Having finasteride Side Effects 8 Months In

[Scoobysnack]

Just lower your dose to .5mg or .25mg. After my FUT the doctor prescribed 1mg daily but .5mg should be enough. Its been 2 months and havent noticed any sides... nothing. Perhaps time will tell but smooth sailing so far. I dont see any reason to ever increase my dose to 1mg.

 

[Kambrira159]

 

[Ollie]

OP as your side effects have come on slowly after 8 months it’s highly likely they are due to estrogen increase.

I’m guessing you probably didn’t have blood work done before starting finasteride so you wont unfortunately be able to confirm that with bloods.

Depending on the individual and the amount of aromatase they have they can become increasingly estrogen dominant whilst on finasteride. My sides (ED and low libido) came on slowly over 7 months . I had bloods done and found my E had gone up 68% .
Low dose arimidex to bring my E back to norms and sides disappear.

 

[ngc800]

As someone who has a very serious case of PFS with life-altering and life-threatening symptoms that I fight every minute of every day, my position on this debate is the following:

Let the deniers take Finasteride.

 

[Ollie]

As someone who has a very serious case of PFS with life-altering and life-threatening symptoms that I fight every minute of every day, my position on this debate is the following:

Let the deniers take Finasteride.

Have you had bloods that you can compare to bloods you had before starting finasteride ? In the bad cases your GABA is likely supressed - you should try a cycle of proviron coupled with something like HCG so you dont get supressed

 

[ngc800]

So I was asked in private when I developed PFS - while I was taking finasteride or after I stopped. I will answer but before that a warning:

Do not let this anecdotal evidence and fear mongering get to you! Please continue to take finasteride as prescribed. The more people there are with PFS, the more likely it is a cure will be found.

Now to the answer. I took finasteride for 8 years with minimal side effects. There were several 3-month periods when I got off of it and then resumed. There were no issues. Sure, I had watery semen, and libido that was gradually diminishing over the years, but these weren't issues I couldn't handle for better hair.

Then one beautiful day I realized that my penis had physically shrunk! It had happened very gradually and I hadn't really paid attention - mostly because I hadn't been sexually active. I did the research and discovered the undeniable truth about the effect of finasteride on penile tissue.

I tapered off finasteride over a month. My libido went up, got morning erections again, which I had forgotten were a thing... Four months later I noticed significant hair loss and I freaked out. I thought I had stopped finasteride too suddenly and had overwhelmed my hair follicles too much. So I decided to resume finasteride with the idea to stay on it for a little bit and taper off over the course of 6 months or so.

With the first pill of finasteride upon resumption I got PFS. My libido dropped to zero overnight and has stayed there for 3 years now. I can say a lot more about PFS but you could read about that elsewhere as well. Suffice it to say I consider it a death sentence to a young man. Mine is only a matter of time.

I guess I made two warnings. Which one you choose to heed is up to you.

 

[Ollie]

So I was asked in private when I developed PFS - while I was taking finasteride or after I stopped. I will answer but before that a warning:

Do not let this anecdotal evidence and fear mongering get to you! Please continue to take finasteride as prescribed. The more people there are with PFS, the more likely it is a cure will be found.

Now to the answer. I took finasteride for 8 years with minimal side effects. There were several 3-month periods when I got off of it and then resumed. There were no issues. Sure, I had watery semen, and libido that was gradually diminishing over the years, but these weren't issues I couldn't handle for better hair.

Then one beautiful day I realized that my penis had physically shrunk! It had happened very gradually and I hadn't really paid attention - mostly because I hadn't been sexually active. I did the research and discovered the undeniable truth about the effect of finasteride on penile tissue.

I tapered off finasteride over a month. My libido went up, got morning erections again, which I had forgotten were a thing... Four months later I noticed significant hair loss and I freaked out. I thought I had stopped finasteride too suddenly and had overwhelmed my hair follicles too much. So I decided to resume finasteride with the idea to stay on it for a little bit and taper off over the course of 6 months or so.

With the first pill of finasteride upon resumption I got PFS. My libido dropped to zero overnight and has stayed there for 3 years now. I can say a lot more about PFS but you could read about that elsewhere as well. Suffice it to say I consider it a death sentence to a young man. Mine is only a matter of time.

I guess I made two warnings. Which one you choose to heed is up to you.

Sorry to hear that you're suffering mate.

Across your research did you ever find conclusive evidence how finasteride affects penile tissue ? I've speculated that some people get atrophy because of the lack of spontaneous / morning erections which the body uses to keep tissue healthy.

What treatments have you tried to recover ?

