I want to quit finasteride. Someone talk to me.

[j3321]

I've been on the big 3 for 6 months with incredible results. I have grown all my hair but except for a small patch at the very front of my head (which is not even noticeable).

I recently visited propeciahelp.com and I am getting paranoid. I've had no side effects whatsoever but I still feel like dropping it. I', worried the longer I'm on this stuff the more likely something horrible will happen to me.

If I continued Kirkland 5% minoxidil twice a day (which I think is what most of my gains are from anyway...I grew back most of my hair in the first two months which makes me think it wasn't the finasteride but the minoxidil causing that), kicked up the 2% Nizoral usage to everyday or every other day, and used Lee's 5% spironolactone plus Revivogen as a replacement for finasteride, how long do you think I'd keep my gains? If at all?

I mostly just want to get through college without being bald. I have the face of a 10 year old and I'd look stupid but ultimately I don't care and was planning to lose all my hair in a year or two in graduate school anyway. I really don't care that much. It would suck to go bald in college but man propeciahelp.com is freaking me out. I want off. I'd rather be healthy than bald. Being bald isn't even that bad. Only in hedonistic, mindless, image-enslaved America could it be a problem worth risking the destruction of your entire hormonal system. (Sorry I am venting.)

P.S. My success story if you're interested: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=58866&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

 

[sadscalp]

You need to get off it ASAP or your dick will fall off.

Seriously though, if you've been on it for a longer period of time it is very, very, VERY unlikely that anything will happen to you. If you're really shitting yourself you could try lowering the dosage.

I wish I wasn't so scared of taking finasteride (or, if I could actually have one wish, it would be that I knew the cure for baldness, so I could regrow all my hair and then make tons of money on you people :innocent: )

 

[pauljamesgallagher]

Dude, I hear you

Disclaimer: I'm no doctor, so my advice is purely from my own experiences. Please see a doctor if you have worries.

I think the main thing is to remind yourself that the incidences of side-effects are low and if you're not showing any then it's all can be assumed as going well. The internet is a horrid place of conjecture and misinformation. You're bound to get paranoid reading such stuff.

Now, you also have to also bear in mind that there is a study (Swiss - someone correct me if I'm wrong) about the continued side-effects of finasteride after cessation of treatment. And, that many boards are seeing an amount of very upset guys reporting serious and prolonged side-effects, even after finishing the drug. What gets me the most is that we're told to continue treatment if side-effects appear as they will most likely recede (like our bloody hairlines!) in time, and come to an end when we stop taking the drug. Problem is, what about all the guys that kept on the drug, saw no halting of sides, and only had worsening problems?!?

I'm one of those guys who saw side-effects. After a month on finasteride I suffered Erectile Dysfunction. Not totally, but enough to remind me that things really were not how they should be. I lasted about five months on the stuff until the little chap flatly refused to play ball. Three weeks off finasteride and I'm still showing signs of problems. Other guys on boards are even longer into recovery and are still having problems.

So my advice is, try and counter the claims on propeciahelp by getting a balanced view of things. Monitor your libido and erection levels and most of all don't obsess about it - this will only skewer your observations. And seriously the very best thing you can do is talk to a good doctor about this: tell them your concerns if they really bother you.

Just my two cents (or pence, as I'm from England!)

 

[j3321]

I appreciate the posts guys.

I don't have any sexual problems. I get boners constantly. Easily. Even if I'm just in my room just resting on my bed. I can think one arousing thought and I've got a boner in like 8 seconds. (And I'm not quite proud of that either speaking from a moral standpoint haha...I'm trying to work on that too....).

I've heard guys who were on it for 10 years then crashed then they came off. So that's why I wanted to quit because just because you have no sides doesn't mean it isn't going to screw you up. Earlier your off the better.

Isn't that right? I must say I was rather emotionally distraught viewing propeciahelp.com for the first time so my perceptions may be a bit hazy.

 

[sadscalp]

I appreciate the posts guys.

I don't have any sexual problems. I get boners constantly. Easily. Even if I'm just in my room just resting on my bed. I can think one arousing thought and I've got a boner in like 8 seconds. (And I'm not quite proud of that either speaking from a moral standpoint haha...I'm trying to work on that too....).

I've heard guys who were on it for 10 years then crashed then they came off. So that's why I wanted to quit because just because you have no sides doesn't mean it isn't going to screw you up. Earlier your off the better.

Isn't that right? I must say I was rather emotionally distraught viewing propeciahelp.com for the first time so my perceptions may be a bit hazy.

Yes, it seems that is the case for some people. They crash once they get off finasteride, even though they didn't get any sides while taking the drug.

If you wanna get off it I'd recommend you ween off it. Lower you dose next week, lower it again the next, etc.

