My Finasteride Story so far...

[Desmond84]

OK guys, here’s my story.

I first noticed my temples thinning around Dec 2011. I was in denial at first but things just kept getting worse. Now, being a pharmacist I knew about Finasteride but with all the horror stories going on at that point I decided I want to stay clear of it.

In a panic mode, I read lots of articles about hairloss and its causes. Websites like livingstrong.com claimed: stress, insomnia, vitamin deficiency, bad diet, etc to be the cause!

I bought into these theories for a few weeks but following their advice didn’t change anything!

So, I tried putting on emu oil, coconut oil and castor oil on my hair every night combined with oral saw palmetto TWICE A DAY for about 2 months and things just kept getting worse.

In a panic mode, I went and bought Minoxidil and applied it ONCE A DAY to start with on my temples (thanks to Tracy suggesting tapering up the dose)…but almost within 2 days of using it, my eyes started getting really sensitive to sunlight, I was experiencing blurred vision and my forehead started to feel really tight as if I had bloating happening under my skin…So after a week, I dropped it and moved on.

By then, I knew I’m only left with one option: FINASTERIDE. It was a scary thought, believe me!

So, I did my research and figured I should start low initially. So, I started taking:

0.25mg every 5 days

Within 2 weeks my shedding started, but also did the sides! My pubic bone above my groin and perineum started to ache pretty much all the time, especially when my bladder was full. I had an intense burning sensation when I urinated. My libido dropped. Testicular pain. Watery semen. Pain after ejaculation. It also felt really stiff down there too! It was no longer loose, but hard and rigid…

All these signs pointed to prostate problems and I knew it’s because I’m shrinking my prostate…It got so bad that I asked my GP to do a urine analysis test which came back as NEGATIVE! There was nothing wrong…no infections, etc…just finasteride shrinking my prostate!

So, I persevered; my libido dropped to an all time low by the THIRD month which really freaked me out! So I skipped it for 2 weeks and everything came back to normal (but so did the shedding).

So, I thought maybe every 5 days is NOT often enough…my DHT levels are swinging from left to right preventing fin from finishing what it started. So I took:

0.25mg TWICE A WEEK (Every Tuesday & Saturday)

By the 6th month, all of my shedding stopped!

By the 8th month, my hair had really thickened up including my temples…for those wondering all LOST hair returned! The pain around my penile area disappeared BUT my libido was still LOW…but I persevered thanks to the advice of Dex and others on BTT…

I am now 9 months and 3 weeks into taking 0.25mg of Finasteride TWICE A WEEK…my hairline is exactly where it was when I started it…my temples are a bit thicker…most sides have disappeared and my libido is almost back to normal.

Now, the product information claims if you hang in there 12 months, most sides should disappear and it may seem to be the case for me anyways…

I kind of feel bad writing this, as I know what Chrisis went through with Finasteride, which totally turned his life around for the worse…Hang in there brother. But I think it is important to share my experience anyway…Believe me I’m not a fin advocate but our options are limited as everybody knows.

At the end of the day, it is your decision and your decision alone. I took it because I didn’t want to look back with regret for not doing something about it when I had the chance!

My advice to those wanting to start finasteride is START low and STAY low. 1mg daily is NOT the holy gospel and luckily with fin you can play with the dose and still get the same benefits…

Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions as well…I’m more than welcome to share it with you…

Cheers,

- Des

[Jcm800]

Thanks Desmond. I guess I'll try a dosage like yourself if I take the plunge.

I think I'm more concerned that if I got sides, and tried to ride them out and I couldn't, what happens if I quit the drug? That's apparently when 'pfs' kicks in?

I guess sadly, we can't tell until we bite the bullet, shame that we have to roll the dice in such a way to try and save our hair or potentially screw our health.

I appreciate all your post's, thanks again and good luck.

[Henkeh91]

Thanks for sharing your story Des! I've been on fin for little more than 2 months and started at 0,5mg daily and changed to 1mg daily for about 2 weeks ago.

