Help with finasteride side effects

[Orion22]

Hi everyone, I would like to ask for some help here.

I'm a guy on his late-mid 30s who started losing hair a while ago. I was recommended propecia, I think, around 2003/4 and took it for a while, maybe one year. Then again I took it in 2009/10 and haven't had any since.

I noticed some loss of libido since 2009 for sure, then again this year, 2013 lately, and then read all the news about the propecia scare/propeciahelp/etc and totally freaked out.

In 2011 and 2012 I had stable relationships with girflriends and had good sex, but I used v**** a lot. It made everything very good.

Lately (last couple of months) I have noticed that my erections aren't as good. Please bear in mind that I took my last propecia pill somewhere in 2010. Can this have something to do with it? So much time after the last pill? I have had so-so erections since 2009, specially during sex with gfs, but it was much better when I was alone (masturbation).

However, I decided (bad choice I know) to read about the propecia "side effects" things online and it really, really, really scared me. Seriously, it did not help to read these things and it did much, much damage to my mind.

Now, I know some of you are knowledgeable about the drug and have more information. How accurate is the "post finasteride syndrome" thing? Are these websites which say that merck is evil and propecia destroy lives/causes permanente damage/depression/etc balanced? Is there any truth there? I understand some doctors (respectable?) already defend that propecia is, indeed, dangerous, but I just can't find anything to trust!

Has the Irving/Washington University Study been really discredited? What about the study by the doctor from the Boston University?


There is already a foundation for victims of finasteride out there. Is this legitimate? The website looks super professional... But still....

I don't see so many websites about "victims of aspirin". It seems something IS dodgy about propecia.

I spoke with some doctors, went to urologists and other doctors and they told me not to worry, that this is fear-mongering and the such, but, alas, the anti propecia people say that doctors have no idea of the truth and they can't help anyone, according to them the condition is barely understood, nobody knows how to detect it, etc.

How trustworthy are these claims? Can propecia really damage someone permanently? Which tests indicate EXACTLY that propecia damaged you? Or there are no lab exams that can be done??? If there are not exams that indicate exactly that propecia caused something, how can we know it was propecia in the first place???

I made some tests that urologists asked for and everything was normal.

Above all what I would like to ask is this:

I already read ALL the horrible, unbearable, suicide-inducing horror stories about propecia out there. If all you have to contribute to me is MORE horror stories and information to make me feel even worse PLEASE DON'T BOTHER WRITING. I am looking for balanced and unbiased information, sensible and advice.

I would like to very, very humbly and respectfully ask moderators to PLEASE help with this request and not allow fear/hate spreading messages of despair on this thread. Please. I do appreciate that. It doesn't help anyone and can cause much, much damage.

Any balanced, unbiased advice and information about WHAT THE REAL scenario/view of the scientific/medical community on finasteride is, is much, much welcomed.

I would like to thank quantum cat for his posts. He seems reasonable and balanced.

Bless you guys. All the best and good health for all of us!

 

[Quantum Cat]

There has been so much discussion on this already here. I'd recommend going back a few pages and reading some of the more reasoned debates in this forum. Most of the more rational commentators consider Propecia to be pretty safe for the majority of men - and that's the general view of most medical professionals too, and that the side effects issue- particularly permanent sides - are greatly over exaggerated on the internet. But there's a risk to everything. Your best option is to speak to a doctor with expertise in the area

two things though: why have you been only taking finasteride sporadically? That's not going to help you at all.

and you use v**** - is that recreationally or medically? You know it's not advised for recreational use? Don't you think that might be the cause of your libido problems? If your body's used to v****, then it can screw up your libido when you're not using it.

 

[Orion22]

Hi Quantum, thanks for your input.

I started taking v**** when my erections began having problems, and, naturally, because of that. So it is not "recreative". I have been to quite a few doctors about it, 3 urologists and one GP, and they all said that v**** is absolutely safe as long as you don't have a heart condition, there's no such thing as "losing your libido because you used v****", and there's no problem using it.

I took finasteride seriously but then decided I don't want to take a pill to have hair, I don't want to take medication to have hair. That's why I quit both times.

