Losing Hair, Have a Decision to Make

Danny

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Hey guys this is a longer post so I’ll put a too long didn’t read(tldr)at the bottom if you want to skip the story and see the summary


I have a decision to make and wanted some advice/guidance. I am 25 years old, and My hair has been thinning since I was 19. It had been decent up until now, as I have been using Rogaine and other treatments
but I have reached a stage where I have to either treat the underlying genetic/hormonal problem, and use finasteride( a DHT blocker) that will affect my hormone levels.


I have diffuse thinning pattern, and my hairline is receding. Given my age and onset ,I was diagnosed with aggressive male pattern baldness by a physician .I could technically get a hair transplant but without the finasteride the surrounding existing hair will fall out ,and it will look very bad.
The issue is the drug finasteride has 7-10 percent chance of giving side effects which are terrible and directly affect seduction such as erectile dysfunction, reduced sperm count and watery ejaculate, potential male breast tissue growth, loss of libido,anxiety, and depression. This medication would have be taken for life to maintain the hair but the medication works fantastically and will stabilize my hair loss. I could then get a potential hair transplant
FYI quick science breakdown testosterone exists in 3 forms(roughly)

1. As testosterone

2.testosterone > through the enzyme 5ar reductase transforms to DHT( this process is blocked by Finasteride) as DHT is what causes male pattern baldness but DHT is also a strong male hormone which helped deepen voice in puberty as well as height and penis size and body hair but not head hair

3. Testosterone gets converted to Estrogen

So if you block one of three pathways then the road block will lead to higher testosterone but also higher estrogen which leads to potential side effects


Do I let nature take its course and go bald how badly would that affect my fundamentals? I’m also 5’7 , and I’m not listing these characteristics to play victim ,and I know looks are only a component and I can still get girls through game and other factors. I am trying to maximize fundamentals.

Or

Do I take the medication and keep my hair before it gets really bad,
and always have hair with the slight risk of bad side effects that may affect my seduction career.
Also how would this affect the winner effect and general seduction? Testosterone has an innate attractive quality and affects seduction mindsets ,actions ,and pheromones etc. So would altering my natural hormones have other innate negative effects ?

does anyone on this forum take this medication?

What would you guys do in this situation? My goal is to hook up with as many girls as I can for as long as I can and someday far in the future pull a great wife. Which decision would be preferable?


TLDR: been losing hair and at a point where further hair loss would look really bad ,but I could save my hair before it gets too bad if I take a drug with potential sexual side effects. If I started now the hair would still look good

do I take a drug( finasteride) every day to stop the hair loss but with slight risk of side effects that affect seduction( impotence, loss of libido, anxiety, depression) And keep my hair for decades?

Or do I not take the drug go bald and take a big negative hit to my looks but avoid potential devastating side effects albeit rare?
 

Will_V

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Personally I would rather maximize my masculine characteristics than keep a full head of hair. If I start go bald I will simply shave it all off. I'm not familiar with the drug you mentioned but it basically sounds like an injection of estrogen, and I wouldn't go near that.

I'm in my early 30s and while things have thinned just a tad over the last few years it seems like it might have stabilized. My mom's side the males are pretty much balding, my dad's side some of them are, so who knows where things will go. But I know what I will do if it all starts to go.
 

Lover

Cro-Magnon Man
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I'm late 20's. My hair loss story is quite similar. Receding hair lines and thinning hair since early 20's with little progression the since then.

I never took any medication because of the same side effects you mention. The side effect I have been most worried about is mood and behavior, which is also related to the sex hormones... so less female hormones to me, thank you.

I have been using a clipper for four years straight because it was the cheapest solution. But it was a gradual process to get there because I was too scared to let go of all my hair immediately.

Recently I have been reconsidering whether to get a hair transplant because I'm tired of using the clipper twice every month, and I wanted to just let my hair grow somewhat longer. Then I slept with some girls recently that were a bit hotter than I'm used to... and I thought fuck it... now I'm too lazy to go through with a hair transplant.

I made a similar post years ago. Good luck on your hairy - or bald - journey
 

Darius

Tool-Bearing Hominid
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Hey man,

I totally understand where you're coming from. I'm 26 now and was in the same boat as you, and I decided to try finasteride last year. For me it fucked me up good.

My libido was at around 60% generally when I was on it, but I was willing to accept that cause I had great growth. However, not long after I started, I developed gynecomastia (bitch tits) and decided to stop it.

When I stopped, it lead to a MASSIVE endocrine cluster fuck, basically it tanked my entire T level and upped my estrogen. It took 6 months, a very dedicated girlfriend, a ton of sex and healthy living before I got back to what was normal. And I'm still dealing with the gyno.

