Four years of dutasteride/finasteride...update

[ugh]

Hey all, some of you know me some don't. I was on finasteride for about year and dutasteride for close to three. I update my situation periodically as I feel its my civic duty to inform everyone of the potentially serious side effects associated with using finasteride/dutasteride.

I'm gonna get right to the chase; I'm a 26 year old male and have been impotent since late 2004. Folks the operative word here is IMPOTENT. finasteride/dutasteride gave a great effect on my hair, it also gave me a great rack, which cost me 5,500 to have surgically removed. Here I am in the prime of life...impotent. No girlfriends, social awkardness, rumors about me being gay...Trust me, you don't wanna be me. Suicide is a thought I have everyday. I feel sorry for my poor mother, whom I feel I have to lie to about why I'm so socially inept with the opposite sex.

Bottom line folks...take finasteride/dutasteride long enough and your sides will come. For me they aren't reversible. I went to my doctor and he jokingly/seriously said "hey, the sides are listed right there on the package" Plain english. I stopped using dutasteride in June of 2005; over a year and a half ago...I don't even think about sex anymore. My dick hasn't even been remotely close to chubby since early 2004. Do yourselves a favor and stay away!!!!

I will continually report my situation every few months to keep new users the hell away from this poison.

 

[Goingat20]

hey ugh thanks for the update
I really hope things change for the better. Have you tried any medication or even maybe 'natural treatments' to help your impotence. Im sure something could work for you, dont beat your self up and get out there. No one can see your private so you really shouldnt let it affect your social life, get those suicidal thoughts out of your head and seek help. Im sure things will get better with time, be positive

 

[haunted-ballroom]

Your Doctor is an ***!, I dont know about dutasteride but on the leaflet with finasteride it dosnt say anything about permanent impotence! If it did there is no way id have started it. If you look around the web on sites describing finasteride and what it does, it says nothing about permanent sides and says that impotence/erectile dysfunction is temporary and will stop when treatment is discontinued or will subside with further treatment of finasteride.
Impotent since 2004!!? I dont know how your still carrying on!

 

[haunted-ballroom]

Am I the only one completely freaked out by this!? :shock: :freaked2: :freaked:

 

[harold]

It sounds like your Hypothalamic -pituitary-gonadal- axis has been screwed up much like what happens to many bodybuilders. Dunno what yyou have tried but I think you should take a look at some of the things that these guys do in PCT (post training therapy) to get theirr own hormone production up and running and properly balanced again.
Firstly you should try clomiphene or nolvadex, to try and reduce negative feedbak from estrogen on the HPTA. Possibly you should also add low doses of an aromatase inhibitor like arimidex or letrozole. Lastly you could add HcG to directly try and kickstart the production of LH and FSH. The HcG you would may need a doctors help to ge. The other stuff you can get on the net from various "research chemical" suppliers.
Dunno if i am telling you stuff you already know about or have tried out. If so let us know what you/your doctor tried.
Those problems sound really bad and I wish you all the best in resolving things eventually.
hh

Here is a study on the topic:

Fertil Steril. 2003 Jan;79(1):203-5.
Use of clomiphene citrate to reverse premature andropause secondary to steroid abuse.

* Tan RS,
* Vasudevan D.

Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. robert.s.tan@uth.tmc.edu

OBJECTIVE: To report a case of symptomatic hypogonadism induced by the abuse of multiple steroid preparations that was subsequently reversed by clomiphene. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: University-affiliated andrology practice within family practice clinic. PATIENT(S): A 30-year-old male. INTERVENTION(S): Clomiphene citrate, 100-mg challenge for 5 days, followed by treatment at same dose for 2 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Clinical symptoms, androgen decline in aging male questionnaire, total T, FSH, LH. RESULT(S): Reversal of symptoms, normalization of T levels with LH surge, restoration of pituitary-gonadal axis. CONCLUSION(S): Clomiphene citrate is used typically in helping to restore fertility in females. This represents the first case report of the successful use of clomiphene to restore T levels and the pituitary-gonadal axis in a male patient. The axis was previously shut off with multiple anabolic steroid abuse.

