production. it's just not very good at it relative to estrogen itself or any other AA. and it also has a much stronger effect as a potassium-sparing dieuretic. I wish they'd stop prescribing it.
Finasteride (and dutasteride) blocks DHT conversion.
Spiro blocks T production, but as a side effect - its primary use is as a potassium sparing diuretic blood thinner. As has also been said, its also a weak estrogen antagonist.
Cyproterone Acetate is a progestin that also blocks gonadal T production, but thats all it does. Since its progestonic it will bind to androgen receptors and can have a few side effects from that.
Bicalutamide binds and blocks androgen receptors making your body not respond to T, but doesn't actively stop T production in and of itself. However high amounts of free T from it never binding will eventually raise shbg and eventually slow the pituitary gland from signaling to make more T.
The one you didn't mention was lupron / gnrh agonists, that hyper stimulate the pituitary gland with gnrh until it becomes resistant to it, at which point it stops releasing LH and FSH and the gonads stop producing T. This has no side effects ever but also does not interfere with adrenal testosterone production, just gonadal.
