Questions from new, worried finasterid-user.

[Scarpro]

Hi!

This is my first post here. This seems to be a great community consisting of serious and helpful individuals. Anyway, I have some questions and worries, and I'm hoping that maybe some people here can share their knowledge with me. (Slightly long post, sorry...)

I starting taking 1/4s (once a day) of Proscar 3.5 weeks ago, using a pill splitter. I'm 26 years old, and been suffering from general thinning of hair all over the top of my head about the last 5 years. I still have coverage of all my head more or less, but it's starting to get pretty thin at the apex, at front center and at the temples.

Unfortunately, the sideeffects has started to show its ugly head. (This is embarresing stuff to talk about, but here goes...) I noticed quite fast a decrease in sensitivity "down below", and after 3 weeks my libido is severaly lowered, and I don't always get a full erection. Also, I've been noticing some extra sensitivity in and around my nipples, and my cheast (read: breasts) have also become slightly larger. Geeeez, I've already been more than stressed out with my hairloss. The last 4 months it started to escalate seriously, so that's the reason I fineally got on the finasterid. After having gone through a lot of the posts here, I've found some seriously disturbing horrorstories. If the finasterid gives me hair, but turns me into an impotent guy with boobs, that kind of defeats the purpose you know...
I've read posts claiming that these are normal sideeffects, while the body is adjusting to the lower levels of DHT, and other more disturbing claims.
Should I be worried, or should I try to "ride it out" for a couple more months?

Btw. to avoid uneven dosage, I ordered a year-supply of generic propecia from qualitygenerics.com, and they told me that they get their generics from Ranbaxy Labotories in India (with 99.5% of the active ingredients). The qualitygenerics.com site looks very professional, and the customerservice is excellent. This leads me to believe this is the real thing, but I'm scared to loose my remaining hair because of a nonworking placebo. Have anyone dealt with this site, or have heard positive/negative things about it. The package has already arrived, but I hesitating to pick it up... But because of my sideeffects, I assume that a low, even dosage would be preferable to splitted proscar pills.

Any help, comments etc. would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Pall]

Yep,The important question is "Does our body adjust DTH Levels in a long time and Side-effects go away?OR are we going to live With the side effects forever during taking Finasterid?

I Also have a question about Proscar's uneven dosage. I cut 1 proscar pill into 5 uneven pieces . Does it prevent body to adjust DTH Levels in such a long time?

Should i cut one proscar pill into 4 or 5 ?

 

[Scarpro]

Autumn Tears (..nice nickname...), when first started to read about propecia I got the impression that it was a rather harmless drug, but having read Mercks study, it doesn't exactly fit the general impression I get from reading various user experiences (2% get genital issues, yeah right...how old were the test subjects again?).
I would definately do an as low and steady dosage as possible, and stay far away from dustasterid. When a 2/3 lowering of DHT can create so much trouble, one can only wonder what a long time exposure of dustasterid can do to a relatively young individual...

 

[cruiser]

this is my advise: be carefull!! no one can tell you what will happen to YOU on finasteride, some people can take it with relativley low/no sides, some people (like me) it can devastate. i have been off it for 3+ weeks now and although my problems are better i still have a low libido and its kinda like there isnt as much feeling down there , still having some wierd mood swings also. im 100% positive all this was caused by finasteride, im 28 and NEVER had anything like this happen to me until i started finasteride. f*****g with hormones is HUGE be careful! im going to try the topical route now spironolactone/revivogen combo, good luck.

 

[misterium]

I'm well into my 5th month on finasteride. 27 years old. Crown/vertex thinner, no visible bald spots. Hairline in good shape. I caught my hairloss fairly early.

I'm not using minoxidil, saving it for later on if I need it.

When I first started Propecia, I was hornier for a few weeks.. then it leveled off. Otherwise, no sides that I've noticed thus far...

If I had started getting negative sides, depending on severity, I would have tried to ride them through..

I'm not even sure if I've gone through any shed. I suppose the finasteride is mild enough in my system to where I don't even notice any shedding. I don't seem to be noticing as much hairloss in the shower anymore though, compared to 7 months ago... so I think I'm a 'good responder'. As long as finasteride keeps my DHT levels low enough for my hair to stay on my head for a good time period, then I'll be happy !

I definately have had some scalp irritation over the past months... my belief is that it's due to finasteride. Scalp itching isn't as bad lately but I need to get rid of it for good! (I use Nizoral 1%, Emu oil, and Folligen sometimes).

