Fear of Finasteride

[25 going on 65]

I have been trying, and am having difficult times finding conclusive studies on the safety of the drug. There have been 8 pages of bickering and nothing conclusive from you guys. Can any of you substantiate your claims?

Talking about fin?
Just Google it, this drug has been studied & studied & studied by different universities/companies. You might get gyno, ED, reduced libido, less ejaculate, etc. They might persist for awhile after you quit (except gyno which requires surgery once it sets in)
Also you might have ball ache for the first few weeks

This is far from a mysterious drug, people have been on it for 20 years now. Even if it suddenly kills you after 25 years it would basically be worth it to not go bald as a young male
Good luck w/ your decision

[Notcoolanymore]

Talking about fin?
Just Google it, this drug has been studied & studied & studied by different universities/companies. You might get gyno, ED, reduced libido, less ejaculate, etc. They might persist for awhile after you quit (except gyno which requires surgery once it sets in)
Also you might have ball ache for the first few weeks

This is far from a mysterious drug, people have been on it for 20 years now. Even if it suddenly kills you after 25 years it would basically be worth it to not go bald as a young male
Good luck w/ your decision

This and that. There are plenty of studies that have been done, along with over 2 decades of use. You aren't going to get very many unbiased opinions here unfortunately. You have the guys for using it: have had success with finasteride with little or no side effects. You have the guys against it: have used it and got sides, or are too afraid to give it a try or stay on it. My recommendation would be to do what I did: go online and research sides, clinical studies and talk to your doctor about the drugs safety, then make your decision based on that info.

[Jcm800]

Of all the sides, gynaecomastia and mental issues would worry me the most. And of course penile shrinkage.. I think I'd rather go bald than suffer those..

But, I'm seeing a urologist on Friday, maybe he can shed some light on what he thinks I should do, perhaps I'll be prescribed Avodart anyway, have to see.

[mpb47]

If you are on the line about it you may consider doing what some of have done and that is use a very low dosage and or frequency of dosage.

A small dosage seems to have halted my balding with no sides so far.

Sex drive is fine and energy level is fine. I used to be severely overweight and lost it all by running and propecia has not made me fat, though I have slipped a bit but that is my fault by overeating. Speaking of which, I have somewhat inadvertently dis-proven another crazy side I have heard about.

A few months back a friend that was in my weight loss support group contacted me to asked how I had been doing. I was honest and told her that I had gained about 20 of it back-still not bad considering at one time I was about 100 pounds overweight. She admitted she had gained about 10-12 of hers back.
We both agreed that we had come to far to to let it go.
We both agreed to get back on track. To stay motivated, I promised her I would stop shaving until the 20 was gone. I was half way there at Thanksgiving but at Christmas I was around a lot of relatives and food,plus I got sick so I slipped a bit. Bottom line is propecia did not hinder my beard from growing in anyway..in fact I am getting silly duck dynasty comments from friends.
On a more positive note, despite what I have heard, I have got a lot of positive comments from women about my "big" beard so I may keep it after the 20 is gone.

So far propecia is working for me and not causing any problems, but I don't blame anyone for being scared as the same thing happened to me years ago, I am just sorry I waited so long. But I am glad I hedged my bets, so to speak and went on a low dosage as it seems to be working for me.

[Jcm800]

Thanks mpb47, remind me please, what dosage and frequency are you on?

[mpb47]

Thanks mpb47, remind me please, what dosage and frequency are you on?

Well for the first month it was .25mg once a week. After that i went to 2x a week. I am staying here for now, but will increase if needed.

[Notcoolanymore]

Well for the first month it was .25mg once a week. After that i went to 2x a week. I am staying here for now, but will increase if needed.

If I ever started getting sides, I would micro dose just like you do. I would rather try that before giving up on the drug completely. Bottom line, fin works and unfortunately it is one of the very few things that does.