Propecia and Development

[SaveTheMane]

Hey everyone,
I've been considering starting propecia for a while now, but had a question which I trust this forum with answering far more than whatever I might find on Google. I'm 22 years old, but I think I might still be growing; my 23 year old brother just grew an inch this year. I've always looked young (except for my lovely hairline) and I was wondering if propecia would stunt any potential growth/beard growth/any other development that comes with age. I googled the subject a little, but mostly found "Propecia is the Devil" type responses. So, now that I've gotten past my fears of propecia rendering my genitalia useless, I've just got this one last hurdle. Did anyone out there start propecia at a young age and continue to grow or find themselves in a similar scenario? Thanks for the help!

[RobinSigismondi]

I ran this by Dr. McAndrews to be sure..... He is on the Medical Advisory Board for Merck and has a great deal of experience with Propecia.

We have started a few patients on Propecia as young as 16 and none of them have had adverse affects on their growth or development. By 22 you have completed most of your development and the Propecia would have no affect on your future growth or development.

[SaveTheMane]

Thanks a bunch man! Looks like all that's left now is contacting my Doctor and getting the ball rolling.

[DallasTreado]

16 and propecia

Greetings. I am in the same boat - 16 and about NW2 already. What is the experience with propecia at this age? The post about suggests that there have not been any problems. Is there any more evidence? I am already 6'1'' but might grow some more. Thanks for any information you can provide!

[ryan555]

I started Propecia at 20 and took it for 12 years. Due to an unrelated medical issue, I had to stop taking it 6 months ago (hopefully temporary). The only change in development that was apparent is that I did not grow much chest hair while on it. As soon as I stopped, my chest hair started growing. I think you're pretty well baked by 20 and especially by 22, so I seriously doubt it's going to stunt your growth.

As far as all the horror stories go, just ignore them. I took it for years along with several friends and nobody ever had any issues at all. I was not even aware of all the claims of "permanent side effects" until I researched stopping the drug, but my hormones went back to normal exactly like the manufacturer said they would. And the only side effect that I and all my friends have experienced is that we all still have our hair in our 30's and didn't have to spend our 20's fretting about hair loss. My advice is take the pill and forget about hair loss. If you're one of the 99 our of 100 men who can tolerate it without issues, then by all means do it and move on with your life. Your 20's should be about partying and meeting women and having a good time, not obsessing unnecessarily about hair loss.

[ryan555]

One more thing - you don't have to plan on taking Propecia forever. You young guys have it made. Hold on to your hair for a few more years and there is likely to be a better solution coming along. Between Histogen, Acell, and future advancement in stem cells and hair cloning, I seriously doubt Propecia is going to be the only viable solution for much longer. And even if they don't come up with a magic solution, you can still stop the medication later in life. Losing hair in my 30's still completely sucks, but it's not as Earth-shattering as it was in my early 20's when I was single and thought I'd end up being a bald hermit.

[skipstah70]

Want some good advice from someone who took it for a long time? Don't take it. It will wreak havoc on your dick sooner or later.

[ryan555]

Want some good advice from someone who took it for a long time? Don't take it. It will wreak havoc on your dick sooner or later.

Your situation is uncommon. I took it for 12 years without issues as do most men.

[skipstah70]

That's funny, I took it for about 12 years too. Tell me, since you also used the past tense... how did your body feel after you stopped taking it? This drug is affecting a whole lot more than your hairline.

[ryan555]

That's funny, I took it for about 12 years too. Tell me, since you also used the past tense... how did your body feel after you stopped taking it? This drug is affecting a whole lot more than your hairline.

I felt totally normal after stopping. I had my hormones tested and everything went back to normal levels within two weeks. I promise you I had no issues during or after using this drug. I know some guys have issues but they are rare.

I think the guys that have problems tend to go online and find the anti propecia sites, get a little freaked out, and then go talk about it on all the forums. This just distorts the reality about this drug. I have spoken to several of the very reputable doctors on this board and all of them claim that out of thousands of men they have prescribed the drug to, about 1% have issues and they have never seen permanent sides. Unless they are all liars, I think that's pretty compelling evidence that the drug is pretty safe.

[skipstah70]

I felt totally normal after stopping. I had my hormones tested and everything went back to normal levels within two weeks. I promise you I had no issues during or after using this drug. I know some guys have issues but they are rare.

