Wanting to get my propecia taking monitored...

[Aznstan]

Hi guys. This question might be geared more toward those in London England but any advice is helpful!

Propecia was quite successful for me, causing a lot of thickness and increased growth speed. I took it for 6 months.

I stopped taking propecia because i was experiencing some moderate sexual side effects. I've been off it for more than a year now and I've only recovered to about 75% of my physical/sexual well-being pre-propecia. I feel like if I can be okay with my current state, then being on propecia again with a thick head of hair is an okay trade off.

Now I want to closely monitor my propecia taking this time around and get a doctor supervising the whole thing. The first time I took it i regret not getting blood work done before I started taking it so I'll now never know what my original blood and testosterone levels were like.
I'd like to go back on propecia now but I want to get blood work done to see what my testosterone levels are like and whether there might be any dietary or hormonal things affecting my current hairloss as well.

So my questions are: how do I go about getting a bloodwork done in London being a new resident with no current doctor I'm seeing? My job does have a medical plan so I can see private doctor.

Does anyone recommend any doctors in London? Should I be looking for hair loss doctors or regular physicians for this request?

Thanks for reading!

[mattj]

If you bring up the issue of continued side effects after quitting Propecia then an NHS doctor would probably be open to carrying out the tests to investigate that. I doubt if you'd have any trouble getting at least the first set of tests done. If going private then I see no problems at all as you're paying. If you're looking for a range of different tests relating to hormones then you should look for an endocrinologist.

[PropeciaVictim]

Given you have already tried Propecia, developed side effects, and not fully recovered once you stopped the drug I would advise you it is a very bad idea to get back on the drug. You are probably at much higher risk for developing serious persistent side effects from the drug but it is your choice if you want to risk this.

As you probably know by now, the NHS is not a very effective/efficient health care facility but even if you get hormone levels tested you won't be able to test some of the chemicals affected by Propecia (ie neurosteroids). It is your choice however.

[Aznstan]

Thanks for the reply. Could someone please explain to me what the NHS is?
Is there a thread on this forum that lists what tests you should get done for checking hormone levels that Propecia would affect?

[mattj]

The NHS is the National Health Service. The free medical care every citizen gets.

You said you're a new resident without a doctor and will need to go private. When going private you have more options as there aren't the same budget constraints, so you're more likely to get what you want from a doctor.