You do what you want, however here are some considerations from a guy that's been in the same situation:

1. The side effects seem to be, at least anecdotally, a lot more common than in 1%. From what I have seen, you WILL take a hit in your sex life. Now, for most men that hit is barely noticeable, or they are willing to trade it for a full head of hair, and if that's the case for you, I envy you. You won the (second) genetic hair lottery.

2. Side effects will generally go away, they are not permanent. That said, for me it took 6 months to recover. You decide whether the opportunity cost is worth it. It sure wasn't for me, we're in the prime of our lives, every day counts.

3. If you decide to go ahead, be smart about it and talk to an endocrinologist FIRST. Do a baseline profile of your hormones and most importantly keep doing bloodwork to make sure your hormones are not out of whack. Have an aromatase inhibitor at the ready, in case you notice that you develop estrogen related side effects.

4. Having gone almost entirely bald myself, I can say for a fact nobody gives a shit as long as you have your other fundamentals in check. that means:

* get a good, muscular body, dress well, most importantly HAVE A GOOD SKINCARE ROUTINE - your face is a lot more noticeable when you don't have hair. Grow a beard if you can, most people that go bald are blessed with amazing beards due to the DHT sensitivity

* my pro tip: try wearing an earring. Bald and beard generally looks super dominant and you risk intimidating some people. An earring adds some feminine energy to your face, and for some reason it tends to go well with that particular combination

* love the things you can't change about yourself and realise they are not important, especially hair. If people cared so much about a full head of hair all of our bald ancestors would have died out a long time ago. But they haven't, we're living proof of that. We are not women, looks are not paramount for us. Good game and great fundamentals will allow you to get just as much pussy as any average guy with hair.

The price to be paid is there in my opinion, taking the time to develop yourself into a great man, not risking fucking yourself up to keep a part of your body that was naturally meant to fade away as you age.

I know plenty of hairy dudes that cannot get women. I know a few stunningly handsome guys that can't get women. And I know some damn ugly fellas in terms of genetic proportions, that clean up most of the venues they go to.

To be clear, I'm not saying it will not affect you. You will probably not reach the same seduction heights a handsome, tall guy with a full head of hair will. But until you've reached YOUR full potential, I personally would not worry about optimising fringe things like hair or getting plastic surgery, etc. Because by the time you've reached it, you will probably realise you are very comfortable where you are. Just my 2 cents.

Hope this helps. If you want other sources of info on the drug itself (I did a ton of research) or anything on going bald, I'd be happy to help.

Darius
 

Wick

Cro-Magnon Man
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For years I tried to keep my hair. I love long hair. If I could I’d have an epic flowing mane.

Then I just had to accept it. I shaved my head and it looked WAY better than I expected. It’s not easy at all to give up your hair. But I suggest you do it anyway, as long as you step it up in other areas of your life.

 

PalmaSailor

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I’ve worked in this industry, it was a long time ago, but nevertheless

you only have one option

Shave it bald and own it.

otherwise it will fuck with your head. The inside of your head that is
 

Danny

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Thanks for all your replies, advice, and stories of personal experience! I really appreciate it. I’m not sure if I have the right head shape for going bald, but I may need to accept it anyway. Down the line however if I didn’t use finasteride and ended up getting a hair transplant without it, the only way I’d be able to cover a bald scalp would be in a Mohawk fashion I’ll post pictures below to give an idea, do you think a hairstyle like this would be good for maximizing fundamentals or would it still look bad?
The potential hairstyle if grown out long
https://images.app.goo.gl/HdqaUjsQLzrTk5q28( how much hair I will even have to transplant likely)

This is the most likely result of a Mohawk style transplant( probably what I would end up with)

Last picture example( one last example)

So I could maintain the hair I have now for maybe a year then shave it and one day get a transplant like the pictures I showed you but it would be permanent in that the hair would only grow in that pattern as that is the donor hair follicles would be placed into the bald scalp? Do you think it’s worth solely based on how it looks?
 

Danny

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I’ve worked in this industry, it was a long time ago, but nevertheless

you only have one option

Shave it bald and own it.

otherwise it will fuck with your head. The inside of your head that is
Which industry specifically? The pharma industry?
 

PalmaSailor

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Which industry specifically? The pharma industry?
No I worked in the U.K. equivalent of hairclub for men selling hairpieces, hair transplant surgery and minoxidil treatments.

it was 28 years ago, but the customer psychology will be the same.
 

