My regimen consisted of taking a very low dose of propecia – 0.5 mg every other day; minoxidil – 2 mL per day; and Nizoral 2x per week. I had been following this protocol for about 1 year and 3-4 months. I had marginal success, in that my hairloss seemed to stabilize everywhere except for my hairline, where it has continued to recede, albeit slowly. The crown is practically the same, maybe even a little better than when I had started. So, overall, it was working for me. However, I was experiencing side effects.
The propecia (even at my low dose) was causing some gyno – I experienced discomfort in the pectoral area and had noticeable puffiness in the nipples, that was getting worse over time…I'm not able to wear thin cotton t-shirts anymore…which I hope is temporary and goes back to normal. I also noticed, and it was noticeable to others, was that I had developed bags under my eyes, wrinkles/puffy forehead appearance and perhaps the skin was darkening a bit under the eyes. Other things I noticed but not sure I can pin on propecia was slightly depressed feeling and constantly tired.
After a friend who I had not seen in a few months, commented that I had bags under my eyes and looked tired, I decided to get off of the meds. I decided that instead of quitting everything, I would first come off propecia and see how I make out just using minoxidil and nizoral. Then, if necessary, I would quit the others as well.
At this point, I've been off propecia for a little over two weeks. And just today I became aware that I'm now starting to sleep better. Don't know if it's coincidence or is related to the meds. While I was taking propecia, getting out of bed in the morning was an absolute chore and I typically would feel groggy for a couple of hours after waking. On weekends, when I didn't have to get up for anything, I would sleep for 10-12hrs no problem and honestly felt like I could keep sleeping. However, for the past couple of days, I've had much more energy in the AM and have felt more alert and less groggy . Overall, I feel much more rested in the morning . Also noticed that I'm having more dreams, they are more vivid, more imaginative (ie. More complex) and can recall them better than before.
So, I'm wondering: does propecia mess with your sleep? Maybe it interferes with the REM cycle? Has anyone else experienced or perhaps read something about this? Are the bags and dark circle under the eyes, and "brain fog" (frequently attributed to minoxidil and or propecia) not really directly attributable to the drugs, but rather due to a lack of quality sleep, which is being induced by the propecia?
The propecia (even at my low dose) was causing some gyno – I experienced discomfort in the pectoral area and had noticeable puffiness in the nipples, that was getting worse over time…I'm not able to wear thin cotton t-shirts anymore…which I hope is temporary and goes back to normal. I also noticed, and it was noticeable to others, was that I had developed bags under my eyes, wrinkles/puffy forehead appearance and perhaps the skin was darkening a bit under the eyes. Other things I noticed but not sure I can pin on propecia was slightly depressed feeling and constantly tired.
After a friend who I had not seen in a few months, commented that I had bags under my eyes and looked tired, I decided to get off of the meds. I decided that instead of quitting everything, I would first come off propecia and see how I make out just using minoxidil and nizoral. Then, if necessary, I would quit the others as well.
At this point, I've been off propecia for a little over two weeks. And just today I became aware that I'm now starting to sleep better. Don't know if it's coincidence or is related to the meds. While I was taking propecia, getting out of bed in the morning was an absolute chore and I typically would feel groggy for a couple of hours after waking. On weekends, when I didn't have to get up for anything, I would sleep for 10-12hrs no problem and honestly felt like I could keep sleeping. However, for the past couple of days, I've had much more energy in the AM and have felt more alert and less groggy . Overall, I feel much more rested in the morning . Also noticed that I'm having more dreams, they are more vivid, more imaginative (ie. More complex) and can recall them better than before.
So, I'm wondering: does propecia mess with your sleep? Maybe it interferes with the REM cycle? Has anyone else experienced or perhaps read something about this? Are the bags and dark circle under the eyes, and "brain fog" (frequently attributed to minoxidil and or propecia) not really directly attributable to the drugs, but rather due to a lack of quality sleep, which is being induced by the propecia?