Fear of Finasteride

[25 going on 65]

I have been trying, and am having difficult times finding conclusive studies on the safety of the drug. There have been 8 pages of bickering and nothing conclusive from you guys. Can any of you substantiate your claims?

Talking about fin?
Just Google it, this drug has been studied & studied & studied by different universities/companies. You might get gyno, ED, reduced libido, less ejaculate, etc. They might persist for awhile after you quit (except gyno which requires surgery once it sets in)
Also you might have ball ache for the first few weeks

This is far from a mysterious drug, people have been on it for 20 years now. Even if it suddenly kills you after 25 years it would basically be worth it to not go bald as a young male
Good luck w/ your decision

[Notcoolanymore]

Talking about fin?
Just Google it, this drug has been studied & studied & studied by different universities/companies. You might get gyno, ED, reduced libido, less ejaculate, etc. They might persist for awhile after you quit (except gyno which requires surgery once it sets in)
Also you might have ball ache for the first few weeks

This is far from a mysterious drug, people have been on it for 20 years now. Even if it suddenly kills you after 25 years it would basically be worth it to not go bald as a young male
Good luck w/ your decision

This and that. There are plenty of studies that have been done, along with over 2 decades of use. You aren't going to get very many unbiased opinions here unfortunately. You have the guys for using it: have had success with finasteride with little or no side effects. You have the guys against it: have used it and got sides, or are too afraid to give it a try or stay on it. My recommendation would be to do what I did: go online and research sides, clinical studies and talk to your doctor about the drugs safety, then make your decision based on that info.

[Jcm800]

Of all the sides, gynaecomastia and mental issues would worry me the most. And of course penile shrinkage.. I think I'd rather go bald than suffer those..

But, I'm seeing a urologist on Friday, maybe he can shed some light on what he thinks I should do, perhaps I'll be prescribed Avodart anyway, have to see.

[mpb47]

If you are on the line about it you may consider doing what some of have done and that is use a very low dosage and or frequency of dosage.

A small dosage seems to have halted my balding with no sides so far.

Sex drive is fine and energy level is fine. I used to be severely overweight and lost it all by running and propecia has not made me fat, though I have slipped a bit but that is my fault by overeating. Speaking of which, I have somewhat inadvertently dis-proven another crazy side I have heard about.

A few months back a friend that was in my weight loss support group contacted me to asked how I had been doing. I was honest and told her that I had gained about 20 of it back-still not bad considering at one time I was about 100 pounds overweight. She admitted she had gained about 10-12 of hers back.
We both agreed that we had come to far to to let it go.
We both agreed to get back on track. To stay motivated, I promised her I would stop shaving until the 20 was gone. I was half way there at Thanksgiving but at Christmas I was around a lot of relatives and food,plus I got sick so I slipped a bit. Bottom line is propecia did not hinder my beard from growing in anyway..in fact I am getting silly duck dynasty comments from friends.
On a more positive note, despite what I have heard, I have got a lot of positive comments from women about my "big" beard so I may keep it after the 20 is gone.

So far propecia is working for me and not causing any problems, but I don't blame anyone for being scared as the same thing happened to me years ago, I am just sorry I waited so long. But I am glad I hedged my bets, so to speak and went on a low dosage as it seems to be working for me.

[Jcm800]

Thanks mpb47, remind me please, what dosage and frequency are you on?

[mpb47]

Thanks mpb47, remind me please, what dosage and frequency are you on?

Well for the first month it was .25mg once a week. After that i went to 2x a week. I am staying here for now, but will increase if needed.

[Notcoolanymore]

Well for the first month it was .25mg once a week. After that i went to 2x a week. I am staying here for now, but will increase if needed.

If I ever started getting sides, I would micro dose just like you do. I would rather try that before giving up on the drug completely. Bottom line, fin works and unfortunately it is one of the very few things that does.

[mpb47]

If I ever started getting sides, I would micro dose just like you do. I would rather try that before giving up on the drug completely. Bottom line, fin works and unfortunately it is one of the very few things that does.

Yes that is what I should have done the first time I was on it but I just read all the stories on the net and got scared like everyone else.

Trust me. It was not a fun experience getting very good results...so good I almost forgot I even had mpb other than taking the meds. Then going off of it and seeing myself going bald all over again .

I was at the point where ether had to get back on it or accept my mpb. So after reading another thread , I felt this was a good compromise. So glad I got back on it.

[Notcoolanymore]

I just took a trip over to propeciahelp. I know, I know, but I was bored and have a couple of hour before I leave work.

On the front page there were a couple of links to articles where people were trying to get propecia recalled. Are you kidding me? Why would people be trying to get a drug banned that has helped millions of people? Why would they try to take away the best thing we have to fight MPB? I understand that many people are suffering sides, I truly get it, and feel bad for those men. But how many more men would be hurt if all of a sudden they had absolutely no hope to save their hair? How many more depressed men would be out there? Suicides? Should millions more be made to suffer because a few thousand are suffering from persistent sides?

I know it sucks if you are one who has suffered sides, but as hair loss sufferers we should be in this fight together, not trying to screw each other over by taking away the best med we have to fight mpb. I am all for proper labeling and documenting the risks of taking finasteride, but to try to get it banned doesn't make sense. We all need to take responsibility for our own health and research any prescription drugs that we are considering. It is ultimately our responsibility to decide whether or not taking any drug is worth the risk.

[Notcoolanymore]

My latest finasteride thoughts. Lately it seems that so many threads are turning into propecia debates. I get that there are guys out there that have suffered from persistent side effects, and understand why they would be upset. I would be upset also. But we have too many people that jump on the anti fin band wagon for no reason at all. For most guys that get sides, they stop taking the drug and the sides go away. This can happen with ANY prescription drug available. If I take a blood pressure med and get sexual sides, I'll stop taking it and try something else. I will not go to various message forums and call the medication "poison" just because it didn't work for me. It may not have worked for me, but it works for millions of others.

On a regular basis though, you will see the same guys, some of which have never even taken finasteride, repeat the same message: fin is poison, eunich pills, your dick will fall off, etc. They can't take the drug or are too afraid to try the most effective treatment available, so they want to make sure others have that same fear and suffer the same fate. Just because something hasn't worked or you're too afraid to help yourself doesn't mean you should discourage others from treating their hair loss. The fact is that Propecia has a long track record for safety and has been used by millions for over two decades.

We all need to face the facts. Until the miracle cures get released, we have only two FDA proven hair loss treatments that work: Minoxidil and Finasteride, that's it!

[brandeis]

Some people have not any side effects from fin so according to me, Don't create any fear before use any product.

[Illusion]

I delayed taking for only about two months out of fear of the drug -- I still regret it. Wonder how much more hair I would have. Probably not that much, but some.

People who have MPB in the early stages need to GET. ON. FIN. or accept baldness. There is no other option.

Like my post in one of the other threads int his subforum, I wish it was this easy for me... Can GP's prescribe propecia btw? Or is that something only dermatologists are allowed?

[baldozer]

Fin is only good for mild/moderate balders. For heavy balders like me, it does not work.

[HairIsLife]

Fin is only good for mild/moderate balders. For heavy balders like me, it does not work.

It doesn't need to work. Bald is cool man, haven't you heard ?

[baldozer]

It doesn't need to work. Bald is cool man, haven't you heard ?

It is cool indeed, but I'm joint pointing out a fact. Heavy balders might start taking Fin, with the hope that they would not lose any hair, but instead might end up both bald and with the side effects of Fin.