Copyright В© 2016. cold turkey software inc.

The most studied hormonal axis in man is the hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA axis) and it acts as a good model for other axes like the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG axis). I apologise for the endocrinology 101 stuff but it's important: first because this will explain why tapering might do anything at all: It is tough to put a drug into your mouth that you realise is doing you harm, but it is far tougher to risk the prolonged side effects that might come from stopping quickly. But you need to wean off slowly to give a chance to safely land your hormonal system. This period should remove any doubt in your mind where the side effects have come from. This is not the time to quit cold turkey! This is the time to go slow. It is very likely that when you get to 0.125 mg every fourth day you will notice an improvement in your side effects and you might also be able to discern a time line of worse symptoms about 24-36 hours after a dose that improves over the next 2-3 days. should be done as slowly as you can stand. An eight of a tablet is 0.125mg.Д.Ideally you would get down to about 0.04mg every fourth day which might be done by very careful cutting up of eights of a tablet.Д®.From every fourth day on 0.04mg, space this out to 5, 6, 7, 10 and 14 days.ДЇ.There is even rationale to go to even more smaller doses - like 0.02mg and 0.01mg at these intervals - but this is likely too difficult.

If you have been on the drug for x years then three months (or so) tapering cannot add a lot of risk and it may be beneficial.Д¦.A slow tapering regime for finasteride involves the following in broad outline:ДЄ.going to about 0.25 mg a day straightaway (this inhibits DHT the same as 1mg/day),Д«.then going to 0.25mg every second day, third day and then fourth day.Д¬.At this point you should reduce the dose, while dosing every fourth day. There is no discernible downside to tapering. Like in other hormonal shutdowns this risk can be minimised by a very slow tapering regime.ДҐ. The post-finasteride syndrome has many of the hallmarks of a hormonal axis shut down, and may be due to the surge in DHT caused by abrupt stopping the drug.Д¤. A single dose of finasteride inhibits DHT for 4-7 days for a tiny dose (like 0.04mg to 0.2mg) and even longer for a 1mg dose.ДЈ. Very small doses of finasteride (like 0.04mg) inhibits DHT quite a lot.Дў. Apart from requiring patience there is no down side.ДЎ. I have very good reasons to suggest that a slow tapering (slower than almost everyone considers doing) has a good chance of reducing the chance of post-finasteride syndrome.

Copyright В© 2016. cold turkey software inc.