Skills

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op no offense but your description on hormones i don't know where you pull that from but is not very accurate (i have study hormones for 5 years), for more info. on hair and pharmacology follow more plates more dates(he used to post under boytoy in seduction forums) videos on the different medications and videos on bolding and the pharmacology vs whatever bro science you posted....

About shave head it will not look good for everybody, i am fortunate that bold is a good look on me and i am still going to get the head tatoo(right now i dye my shave head) , but it will not be good for everybody:


i did a video on bolding and a lot of seducers such as gll (have had date transplants)

 
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Lover

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Thanks for all your replies, advice, and stories of personal experience! I really appreciate it. I’m not sure if I have the right head shape for going bald, but I may need to accept it anyway. Down the line however if I didn’t use finasteride and ended up getting a hair transplant without it, the only way I’d be able to cover a bald scalp would be in a Mohawk fashion I’ll post pictures below to give an idea, do you think a hairstyle like this would be good for maximizing fundamentals or would it still look bad?
The potential hairstyle if grown out long
https://images.app.goo.gl/HdqaUjsQLzrTk5q28( how much hair I will even have to transplant likely)

This is the most likely result of a Mohawk style transplant( probably what I would end up with)

Last picture example( one last example)

So I could maintain the hair I have now for maybe a year then shave it and one day get a transplant like the pictures I showed you but it would be permanent in that the hair would only grow in that pattern as that is the donor hair follicles would be placed into the bald scalp? Do you think it’s worth solely based on how it looks?
1) If you get enough grafts (donor hair) for your transplant, you should be able to get a decent haircut at the very least. And then it shouldn't be obvious to other people that you had a hair transplant regardless of your hair style. But I only say this because I'm not a fan of the mohawk lol would prefer s decent haircut any day...

2) If you decide to go bald, I suggest you get rid of as much face fat as possible. This is also a personal preference though... But I've seen an article or two on GC that a masculine jawline is attractive as well if that matters to you

3) In the end, your vibe will matter more... If your behavior is insecure, you are perceived as insecure. If your behavior is attractive and sexy, you are perceived as attractive and sexy. @J Wick's pic above is essentially what I mean with this.

4) Think carefully about medical solutions to an aesthetical issue. I've heard from a GP a couple of guys use Viagra because they were using finasteride and had sexual problems as a result. For some, it took 4-5 months to reset their sexual health when they quit finasteride. For others it came back faster... (Edit: sorry @Darius, didn't see you already made this point)

Not only that, but once you quit finasteride, there is a chance that any hair that was "kept alive" because of the medication will slowly fall out the next couple of months. If anything, don't get a transplant if you plan to quit finasteride... But finasteride is bad, so don't use that lol...

It's tricky to get it all right. So my simple recommendation is: get a hair transplant later in life, say late 30's or early 40's - it's likely that men lose more hair as they age. If not, then shave or clip your hair on the regular
 
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Chase

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@Danny,

I have a friend who had a very similar story to @Darius.

He was on Propecia (a DHT blocker) for I think about a year. During that time he was very moody. It led him into emotional arguments with folks in our circle of friends that stopped once he was off Propecia. Once he was off it he chilled back out again. He developed breast tissue while on Propecia too, and had some other issues from it I think (I think it had something to do with aggravating a problem he had with getting slipped discs in his back... it's been a while though, I don't remember all the details).

Ultimately he simply accepted his hair loss and quit the medication.

It's been a good five years or so and he still has his hair, albeit thinner, and women still seem to like him fine based on what I've heard from him.

Maybe at some point he'll go bald, I'm not sure.

All I know is I haven't heard him mention hair in forever.

So far as I know, it's not really something he thinks about anymore.

Chase
 

Rakehell

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Admittedly I am not balding so I can not fully relate to you.
But I can understand how the phenomena of seemingly forced baldness can create a sense of loss similar to getting your arm amputated.

Afterall your hair is apart of your image and its scary because it feels like you’re losing a part of what makes you attractive.
If I were in your shoes I’d surely be looking for the same solutions at some point.

But

When you look at the statistics of men and how common balding actually is, and male sex symbols such as the rock and jason statham, having hair isn’t a necessity in the realm of women.

In my opinion it just isn’t worth it trying to hold onto what was and sacrificing the hormones that are key in social relationships.

Say you take this medicine and end up with fabio esque luscious locks of beautiful hair, you’d be too shattered hormonally to act upon the attraction that it earns you nomatter how great it may be.

From a guy with way longer than average hair it does not benefit me more than my actual interaction building with women. I’d quickly cut it off if I found out it was holding me back in such a way.
 

