Quitting Propecia after ten years... need help.

[Turk Durmac]

Hi guys... I haven't been on here in awhile. I'm quitting Propecia after ten years. The sexual sides are too much and I'm worried about long-term damage. I even went down to half a pill per day, but the side effects persist.

While Propecia didn't totally eliminate my loss, I definitely feel it slowed it down. I'm 34, and freaked out about the loss increasing rapidly now that I'm quitting. I use Nizoral and Rogaine as well. Anyone have any "damage control" reccommendations for me, while I detox from Propercia.

Sincerely...

[Have Hope3]

Hi guys... I haven't been on here in awhile. I'm quitting Propecia after ten years. The sexual sides are too much and I'm worried about long-term damage. I even went down to half a pill per day, but the side effects persist.

While Propecia didn't totally eliminate my loss, I definitely feel it slowed it down. I'm 34, and freaked out about the loss increasing rapidly now that I'm quitting. I use Nizoral and Rogaine as well. Anyone have any "damage control" reccommendations for me, while I detox from Propercia.

Sincerely...

Turk, I am in almost the exact same situation you are in and I was going to ask the board the same question. I am probably just under ten years on it but the side effects seem to have gotten much worse in the past couple of months. I am also on Rogaine and Nizoral and was considering going down to half a pill a day. I have fought this battle for so long that I do not want to give up. What scares me is that these so called treatments or "cures" (RepliCel, Aderans, Histogen) are 3+ years away and I don't think I can make it without Propecia. Hopefully we have some answers soon. Does anyone have any suggestions for Turk and I?

[Turk Durmac]

Keep in touch, if you find anything. If anyone has any advice for a supplement I could take that might offset the effects of stopping Propecia, that would be great. Does anyone out there get benefits from Saw Palmetto?

[ccmethinning]

Keep in touch, if you find anything. If anyone has any advice for a supplement I could take that might offset the effects of stopping Propecia, that would be great. Does anyone out there get benefits from Saw Palmetto?

I took Saw Palmetto for about 2 months, took 2-3 160mg capsules of extract a day. While on it I shed a decent amount of tiny, thin, short hairs, which is presumably a good thing. I'm on a new regimen not related to hair loss where I am prohibited from blocking DHT (not gonna get into specifics why, its not sides or anything) and have been off Saw Palmetto for about a month. Since I've been off of it, I have stopped shedding the smaller, thin hairs altogether and started shedding thicker, healthier hairs (although in smaller amounts) but still they are the only hairs I notice losing.

Right now I'm 20yo and a Norwood 2 with some thinning in the vertex. I'm thinking about getting on minoxidil and regenepure shampoo. I'm really scared though about getting on minox on my vertex though. Right now with my hair properly combed I have %100 coverage on my vertex. Unfortunatley the hair I do have is light and easily blown out of position. At anytime during the day, it might decline to &90-%95 coverage. Seeing how Rogaine will cause shedding of a lot those lighter hairs, I'm scared I will gain a noticeable bald spot for a while, and that even with rogaine it might not come back at all after the shed. If everything goes as planned, I will probably be off oral DHT blockers for 12-18 months. Just hope I don't lose too much in the mean time.

[25 going on 65]

To Tur kand Have Hope:

Have either of you seen a doctor about your sexual side effects? It seems odd that you would go so many years on finasteride and only start seeing side effects recently, unless it's from some kind of cumulative effect.

[blakes33]

Hi guys... I haven't been on here in awhile. I'm quitting Propecia after ten years. The sexual sides are too much and I'm worried about long-term damage. I even went down to half a pill per day, but the side effects persist.

While Propecia didn't totally eliminate my loss, I definitely feel it slowed it down. I'm 34, and freaked out about the loss increasing rapidly now that I'm quitting. I use Nizoral and Rogaine as well. Anyone have any "damage control" reccommendations for me, while I detox from Propercia.

Sincerely...

Turk - did you have side effects all along (to some degree at least) or only recently? It does seem to be the case that the guys who are having permanent irreversible damage have problems early on. Are your sexual side-effects brand new? What are they?

[StressedToTheBald]

Does anyone out there get benefits from Saw Palmetto?

I was taking saw palmetto in tea form and to be fair I didn't notice any significant improvement. Toi be fair, it wasn't high doses nor long period of time.

I am now on beta sitosterol 480mg daily which is said to be 1000 times stronger than saw palmetto. Also I plan to include ganoderma lucidum with beta sitosterol.

While I am at all cost avoiding propecia, I am trying to find alternative replacement. Can't say if it will work, but in the months to come my bet & testing will be on beta sitosterol + ganoderma lucidum.