 

[Harie]

Did your doctor tell you how to reverse your ED? If your Doctor said there was nothing he can do, he's full of sh*t.

Can you give us the results of your hormone tests? test, free test, estrogen, DHEA, LH, Prolactin etc...

 

[StoptheMadness]

Ugh,
I find it very unresponsible of you to say "finasteride/dutasteride" is the cause for your impotence. How in the world can you sit there and say *both* are the cause of your problems. You decided to take dutasteride, which is not a responsible thing to do as it is not prescribed for hairloss yet. Maybe it had all to do with dutasteride. We don't know, I don't know, no one knows for sure but you can't just casually say finasteride (and god knows how much finasteride was in your system) is the cause of your maladies.

I hope you can recover for the sake of your livelihood, but don't come on here saying that finasteride is poison when you took a terrible gamble by adding/replacing with dutasteride.

 

[UK1]

Your timelines suggest that you had no problem with finasteride.. you say that you became impotent a year after starting dutasteride but then continued to take it for another 18 months?? :roll: Please be more specific about your situation if you really feel it's your civic duty to scaremonger people.

 

[harold]

A bit of sympathy people? I would imagine he doesn't know exactly whether it was the finasteride or the dutasteride or both that screwed him up. Do you? There are more than a few people who claim similar effects from finasteride usage. He never said finasteride was "poison". He may have gone a bit far with "Bottom line folks...take finasteride/dutasteride long enough and your sides will come." but I don't get the need of all finasteride/dutasteride users to get so defensive whenever someone mentions they got sides from the same drug that they take.
And if dutasteride is a terrible risk then so is finasteride. Going by the official stats though dutasteride is almost as safe as the perfectly harmless finasteride which it is very similar to.
hh

 

[UK1]

Harold...

1: I would imagine he doesn't know exactly whether it was the finasteride or the dutasteride or both that screwed him up.

Exactly!

2: He never said finasteride was "poison".

Wrong..

3: He may have gone a bit far with "Bottom line folks...take finasteride/dutasteride long enough and your sides will come." but I don't get the need of all finasteride/dutasteride users to get so defensive whenever someone mentions they got sides from the same drug that they take.

Telling desperate people on medication that they're ALL doomed without exception is unacceptable..

4: And if dutasteride is a terrible risk then so is finasteride.

How do you work that out?

5: Going by the official stats though dutasteride is almost as safe as the perfectly harmless finasteride

So after all that you're telling him that it wasn't finasteride either???

Why dont you go back and start again..

 

[ugh]

When I switched from finasteride to dutasteride iwas having what I call the "preliminary" signs of future impotence. Its basically more milder forms of ED ex: no morning wood, lack of libido etc. I could still get an erection if I REALLY tried; sex was possible however, not pleasurable. At this point in time I was really determined to regrow hair so I switched to dutasteride, the results were awesome.

At this point I also had some early signs of gyno, the reason I know for sure is by looking at pictures of myself in mexico on the beach. I didn't really notice it then but its very clear to me now.

After mexico, I noticed that my libido was getting worse and worse, I could barely keep it up, never had the urge to masturbate etc. My hair was getting better and better. I basically had no signs of hairloss at this point. Then in the spring of 2004 I met a hottie at school...this was my first experience with impotence during an intimate moment. Trust me, you never, never, never want to experience this. I told the beautiful young girl that I didn't want to ruin what we had just yet by having sex. Needless to say that little relationship ended shortly there after.

Here is the point of my post: My theory about whats happened to me:

I feel that over the years the combination of both finasteride and dutasteride have very slowly suppressed my DHT levels. Each year the suppression became more aggressive and I enjoyed continuing aggressive regrowth as well as continually more aggressive side effects. When I finally stopped using finasteride/dutasteride in 2004 I had little to no DHT in my body. Lets fast foward to today. I still get some nipple itch as well as the worst possible side effect: impotence. And guess what? My hair still sheds and regrows as if I were on finasteride/dutasteride. Right now I have an awesome head of hair...full, long and thick. Most of you would sh*t your pants if I were courageous enough to post a pic of my hair.