Rain

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I don't have experience with any of this below but some possible solutions to hair loss
rogaine
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMen/comments/1ms12h
and
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMen/comments/2mo6xm
A poster mentioned
Nioxin works the best. Easily.
Here's some talking about that
https://www.reddit.com/r/HaircareScience/comments/f892h4
A poster mentioned
"
My dad has been putting coconut oil in his hair and drinking blackstrap molasses. His hair is growing back, and it's his original color.
My grandpa drank blackstrap molasses for years and his hair still has some color in it. He's 91.
"
Here's some about blackstrap moloasses
doesn't say if worked though

another person mentioning it, not sure if they had thinning or loss?

A poster mentioned
first time i hear about any of these in a regimen apart from peppermint ! interesting. so ther stuff like fina,duta,minoxidil, etc did not work for you ?
Some discussion about dutasteride
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/g855qj and
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/8cp0g4
From the reddit nioxin thread above someone posted
Try peppermint essential oil.
Check out this article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4289931/
So someone says peppermint essential oil, thats the topical mentioned in the article above[atlhough its not a human trial].
Someone else mentioned their dad started coconut oil in the hair, and also drinking blackstrap molasses. Reckons their dads hair growing back.
So was it the blackstrap molasses or was it the coconut oil? Is peppermint oil better?

Well anyway, definitely some things for you to search out, there are lots of hair forums as well you could look for and see if people have tried things and posted about it working/not working/side effects.
 

Danny

Space Monkey
space monkey
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Messages
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op no offense but your description on hormones i don't know where you pull that from but is not very accurate (i have study hormones for 5 years), for more info. on hair and pharmacology follow more plates more dates(he used to post under boytoy in seduction forums) videos on the different medications and videos on bolding and the pharmacology vs whatever bro science you posted....

About shave head it will not look good for everybody, i am fortunate that bold is a good look on me and i am still going to get the head tatoo(right now i dye my shave head) , but it will not be good for everybody:


i did a video on bolding and a lot of seducers such as gll (have had date transplants)

Haha I am actually a huge fan of Derek from MPMD, and I have watched all of his videos. I am actually getting a lot of information from him that I posted above , and he’s the one who actually convinced me to even consider taking finasteride as I had been deathly afraid of taking it prior and sticking with minoxidil. I am also a medical student and the hormone stuff I posted comes from the textbooks too, so I’m not sure what I posted that was wrong?, but your second video I have not seen before and it was pretty helpful! Thanks for your response!
 

Danny

Space Monkey
space monkey
Joined
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Messages
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I don't have experience with any of this below but some possible solutions to hair loss
rogaine
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMen/comments/1ms12h
and
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMen/comments/2mo6xm
A poster mentioned

Here's some talking about that
https://www.reddit.com/r/HaircareScience/comments/f892h4
A poster mentioned

Here's some about blackstrap moloasses
doesn't say if worked though

another person mentioning it, not sure if they had thinning or loss?

A poster mentioned

Some discussion about dutasteride
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/g855qj and
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/8cp0g4
From the reddit nioxin thread above someone posted

So someone says peppermint essential oil, thats the topical mentioned in the article above[atlhough its not a human trial].
Someone else mentioned their dad started coconut oil in the hair, and also drinking blackstrap molasses. Reckons their dads hair growing back.
So was it the blackstrap molasses or was it the coconut oil? Is peppermint oil better?

Well anyway, definitely some things for you to search out, there are lots of hair forums as well you could look for and see if people have tried things and posted about it working/not working/side effects.
Thanks for the reply! I have been taking Rogaine/other brands of Minoxdiil for several years now and it’s helped but the helpful effect is starting to wane which is why I’m considering the finasteride now. Yeah dutasteride is basically an even stronger version of finasteride, definitely don’t want to mess with it. I have also used a lot of oils on and off and they have been mildly helpful but come with a huge time cost. Thanks for the reply and providing these solutions :)!
 

Danny

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Messages
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1) If you get enough grafts (donor hair) for your transplant, you should be able to get a decent haircut at the very least. And then it shouldn't be obvious to other people that you had a hair transplant regardless of your hair style. But I only say this because I'm not a fan of the mohawk lol would prefer s decent haircut any day...

2) If you decide to go bald, I suggest you get rid of as much face fat as possible. This is also a personal preference though... But I've seen an article or two on GC that a masculine jawline is attractive as well if that matters to you

3) In the end, your vibe will matter more... If your behavior is insecure, you are perceived as insecure. If your behavior is attractive and sexy, you are perceived as attractive and sexy. @J Wick's pic above is essentially what I mean with this.

