Fitness, Finasteride & Gyno

[Sebastien]

Hey all,

I've been on propecia 1mg daily for 2 years now without any problems. Late january I started to lift weights/cardio at the gym. Over the last two weeks however there has been a pain in my nipples (especially the right one). It's wierd though, I wake up and they are very sensitive to the touch. However when I touch/massage (no other word for it haha) them a little the pain dissapears and is barely noticable during the rest of the day. I've always had big nipples, theylook like they have a little air in them so to speak. They have not grown as far as I can tell.

I think I read somewhere that when theres to much testosterone, the body will convert it to either DHT or Estrogen. So when I raise my testosterone levels at the gym while taking finasteride, I guess there would be more testosterone converted to Estrogen.

So my questions are.

Am I right to blaim the weight lifting?
Does it sound like gyno or could it be something else (like muscle tissue growing and pressing)?
Can I do anything about this (except to quit either finasteride or the gym)?

Thanks in advance,
Sebastien

 

[Bob Chylan]

what is your diet like? you can combat high estrogen levels with an anti estrogen diet

 

[Sebastien]

Ehm its pretty average/healthy:

4-5 slices of bread (2 with peanut butter 3 with random meat or w/e)
1 or 2 bowls of yoghurt with muesli
dinner is usually some kind of meat with either rice or potaties and vegetables
I drink mostly water or lemonade

I do consume alchohol during the weekend.

 

[Sebastien]

Anyone? It looks like I am going to have to make a decision between hair and body...

 

[Rawtashk]

Honestly, to me it sounds like sore pecs. You'd notice it after you sleep because the soreness of muscles sets it after a few hours, not right away. If you've never lifted before, then I can see how you'd be pretty sore. Same thing happened to me when I started working out for the first time about 2 years ago. I remember trotting down the stairs in a hurry (to fix someone's computer) and feeling my pecs kind of "bounce" as I went...and they were sore. FREAKED ME THE HELL OUT! Then I realized that they were probably sore from the exercise.

Take some zinc and/or Grape Seed Extract and try to relax about it

 

[Sebastien]

Thanks for your response,

I thought that was it as well but I've noticed that it is a specific 'lump' that is hurting. The pecs are a large muscle..

 

[Chris87]

Sounds to me like it could be gyno. I would see a doctor about it, but you could take zinc to try to combat estrogen level. Take 100mg of zinc every night before bed. Do this for a few weeks and see what happens

 

[Sebastien]

So it's confirmed. It is (developing) gyno. I can't really grasp the reality yet but I want/need to quit finasteride now.

Since I have been on it for 2 years I dont think its a good idea to quit cold turkey. How should I taper off the drug?

Please respond, I am a little panicked..

 

[Wuffer]

Did your doctor confirm that it was in fact Gyno? If so, did you speak to him/her about the best course of action? Did your doctor suggest you come off Finasteride or wean yourself?

There should be no reason to wean yourself off of it. If you have made the decision to discontinue treatment, you can simply stop taking it and your DHT levels will return to normal within a couple weeks. Chances are, if your gyno is new, it will probably go away in a couple months.

I read a case report of a guy who got Gyno from 1mg finasteride. He came off the medication for a couple months, and his gyno went away. He then went back on treatment every other day, and his gyno never returned. This may be an option for you, but discuss it with your doctor.

Best of luck though, and I hope things work out for you.

 

[Sebastien]

Thanks, so I just got back from the hospital. My GP thought it was gyno so I had an echo + an x-ray made.

The conclusion was that there was nothing wrong, there was some gland tissue but everything was normal. That's what he told me. Last night I freaked the f*** out though because I pinched in both my nipples a little liquid came out of it.

So can I stop worrying now? What do you guys think?

 

[Erick.]

The conclusion was that there was nothing wrong

So can I stop worrying now?

If you trust modern medicine, yes.

 

[Sebastien]

I am confused though since it keeps being sensitive and I really feel a lump of which im not sure that it was there before... The only thing I changed is the weight lifting. I stopped going to the gym for 1,5 week now and there has been no change.

Did the muscle mass I create shift my hormones?

 

[Rawtashk]

My guess is that you're overthinking it and freaking out.

Also, Gyno can come from several other sources, not just finasteride.

 

[Sebastien]

So its been 4 weeks since I noticed the pain, and there still has been no change. I went to my GP again and the report from the X-ray was that there was some extra gland tissue on the right side (even though it wasn't schokingly big). My GP adviced me to quit.

Should I quit or should I maybe lower my finasteride to 0,5mg daily?

How can this happen after 2 years of having zero side effects?

 

[Mew]

Should I quit or should I maybe lower my finasteride to 0,5mg daily?

You have a diagnosis via X-Ray. Trust your doctor on this and listen to your body.

Reducing dosage won't make any difference due to near flat dose response rate of drug, see graph:

http://www.physics.upenn.edu/facultyinf ... peciafda2/

How can this happen after 2 years of having zero side effects?

Finasteride is a feminizing drug and shifts androgen/estrogen ratio to be in favor of estrogens. It could be in your case it simply took this long for the estrogenic side effects to start showing up due to skewing your hormones over such a long time.

There's a reason gynecomastia is a listed side effect on the label, so if you feel comfortable growing a pair of tits, continue on. Otherwise, get off the drug. It's simple.

 

[Sebastien]

Yeah you are right.

So should I wean off the drug or quit cold turkey?

 

[Rawtashk]

I would say not to do anything until you see a doctor first. For all you know you could be freaking out about nothing, or what going on is completely unrelated to finasteride.

See a doctor first, then decide from there.

 

[Mew]

I would say not to do anything until you see a doctor first. For all you know you could be freaking out about nothing, or what going on is completely unrelated to finasteride.

See a doctor first, then decide from there

Rawtashk, did you not read his earlier post?

He DID see his doctor, has a diagnosis via X-ray, and the doctor advised him to quit the drug.

For you to suggest it could have nothing to do with the drug, when gynecomastia is a listed side effect by Merck and this young man now has a confirmed diagnosis of such, is certainly questionable behaviour on your part.

Sebastien, if you review the graph from previous link provided you'll note the drug has a near flat dose response such that 0.25, 0.5 and 1mg inhibit nearly same amount of DHT.

Thus it may be quite difficult to ween off the drug, if that is what you are planning to do. If you do try this route, you might consider spacing dosing out by days and weeks. The alternative is to simply stop altogether.

Good luck either way.