Anyone take Propecia Long Term & Quit w/out Problems

[blakes33]

I have never heard of anyone developing side effects after stopping when they had no side effects on the drug. I suppose anything is possible, but it is certainly not "many" men who experience this. I stopped almost 2 years ago after being on the drug for 12 years. All my hormone levels went back to where they are supposed to be as soon as I quit. A few days after I stopped the drug, I noticed slightly improved sexual performance and the return of morning erections. I guess I lost these while taking the pill and never even realized it.

As far as hair loss goes, I noticed some increased shedding starting a couple of months after I stopped and lasting several months. Nearly two years later, my hairline has thinned some, but I am certainly not bald as I thought I would be.

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?

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?

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

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

[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.

[blakes33]

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).



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.

Ryan,

I had my hormone levels checked also - at 5 weeks out and everything looked good according to my Urologist. Testosterone was 564.

Yes, I am having some side effects like some difficulty with libido, getting good erection, etc. but I have been worried A LOT (from reading forums and hysteria as you mentioned) so I do believe (and hope) that this is psychological. The ONLY possibility it seems for anything to have gone wrong would have to have been after 5 weeks - and from what I have read of the horror stories most people know they have issues by 5 weeks out (most seem to know in the first couple to 3 weeks...).

I am actually considering going back on propecia and weening off VERY slowly. After all, I wasn't having ANY issues when I was taking.... IF my hormones are heading for a "crash" i would think the drug might offer some protection against it.... long enough then to figure out what to do/ ween off slowly to let my body adjust over longer period.

I would however like to have my levels checked again - What type of doctor checked your levels? How did you convince him/here to check three times like that in the course of only 1 month!!?? Lastly, did insurance pay or did you have to pay out of pocket to get that many in that short of time? (wish I knew of a lab i could walk up and tell them what to test for for couple hundred bucks...)