Log: Just took my first dose of Finasteride

[sighsigh]

I'm almost 21. Just two months ago I discovered my hairline has minor recession. It's nothing I can't live with at the moment, but I know it's a sign of things to come. Every male on my mother's side of the family suffers from significant MPB. My father's side is pretty good, however. But, unfortunately, it looks like I will suffer from MPB in my lifetime.

Anyways, I took my first 1 mg does of Finasteride tonight. I'll be keeping a careful watch for sexual side effects. I hope to God there won't be any significant ones, because there don't seem to be any alternative treatments to Finasteride that have comparable effectiveness.

Here we go. Good luck to all.

[Maradona]

I'm almost 21. Just two months ago I discovered my hairline had underwent minor recession. It's nothing I can't live with at the moment, but I know it's a sign of things to come. Every male on my mother's side of the family suffers from significant MPB. My father's side is pretty good, however. But, unfortunately, it looks like I will suffer from MPB in my lifetime.

Anyways, I took my first 1 mg does of Finasteride tonight. I'll be keeping a careful watch for sexual side effects. I hope to God there won't be any significant ones, because there don't seem to be any alternative treatments to Finasteride that have comparable effectiveness.

Here we go. Good luck to all.

Get away from forums. Some sides are psychosomatic. Don't even think about sides. Only come back if something serious happens.

Good luck bro.

That was my mistake with fin, too much forum browsing.

[sighsigh]

I actually wanted to say something about all the talk about finasteride's potential for permanent sexual side effects.

Every year, tens of millions of people in the US take SSRIs. The rate of sexual side effects for SSRIs are not a measly ~2%, but rather 20% to 40%. The potential for these side effects to be permanent is significant enough that there is even a Wikipedia page devoted to the issue. It seems that tens of millions of people, and all their doctors, decided it was worth the risk to take a medication that has a SIGNIFICANTLY higher chance of harm than finasteride.

This is not an argument against those who tout the harm finasteride can cause. It is simply an observation. It may help to put things in perspective.

I myself once had to take SSRIs for a few months due to an anxiety issue. And yes, I got a bad sexual side effect on them (significant delayed ejaculation). But, for me, the side effect went away as quickly as it came when I stopped the medication.

Perhaps it is because of my experience with SSRIs that the fear-mongering of 2% potential for sexual sides of finasteride (which means, what... like 0.1% for permanent sexual sides?) doesn't really worry me in the way it worries other people on this board. I am not worried about the side effects being permanent. I AM, however, worried about the side effects forcing me to stop taking finasteride, which would mean I could be a very bald man in several years to come.

[chrisis]

It would have been better to start at a lower dose in my opinion. You got this far in life without taking even 0mg, and 0.25mg is close to being as effective as 1mg.

[iHope]

It would have been better to start at a lower dose in my opinion. You got this far in life without taking even 0mg, and 0.25mg is close to being as effective as 1mg.

This something I also wanted to ask.... to perhaps start with really small dose and then increase?

[chrisis]

This something I also wanted to ask.... to perhaps start with really small dose and then increase?

Absolutely yes. It's simply being cautious. Given the publicised side effects, which I've personally experienced, why jump in with two feet? I'd go with 0.25mg for a considerable time before thinking of upping. Some people stay on 0.25mg indefinitely, especially if they have reason to believe they will get sides or perhaps they want the benefits of Propecia, but while limiting the risk of side effects as much as possible.

I honestly don't know why people do it any other way.

[iHope]

Absolutely yes. It's simply being cautious. Given the publicised side effects, which I've personally experienced, why jump in with two feet? I'd go with 0.25mg for a considerable time before thinking of upping. Some people stay on 0.25mg indefinitely, especially if they have reason to believe they will get sides or perhaps they want the benefits of Propecia, but while limiting the risk of side effects as much as possible.

I honestly don't know why people do it any other way.

Thank you for your answer! One more question...

What would you suggest us on for how long should we stay on 0.25...and perhaps later 0.5....?

[chrisis]

These charts show that finasteride at 1mg is only 7.6% more effective than at inhibiting DHT than a 0.25mg dose.





If you're that serious about keeping your hair, you might as well go on dutasteride or get yourself castrated! Even more effective!

tl;dr: go on a low dose and play it safe.

iHope, I can't really answer your question there. It's a personal decision. If you feel 0.25mg isn't doing enough for you and you haven't experienced side effects after a few months, then you could consider upping it. As you can see from the charts though, it's all pretty marginal and finasteride isn't the holy grail anyway.

[iHope]

Yeah... thank you very much, this is very helpful! Those charts are actually....shocking in some sort of positive way, lol. I learn everyday something new.

Ok, one LAST question from me...

How long did you take 0.25 or you're still on it Or you're not on fin at all because sides you experienced?

[Maradona]

These charts show that finasteride at 1mg is only 7.6% more effective than at inhibiting DHT than a 0.25mg dose.





If you're that serious about keeping your hair, you might as well go on dutasteride or get yourself castrated! Even more effective!

tl;dr: go on a low dose and play it safe.

iHope, I can't really answer your question there. It's a personal decision. If you feel 0.25mg isn't doing enough for you and you haven't experienced side effects after a few months, then you could consider upping it. As you can see from the charts though, it's all pretty marginal and finasteride isn't the holy grail anyway.

chrisis are you gonna get back on fin? I'm too scared of fin even with .25mg.

I'm going to try RU first. I think RU could really work out for you at maintaining since you have mild hair loss, it won't regrow but mantain till the new treatments come up.