Right now I believe that finasteride/dutasteride has really, really messed up my hormones. Its been almost three years and I still haven't recovered...three years folks. Some of you guys still think that finasteride/dutasteride is safe long term? Think again, if this can happen to me, trust me it can happen to you. I was in the same mindset as many of you guys here. "Ahhh I get some sides...but not too bad...I'll keep taking it, no problem here" BAM!!!!! your're impotent!! I'm telling ya folks, YOUR SIDES WILL COME!!! How many posters here have been on finasteride/dutasteride as long as I was? Maybe what...five? Maybe? Most of the guys here just found this site and are at the same place I was back in 2001.

I know the pain of losing your hair...you get desperate, you'll do anything to save it. Well, now I wish could go back and do it over again. I've got a full head of great hair, and I want to kill myself. I want to f*****g myself. Where does my life go from here if I can't get this ED thing resolved? Seriously? Live the rest of my life alone, miserable, without direction? no one to care for...no one to care for me? Been doing it now for three years guys and the only relief I get is when I'm asleep.

I used to love life, I could have really been somebody, but now all that's gone. The only thing that prevents me from suicide is the fact that it would destroy my poor mother. There is no way I would be able to put her through that.

You wanna what it feels like to be impotent and without a sex drive? Think back to when you were about five years old. You had no concept of sex or women or relationships, that whole world just didn't exist for you. You simply played with your friends and thats it. That's how I feel; like a small boy....its the most humiliating, surreal, bizzare, horrifying feeling EVER! Please don't the finasteride/dutasteride supporters tell you this is all BS, most of those guys have been on the drug for a year....MAYBE two. Take it from me, a 26 year old impotent male. This section in the forum wouldn't exsist if this was all bullshit.

For all of you who are confused and distressed about your hair, please, please, please don't let a moment of weakness destroy your entire life!! Please!!! Don't take finasteride/dutasteride,

HAVING REDUCED DHT IS NOT NORMAL. HAVING REDUCED DHT IS NOT NORMAL. HAVING REDUCED DHT IS NOT NORMAL. HAVING REDUCED DHT IS NOT NORMAL.

 

[dietcola]

men can get ED at anytime of their life, for many many reasons. anticipating ED will almost always cause ED. depression causes ED. anxiety causes ED. frustration and stress cause ED.

you sound depressed, anxious, frustrated and stressed, it is no suprise to me that you have ED.

i'm not pointing the finger away from finasteride/dutasteride. i'm just telling you, you aren't really on the right track to getting rid of ED.

 

[harold]

Harold...

1: I would imagine he doesn't know exactly whether it was the finasteride or the dutasteride or both that screwed him up.

Exactly!

Yes exactly. Thats why he blames finasteride/dutasteride for his problems and not finasteride. So there is no need for all the finasteride users to get so upset.

2: He never said finasteride was "poison".

Wrong..

Alright going back I see the poison quote. But again, despite the hyperbole, he was referring to finasteride/dutasteride.

3: He may have gone a bit far with "Bottom line folks...take finasteride/dutasteride long enough and your sides will come." but I don't get the need of all finasteride/dutasteride users to get so defensive whenever someone mentions they got sides from the same drug that they take.

Telling desperate people on medication that they're ALL doomed without exception is unacceptable..
[quote:b07d0]
Do you believe him? I know you are going to tell me that people will be freaked out and reconsider going on finasteride. Maybe they should think twice. Not because "This WILL happen to you." Obviously he CANNOT know that. He is only going by his own experience and that of others with similar experiences. I think such people who might be dissuaded by his post are only done so by the idea that they might get permanent sides when such an idea is not discussed nor considered possible by many.

4: And if dutasteride is a terrible risk then so is finasteride.

How do you work that out?
[/quote:b07d0]
See point 5 below. They are both very similar drugs. Difference dutasteride is stronger and longer lasting with some inhibition of Type 1 5AR. And the official safety profiles are pretty close. So if you believe that taking dutasteride is playing with fire....

5: Going by the official stats though dutasteride is almost as safe as the perfectly harmless finasteride

So after all that you're telling him that it wasn't finasteride either???

Its often said that sarcasm doesn't come across well in print - I'm not saying that. I am saying that its not as if the risk of sexual sides in going on finasteride as compared to going on dutasteride is like the risk of sides from Nizoral a compared to oral flutamide. At least if you go by the official figures.

