22 yr old looking for advice

[Kalam]

Hey, in case anyone is interested I figured I would post an update. I just had my doctor's appointment and he proscribed me the generic form of Propecia. I feel like if I experience side effects and have to stop taking it then I'm doomed to go bald within a few years since there aren't too many alternatives so fingers crossed lol. The doctor seemed to think the chance of there being any side effects is very small though and his other patients usually haven't complained about them.

By the way, I didn't realize how small the pills would be and I'm sure I won't be able to cut them into 5 completely even pieces. It isn't too big a deal if some are bigger than others right? Just wanted to make sure...

[mattj]

Is it the 5mg 'Proscar' version? I think most guys cut the pill into quarters and take 1.25mg per day. That's what I do. If you were prescribed 1mg 'Propecia' then you don't need to do any cutting.

[UKresponder]

I actually suffered strong side effects from propecia shut down my sex drive completely and my semen just dried up and I had anaorgasmia.

I then wen t of it for 3-4 months and tried a diff approach that of titrating myself up slowly 1 tablet more a week over 7 weeks to get up tp 1 tablet a day.

e.g.
week 1 1 tab
week 2 2 tabs say mon - thurs
week 3 3 tabsl - mon -wed - fri etc

By doing it this way I had no side effects no loss in semen volume and it working very well When you are playing around with hormones you need a gentle approach, the body being hit by such a strong inhibitor is naturally prone to get a shock and side effects. Since propecia is a long term play why not phase your self in if your gonna get the sides even with a titrated effort you gonna get thme and at least it takes the the 'what if' factor out

[mattj]

Interesting strategy. Are you now up to the same dosage (including frequency) that you were on when you experienced the side effects?

[Kalam]

Hmm I guess I'll try that, thanks for the tip. I don't know if it is the Proscar version but the bottle says Finasteride 5mg, is that different?

Anyway he said to cut it up to 5th's as opposed to quarters so I think I'll try to stick with the 5th's for now especially since I'm worried about side effects.

I find it a little strange that the doc seemed to really downplay the possible side effects compared to what I've read here and elsewhere online.

[bluewater]

I also have the 5mg of finisteride. It is almost impossible to cut those little buggers ( mine are elongated kind of more rectangle than round) into 5ths even using a pill cutter. I cut them in half and take 2.5mg M, W, F , that would be three times a week, skipping the weekends. If you do the math it comes out to 7.5mg a week, slightly above the 1mg per day. Seems to work for me. Been doing it for years. Haven't noticed any new growth. Best I can tell it has either slowed dramatically and or totally stooped any additional receding.

[Mr. 4000]

do not get surgery, you are too young for this bullchit

[UKresponder]

Interesting strategy. Are you now up to the same dosage (including frequency) that you were on when you experienced the side effects?

Yes back to normal dosing and ZERO side effects and libido as normal. Incidently I work out a lot and take ZMA ( zinc and magnesium ) about 30mg and it does increase your libido very well. So far the finasteride has really closed up that crown and stooped any shedding. I can'r believe the stark difference on how I first responded to it now.