My libido is way lover than it was a year ago. I've pretty bad MPB and my hair loss accelerated the last year and I went into an deep depression for the last couple of months. That made me start with finasteride.

I had already low libido even before I started with fin. What do you think, shall I lower my dose before I notice any further sides? The thing is that I'm afraid that a lower dose will increase my hair loss.

It feels like I'm in the middle of an vicious circle.

[LongWayHome]

Hey Des.
First of all I must say that you and Hellouser are my favorite "Characters" on this forum. You two are the most helpful, at least for me, in this forum.

So...I was on fin 1mg every day 10 months ago for 3 months and stopped.
It didn't affect my libido at all, but it did do a nice job in the shrinkage subject, if you know what I mean. It had an effect on shrinking my little friend.
So...The question is, do you think it is something that can go away after some time?
I've tried so many things since then but we all know that everything, maybe except of RU, is bullshit.
Maybe 5 out of 100 things that are being sold can help, WITH fin or RU, but not alone. Impossible. Or possible for a few people. Anyway too rare.

Right now I have what seems like a full head of hair, just for everyone to understand, some girl in my work told me that I remind her of Jim Morrison.
For those of you who know who he is and how he looked like, I was all like "THANK YOU MADAM! (just dont touch my hairline, or I'll look like Jim Temple-son)"
I'm heading into NW3 too fast these days, and I just have no choice.
If I'm bald I look like crap cause I have small head, if I have hair I look like an actor (Or a singer, whatever).

Desmond, waiting for your reply, and thank you again.

[Jcm800]

LongWayHome, has you regained any size down there? That's an awful side effect, Jeez.

[UK_]

Longwayhome - is it actually physiologically shrunk or do you mean it doesn’t become as erect as before? Btw, DHT in a cream form has been shown to increase the size and strength of erections so I am guessing a DHT inhibitor would do the opposite.

[LongWayHome]

Tell me about it..
I don't really know if I regained, that's the insane part here, that you can't really know. You only can assume.

[rdawg]

It's interesting I find the best responders to fin are those that experience sides, is there a correlation here?

those that seem to have no sides(like myself) simply maintain their hair or slow the loss, but many that experience sides grow hair back!

[LongWayHome]

Longwayhome - is it actually physiologically shrunk or do you mean it doesn’t become as erect as before? Btw, DHT in a cream form has been shown to increase the size and strength of erections so I am guessing a DHT inhibitor would do the opposite.

Yes, it's a physiologically shurnk, it's without libido problems.
The libido is the same as before.
What the hell is DHT cream?

[UK_]

Yes, it's a physiologically shurnk, it's without libido problems.
The libido is the same as before.
What the hell is DHT cream?

Andractim. It's a topical form of DHT you rub onto your penis, it also resolves gynocomastia and increases sex drive/penile sensitivity substantially.

So much for the people who say DHT is a useless by-product of testosterone.

[LongWayHome]

That was really helpful man, I think I'll try that.
I never thought that if DHT inhibition shrinks the friend, then doing the opposite would enlarge it or at least make it in a better position.

[Jcm800]

Andractim. It's a topical form of DHT you rub onto your penis, it also resolves gynocomastia and increases sex drive/penile sensitivity substantially.

So much for the people who say DHT is a useless by-product of testosterone.

Have you tried that cream yourself? Where do you get it from? I'd imagine it's a prescription cream?

[UK_]

Have you tried that cream yourself? Where do you get it from? I'd imagine it's a prescription cream?

No because its side effect is hair loss hahahaaha.

Yeah but you can buy practically anything off the internet these days - just google it.

[clandestine]

Yes, it's a physiologically shurnk, it's without libido problems.
The libido is the same as before.
What the hell is DHT cream?

Stay the ***** away from DHT cream.

[Jcm800]

Shit, having my unit possibly shrinking is scaring the life out of me. Is it in any way reversible? Perhaps not sadly?