4) Think carefully about medical solutions to an aesthetical issue. I've heard from a GP a couple of guys use Viagra because they were using finasteride and had sexual problems as a result. For some, it took 4-5 months to reset their sexual health when they quit finasteride. For others it came back faster... (Edit: sorry @Darius, didn't see you already made this point)

Not only that, but once you quit finasteride, there is a chance that any hair that was "kept alive" because of the medication will slowly fall out the next couple of months. If anything, don't get a transplant if you plan to quit finasteride... But finasteride is bad, so don't use that lol...

It's tricky to get it all right. So my simple recommendation is: get a hair transplant later in life, say late 30's or early 40's - it's likely that men lose more hair as they age. If not, then shave or clip your hair on the regular
Yeah you are right that’s it’s tricky if I avoid finasteride I may have a period where it all just looks super thin. And I’ll have to shave and then get probably several transplants and maybe that hair tattoo(scalp micro pigmentation) and have a permanent buzz cut not sure. Maybe it will matter less far into the future IDK. Thanks for your reply!
 

Danny

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space monkey
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Messages
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@Danny,

I have a friend who had a very similar story to @Darius.

He was on Propecia (a DHT blocker) for I think about a year. During that time he was very moody. It led him into emotional arguments with folks in our circle of friends that stopped once he was off Propecia. Once he was off it he chilled back out again. He developed breast tissue while on Propecia too, and had some other issues from it I think (I think it had something to do with aggravating a problem he had with getting slipped discs in his back... it's been a while though, I don't remember all the details).

Ultimately he simply accepted his hair loss and quit the medication.

It's been a good five years or so and he still has his hair, albeit thinner, and women still seem to like him fine based on what I've heard from him.

Maybe at some point he'll go bald, I'm not sure.

All I know is I haven't heard him mention hair in forever.

So far as I know, it's not really something he thinks about anymore.

Chase
Thanks Chase! I really appreciate your message. Your story shows that atleast your friend’s seductions life wasn’t affected by the hair loss. I know it won’t be on a logical level but it’s harder getting my emotions on the same page.

Big picture view though, if the hair loss doesn’t affect seduction then that provides me with a lot of relief!

Part of me just doesn’t like the look of being fully shaved at the current moment.
 

Danny

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Messages
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Admittedly I am not balding so I can not fully relate to you.
But I can understand how the phenomena of seemingly forced baldness can create a sense of loss similar to getting your arm amputated.

Afterall your hair is apart of your image and its scary because it feels like you’re losing a part of what makes you attractive.
If I were in your shoes I’d surely be looking for the same solutions at some point.

But

When you look at the statistics of men and how common balding actually is, and male sex symbols such as the rock and jason statham, having hair isn’t a necessity in the realm of women.

In my opinion it just isn’t worth it trying to hold onto what was and sacrificing the hormones that are key in social relationships.

Say you take this medicine and end up with fabio esque luscious locks of beautiful hair, you’d be too shattered hormonally to act upon the attraction that it earns you nomatter how great it may be.

From a guy with way longer than average hair it does not benefit me more than my actual interaction building with women. I’d quickly cut it off if I found out it was holding me back in such a way.
Yeah man exactly it’s the sense of loss that gets me to most I’m so glad you can understand that. Every day I looks in the mirror the hair will get slightly worse than the previous day and the additive effect really heightens that sense of loss And my hair was one of my best features, super thick and long and I’m not the only one as many guys have experienced this and it’s part of life. Your logic makes sense though thanks for your message!
 

POB

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I started to take finasteride when I was 28 (41 now).
The only side effect I noticed is it 100% stopped hair loss and my hair got thicker and more beautiful Lol.

Finasteride does not block hormones...it blocks the androgen receptor for alopecia, which is derived from your testo. Swiss scientists also concluded that hair follicles fall is caused by bacteria or fungal attacks on the scalp. Men are hardest hit by the problem, due to the rise in testosterone levels — which turns the area into a field of proliferation. Excess fat is a dish full of bacteria. Therefore, the fight against fat production with Finasteride is indicated.

The problem is you have to let your body adapt to it (after all, it's a drug you gonna have to use for the rest of your life), and that time frame is not the same for everyone. Plus some bodies will flat out reject it - or just have a bad reaction to the drug (we are different after all).

There are thousands of trials attesting it's safety, despite the bad rep it got, especially for lowering sexual desire (and if that's true, thank god, or else I was not going to be able to work lol).

I'd try it if I were you...but only after doing a complete blood check, especially to see if your testo is ok.
Plus you still gotta do the basics: workout regurlarly, eat well and rest to keep optimal hormonal levels.
 
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