Anyone take Propecia Long Term & Quit w/out Problems

[ryan555]

Thanks Ryan - great to hear from someone who took this longterm like me. I have been on since it was approved (~13 years). I'm like you for the most part - no problems at all really with the drug over that long period (dry skin and few other things at the end). Just curious, since you weren't having problems, why DID you decide to stop taking it?

I stopped because I developed an unrelated health issue and my doctor wanted me off all medications while I am recovering.

Did you have ANY adjustment period at all when you quit? - after all, your body goes through a hormonal shift (good thing) when the DHT is no longer suppressed. For me, I have noticed some testicle pain (particularly after sex)that is troubling, but hopefully is just my body just re-adjusting.... Did you quit cold-turkey?

Yes, I stopped cold turkey. The only adjustment was that I think my testosterone spiked for about a week. My sex drive was off the charts as I recall and I felt a little "amped" up.

When you say your hormone levels went back to normal - did you check them or did you just know by the way you felt?

Yes, I had all my hormones checked before I stopped, one week after and one month after because I was paranoid after reading all the hysteria online. My testosterone went from about 700 while taking the finasteride, up to over 1,000 a week later, and then finally back down to about 650 afterward due to the decrease in free testosterone caused by the conversion of DHT. I had read that finasteride actually increases your testosterone levels a little bit so this was an expected outcome. I also saw my DHT level creep up from about 15 before to 25 at one week off and about 70 after a month (a normal level).

Thanks for your input. I am at week 7 now without and hoping I recovery well...

Are you having side effects other than the pain after sex? It sounds like you're doing just fine. Trust me, if you were having some kind of hypogonadism or some of the other awful symptoms people talk about having, you would know it for sure. And you are not going to start having bad symptoms at 7 weeks off if you don't already have them.

I thought of two other side effects from the drug that became apparent only after stopping and having them reverse. First, I have noticed a definite increase in body hair since I stopped. Second, I have a stronger urine flow now that I'm off. That one still seems strange to me because the drug is supposed to shrink your prostate and should therefore have the opposite effect but I can say with certainty than this was the case for me.