Propecia causing acne?

[Folliman]

Hey guys, I'm 23 Norwood 1.5 and started to thin around the temples in the NW2 Area so I decided to take action quickly. A week ago I started taking 1MG propecia, decided to stop on saturday and sunday because of other medication and didn't want to mix them. Now monday I noticed acne and I'm scared I may have hyperandrogenicity since it's one of the symptoms. I wouldn't care about side effects, but hyperandrogenicity actually causes HAIR LOSS, which render propecia not only useless but counterproductive.

Reading more about hyperandrogenicity I found that other symptoms are oily skin and increased libido, I have neither of those yet, but I just touched my nose and it is slightly oily (maybe it's just the beginning?). I don't know if I usually have an oily nose but I don't remember having problems with it before.

Note: it's not in my mind since I had no idea one could develop acne on propecia.

I also hope these symptoms manifested because of the days off. Is that possible?

What are your opinion guys, what's your experience with propecia related oily skin and acne? what should I do? Do you think I have hyperandrogenicity? I don't want to speed up my hair loss. ): Please help!

 

[Agustin Araujo]

I really doubt it's Propecia causing your acne, and I really doubt that the medication could possibly speed up your hair loss. Propecia is specifically FDA approved to treat Male Pattern Baldness, for it to possibly worsen hair loss would be a really rare adverse side effect.

I take Dutasteride (brand name Avodart) for my Male Pattern Baldness. It's similar to Finasteride, which is the active ingredient in Propecia, except Dutasteride inhibits an extra specific type of DHT. I've had no problems with the medication, and the vast majority of men won't.

My point is, you should be just fine. I wouldn't worry if I were you. Side effects are uncommon for Finasteride, and happen in about 2% of cases. If you were to genuinely experience side effects, you can simply quit the treatment and they'll subside.

 

[Folliman]

Thanks for replying. Did you notice any shedding when you started? If so, when did it start and for how long? I'm planning to document all my finasteride journey here regardless of it being positive or negative.

What do you know about reflex androgenicity?

 

[Mikazz]

Yes in the first couple of weeks on finasteride, you might experience elevated testosterone causing side effects similar to steroids or TRT. This doesn't mean you will lose hair, you DHT level will still be much lower. Those side effects should disappear once your body adapts to finasteride within the first month.

Edit: I had similar side efffects, they faded after the second week on finasteride

 

[Folliman]

I hope you guys are right, I'm crossing my fingers! Is it realistic to think that the hair that can't grow more than an inch around my temples will grow to terminal hair within a year?

 

[Agustin Araujo]

Thanks for replying. Did you notice any shedding when you started? If so, when did it start and for how long? I'm planning to document all my finasteride journey here regardless of it being positive or negative.

What do you know about reflex androgenicity?

I experienced no shedding, it actually almost stopped after about four months of taking Dutasteride. I'm also combining other treatments than only taking Avodart for my male pattern baldness.

Sorry, I myself am not familiar with reflex androgenicity.

 

[casparrro]

As for me, finasteride solved my problem with acne. Since puberty I struggled with acne; I had big red pimples all over my forehead and cheeks etc. But since I have started taking finasteride my skin is less oily, I don't sweat as much (I used to have extremely sweaty hands and feet and no idea how to handle this problem) and they are gone.
So far so good.
By the way, this is a very interesting topic. I wonder why results differ so much. Some men have ED, some have higher sex drive (minority, but still), some get acne, some get rid of it. This is crazy.

 

[Folliman]

Well, the pimples that I got on my face are on their way out and I'm not getting any more.

By the way, I have a blind pimple on the upper inner side of my leg near my crotch; I've had it for nearly two years. I used to ignore it because it didn't hurt or anything, it was just there and looked like it was going to stay forever. But yesterday it finally popped a little bit by itself, and it's getting bigger, it's also causing a little bit of pain (normal pimple pain). From the looks of it it's completely bursting next week. This was 5 days of taking finasteride and 2 days off. If it's not related to the drug it would be a hell of a coincidence.

 

[g.i joey]

Ur body's dht just went to its natural levels after 2 days without it. If I don't take my finasteride 1 day I start getting the scalp itches and an odd pimple. it's from our body adjusting to normal levels. Was your acne controlled for the first 5 days?

 

[Folliman]

Yes, it was perfectly fine the first 5 days. Seems like it was because of the days off. My theory is that my body was producing more testosterone to balance it out but I had nothing to balance for 2 days while still producing testosterone, resulting in pimples.