Anyone who had eliminated side effects of finasteride with lower dose

[Jcm800]

Yeah he lost his girlfriend too. Anyway, hope things pick up for him.

Same for you as well bud, ****ing hairloss is enough to get anyone with a sense of self pride in their appearance down, its so annoying seeing fat slobs with full heads of hair-but then again I wouldn't wish them to lose it either.

[chrisis]

Haha yeah I know what you mean! It's really shallow to say this, but when I see any unattractive guy with a full head of hair I feel a bit robbed. Hopefully I'll find a way to get it back, and you!

[khan]

For what it's worth, I've been in touch with a guy for about four years who has been taking Finasteride. He just mailed me today with an ever depressing update and he is having suicidal thoughts, he's in a right state. I really feel for the guy. He took the plunge back then and I didn't.
He's on anti depressants now and his Dr doesn't know what the hell is going on with him.
Lately I've been contemplating Fin, but his plight scares the life out of me.
If only Fin wasn't Russian roulette.

This is really scary and sad. Do you know how long he was on Propecia before this started to happen?

Been on Finasteride for almost a year now, and doing fine! But jeez, these stories of sides sometimes bring about this moment of extreme fear! I really hope this person and everyone else recover soon.
I believe the incidence of these side are very small, but they are pretty crazy sides.

[chrisis]

So tonight I asked my friend who recommended finasteride to me whether he had any side effects that he hadn't mentioned.....



It's only a few people on forums thought, right?

[the_charger]

its one of the reasons why I never started propecia treatment

Wait wait wait... so you never even took the stuff and you are more of a diehard anti finasteride fanatic than even the people that believe they have been permanently damaged by it?

Your posts actually make a lot of sense to me now, I think i have you all figured out. You had obviously struggled with the idea of taking propecia because of what you had read online…after much deliberation, you decided not to start treatment out of fear... now as a way to justify your decision, you convince yourself that the stuff is poison and refuse to entertain any evidence that doesn't directly support your beliefs.

Now to top it off, you are on a quest to keep others from taking it no matter what... "Since im doomed to go bald, everyone else should too!”

Dont get me wrong. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion. But you have a very skewed perception of the subject and i’ve seen you lie in almost every one of your posts. You think its okay to lie and stoop to any level to get others not to take propecia, yet Merck is the big evil heartless corporation? I honestly think people like you are the main reason why this whole PFS thing isnt taken seriously online..

[Jcm800]

@khan he was on it around four yrs and sides started coming in after around one looking back. I've got all his old mails-he had constant lower back ache that was never explained quite early along with ball ache, fog, gyno and even strange blisters on his scrotum.
sides that we all read about. He declared he'd stay away from forums when he started as well. I could almost say I told you so to him now, but it'd be adding insult to injury.
Some are luckier than others, strikes me. Ironically it never did much for his hair either, still have his photo updates that he'd periodically send me for my opinion.

[SoothSayer]

You think its okay to lie and stoop to any level to get others not to take propecia, yet Merck is the big evil heartless corporation?

I didn't see any posts where he lied, but I'm pretty certain he didn't kill anybody.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/vioxx_estimates.html

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/November/11-civ-1524.html

In another five to ten years, you'll see news releases of this sort for Propecia.

[khan]

@khan he was on it around four yrs and sides started coming in after around one looking back. I've got all his old mails-he had constant lower back ache that was never explained quite early along with ball ache, fog, gyno and even strange blisters on his scrotum.
sides that we all read about. He declared he'd stay away from forums when he started as well. I could almost say I told you so to him now, but it'd be adding insult to injury.
Some are luckier than others, strikes me. Ironically it never did much for his hair either, still have his photo updates that he'd periodically send me for my opinion.

Dude! you're really scaring me man. I am about the 1 year mark too, and doing fine so far, but this is scary cause as you say, it happened to him all of a sudden after being totally fine for the first year.
This suicidal stuff really freaks me out. I knew someone in my university that had those thoughts (wasn't on Fin, had other issues), anyways he went ahead with it and it was really hard for his family and friends. So this kind of stuff really scares me.

I think I am gona take sometime off hairloss forums too. Everytime I come here something more depressing happening to someone shows up, which is really sad.

[Jcm800]

Sorry man not intending to scare anyone, just chimed in about someone I know that is having a bad time. Seems to me that possible side effects kick in after people quit Finasteride more often. But hey I don't even take it so I can't comment on that with any conviction. Just wish we could see before taking it if we would be susceptible to any negative effects. After all many men take it and seem fine, and others suffer ill effects.

[Daneeka]

Okay just made an account to pitch in... this is purely personal opinion...

For about 3 years I've taken Propecia through the Boots hair loss program. Though these days you can just order it online and have it delivered. For me it undoubtedly helped. Hair loss pretty much stopped and became much thicker. I ceased worrying about it. Save for the nagging doubt that it Propecia might not be healthy.

There was a break of about 6 months after I moved to Edinburgh while money was tight, during which the loss returned. I tried to stave it off with Alpecin shampoo but that stuff makes my hair lifeless and scalp dry (must be the caffeine). I resumed taking it about 9 months ago, taking 1 pill every other day. The loss slowed down again, but after the break I guessed it would take longer to achieve the same cumulative effect at a lower dose.

