Propecia/Finasteride sides update - doctor visit

[mpb47]

Thanks for the info. I'm also one of the older guys around here, curious as to how it would benefit. If at all. I'm 42 started losing hair at around 28 yrs old, it's only now becoming obvious. Luckily it's been a slow loss, but I'm heading for doom all the same.

Mine has also been very very slow , except when it initially started to thin in back @ 36. I started on propecia shortly before I turned 38. My mpb follows my mothers side to the T. And by that , I mean each stage starts at about the same age and the pattern is even the same. I have seen a couple of pics of my uncle when he was 38 and at that time our thin spots looked the same...oval shaped rather than a circle that is more typical. Now 10 years later I am much better off than he was 10 years later as there were no meds back then. Propecia got me through a few years of aggressive mpb.

So would I do it again? Yes but I would use a much smaller amount and only use it a 2-3 times a week. Good luck!

[chrisis]

Thanks for your thoughts and for your help everyone. I'm getting a blood test tomorrow and I plan to ask the nurse if he/she can recommend a good doctor at my surgery - I bet they'll have an idea. Then I'll book another appointment, see what my bloods say and push for a referral to an endocrinologist.

I'll keep this thread updated, and feel free to get in touch if anyone else is in the same position or has suggestions.

[clandestine]

We're always here for support if you need it chrisis. Good luck with the bloodwork, and be sure to update.

[sfoch]

Doug546: I did use the 0.25 mg for about 2 mos after losing libido and erectile function completely on 1-1.25 mg daily. The 0.25 mg suppresses DHT at about 79% as effectively as 1 mg. That is great news except that you are still statistically likely to get most of the libido loss. Personally if I didn't get such terrible side effects (which I am still plagued with 11 mos on), I probably would have stayed on 0.25 mg to minimize adverse events which you may get immediately or down the road. It is a gamble but if you are on 1 mg with ED and libido loss you may want to taper down to the 0.25 mg for about 4-6 weeks (enough time to differentially adjust DHT suppression from 1 mg) and see if the side effects improve or (better yet) go away. I am bummed that I couldn't stay on Propecia because it is the most effective treatment by far. Everything else is spitting in the tank for me :-(

[chrisis]

We're always here for support if you need it chrisis. Good luck with the bloodwork, and be sure to update.

Thanks clandestine. I had a blood test today. I asked the nurse if she could recommend any good doctors and she empathised with the bad experience I had with the first doctor. It'll take until next week to get bloods analysed so I booked in with one of the docs she recommended next Friday. Will update accordingly.

[Papillion]

I've recently decided to look into my options regarding finasteride since experiencing sides myself and came across this thread.
I don't bother too much with these forums as a rule, I took the approach that I had done all I could (started on propecia a decade or so ago and had a transplant 18 months ago) and no amount of searching and endless attempts at de-crypting the hairloss problem looking for break throughs would do me much good.
Like others have mentioned I balanced potential sides against the fact I had to do something then, and as the years have progressed (36 now) I've moved from having a hairloss problem and a decent libido and function, to having ostensibly as much hair as I'm happy with (Dr Feller did a good job and the propecia really has stopped the loss) but have had nearly 2 years of ED to the extent that I'm now looking at my options.
I would have made a good lab rat, I've barely missed a dose in a decade and just went off and got on with things and now I'm the result of long term use that no doubt they'd need experience of.
I have empathy with the posters that are having similar problems but having simply taken the risk on the basis that I was buying time I generally only took a passing interest at potential sides etc. it now has my full attention as you'd expect, but I query the suggestion of lowering does to 25%, I was under the impression that missing even the occasional day undid much of the benefit of using it, is that not actually the case?
I'm at a place now where I'm taking it every other day while I decide whether to have a sabbatical or not, I'm also contemplating seeing the doc but when I started on it they were very reluctant to let me have it in the first place, I think they were aware this may occur and that hairloss seems to some rather fickle compared to 'proper' illness.
At 36 I didn't expect I'd be in the position to be enquiring after Viagra either. I know only what is generally known about it, but has anyone gone down this route and what was the outcome?
Ill be following ppls experiences with interest, good luck all.

[chrisis]

Interesting that you mention a "passing interest" in sides that then got your full attention when you suffered them. That's exactly how it happened for me. And yet, we have people dismissing sides as psychological. Kinda hard for them not to become part of your thinking when you start to exhibit symptoms, but clearly neither of us were anxious about them prior to taking the drug. This kills their argument.

[StayThick]

I'm just fortunate I am almost 100% myself after taking that drug for a year. It's been 10 months since I last popped a Propecia pill and still am recovering.

I just feel fortunate my body fought to become "normal" again. I'm 27 and suffered a ton of sides from Propecia. Most severe were belly fat and overall weight gain, starting of gyno (very alarming), stuttering and speech issues, brain fog, and low libido and lost of morning erections.

Everything has returned to normal after 10 months minus the puffy nip thing. I hope this goes away and was told it could take over a year for that to subside. Horrible drug Propecia is. I'll go bald before ever touching that again.

[z06guy]

Hope you get better. Good luck bro

[Jcm800]

Hope you get better. Good luck bro

How's it going for you, with Fin dude?

[z06guy]

How's it going for you, with Fin dude?