I think the guys that have problems tend to go online and find the anti propecia sites, get a little freaked out, and then go talk about it on all the forums. This just distorts the reality about this drug. I have spoken to several of the very reputable doctors on this board and all of them claim that out of thousands of men they have prescribed the drug to, about 1% have issues and they have never seen permanent sides. Unless they are all liars, I think that's pretty compelling evidence that the drug is pretty safe.

It's funny you say this, because over about the 12 years that I took propecia, I was given prescriptions by 5 different doctors. Two of these doctors once asked me point blank whether I noticed any sexual side effects or issues like that and I embarrassingly lied on both occasions. They both told me many men report erectile problems using the drug and the one doctor was adamant that Merck's 2% number was way off. He said is was more like 20%. I guess we will have to agree to disagree. I think those who are reporting that the effects are permanent after getting off the drug may be in the small minority.. but the 2% figure on men who take the drug that will exprience sexual side effects is grossly low.

The 2% figure is also put out by the drug company (Merck), it is not the FDA who does the testing. Merck has a vested interest to get that figure as low as possible and get FDA approval. It's a broken system where they themselves are contracting someone else to do the test trials of paid "testees" on their dime, with the ultimate goal of getting the drug approved by the FDA and to market. Anybody should be able a see a HUGE conflict of interest here, and how many reported side effect figures could be biased or not 100% accurate.

Tell me, If the drug worked so great for you... why did you decide to stop taking it? Also.. if you had no real concerns about what it was doing to your body, why would you get your hormone levels tested? I think it is pretty safe to say that if it is having an impact on the hormone level coursing through your body.. it is going to affect a whole host of things.. not just your hairline.

[ryan555]

It's funny you say this, because over about the 12 years that I took propecia, I was given prescriptions by 5 different doctors. Two of these doctors once asked me point blank whether I noticed any sexual side effects or issues like that and I embarrassingly lied on both occasions. They both told me many men report erectile problems using the drug and the one doctor was adamant that Merck's 2% number was way off. He said is was more like 20%. I guess we will have to agree to disagree. I think those who are reporting that the effects are permanent after getting off the drug may be in the small minority.. but the 2% figure on men who take the drug that will exprience sexual side effects is grossly low.

The 2% figure is also put out by the drug company (Merck), it is not the FDA who does the testing. Merck has a vested interest to get that figure as low as possible and get FDA approval. It's a broken system where they themselves are contracting someone else to do the test trials of paid "testees" on their dime, with the ultimate goal of getting the drug approved by the FDA and to market. Anybody should be able a see a HUGE conflict of interest here, and how many reported side effect figures could be biased or not 100% accurate.

Tell me, If the drug worked so great for you... why did you decide to stop taking it? Also.. if you had no real concerns about what it was doing to your body, why would you get your hormone levels tested? I think it is pretty safe to say that if it is having an impact on the hormone level coursing through your body.. it is going to affect a whole host of things.. not just your hairline.

I stopped taking it because I have been dealing with an illness and my doctors wanted me to stop taking any and all medications. I was also not sure if I really needed it or not because I started it after the tiniest bit of recession in my hairline and noone in my family is bald. I tested my hormones because after reading propeciahelp.com and all the other anti-propecia websites I got scared that something awful would happen. Hormone changes can have widespread effects on the body but most people adjust to them and can function normally.

As far as the 20% number, I think that "side effects" come in a spectrum. I would buy that 20% have some small noticeable change in erections, but I don't think more than 2% become impotent. All drugs cause side effects. Birth control pills, for example, change hormones in women quite dramatically and almost all women experience side effects from those drugs. But the vast majority of women decide that not getting pregnant is worth the tradeoff. Similarly, Propecia might cause some temporary sides in some guys that are acceptable if their hair stops falling out. For the young guys who I see all over these hair loss forums talking about major depression, giving up on their social lives, and even suicide over hair loss, the minor reduction in their boners seems like a no-brainer to me.

I think one thing that almost everyone can agree on is that Propecia works for hair loss and that it does not permanently destroy people, except perhaps in the rarest of cases (and this can be said for MANY drugs). Take it and see what it does and if you have sides that you can't live with, stop it and figure out a different way to deal with your hair loss.