Is the shape of my head a big deal? (PICTURES)

[JOE-91]

Pirlo, I have indeed posted across many of the hair loss boards, before all the troubles with propecia started. To begin with I thought about it and thought I am probably just becoming a hypochondriac about everything and I have worried myself sick with everything to do with hair/ side effects etc etc. But after weeks/ and one whole month of living life normally (trying not to think about propecia or my body), things are not changing with my health and there are visibly symptoms.

Keepthehair, I don't think this is the forum to list my side effects because it would probably be classed as scare mungering but they have gotten very bad indeed. It is incredibly sad.

[JOE-91]

Which warning signs Joe?


Can you please explain in more detail what you are currentely experiencing also? Please!

My warning signs turned out to be things that most users on the hair loss boards pass off as normal and 'ride out':

- Absence of morning erections
- Lowered libido
- Watery semen and testicular pain
- Small rash on head (now gone finally, thank god)

Looking back I remember having a few nights where I went back on the drug after quitting once and having a very disturbed sleep, muscle twitches, dizziness and abdominal pain and constant urination. This now occurs fairly often unfortunately - I never paid any attention to those days/ nights when I was on the drug as it was only a few.

[JOE-91]

9 months off finasteride and I am beginning to sleep normally again, and function with my girlfriend, friends and family properly - thank god. Unfortunately, sexual side effects have only worsened. Even the physical appearance in that area has been affected. It truly is terrible. I urge anyone that is young and able to face shaving there head to avoid finasteride like the plague - I still have a quality of life (very good social life, studying for a degree at a good university) but purely because of what this drug has done to my body, even with a partial recovery, I still consider suicide often.

For those that have followed my posts on this forum you will see that I always shaved my head, I just wanted to try finasteride and it took just 5 months to ruin my life. I can still remember when Spencer Kobren told me that 'no morning erections' isn't an issue. I'm not an internet weirdo; I'm a fairly handsome, very outgoing, I have always enjoyed a healthy sex life since 15 (now 19) and people would never guess I have issues like this. There are many like me that propecia has affected too.

This is likely to be my last post here, I came on just because I am revisiting the sites that got me into this whole 'hairloss' conundrum. Vanity is where it started, and it has ruined my life.

[Locke]

9 months off finasteride and I am beginning to sleep normally again, and function with my girlfriend, friends and family properly - thank god. Unfortunately, sexual side effects have only worsened. Even the physical appearance in that area has been affected. It truly is terrible. I urge anyone that is young and able to face shaving there head to avoid finasteride like the plague - I still have a quality of life (very good social life, studying for a degree at a good university) but purely because of what this drug has done to my body, even with a partial recovery, I still consider suicide often.

For those that have followed my posts on this forum you will see that I always shaved my head, I just wanted to try finasteride and it took just 5 months to ruin my life. I can still remember when Spencer Kobren told me that 'no morning erections' isn't an issue. I'm not an internet weirdo; I'm a fairly handsome, very outgoing, I have always enjoyed a healthy sex life since 15 (now 19) and people would never guess I have issues like this. There are many like me that propecia has affected too.

This is likely to be my last post here, I came on just because I am revisiting the sites that got me into this whole 'hairloss' conundrum. Vanity is where it started, and it has ruined my life.

Hey Joe,

Could you please let us know in more detail what you're going through? We're all in the same boat here with hair loss and we'd like to support you through these times as best as we can.

Are you feeling that the sexual side effects are negatively impacting your relationship with your gf? Maybe send me a message if you don't want to post too much detail on here.

I hope your health returns to a state you're happy with.

[Mane Man]

Joe-I hope you only had passing thoughts of suicide but would never act upon it. You are 19 for god's sake. I know the fears of propecia sides from personal experience, and I know it can get scary. Just stay off of it for a while and just get used to having a shaved head. I swear we are our own worst critics. Just love yourself and be happy you are otherwise healthy. The sides will pass. Give it some time. I believe a lot of it is mental. Stop stressing and concentrate on what you can influence- work out, get your degree, go out and have fun! Life is too damn short and suicide is a slap in the face to all of those people who would give anything to be in your shoes- a healthy young man with a bright future. One of my favorite lines in Swingers is "You are so money and you don't even know it!". Trust me. You have plenty of ability to conquer the world. Hair is not a requirement. I hope to hear back from you and that you are done worrying about all this and are celebrating life. Good luck brother.

[JOE-91]

Joe-I hope you only had passing thoughts of suicide but would never act upon it. You are 19 for god's sake. I know the fears of propecia sides from personal experience, and I know it can get scary. Just stay off of it for a while and just get used to having a shaved head. I swear we are our own worst critics. Just love yourself and be happy you are otherwise healthy. The sides will pass. Give it some time. I believe a lot of it is mental. Stop stressing and concentrate on what you can influence- work out, get your degree, go out and have fun! Life is too damn short and suicide is a slap in the face to all of those people who would give anything to be in your shoes- a healthy young man with a bright future. One of my favorite lines in Swingers is "You are so money and you don't even know it!". Trust me. You have plenty of ability to conquer the world. Hair is not a requirement. I hope to hear back from you and that you are done worrying about all this and are celebrating life. Good luck brother.