I don't bother taking pictures.. honestly I don't like to see the back of my head, I try to 'not think about it', so I don't like to look back there. I can tell improvements or quality by the way my hair looks styled, and how it feels when I touch my scalp.

Time will tell. They say a good 1+ year is what ya need, to tell how well or not finasteride is working for you.

Patience is critical during any treatment.

 

[Scarpro]

IWantMyHair, have you noticed a weightgain since starting on the Propecia? The reason I ask, is because the size of my belly has grown since I started. I've always had a slim figure, with some varying in "belly-size depending on time of year/level of activities.

Right now I'm seriously contemplating stopping finasterid before I get worse. Weightgain, significantly less libido, breasts, this is like a nightmare! :-(
Funny thing is, that I've never had a allergic or bad respons in my life before to drugs, food or anything (AFAIK), so I assumed that this would work out just fine.

Many people talk about sideeffects for the first couple of months, it would be interesting to see typically how severe these sideeffects were for the ones whose problems recided after this amount of time.

The more posts I keep reading here, the more I wish I never went down the finasterid road.
I'm sure that the ones who have no problems feel less need to post, so obviously there be an overrepresentation of unfortunate people here.
It's obvious that the effects of tampering with one's hormones have more deep-reaching effects than I originally thought.

 

[misterium]

Don't stress. It takes time for a body to adjust. Same goes for things like changing your diet... think about it, everything you consume is a chemical, and impacts your body.

Ride it out, see how your sides go for a couple months before you ditch the treatment!

I eat and drink a lot of beer so I am about 20 pounds overweight to begin with, plus I've always had a broad chest as I'm a stalky build.

I don't know but *maybe*, just *maybe*, finasteride caused me a minor weight increase during the first few months... but I only say this because you put the idea into my head! See how it works? It's mental! ;P

I don't think my weight is anything a good gym membership couldn't take care of !

 

[Free Bird]

Scarpro,


You sure you don't work for the makers of Procerin or Avacor?

Just kidding. :lol:

I hope it all works out for you. I just finished my first week on finasteride and no sides yet. Where is some wood? I need to knock on it.

 

[misterium]

get their generics from Ranbaxy Labotories in India (with 99.5% of the active ingredients).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't you want it to be 100% ?

 

[BadHairDecade]

Scarpro,

I suggest you go to the Dr... Just from the frequency of your posts today I can tell this is really bothering you. Honestly, you won't get a definite answer from anyone here. For the few that do get side effects, sometimes they go away and sometimes they don't if they stay on finasteride.
What your experiencing sounds like an imbalance of Estrogen to Testosterone. Whether or not your body adjusts to it is the main question and honestly nobody can give you a definite answer.
I wish I could be of more help to you.

BHD

 

[Old Baldy]

Yes Scarpro, I think you should see a doctor. Play it safe my man!

 

[Guest]

Scarpro,

You mention you have only been on finasteride for 3.5 weeks. I had the exact same symptoms as you. I did feel as though it felt less sensative. Then up until month 7 I was like a bull in a china shop regarding sex drive. But now moving into month 8 I have noticed that my sex drive is up and down like a yo yo. Also I have erection problems sometimes but not all the time.

I guess that this is the trade off. Are you willing to put up with some side affects that could come and go and may or may not harm you, or do you want to go bald.

Now I'm not happy taking these pills because I would rather have a full head of hair like some of the luck sods who don't suffer from male pattern baldness. But I have no choice. I would stick with it for a while. Give it three months at least to see if the side affects go away. If and when these side affects do go away then you can sit back and relax and watch your hair get thicker, only to fall out again after a massive shed around months 7-8. Sorry, don’t mean to frighten you but it's true in most cases. You have to at least be prepared for what is coming.

But it should grow back thicker and better...


Good luck..

 

[not me!]

this is my advise: be carefull!! no one can tell you what will happen to YOU on finasteride, some people can take it with relativley low/no sides, some people (like me) it can devastate. i have been off it for 3+ weeks now and although my problems are better i still have a low libido and its kinda like there isnt as much feeling down there , still having some wierd mood swings also. im 100% positive all this was caused by finasteride, im 28 and NEVER had anything like this happen to me until i started finasteride. f*****g with hormones is HUGE be careful! im going to try the topical route now spironolactone/revivogen combo, good luck.

Go pick up some L-Arginine and some Yohimbe Bark. This should put the pep back in your step after only about a week or so.

 

[Scarpro]

Thanks people! I really appreciate the respons.
I will continue the treatment for now, but I'm going to check with my doctor about this.