I thought I'd share my story to help others make the right decision whether they want to take propecia or not.
I started proepcia when I was 19, I never thought too much into it, after seeing a hair loss specialist and them telling me I'd be bald in 2-3 years, I was desperate to do anything to keep my hair, it seemed the be all and end all.
My hair was falling out by the second until the propecia kicked in, after taking 1mg a day for probably 6-9 months, the hair loss slowed down massively, I could towel dry my hair without any noticeable amount coming out, I knew it was working.
After around 3-4 years taking propecia, my hair had barely changed, id kept what I had as the propecia did its job. I noticed that my facial hair never really changed much, hairs on my legs and arms were thinner, only my chest hair was still progressively growing. I never thought too much of this.
Age 24, I started experiencing side effects such as loss of libido and changes in the quality of semen, it was almost like water and the days of morning glory had long gone. I guess as I was getting older, my testosterone was decreasing, that coupled with propecia led to the side effects. I started to think about whether it was worth it anymore and what I could be sacrificing for my hair( fertility and being able to perform sexually)
Age 25, I decided to stop taking propecia, after reading a lot about post propecia horror stories, I decided to come off them slowly ish, I just took 0.5mg for 2 weeks then stopped. After around a month of fully quitting, I started experiencing a higher sex drive again, morning glory was back in full swing and the quality of my semen had improved greatly, I had no negative withdrawals. I still felt grateful that I had kept my hair for an extra 6 years, 6 years added on to its life expectancy if you put it like that, was it worth it? I don't know. At the same time, I felt relieved to feel 'natural' and have the hormones working in my body as they should've been, it made me feel like a proper man again. Other noticeable changes were in my facial hair growth, this had barely changed over the 6 years of taking propecia however in the few months after stopping, a beard started coming through, the hairs looked thicker and stronger.
I have decided I would never go back to propecia now, my hair loss has started at the rate it was before I started taking them but I'm fine with it this time. I've had 6 years to prepare and my mind set has changed a lot from the naive 19 year old I once was. That doesn't mean I don't care about having hair, its just not something that scares me anymore, I could live with it.
I'm still looking into alternatives like minoxidil, hair replacement systems, anything that doesn't involve messing with my hormonal system.
There's a lot of stories on here, not many are up to date and completely honest so I thought I'd give my account on things to hopefully help someone in the position I was back when I was 19.
Good luck whatever you may decide!
I started proepcia when I was 19, I never thought too much into it, after seeing a hair loss specialist and them telling me I'd be bald in 2-3 years, I was desperate to do anything to keep my hair, it seemed the be all and end all.
My hair was falling out by the second until the propecia kicked in, after taking 1mg a day for probably 6-9 months, the hair loss slowed down massively, I could towel dry my hair without any noticeable amount coming out, I knew it was working.
After around 3-4 years taking propecia, my hair had barely changed, id kept what I had as the propecia did its job. I noticed that my facial hair never really changed much, hairs on my legs and arms were thinner, only my chest hair was still progressively growing. I never thought too much of this.
Age 24, I started experiencing side effects such as loss of libido and changes in the quality of semen, it was almost like water and the days of morning glory had long gone. I guess as I was getting older, my testosterone was decreasing, that coupled with propecia led to the side effects. I started to think about whether it was worth it anymore and what I could be sacrificing for my hair( fertility and being able to perform sexually)
Age 25, I decided to stop taking propecia, after reading a lot about post propecia horror stories, I decided to come off them slowly ish, I just took 0.5mg for 2 weeks then stopped. After around a month of fully quitting, I started experiencing a higher sex drive again, morning glory was back in full swing and the quality of my semen had improved greatly, I had no negative withdrawals. I still felt grateful that I had kept my hair for an extra 6 years, 6 years added on to its life expectancy if you put it like that, was it worth it? I don't know. At the same time, I felt relieved to feel 'natural' and have the hormones working in my body as they should've been, it made me feel like a proper man again. Other noticeable changes were in my facial hair growth, this had barely changed over the 6 years of taking propecia however in the few months after stopping, a beard started coming through, the hairs looked thicker and stronger.
I have decided I would never go back to propecia now, my hair loss has started at the rate it was before I started taking them but I'm fine with it this time. I've had 6 years to prepare and my mind set has changed a lot from the naive 19 year old I once was. That doesn't mean I don't care about having hair, its just not something that scares me anymore, I could live with it.
I'm still looking into alternatives like minoxidil, hair replacement systems, anything that doesn't involve messing with my hormonal system.
There's a lot of stories on here, not many are up to date and completely honest so I thought I'd give my account on things to hopefully help someone in the position I was back when I was 19.
Good luck whatever you may decide!