 

[ngc800]

Penis tissue and all tissue of the reproductive tract - prostate, seminal vehicles, testes, etc - are androgen dependent. They need androgens -- of which DHT is the more potent one -- for tissue maintenance, not just in development. Androgen deprivation leads to apoptosis - cell death. This of course is finasteride's original indication - to shrink the prostate through apoptosis. The same effect is observed in penile tissue. There are countless rat studies confirming this effect of finasteride (shrinking the penis) and also on the importance of DHT. The effect is also observed in humans who have undergone androgen deprivation therapy to fight off prostate cancer. When penile tissues undergoes apoptosis the dead cells are replaced by scar tissue. This can be observed as fibrosis and is an objective measure of tissue damage. Note that these effects are the typical mammalian response to finasteride, are likely to be cumulative, and are NOT a feature of PFS per se, although the effect can be even more pronounced in people with PFS, as their 5ar enzyme may be permanently and completely deactivated.

I have tried various supplements but nothing has worked. Tribulus works a little bit but it stops working after a while. Also, transdermal DHT has alleviated my extreme joint pain.

 

[Ollie]

Penis tissue and all tissue of the reproductive tract - prostate, seminal vehicles, testes, etc - are androgen dependent. They need androgens -- of which DHT is the more potent one -- for tissue maintenance, not just in development. Androgen deprivation leads to apoptosis - cell death. This of course is finasteride's original indication - to shrink the prostate through apoptosis. The same effect is observed in penile tissue. There are countless rat studies confirming this effect of finasteride (shrinking the penis) and also on the importance of DHT. The effect is also observed in humans who have undergone androgen deprivation therapy to fight off prostate cancer. When penile tissues undergoes apoptosis the dead cells are replaced by scar tissue. This can be observed as fibrosis and is an objective measure of tissue damage. Note that these effects are the typical mammalian response to finasteride, are likely to be cumulative, and are NOT a feature of PFS per se, although the effect can be even more pronounced in people with PFS, as their 5ar enzyme may be permanently and completely deactivated.

I have tried various supplements but nothing has worked. Tribulus works a little bit but it stops working after a while. Also, transdermal DHT has alleviated my extreme joint pain.

Interesting.

Have you thought about taking TRT ? + proviron ?

 

[ngc800]

Interesting.

Have you thought about taking TRT ? + proviron ?

Do you know anyone who has benefited from these? What's your story?

I am currently taking transdermal DHT, as I have permanently reduced DHT levels, so that's equivalent to Proviron. It doesn't do much for core PFS symptoms, although it improves my joint pain a lot. I haven't tried TRT yet but I am thinking about it. It is my last option.

 

[Ollie]

Do you know anyone who has benefited from these? What's your story?

I am currently taking transdermal DHT, as I have permanently reduced DHT levels, so that's equivalent to Proviron. It doesn't do much for core PFS symptoms, although it improves my joint pain a lot. I haven't tried TRT yet but I am thinking about it. It is my last option.

Talk to @hemingway_the_mercenary about curing your PFS. You'll feel like sh*t until you get your homeostasis back.

 

[ngc800]

What kind of homeostasis is that? My proper gene expression homeostasis that's been epigenetically altered by Finasteride?

 

[Ollie]

What kind of homeostasis is that? My proper gene expression homeostasis that's been epigenetically altered by Finasteride?

I’m pretty sure the only paper that covered epigentical changes brought on by finasteride concluded that permanent epigentical change was impossible beyond protein level .

 

[ngc800]

I’m pretty sure the only paper that covered epigentical changes brought on by finasteride concluded that permanent epigentical change was impossible beyond protein level .

Link?

How about this?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31272082

 

[Hscorpio]

Update: Been off Finasteride for a week and all sides have gone. Sexually back to normal and semen has gone thick again. Going to keep an eye on my hair loss and see if it gets worse I might jump back on it

 

[Kambrira159]

Another case of someone overdosing and then blaming the drug.

 

[Hscorpio]

I’m not blaming the drug but the drug does cause side effects. It was my choice to take it I fully understand it.

 

[Kambrira159]

All drugs have side effects. You're taking a much bigger dose than you need to be that's the problem.

 

[Hscorpio]

Is 1mg overdosing? Would you recommend cutting it?

 

[Scoobysnack]

Link?

How about this?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31272082

From what I'm reading methylation isnt permanent and is a common occurence. The DNA sequence isnt altered... the genes themselves arent altered. The methyl groups can supress the transcription of genes... but remove the methyl group and the gene will get transcribed.

Just quick note from Wiki:

DNA methylation is a process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule. Methylation can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing the sequence. When located in a gene promoter, DNA methylation typically acts to repress gene transcription. In mammals DNA methylation is essential for normal development and is associated with a number of key processes including genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, repression of transposable elements, aging, and carcinogenesis.