Study on beta sitosterol:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12006122?dopt=Abstract

Study on ganoderma lucidum:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16462054

http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bpb/29/2/392/_pdf

[Turk Durmac]

Hi guys...

The sides were always there, usually just a softer erection and less vitality. Lately, it's been worse. I've been off for a week and a half, and I'll let you know the degree to which my libido returns. I don't believe the sexual sides were the only effects. Like I said, I was on it for 10 years, and was always torn about it. I need to let my body recover, and hope for the best.

Thanks for the info about Saw Palmetto. I'm still not sure I should try it. if ANYONE has any additional suggestions, please let me know.

As for minox. I had major shedding the first month, but haven't had a problem since. Been about two years. Does it work? Who knows.

Sean

[Turk Durmac]

I was taking saw palmetto in tea form and to be fair I didn't notice any significant improvement. Toi be fair, it wasn't high doses nor long period of time.

I am now on beta sitosterol 480mg daily which is said to be 1000 times stronger than saw palmetto. Also I plan to include ganoderma lucidum with beta sitosterol.

While I am at all cost avoiding propecia, I am trying to find alternative replacement. Can't say if it will work, but in the months to come my bet & testing will be on beta sitosterol + ganoderma lucidum.

Study on beta sitosterol:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12006122?dopt=Abstract

Study on ganoderma lucidum:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16462054

http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bpb/29/2/392/_pdf

This is interesting. can anyone else comment on it? I'm willing to try.

[mpb47]

Hi guys... I haven't been on here in awhile. I'm quitting Propecia after ten years. The sexual sides are too much and I'm worried about long-term damage. I even went down to half a pill per day, but the side effects persist.

While Propecia didn't totally eliminate my loss, I definitely feel it slowed it down. I'm 34, and freaked out about the loss increasing rapidly now that I'm quitting. I use Nizoral and Rogaine as well. Anyone have any "damage control" reccommendations for me, while I detox from Propercia.

Sincerely...

Make sure you stay on Rogaine- you may see lots of shedding but make sure you keep on it.

I was on propecia for about 4 years and the shedding started about 6 months maybe a little less after I got off of it. The shedding was severe and I thought I was done for...but I stayed on minox and hoped for the best.
My crown spot doubled in size, maybe a bit more but after about a year things stabilized and it started getting smaller again. Eventually I got back maybe 50% or so that propecia had given me.

Minox alone is certainly better than nothing. Over time you will most likely lose ground as I have, but it will mostly be a very gradual thing.

[GuyFromUK]

Have you read the thread in the "Cutting Edge" section of the forum on a new product called Keratene Alphactive Retard?

It claims to be able to reduce DHT without any side effects by working in a different way to propecia.

I was initially skeptical of this product at first but there have been some small studies showing it does reduce DHT, and a few people who have just started using it are claiming initial results from it without any sides.

It does also seem to be backed up by a bit of science and is approved by a variety of hair transplant doctors.

If you are definitely quitting propecia then I would give this product a go. You have nothing to lose and it might help you keep your hair.

[akai]

I've read that Saw Palmetto reduces both forms of DHT. Even if it does reduce enough DHT to help with hairloss wouldn't it have the similar side effects as some people have with finasteride? "Natural" doesn't always mean safer unfortunately.

[GuyFromUK]

Keratene Alphactive Retard and Saw Palmetto aren't the same.

Saw Palmetto doesn't work for hair loss.

Keratnee Alphactive Retard apparently reduces DHT, works for hair loss, and doesn't have the same sides as Fin

[Soxfaninfl]

Hi guys... I haven't been on here in awhile. I'm quitting Propecia after ten years. The sexual sides are too much and I'm worried about long-term damage. I even went down to half a pill per day, but the side effects persist.

While Propecia didn't totally eliminate my loss, I definitely feel it slowed it down. I'm 34, and freaked out about the loss increasing rapidly now that I'm quitting. I use Nizoral and Rogaine as well. Anyone have any "damage control" reccommendations for me, while I detox from Propercia.

Sincerely...

Have you always had the sexual side effects or have they come on these past few years? What side effects are you having?

[mpb47]

Have you read the thread in the "Cutting Edge" section of the forum on a new product called Keratene Alphactive Retard?

It claims to be able to reduce DHT without any side effects by working in a different way to propecia.

I was initially skeptical of this product at first but there have been some small studies showing it does reduce DHT, and a few people who have just started using it are claiming initial results from it without any sides.

It does also seem to be backed up by a bit of science and is approved by a variety of hair transplant doctors.

If you are definitely quitting propecia then I would give this product a go. You have nothing to lose and it might help you keep your hair.

Does it really have no sides & actually works? This sounds too good to be true.