I've been on 0.5mg for a bit over a month. I've noticed a lot of hairs going into the telogen phase (bulbs on the end of hair) and many many thin hairs from all over the scalp falling out lately. No libido problems or any other issues I've read about online. (knock on wood) I don't want to hijack chris's thread talking about my progress though

Here's my progress thread if you're interested. I'll be sure to keep it updated, for better or for worse. http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11004

[custards]

I just feel fortunate my body fought to become "normal" again. I'm 27 and suffered a ton of sides from Propecia. Most severe were belly fat and overall weight gain, starting of gyno (very alarming), stuttering and speech issues, brain fog, and low libido and lost of morning erections.

Hey, mostly just posting this in the hope you'll feel better about decisions/regrets etc. I'm 28 and I've experienced all of those things during the years since I noticed balding starting. The thing is I've never touched propecia. I've avoided it because of potential side effects. But these things can happen anyway and are probably somewhat related to aging, which is also somewhat related to balding. Not trying to tell you it's not sides, but I'm just saying that bad things can still happen regardless of how good our choices are...

[StayThick]

Hey, mostly just posting this in the hope you'll feel better about decisions/regrets etc. I'm 28 and I've experienced all of those things during the years since I noticed balding starting. The thing is I've never touched propecia. I've avoided it because of potential side effects. But these things can happen anyway and are probably somewhat related to aging, which is also somewhat related to balding. Not trying to tell you it's not sides, but I'm just saying that bad things can still happen regardless of how good our choices are...

Custard, I respectfully 100% disagree with everything you just said. I personally was a 25/26 year old athlete when I first started Propecia. I experienced obvious sides within the first week, but stuck with it because many on the forums explained your body needs to adjust. The frustrating part was the other more serious sides that creeped up gradually over time. Morning erections disappeared after 2 weeks of use..thought this would change back to normal in time, but NO they did not. Again, this has nothing to do with age. I was still a young, athletic guy that NEVER had that issue until while on the drug. After a few months, I started noticing unusual weight gain, side belly fat around my mid-section. Dude I have always had a six-pack and nothing changed gym wise (went 5 days a week)..the only other variable was Propecia. And it was weird type of weight gain..like it went straight to my waist and thighs like a women. I figured this was excess Estrogen floating around.

I then started noticing speech issues, having trouble getting words out clear, stuttering. This has nothing to do with "aging" or "balding." Then my puffy nip situation started...somebody commented on my chest at the beach and asked if I stopped working out because my chest looked "flabby" and "boob-like." I quickly realized my body was changing before my eyes and it wasn't because I was 1 year older..it was clear as day Propecia was the culprit.

I could go on and on with the gradual sides I got, but the one that made me quit were the loss of morning erections, semi hard-erections, weight gain, and comments on my puffy nips. I quit instantly (1 year on drug). Within the first 2 months my raging boners came back (stronger then ever currently), erections firm as stone, and oddly enough all that weird weight around my chest, mid-section, and thighs started burning off. (Maintained same workout regimen). Slowly, but surely the puffy nips starting shrinking, but that is the only thing not 100% normal yet.

So, NO, balding did not cause any of the above sides. Propecia DID. Once Propecia usage was ceased, EVERYTHING went back to normal, while some took longer then others. Overall, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. At 27, you should NOT be having erection problems, puffy nips, unusual weight gain once starting a drug. Especially if you are a athlete like me. That drug is and will always be poison. Those that claim NO SIDES are just ones I believe forgot how they felt and were prior to the drug. These sides will creep on you and lose yourself and how you felt prior. It's really unbelievable the role DHT plays in the body beyond hair loss. I was just fortunate to have a group of friends point out many of those sides for me. Never again will I go near it or alter my DHT levels.

[Papillion]

I never imagined I'd be conversing of forums about erections, but the odd thing for me is like I just read 'semi erections'. Very much like neither the tip gets going nor does the rest get completely solid, they are also awkward to attain and slip away easily.
I'm deffo cutting down to half tabs to see what happens. I read that Merck were asked to clarify dosage, whether smaller concentrations would be just as efficient, but all they said allegedly was 0.01grammes wasn't enough.
To me that just seems insidious, like they won't let on for fear of people cutting tabs in half and cutting their profits.

[StayThick]

I never imagined I'd be conversing of forums about erections, but the odd thing for me is like I just read 'semi erections'. Very much like neither the tip gets going nor does the rest get completely solid, they are also awkward to attain and slip away easily.
I'm deffo cutting down to half tabs to see what happens. I read that Merck were asked to clarify dosage, whether smaller concentrations would be just as efficient, but all they said allegedly was 0.01grammes wasn't enough.
To me that just seems insidious, like they won't let on for fear of people cutting tabs in half and cutting their profits.

Papillion, by all means try the drug, which it sounds like you are...but keep in mind cutting the dosage WILL NOT eliminate sides. I can only base that off my personal experience, as I cut my dosage to .5mg EOD after weight gain and puffy nips creeped it's head 8 months in. So for 4 months I did .5mg EOD and nothing changed. NADA.

Keep that in mind, but like I did, I made a choice with all things considered and continued my usage. I learned the hard way, but recovered. Choice is ultimately yours.