Two weeks ago I stopped because of exactly the same symptoms. I'd noticed the libido thing quite a while ago, but it wasn't really an issue, I could still perform... It was the physiological effect of finding it harder to get an erection, less semen. I'd had slight ache in my testicles (pain in the b***ocks!) for a couple of days; maybe psychosomatic, maybe not. Regardless it's made me reassess.

I've been worried about it since then. Though morning wood has returned. And ejaculate is pretty much normal. Quantity wise I guess that depends on a lot of things, so I'm keeping an eye on it.

Sorry for all the detail, hopefully it's of use.

chrisis -I'd be interested to hear how you're getting on with the Minoxidil. Are you using Nizoral because it makes your scalp itch? Can't stand that! I've got some minoxidil on order, and have never used it. Did you experience accelerated loss at first? This never happened to me with Propecia -so it's a concern.

I definitely want kids so that's me done with Propecia...

[alex82]

Title pretty much sums up this topic. I always do a lot of research before posting a question, but I'd like some more feedback on this if possible.

Are there any guys who have experienced side effects on the recommended dosage of finasteride (1mg-1.25mg), and then successfully eliminated them with a lower dose?

If so:

1) What was your new dose?
2) What did you notice in terms of your hair?
3) Did the side effects go away completely? Or is it a compromise?

My story:

Started taking finasteride in November.
Side effects hit me in February: fewer erections, less volume and thinner consistency of semen, lower libido/interest in sex.
Stopped taking finasteride this week and waiting for my libido to return before considering my options. I am still applying minoxidil and using Nizoral shampoo, as I assume they aren't responsible for the sides.

Thanks

P.S. I don't really want a debate on whether finasteride causes side effects or not! I've heard both sides of the argument and I'm simply interested in a solution to my situation

Hi Chrisis

Looks like we're in a simmilar situation regards Fin and hairloss type. How are you getting on with the sides after stopping cold?

I started proscar (5ths 1mg) in beginning nov '11 and soon developed same sides as you after 1-2 months. Worst thing being the testicular pain and hard to get erection.

Reduced dosage gradually rather than stopping cold and now on approx 0.25mg every day as best I can measure Sides are better but not 100% I'd say compared to before Fin. Still shedding too

[ryan555]

I think some guys attribute everything that happens to them to this drug, especially those who anticipate side effects because they read these horror stories online. I experienced a pretty long bout of depression when I was younger before I ever took fin. In fact, I've had all kinds of weird, unexplained ailments during my life. Some of them happened before I took the drug, some happened during and then went away while I was still on it. The human body is not a perfect machine and things go wrong sometimes.

I am sure that this drug has more common side effects than originally stated by Merck. I had several side effects while on the drug but I never gave them a second thought because I never read any of these terrible stories and I assumed the drug to be safe. And I was fortunate that the effects all went away shortly after I stopped the drug. However, I can tell you for certain that many, MANY drugs on the market are much more dangerous than this one and that it is not uncommon to experience side effects long after you stop them. Common tranquilizers that Americans pop like candy can cause horrific neurological syndromes and take years to recover from. Anti-depressants can wreak havoc on people and make depression worse for months after stopping. Birth control pills cause hormonal side effects in almost 100% of women who take them. There is an entire class of antibiotic drugs that are widely known to cause severe neurological damage in 5 - 10% of people who take them and they are still on the market. There are dozens of drugs that are commonly prescribed that have "black box" warnings because they can cause deadly rejection syndromes. Many psychiatric drugs have long been known to cause permanent neurological twitches in most people who take them long term and they are still prescribed. And more people die from Tylenol every year than just about any drug on the market.

The point is, taking a drug is a serious decision and you generally have to accept some side effects. You have to weigh the cost vs. the benefit. However, in the scheme of things, this drug is really pretty benign for the vast majority of people who take it.

[chrisis]

Hi Chrisis

Looks like we're in a simmilar situation regards Fin and hairloss type. How are you getting on with the sides after stopping cold?

I started proscar (5ths 1mg) in beginning nov '11 and soon developed same sides as you after 1-2 months. Worst thing being the testicular pain and hard to get erection.

Reduced dosage gradually rather than stopping cold and now on approx 0.25mg every day as best I can measure Sides are better but not 100% I'd say compared to before Fin. Still shedding too

Still got my sides, which is weird because it's supposed to be "all in my head" so surely they should have stopped by now......................

Glad to hear your sides are better with 0.25mg dose! How much better are they? What do you notice in terms of the difference between 1mg and how you felt before taking it at all?

[khan]

Still got my sides, which is weird because it's supposed to be "all in my head" so surely they should have stopped by now......................

Glad to hear your sides are better with 0.25mg dose! How much better are they? What do you notice in terms of the difference between 1mg and how you felt before taking it at all?

Chris, I know it can be extremely tough, coping with side and waiting for them to go away. And maybe its not my place to comment here, since I haven't had any (yet), but just as a friendly suggestion, why don't you take some time off worrying. Hanging around these threads listening to people talk about them isn't going to make things better, its definitely not going to make side go away. I know someone who recovered in about 3 months time, and he said it was very gradual road to recovery.
Anyways, its up to you man, you know whats best.

[bob13]

I quit for 6 months after being on it for 5 years.
I had no difference except my hair started to thin.

Don't worry about it.
It's mostly in guys heads.