ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18219447
ummm, can one of you science guys tell me why all the buzz words are in this study- serotonin, 5 alpha reductase, and progesterone.
And, WTF does it mean “and the enhancement of serotonin action observed in the cells pretreated with progesterone was almost completely abolished by finasteride, an inhibitor of the enzyme involved in the production of 5alpha-reduced neurosteroids”
Great find
Basically there saying that neurosterioids alloprenanlone and others which are formed from Progesterone by the enzme 5alpha rectuse (what finasteried blocks) have an effect on serotonin and that effect was not seen when Finasteride was given.
I cured my brain fog by taking 5htp which is a precursor to serotonin. My theorgy is that that the 5alpha reductase enzyme is not working properly and that’s why we have issues. Serotonin is involved in anxiety and depression which many of use have after finasteride use.
So to sum up this study Taking propecia will Fuck up your serotonin levels.
FJ929,
I am shocked more people are not reading this study or considering it. Now you used 5htp for a month correct? You said it now only diminished brainfog but increased libido sexual function? Do you take it anymore? Are u thinking about another cycle of it?
I can’t do another round of it right now. I just got off of Paxil and now I’m going through some withdrawal from that garbage. I have to wait until I start feeling better before I mess with my serotonin levels again but yes it did improve my libido as well. I’m not %100 sold on 5htp being a big help for us in that department it could have been coincidence however the brain fog was unmistakeable.
Do you think your Testosterone level improved on 5HTP?
I think there is a deffinatley a connection between serotonin and T levels. It appears that serotonin has to be in the right range. Too little and you supress T too much and you supress T. Look at this excert on sperm and serotonin.
" The levels of blood serotonin correlated best with sperm motility when using a cubic regression analysis. When blood serotonin increased from 50 to 90 ng/ml (normal range), there was an increase in the percentage of spermatozoa with excellent motility. However, when serotonin was above 90 ng/ml the percentage of sperm with excellent motility decreased
’
Here is another
The body is constantly producing more 5ar2. I see no reason why the inhibition by finasteride should be permanent. Unless 5ar2’s role is important for the survival of pyramidal neurons which I doubt. If these neurons die after getting in contact with finasteride just like the genital tract epithelium does, then we have a problem.
So therr appears to exist a cross talk here between serotonin and 5alpha reductase:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15936112/
And
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/10557352/
This can be the reason trazodone is helpful, and mirtazapine as well
Yes, but at what rate? 5AR is a catalyst for a particular reaction, which means it doesn’t get used up in the chemical reaction. So if all is working well, there’s no reason for the body to keep producing more and more of it. And probably therefore no evolution of a feedback mechanism to boost production of 5AR if it goes low…
If you have some good references on the production of 5AR, it would be very useful to see them.
Also, 5AR inhibitors come in two camps, steroidal and non-steroidal. For reasons that I haven’t completely figured out yet, steroidal inhibitors lead to permanent inhibition. If someone has more information on why this is so, that would also be useful to know.