Why dont you go back and start again..

I guess I had to.
hh

 

[haunted-ballroom]

When I switched from finasteride to dutasteride iwas having what I call the "preliminary" signs of future impotence. Its basically more milder forms of ED ex: no morning wood, lack of libido etc. I could still get an erection if I REALLY tried; sex was possible however, not pleasurable. At this point in time I was really determined to regrow hair so I switched to dutasteride, the results were awesome.

At this point I also had some early signs of gyno, the reason I know for sure is by looking at pictures of myself in mexico on the beach. I didn't really notice it then but its very clear to me now.

After mexico, I noticed that my libido was getting worse and worse, I could barely keep it up, never had the urge to masturbate etc. My hair was getting better and better. I basically had no signs of hairloss at this point. Then in the spring of 2004 I met a hottie at school...this was my first experience with impotence during an intimate moment. Trust me, you never, never, never want to experience this. I told the beautiful young girl that I didn't want to ruin what we had just yet by having sex. Needless to say that little relationship ended shortly there after.

Here is the point of my post: My theory about whats happened to me:

I feel that over the years the combination of both finasteride and dutasteride have very slowly suppressed my DHT levels. Each year the suppression became more aggressive and I enjoyed continuing aggressive regrowth as well as continually more aggressive side effects. When I finally stopped using finasteride/dutasteride in 2004 I had little to no DHT in my body. Lets fast foward to today. I still get some nipple itch as well as the worst possible side effect: impotence. And guess what? My hair still sheds and regrows as if I were on finasteride/dutasteride. Right now I have an awesome head of hair...full, long and thick. Most of you would $#iT your pants if I were courageous enough to post a pic of my hair.

Right now I believe that finasteride/dutasteride has really, really messed up my hormones. Its been almost three years and I still haven't recovered...three years folks. Some of you guys still think that finasteride/dutasteride is safe long term? Think again, if this can happen to me, trust me it can happen to you. I was in the same mindset as many of you guys here. "Ahhh I get some sides...but not too bad...I'll keep taking it, no problem here" BAM!!!!! your're impotent!! I'm telling ya folks, YOUR SIDES WILL COME!!! How many posters here have been on finasteride/dutasteride as long as I was? Maybe what...five? Maybe? Most of the guys here just found this site and are at the same place I was back in 2001.

I know the pain of losing your hair...you get desperate, you'll do anything to save it. Well, now I wish could go back and do it over again. I've got a full head of great hair, and I want to kill myself. I want to f****ing myself. Where does my life go from here if I can't get this ED thing resolved? Seriously? Live the rest of my life alone, miserable, without direction? no one to care for...no one to care for me? Been doing it now for three years guys and the only relief I get is when I'm asleep.

I used to love life, I could have really been somebody, but now all that's gone. The only thing that prevents me from suicide is the fact that it would destroy my poor mother. There is no way I would be able to put her through that.

You wanna what it feels like to be impotent and without a sex drive? Think back to when you were about five years old. You had no concept of sex or women or relationships, that whole world just didn't exist for you. You simply played with your friends and thats it. That's how I feel; like a small boy....its the most humiliating, surreal, bizzare, horrifying feeling EVER! Please don't the finasteride/dutasteride supporters tell you this is all BS, most of those guys have been on the drug for a year....MAYBE two. Take it from me, a 26 year old impotent male. This section in the forum wouldn't exsist if this was all bullshit.

For all of you who are confused and distressed about your hair, please, please, please don't let a moment of weakness destroy your entire life!! Please!!! Don't take finasteride/dutasteride,

HAVING REDUCED DHT IS NOT NORMAL. HAVING REDUCED DHT IS NOT NORMAL. HAVING REDUCED DHT IS NOT NORMAL. HAVING REDUCED DHT IS NOT NORMAL.

You mentioned earlier that your doctor was of no help, have you tried different doctors? Dont give up! There has to be something they can do to help you. Hormoane replacement therapy etc.. I dont believe that these effects arnt reversable with the right treatment. If not, get in touch with a solicitor/lawyer if your positive these drugs are the cause, (and im sure you are positive), and sue the sh1t outta the companies responsible!

