Hairloss in brothers

[chrisis]

It's amazing how powerful our own personal experiences are in order to form our opinions. Anecdotal evidence is frowned upon scientifically, unless it's rigorously controlled and in great number. This is because we are susceptible to forming biases that are not appropriate when trying to form a scientific understanding of a given subject.

There are definitely a few people on this forum who are are either too pro-propecia, or too anti-propecia. Can't we all just accept that finasteride can cause sexual health issues in some men? The number is up for debate, but going off my research on the forums, it's significant enough to demand people take note.

I'm sure I speak for many when I say I'm getting irritated by the pointless back and forth in this debate. Nobody really knows how significant the risks are, so while it's important to remind men to be cautious, constantly attacking or defending propecia is absolutely pointless and counter-productive for a community aspiring to find solutions to the hair loss problem we all face!

Peace out.

[25 going on 65]

Chris, I like you and you seem like a truly nice guy, but let's get real for a moment. Almost all the "back and forth" on this forum in recent times has stemmed from StressedToTheBald's hijacking of nearly every active thread with completely rubbish rhetoric about finasteride vs. "natural" supplements that have either not been proven to work, or have been proven not to work.

He found an article on examiner.com about a doctor who sent an Arizona Sexual Experience questionnaire to several dozen members of propeciahelp.com, and then spammed the entire forum with it non-stop for several days, claiming "it is now official: finasteride is a public health hazard."
If you can't see what's wrong with that, you might be too nice for your own good. Which I guess is a positive testament to your character.
But those of us who have been fighting hair loss for awhile (anywhere from 2 to 15+ years) have little patience for such blatant nonsense. What STTB is doing is unethical, whether or not he realizes it. A bald man trying to drag the whole forum down the NW scale with him shouldn't expect to get a warm reception.

Now he's even suggesting to people that they get hair transplants without suppressing DHT, which is an absolutely disgraceful piece of advice. If we want to talk about "ruining men's lives" (one of his favorite stories about finasteride), his ideas will do a very good job of it.

[2020]

Can't we all just accept that finasteride can cause sexual health issues in some men? The number is up for debate, but going off my research on the forums, it's significant enough to demand people take note.

of course the people who are not happy with a drug will be more vocal... but that doesn't mean anything.

read this: http://***********/6p7zpte

Nobody really knows how significant the risks are, so while it's important to remind men to be cautious, constantly attacking or defending propecia is absolutely pointless and counter-productive for a community aspiring to find solutions to the hair loss problem we all face!

yes we do.... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

[Tracy C]

...every forum has its crazies... *** has squegee, HairSite has hanginginthere and BaldTruth has you.... congratulations!

It's the village idiot syndrome (VIS).

[chrisis]

2020, we really don't know.

When I started taking it, I thought the odds of having sexual issues were around 2%. Lo and behold I now know I'm in that 2%. Maybe it's just bad luck though, yeah?

One problem: I also know another guy who took finasteride and has issues.

What are the odds that 2 random men would be in the 2% who are affected by the drug? 2% x 2% = 0.0004%.

Something tells me the data is wrong.

[2020]

2020, we really don't know.

When I started taking it, I thought the odds of having sexual issues were around 2%. Lo and behold I now know I'm in that 2%. Maybe it's just bad luck though, yeah?

One problem: I also know another guy who took finasteride and has issues.

What are the odds that 2 random men would be in the 2% who are affected by the drug? 2% x 2% = 0.0004%.

Something tells me the data is wrong.

yes but there are multiple, international studies done by separate institutions and somehow they all ended up with similar results... how is THAT possible?

[amadeus]

Both 25 going on 65 and Chrisis make good points. I can understand the frustration of a lot of the guys here when they read all of these spammy and frankly stupid posts made by StressedtobeBald. I think he is very misguided and probably very immature for an adult, but he is entitled to his opinion. I think these threads add to the entertainment value of the forum. I’m here because of my hair loss like the rest of you, but sometimes it’s interesting to see such differing views and how people go about expressing them. I personally believe Propecia is a very safe drug as far as drugs go. All drugs come with risks, many being life threatening in a small number of people. So far Propecia has not killed anyone so I would say it’s safer then most. Hair loss ****s with our minds, and I say that at least for me, has made me a little more susceptible to being a little paranoid at times. We have no clue what the mental states are of the people who have such severe side effects from Propecia. I tend to believe that the clinical trials including the latest Japanese trial pretty much says it all. Sexual side effects can happen. They do not happen to most men who take Propecia. Most men, meaning, over 90% have no problems taking it and it helps them keep their hair longer. If you don’t want to take it don’t take it. It’s a choice. But I believe that if people were just allowed to make the decision to take it, without all of the crazy warning everybody on every thread, we would see far less people complaining about side effects.

[Tracy C]

But I believe that if people were just allowed to make the decision to take it, without all of the crazy warning everybody on every thread, we would see far less people complaining about side effects.

That is probably true. All this fear mongering can and likely will increase the number of men who experience side effects.

[chrisis]

Sorry, 25 going on 65 - didn't see your post.

I include both sides of the spectrum when criticising people arguing about propecia

[chrisis]

All this fear mongering can and likely will increase the number of men who experience side effects.

I'd agree this may have been possible in my case, if my side effects were just loss of libido, because it could be argued a psychological response. However, if someone experiences physical manifestations of sexual side effects, e.g. much lower volume of semen, how can this be rationalised as a psychological consequence of reading too many horror stories on a forum? Possible maybe, but unlikely in my opinion.

[Tracy C]

Possible maybe, but unlikely in my opinion.

It is more possible and likely than you realize.

[chrisis]

Do not read if you are easily offended


Are you honestly, totally comfortable with the belief that within 2 months, I go from someone who shoots a big load, to a pathetic dribble, because I may have read a few posts on a forum? Despite the fact that I took propecia dismissing the potential side effects as unlikely? Are you so confident in this belief to confidently tell me it's all in my head?

You have balls

[amadeus]

If you consider that a serious side effect then you might have more issues then you think.

[25 going on 65]

I will say this much: I am open to the possibility that more than 2% of men experience side effects on finasteride. I'm even open to the possibility than a tiny percenage of men experience side effects that persist after quitting the drug (very unlikely to be permanent, but perhaps persistent for a number of months).

But granting the possibility is as far as we can go until we have real scientific data. It's a far cry from saying that there is more than a 90% chance of side effects, or that you will get permanent ED from finasteride, or that it's an "official health hazard soon to be pulled from the market," or that unregulated herbal remedies are effective alternatives with no side effects whatsoever.

[Tracy C]

Are you so confident in this belief to confidently tell me it's all in my head?

You are reading too much into what I said... Now think about that for a minute or two...