Just to make it clear - I do NOT care about my hair anymore. It's funny because as I have came to university in London where there are so many young, attractive and very happy teenagers which could make a young balding male feel bad, I have actually now became totally confident in my appearance again since I started to notice my balding 2 years ago. I attract plenty of girls and anyone that meets me generally mentions that I look good with a shaved head. Of course, I would love to have hair but I really don't care about being bald anymore - I think I have gone through the process of many young bald men whereby it just take some time to get used to it and then they don't ever think about it.

My overall health is still fine I would say - I can still go out for a run and feel fast and youthful, day to day activities are absolutely fine and as I mentioned now I am 9 months off the drug, the OLD me is coming back and I am feeling confident and ambitious a lot of the time. I have had brief periods where sexually I have felt normal. But trust me this is not all in my head, it's not performance problems or sexual confidence I am talking about - it is the loss of morning erections, the loss of sex drive, penile shrinkage, and worsening psoriasis (which I do not directly blame finasteride for, but I know that poor hormonal functioning can make it worse, in particular thyroid).

Thank you for your concerns, I am hoping that naturally I can get better, even though there are many members on propeciahelp that have waited years. I have no idea what this drug does - partial androgen sensitivity, neurotransmitter damage, or just plain and simple messing up your hormones but it's no joke and it is very hard to seek help.

[Winston]

The mind is an extremely powerful thing when it comes to sex. The fact that you say that you feel sexually normal at times says to me that your sexual issues are most likely all in your head. Unfortunately when it comes to sex, our arousal or lack there of stems from our minds. If the slightest bit of performance doubt enters our heads we will have sexual difficulties. Even if you believe you are not having performance doubts your subconscious mind is most likely taking over. You should have your girlfriend video tape you when you’re sleeping to see if at any time during the night you have an erection. I bet 10 to 1 that you will.

[JOE-91]

The mind is an extremely powerful thing when it comes to sex. The fact that you say that you feel sexually normal at times says to me that your sexual issues are most likely all in your head. Unfortunately when it comes to sex, our arousal or lack there of stems from our minds. If the slightest bit of performance doubt enters our heads we will have sexual difficulties. Even if you believe you are not having performance doubts your subconscious mind is most likely taking over. You should have your girlfriend video tape you when you’re sleeping to see if at any time during the night you have an erection. I bet 10 to 1 that you will.

No, I clearly said that there HAVE been times where I have felt recovered but there have not been many of such occasions. This has nothing to do with performance, or how I perform in 'the sack'. Loss of morning erections, flaccid penile shrinkage and numbness are all PHYSICAL side effects. If it were problems maintaining erection alone, of course I would have to consider that mentally there is something wrong.

It's no surprise to me that the serious side effects of finasteride have been written off on this forum..

On a more positive note, as I previously mentioned; my sleep is improving, I am having vivid dreams, and I can work properly again and feel very happy so who knows what the next year may hold..

[JOE-91]

The BBC!!! have done a report on permanent finasteride side effects..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12040303

[Mane Man]

Not a whole lot of substance in that article. I already made the personal decision not to take propecia (after feeling some undesired sides after a month) since I'd rather be bald and functioning normal than keep all my hair and have possible issues. I'd like to see some more studies that prove or disprove the link of propecia to sexual side effects. Either way, I'm done experimenting on myself. I have no issue with people going forward with propecia for themselves. Their call.

[JOE-91]

Still suffering worse than ever. Reading back through my old posts seemed completely surreal.

[Mane Man]

Hi Joe,

I haven't been on here in a long while either. I saw your post since I'm subscribed to this thread. I'm sorry to hear about your hair loss and can somewhat relate since I am losing more hair too- though I'm older than you. I'n not thrilled about losing hair (who is?) but I find the less time I spend obsessing with it and just accepting it, the better I am. I admit that I have turned into gym guy and work out more than I ever did. Part of it admittingly is to look my best despite my hair loss. The other part, is that i just turned 36 and want to be my best for my newborn daughter. I became a first time parent somewhat late in the game and just want to live a long healthy life for her. My advice to anyone who can live with their hair loss is to just accept yourself and enjoy life. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for that miracle cure, but so far, slowly losing my hair is my decision after exploring the somewhat limited options out there. I use a healthy shampoo- that's it.

[JOE-91]

There has been a misunderstanding. I do NOT care about my hair anymore, i shave my head to the skin every 3 days and actually quite like it.

Fincar (finasteride) has left me with complete impotence amongst other mental and physical side effects.

Basically, life as i knew it before is over.

[Buckerine11]

There has been a misunderstanding. I do NOT care about my hair anymore, i shave my head to the skin every 3 days and actually quite like it.

Fincar (finasteride) has left me with complete impotence amongst other mental and physical side effects.

Basically, life as i knew it before is over.

I'm sorry this happened to you, man. I had side effects too from finasteride, but they slowly improved over the course of months. Have you had any improvement at all since then?