 

[UK1]

I understand what your saying Harold but he is sensationalising it, he specifically blames dutasteride for his gyno in previous post and even says that he was considering going back to finasteride. He also mentions that he got his libido back at the end of 2005 having stopped dutasteride then tells us he hasn't felt a thing since 2004.. :? Very bold claims with no consistency cannot be considered credible to me, I feel sorry for him but he just reminds me of a religious nut telling me to save myself without any proof other than his own unfortunate situation. We all know that these things can happen to some people but he is simply spreading his misery behind the shroud of civic duty, buy it if you want..

 

[Harie]

Um, I'm going to call BS on this story.

You post the same story month after month and every time we all ask the same questions. WHY DID YOUR DOCTOR SAY HE COULDN'T FIX YOUR ED? WHAT ARE YOUR HORMONE TEST RESULTS? DID YOU GO SEE ANOTHER DOCTOR WHEN THE 1ST ONE SAID HE COULDN'T FIX YOU? Each time you post your story, you ignore our questions.

Unless you post some test results or let us know why your Doctor can't help you, your story is nothing more than pure BS.

 

[Harie]

Everyone who thinks this guy is legit, search his past posts.

Posted Oct 20th 2006...For someone who had finasteride screw them up, why would you want to go back on it?

Do you think that taking .5mg of propecia will be enough for someone to maintain hair with little or no side effects? Anyone using this regiment? Opinions

Posted Dec 12th, 2006. Once again, if finasteride was so bad, why are you wanting to take it again?

As the thread's title says, how much dht is reduced when using .25mg per day?

Posted by ugh in December 2005. In December 2005 his libido was just fine.

So I've been thinking about going back to finasteride after suffering horrible libido problems with dutasteride. I had awesome success with dutasteride but now after six months my libido is back and so is Mr. Hairloss....sucks.

Posted by ugh in Jan 2006

Seven months of dutasteride and still ZERO libido

I'd like to know how your "member" can go from working great in Dec 2005 to having ZERO libido on Jan 6th 2006?

 

[haunted-ballroom]

Everyone who thinks this guy is legit, search his past posts.

Posted Oct 20th 2006...For someone who had finasteride screw them up, why would you want to go back on it?

Do you think that taking .5mg of propecia will be enough for someone to maintain hair with little or no side effects? Anyone using this regiment? Opinions

Posted Dec 12th, 2006. Once again, if finasteride was so bad, why are you wanting to take it again?

As the thread's title says, how much dht is reduced when using .25mg per day?

Posted by ugh in December 2005. In December 2005 his libido was just fine.

So I've been thinking about going back to finasteride after suffering horrible libido problems with dutasteride. I had awesome success with dutasteride but now after six months my libido is back and so is Mr. Hairloss....sucks.

Posted by ugh in Jan 2006

Seven months of dutasteride and still ZERO libido

I'd like to know how your "member" can go from working great in Dec 2005 to having ZERO libido on Jan 6th 2006?

But why would someone make it up...? Im still paranoid as f#ck about sides so I tend to believe these things when I read them

 

[UK1]

I think he's just adding a little artistic license to make sure he's heard, I totally sympathise with any problems he's having but think some of his comments do nothing other than scare the sh*t out of people when the real facts are that very few people will suffer from sides to this degree.

 

[ugh]

All I can say is...you all were warned. I love the way some people will do almost anything to mitigate or negate claims of sexual sides from finasteride/dutasteride. If there is a section dedicated to side effects in a reputable hair loss forum and its constantly filled with complaints....get it through your heads folks!!!
If it walks like a duck....you folks are clearly intelligent people. But even with all that intellect you guys will do anything...anything to keep believing that finasteride/dutasteride will solve your hairloss problems without creating new sides.

I used to be that person, you just don't want to give up hope. Anything to keep you going, to keep that hope alive!!! It's completly blinds you to the reality...completely. I know a small part of you really reacted to my story as well. It scared you, got you thinking about how things actually are four, five years down the line. But I want my hair now! I'll deal with what happens then when it happens. I know the mindset. Why would I make this up?