Has anyone heard of stopping and restarting finasteride, inducing persistent sides?

[JSmyth]

I have been on finasteride for about 4 years now. Over the course of time that I was on it, I did notice reduced libido and less erections but it wasn't too bad. About a year ago, so my third year on the drug, I wanted to take a month off to see if I felt any different. Within 2 weeks I felt a massive spike in my libido, as well as more erections. However I was scared of losing my hair, so I went back on Fin. My logic was at worst I could quit again down the road and stay on until a better treatment comes along.

Fastforward to this summer. Again I decide to take a break. Paranoia got the best of me and I wanted to know if I could still return to normal function after quitting. I am now one month out and absolutely nothing has changed. Low libido and the only time I feel aroused is if I watch something stimulating. I am never compelled to masturbate, but rather I masturbate to see if I can get it up. I went one week with not masturbating and felt even less drive.

Is it possible that by stopping and starting again, I did something that will have a lasting impact on my physiology? It will suck if I am like this permanently. I have nobody to be mad at if that is the case though. I rolled those dice and if it means I have to wait until the next one to be a sexual being, I gotta live with it.

Any advice? Thoughts? Or anecdotal experiences similar to mine?

[MYHAIRDLS]

I took finasteride for about 6 years. The last two years noticed I developed a problem but could not believe it was the drug. The clinical trial data suggested only 1-2 % develop sexual dysfunction but after market experience suggests much higher incidence. Finally went off it due to loss of libido and difficulty with ED. It took about 8 months for things to get back to normal. Once back to normal I rechallenged myself at much lower dose, 0.5 mg every other day. In about 3 months I started experience difficulties again so I stopped it . Took about another 8 months to get back to normal. Wont risk it again. There has been reports of prolonged and even permanent dysfunction.

[Mpbman]

I believe that loss of libido/erections can be also due to other factors than just propecia.

Age plays a big role - you're just not as horny at 40 as you were at 20, and your penis doesn't work the same at 40 (or even 30) as it did at 20, nothing to do with propecia.

Cigarettes, alcohol abuse, obesity, bad health, stress and other things can also affect your erections/libido.

[maxout777]

I believe that loss of libido/erections can be also due to other factors than just propecia.

Age plays a big role - you're just not as horny at 40 as you were at 20, and your penis doesn't work the same at 40 (or even 30) as it did at 20, nothing to do with propecia.

Cigarettes, alcohol abuse, obesity, bad health, stress and other things can also affect your erections/libido.

While all that is true - that's kinda like saying, you smoked for a few years now but your lung cancer could be due to something else, like inhaling diesel fumes.

Obviously it's most likely finasteride at the root of OP's issue.

[MYHAIRDLS]

I believe that loss of libido/erections can be also due to other factors than just propecia.

Age plays a big role - you're just not as horny at 40 as you were at 20, and your penis doesn't work the same at 40 (or even 30) as it did at 20, nothing to do with propecia.

Cigarettes, alcohol abuse, obesity, bad health, stress and other things can also affect your erections/libido.

Of course these things can affect sexual health, but his question was regarding propecia and sexual dysfunction is a well documented possible side effect

[Mpbman]

While all that is true - that's kinda like saying, you smoked for a few years now but your lung cancer could be due to something else, like inhaling diesel fumes.

Obviously it's most likely finasteride at the root of OP's issue.

Well, it kind of not saying that.

While smoking causes lung cancer in 90% of patients (according to this page: http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/gui...-cancer-causes), the effects of finasteride is smaller.

According to this site:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3481923/

"The review revealed that finasteride is infrequently associated with problems of ejaculation (2.1-7.7%), erection (4.9-15.8%), and libido (3.1-5.4%)."

and

"A large prospective study in as many as 17,313 patients was conducted to look into the effects of finasteride and other covariates on sexual dysfunction as part of the analysis of The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT).[11] Sexual dysfunction was assessed in the 17,313 PCPT participants who received finasteride 5 mg during a 7-year period. Finasteride increased sexual dysfunction only slightly even at 5 mg dosage (which is much higher than the 1 mg administered in pattern hair loss) and its impact diminished over time"

So, it's not that obviously that finasteride is the root of his issues.

[Mpbman]

Of course these things can affect sexual health, but his question was regarding propecia and sexual dysfunction is a well documented possible side effect

Sure - propecia can be the reason for JSmyth's side effects, but it might not be the only one. That's all I'm saying.

[JSmyth]

Sure - propecia can be the reason for JSmyth's side effects, but it might not be the only one. That's all I'm saying.

I agree that other factors are at play, but I do not drink or do drugs. I eat healthy and I go to the gym every other day. The first time I went off the drug within a couple weeks a felt an immediate difference in my sexual function, both libido and erections. I am fairly sure that it is the drug which is exclusively causing this symptomatology

[Mpbman]

I agree that other factors are at play, but I do not drink or do drugs. I eat healthy and I go to the gym every other day. The first time I went off the drug within a couple weeks a felt an immediate difference in my sexual function, both libido and erections. I am fairly sure that it is the drug which is exclusively causing this symptomatology

Well it might also be over-training that's causing the loss of libido. (google "overtraining and loss of libido")

But it seems that propecia is the reason, so you might lower the dosage or quit it altogether. But you'll start losing your hair again.

[JSmyth]

I took finasteride for about 6 years. The last two years noticed I developed a problem but could not believe it was the drug. The clinical trial data suggested only 1-2 % develop sexual dysfunction but after market experience suggests much higher incidence. Finally went off it due to loss of libido and difficulty with ED. It took about 8 months for things to get back to normal. Once back to normal I rechallenged myself at much lower dose, 0.5 mg every other day. In about 3 months I started experience difficulties again so I stopped it . Took about another 8 months to get back to normal. Wont risk it again. There has been reports of prolonged and even permanent dysfunction.

Did your spontaneous/morning erections come back, as well as the libido?

[MYHAIRDLS]

Yes, generally. I think my confidence took a hit but everything seems to be back to normal. Was worried for a while. Losing hair is bad enough but not nothing compared to not able to .......

[maxout777]

Yes, generally. I think my confidence took a hit but everything seems to be back to normal. Was worried for a while. Losing hair is bad enough but not nothing compared to not able to .......

Was it an overnight kinda recovery or did it come in waves? I'm kinda experiencing my recovery in waves....6 months off.

[MYHAIRDLS]

Was it an overnight kinda recovery or did it come in waves? I'm kinda experiencing my recovery in waves....6 months off.

Definitely waves. Came back slowly.

[JSmyth]

Definitely waves. Came back slowly.

What kind of hit did your hair take after coming of and how long did it take?

[MYHAIRDLS]

What kind of hit did your hair take after coming of and how long did it take?

Well it thinned. Finasteride was a very effective drug from me. I started it early when I saw thinning and I kept a nice head of hair. Once I stopped there is a very significant difference over the year. I didnt have major shedding like some people report just thinned from front to crown and if I do not comb my hair the correct way its noticeable. Its especially noticeable by end of day when hair gets a little flat and greasy. That's why I recently had RPR with Acell done in hopes of at least preserving if not improving. I tried minoxidil, which irritated my scalp to the point I could only use it 2-3 times a week, which probably accelerated the thinning process instead of helping it.