What makes me very frustrated about all of this is the fact that there doesn't seem to be a consensus on if post finasteride syndrome exists for real or not. There is a foundation with the name of the syndrome, so, I know some doctors take it seriously. Is this a sign? DDT was available commercially for more than 20 years, and its inventor got a Nobel, before it was banned in the late 60s.

I don't know who to trust. When I speak with urologists and dermatologists they tell me that propecial help and the such are fear mongering sites, with people looking for excuses for their problems and thus blaming finasteride. But I am unsure on who to trust. Propecial help people on another hand get very aggressive if you question the syndrome, and claim that the medical community has no idea on the devastating effects of this drug. They admit most men don't have a problem with it, but they also claim they are victims of it, and that their lives have been destroyed by the poweful, devastating effects of this drug. The worst thing is that apparently there is no way to properly diagnose the syndrome through laboratory tests and the such. So, doctors don't know how to treat it, since no one can detect what is wrong with the system of these people.

I took blood tests and, up to now, everything was normal in terms of hormones and the such.

I simply do not know who to trust. This is very frustrating.

There has been so much discussion on this already here. I'd recommend going back a few pages and reading some of the more reasoned debates in this forum. Most of the more rational commentators consider Propecia to be pretty safe for the majority of men - and that's the general view of most medical professionals too, and that the side effects issue- particularly permanent sides - are greatly over exaggerated on the internet. But there's a risk to everything. Your best option is to speak to a doctor with expertise in the area

two things though: why have you been only taking finasteride sporadically? That's not going to help you at all.

and you use v**** - is that recreationally or medically? You know it's not advised for recreational use? Don't you think that might be the cause of your libido problems? If your body's used to v****, then it can screw up your libido when you're not using it.

 

[Armando Jose]

"I took blood tests and, up to now, everything was normal in terms of hormones and the such."

It is possible an unnormal concentration of DHT/T, etc taking finas.....what is your case?

 

[Orion22]

"I took blood tests and, up to now, everything was normal in terms of hormones and the such."

It is possible an unnormal concentration of DHT/T, etc taking finas.....what is your case?

Hi Armando. I don't know how my DHT is doing, but testosterone was normal last time I checked (according to the doctor, who examined my lab tests). I don't know if he asked for a test for DHT specifically. Does it come up in the test as "DHT" or does it have some other name? Thanks.

 

[Armando Jose]

DHT = Dihydrotestsosterone

DHT level probably should have decreased by at least half, if you are with finas

 

[Orion22]

DHT = Dihydrotestsosterone

DHT level probably should have decreased by at least half, if you are with finas

I don't think I had DHT checked. But I haven't taken finasteride for about 3 years now.

 

[Armando Jose]

Ok, 3 years is enough time to have normals figures in hormones

 

[Valiant]

Orion22, I would find it very unusual for finasteride-related side effects to appear 3 years after discontinuation. The half-life of finasteride is only a day or two (can't really remember offhand) and the enzymatic action is about 30 days in a normal metabolism. So, you should have been clear of finasteride a long time ago and if you did not "crash" then I would think it UNLIKELY that finasteride is the cause. Post-finasteride syndrome is real. Both Harvard and Baylor are doing studies on it now. So, I don't think they would take it seriously with studies if it was false.

 

[Diffuser44]

Orion22, I would find it very unusual for finasteride-related side effects to appear 3 years after discontinuation. The half-life of finasteride is only a day or two (can't really remember offhand) and the enzymatic action is about 30 days in a normal metabolism. So, you should have been clear of finasteride a long time ago and if you did not "crash" then I would think it UNLIKELY that finasteride is the cause. Post-finasteride syndrome is real. Both Harvard and Baylor are doing studies on it now. So, I don't think they would take it seriously with studies if it was false.

http://www.pfsfoundation.org/news/c...-a-harvard-medical-school-teaching-affiliate/

http://www.pfsfoundation.org/news/c...drome-launched-at-baylor-college-of-medicine/

I encourage post finasteride users to volunteer themselves in these studies.

From the sound of it they might have a published study within the year. It would be very interesting to find out if there is a correlation, or genetic predisposition to post finasteride syndrome.