Oh, and I know the feeling of getting scared shitless by Propeciahelp.com. I have no doubt that this drug can potentially f*ck up some people really bad.

 

[j3321]

People are giving me attitude on my success story thread for thinking this.

When I quit I'm gunna do:
.75mg for two weeks.
.50 mg for 2 weeks
.25 mg for 2 weeks
.12mg for 1 week
Then start prayin' I guess!

I don't know when I'll quit though. I have to think about it. I may just try doin like .75 for a while and if I maintain go to like .5 and see how little I can be on. That's another option. I'm thinking after 6 months of 1 mg finasteride if I'm going to crash I'm going to crash. I'm probably doomed at this point. Might as well get my money's worth.

 

[sadscalp]

People are giving me attitude on my success story thread for thinking this.

Pay them no mind. They're mostly trying to convince themselves that this drug is harmless (which it is to most people, but apparently not all). If you wanna get off finasteride then that is totally fair. Do what you think is best.

 

[zeroheat]

I don't understand your logic at all.. propeciahelp.com is where all the people suffering from side effects (which is a minority) go to and discuss things. Apparently you are not the minority, and you have enjoyed a great success, but you now wanna come off? If you are suffering from sides then I totally support your decision, but you are not. minoxidil will help you regrowth your hair but won't stop the root of the problem..

 

[Primo]

Don't read stories from Propeciahelp it will only scare the crap out of you! So far it seems you've got through finasteride without the brainfog, sleep problems, lame libido and erectile dysfunction that probably about 5% of users suffer (including me).

Count yourself lucky to have grown back your hair without suffering any sides from finasteride. Zeroheat, the guy above, suffered sides for the first 6 months on finasteride, but rode it out and is now virtually back to normal. He made a sacrifice for a few months a came out much, much better on the other side.

I would love to try finasteride again because it's by far the most effective drug out there, but frankly I don't think my girlfriend would put up with my penis being "unresponsive" for a period of 3-6months... If I was single though, I'd definitely get back on it.

Your hair will respond better to a combo of finasteride and minoxidil, than any other mix of topicals, this is clinically proven. If you drop finasteride, then your best bet is adopting a regimen full of topicals, which is costly, a pain in the *** to apply everyday and will certainly not be as effective as finasteride.

You don't want to start lose your hair at college, when nearly everyone else has a full head of hair. I spent all my college years trying to cover up/comb over my NW1.5-2 with all kinds of stupid and elaborate hairstyles, it was such a pain in the ***! Wouldn't have been such a big deal, but girls at that age are incredibly superficial, so there's no point in pretending that a receding hairline is going to leave a good first impression. At least now at my mid-20s stage, girls are a bit more understanding.

 

[eth0]

The main thing which worries me is fertility. No one really has any solid evidence on this topic and it scares the sh*t out of me that I may become infertile.

 

[j3321]

I don't understand your logic at all.. propeciahelp.com is where all the people suffering from side effects (which is a minority) go to and discuss things. Apparently you are not the minority, and you have enjoyed a great success, but you now wanna come off? If you are suffering from sides then I totally support your decision, but you are not. minoxidil will help you regrowth your hair but won't stop the root of the problem..

I'm paranoid though because you can still have post-finasteride syndrome even if you had no side effects (or at least I think). Like it's not just guys who gets sides but insists on battling through anyway. It's guys like me who have no sides but crash when they come off.

 

[j3321]

Don't read stories from Propeciahelp it will only scare the crap out of you! So far it seems you've got through finasteride without the brainfog, sleep problems, lame libido and erectile dysfunction that probably about 5% of users suffer (including me).

Count yourself lucky to have grown back your hair without suffering any sides from finasteride. Zeroheat, the guy above, suffered sides for the first 6 months on finasteride, but rode it out and is now virtually back to normal. He made a sacrifice for a few months a came out much, much better on the other side.

I would love to try finasteride again because it's by far the most effective drug out there, but frankly I don't think my girlfriend would put up with my penis being "unresponsive" for a period of 3-6months... If I was single though, I'd definitely get back on it.

Your hair will respond better to a combo of finasteride and minoxidil, than any other mix of topicals, this is clinically proven. If you drop finasteride, then your best bet is adopting a regimen full of topicals, which is costly, a pain in the *** to apply everyday and will certainly not be as effective as finasteride.

You don't want to start lose your hair at college, when nearly everyone else has a full head of hair. I spent all my college years trying to cover up/comb over my NW1.5-2 with all kinds of stupid and elaborate hairstyles, it was such a pain in the ***! Wouldn't have been such a big deal, but girls at that age are incredibly superficial, so there's no point in pretending that a receding hairline is going to leave a good first impression. At least now at my mid-20s stage, girls are a bit more understanding.

