Artista and Finasteride

[Artista]

Its great to hear from you PinotQ ! Its been too long since last we spoke.
How are things with you and your hair treatments?
Thank you for your positive comment my friend.
PinotQ, I will be meeting with Dr. Wesley this coming April 2015 out in NYC.

Id like to also add that my hair density (hair thickness) due to Finasteride has truly increased.

As I have said before, I do not expect to get back a full head of hair. I am satisfied with my hair's improvements though.
Being REALISTIC is so very IMPORTANT to all of us.

[Notcoolanymore]

As I have said before, I do not expect to get back a full head of hair. I am satisfied with my hair's improvements though.
Being REALISTIC is so very IMPORTANT to all of us.

Definite improvement.

You are right about being realistic. My hair is still pretty thin, but considering the condition of my hair when I started treatment and the years I left it untreated, I am happy with my results. Hopefully I can hold onto my hair for a few years.

[Artista]

Notcool' THANK YOU for your response. Very appreciated!

We are both on the same 'boat' ~~lol...what you said just now about your hair loss history and actions are the same as mine. I feel that you WILL hold onto your hair bro!
I dont see why you wouldnt.
We have been on Fin' for almost the same length of time, right?

[Notcoolanymore]

I have a little more time then you do. I am at about 20 months now. I think I am pretty much done with getting regrowth, although I have heard spencer and joe tillman mention that you can see regrowth beyond 1.5 years. We will see, but I really cant complain. I have grown my hair out a bit and at least can style it now. If I am brave enough, I might post pics with it grown out. I am just a bit hesitant. I am really not in the mood for the 20 year olds that will say "If my hair was that bad, I would just shave it".

[Artista]

I was hesitant too for a couple of reasons but I finally decided to do this to see what others might say, and maybe this thread would help others as well. Thats why I have been coming on to here.
Yes of course some 20+ year olds would possibly react in a negatively emotional light, but thats OK with me if they do.

[Artista]

I think that I will post a few more recent pictures taken at home.

[Artista]

Hello everyone,
I had mentioned this on one of the other threads recently.
These days my hair looks to have so much more DENSITY now.
When I wake up in the morning and while in the bathroom looking in the mirror, my hair's volume appears to be so much better than before.
Its looking relatively better! (Im pleasantly surprised)
Now I am not trying to say that I have a full head of hair--lol. Of course not.

My hair's realistic and ongoing improvements from taking 1mg per day of Finasteride IS still happening with NO bad side-effects to this day.
Ive been on Finasteride 1mg per day for 19 months now.

[Trenblastoise]

Now, there might be there just isn't enough studies, or they aren't done with enough detail for my satisfaction.



http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/...&utm_content=2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24708055
http://link.springer.com/article/10....257-014-0077-5
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24848508

One of these links is about FDA:

"...announced changes to the professional labels for Propecia (finasteride 1 mg) and Proscar (finasteride 5 mg) to expand the list of sexual adverse events reported to FDA as some of these events have been reported to continue after the drug is no longer being used (note that erectile dysfunction after stopping use of these drugs was added as a known event in 2011). The new label changes include:

* A revision to the Propecia label to include libido disorders, ejaculation disorders, and orgasm disorders that continued after discontinuation of the drug.

* A revision to the Proscar label to include decreased libido that continued after discontinuation of the drug.

* A revision to both the Propecia and Proscar labels to include a description of reports of male infertility and/or poor semen quality that normalized or improved after drug discontinuation."



Here is one finding"not significantly different from placebo" in regards to sexual dysfunction
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23768246



Based on this, it does worry me to advocate for the drug, I suppose especially without mentioning potential dangerous side effects. It seems to me several on this forum are guilty of just saying "Use this". It is up to the doctor to inform of the side effects ultimately, I just think it is strange to advocate for something without mentioning risks. Not saying I am right.



I wanted to say something on sensitivity of the penis, having read lots of circumcision/Male Genital Mutilation I have encountered several who reports they have had no loss in sensitivity. This does worry me, and should worry you too on how people report sensitivity. The Foreskin contains the most sensitive parts of the penis, yet these don't manage to recognize the loss.

(2006, monofilament touch-test: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...685.x/abstract -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDh63jVkNVg?
The PDF: http://www.nocirc.org/touch-test/bju_6685.pdf
Posted on NCBI as well: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...?dopt=Abstract

1996, autopsy: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...C8D2374.f03t01
Posted on NCBI as well: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8800902
Full study: http://www.jpedsurg.org/article/S002...213-4/abstract)



With that said. If your sensitivity is already low(Or not), having it reduced more and slowly over time - tho some report it quickly. It can be very hard to document, especially given I doubt they do monofilament touch-test but rather just ask the patients. There are studies that will claim the opposite, tho these are in fact demonstrably incorrect.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=9091693
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=17419812
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=18086100



Do you got any numbers/studies on this I should see, regarding finateride and sexual sensitivity and libido? It does bother me somewhat that most of these studies are done in countries with high circumcision rates with bias, tho hopefully it is not taken into their propecia evaluation. Is there any studies with empirical demonstrable evidence that concludes no loss in sensitivity, with an actual measurement?

Just trying to get some more information, thanks for the time and cooperation. If anything I have put out here is incorrect, please correct me.

[Notcoolanymore]

Based on this, it does worry me to advocate for the drug, I suppose especially without mentioning potential dangerous side effects. It seems to me several on this forum are guilty of just saying "Use this". It is up to the doctor to inform of the side effects ultimately, I just think it is strange to advocate for something without mentioning risks. Not saying I am right.

I don't want to soil Artista's thread with yet another propecia debate, but I have something to say so I will apologize to Artista in advance.

Artista is having success on finasteride. He has every right to come on here an give people his experience on the drug. Just like all the guys that give their "I've taken propecia once and now I've got gyno and permanent ED" experiences. He is not shoving drugs down anybodies throats or telling guys to be careless about taking it. You call us advocates, why because we don't comment in every thread that propecia can cause this huge list of sides? We tell guys what has worked for us and leave it up to them to decide whether or not they want to take the drug. Do we really have to tell people about sides? Really, I could see that argument being made maybe 5 or 10 years ago, but are people really clueless about fin sides? People already come here scared to death of sides, I am pretty sure they know more than I could tell them.

I get that you are afraid to treat your hair loss and that is fine. You make some good points. Fin has the potential to mess you up, I will never deny that. Prescription drugs will always have that potential. Even the crap that you guys are discussing in the cutting edge section has the potential for sides, and believe me there will be plenty of those stories soon enough. We take finasteride and it has worked wonders for us. You are deathly afraid of treatments so you will do nothing and unfortunately continue to lose your hair. I respect the decision you have made and you should show the same amount of respect for people that are treating their hair loss. Maybe one day there will be a treatment that is 100% safe that you will feel comfortable to use and you can possibly save your hair. In the mean time we have finasteride and minoxidil. Use those treatments or go bald.

Sorry for that Artista.

[Jossie13]

Hi, Thank you for sharing...FB