I know that's why I don't care about going bald in grad school and beyond. It's not a huge deal. But people are people and that's just how college is. You gotta play the game. I'm only going to stay on finasteride another year or two max. No more than 3 years tops. That was always my plan.

 

[j3321]

http://www.propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt ... =32&t=3409


I'm going down to .5 everyday. If I lose hair I lose hair. I'd rather have sex with an okay looking girl then have a really hot girlfriend who I can't get a boner for.

 

[eth0]

You need to go under the 0.05mg mark to have any notable effect on DHT

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

 

[Loolapalooza]

DON´T DO THAT !!!!!!

If you get that amount of success on big 3 with no sides, means you will probably live a happy healthy life with nice hair if you stick with them!

Just ignore those bunch of hypochondriacals of propeciahelp! I was very scared too of Finasteride at the beginning because of those stupid terror spreaders that made me spend another year without it !.. And you know what the result was? I continued to loose my hair!! Now I started Finasteride 1 Month trying to regain what I probably lost forever because of those fools!! :badmood:

They can say what they want, but in the end of the day you know what?? Turns out that Finasteride .. IS A SAFE DRUG! FDA is no shack to make some blood tests, but probably one of the most picky, exigent institutions in the world, and Finasteride was intensively studied! Simply about 2% of the users may get sexual sides because of Finasteride, and about 7% get those "sides" not because of the drug, but because impotence and loss of libido are quite common in men!

That forum is probably constituted by those 2 groups of people:

- ones that have sides due to the drug and decide to go online and scream about it (they probably stop those sides after quitting);
- ones that have "pseudo sides" - people that have common diseases in modern society - sexual disfunction, depression, stress, lack of energy, etc - and blame it on the drug. Then, after quitting, they go online screaming that Finasteride caused them sides for their entire lifes.

So, dude, this is my advise. But decide at your will of course. I wish I had just small success on big 3 like you .. Man I would jump all day on joy.


Just stick with it you will be ok!

 

[j3321]

You need to go under the 0.05mg mark to have any notable effect on DHT

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

You mean over .5?

 

[j3321]

DON´T DO THAT !!!!!!

If you get that amount of success on big 3 with no sides, means you will probably live a happy healthy life with nice hair if you stick with them!

Just ignore those bunch of hypochondriacals of propeciahelp! I was very scared too of Finasteride at the beginning because of those stupid terror spreaders that made me spend another year without it !.. And you know what the result was? I continued to loose my hair!! Now I started Finasteride 1 Month trying to regain what I probably lost forever because of those fools!! :badmood:

They can say what they want, but in the end of the day you know what?? Turns out that Finasteride .. IS A SAFE DRUG! FDA is no shack to make some blood tests, but probably one of the most picky, exigent institutions in the world, and Finasteride was intensively studied! Simply about 2% of the users may get sexual sides because of Finasteride, and about 7% get those "sides" not because of the drug, but because impotence and loss of libido are quite common in men!

That forum is probably constituted by those 2 groups of people:

- ones that have sides due to the drug and decide to go online and scream about it (they probably stop those sides after quitting);
- ones that have "pseudo sides" - people that have common diseases in modern society - sexual disfunction, depression, stress, lack of energy, etc - and blame it on the drug. Then, after quitting, they go online screaming that Finasteride caused them sides for their entire lifes.

So, dude, this is my advise. But decide at your will of course. I wish I had just small success on big 3 like you .. Man I would jump all day on joy.


Just stick with it you will be ok!

I appreciate what your saying but isn't 1% chance of wrecking your life forever too high? That's what I'm thinking. However, there have been people taking 5mg everyday for years because of enlarged prostate and they didn't all die. It got FDA approved at 5mg a day so I'm thinking 1mg a day can't be too bad....

 

[eth0]

You need to go under the 0.05mg mark to have any notable effect on DHT

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

You mean over .5?

No, I mean under 0.05mg

finasteride has a flat rate so anything between 0.05mg and 5mg has pretty much the same effect on the production of DHT.

Have a look at the link I posted and do some research online, you'll find quite a lot of info to back up this claim.

 

[j3321]

I think it would be better to phrase it as only having effect above .5 rather than "under." The non-effect occurring under .5 isn't really an "effect" it's the absence of an effect.

You see what I mean? That's why I was confused.

Appreciate the link though I will look through it.

 

[eth0]

I think it would be better to phrase it as only having effect above .5 rather than "under." The non-effect occurring under .5 isn't really an "effect" it's the absence of an effect.

You see what I mean? That's why I was confused.

Yes, I see what you mean.
What I should have said is :

"finasteride has exactly the same result of reducing DHT until you go under 0.05mg. This means it's reduces aprox. 60% of scalp DHT whether you take 5mg, 1mg or 0.15mg. It's only when you go under the 0.05mg mark that DHT levels will start to rise again.
This is what is meant by a flat rate"