Quitting Propecia After 9 Years

[badbeat2]

Well after 9 years of being on finasteride and 9 years of dealing with it's side effects, i think I am finally ready to throw in the towel. I started at 18 and I am now 27.

It has taken me from one of the horniest people I know and turned me into someone who couldn't get up to bang my ex-girlfriend who is model pretty. My own fear of quitting finasteride and going bald basically destroyed my relationship. My girlfriend complained about a lack of intimacy for about 9 months before she finally gave up.

So I've decided the time is now to grow a pair (literally and figuratively) and accept baldness. I would give anything to go back in time and just accept baldness and I am embarassed I kept taking the drug for so long when it was having such negative side effects. What a messed up set of priorities.

I would appreciate it if someone who has been through this before could let me know how quickly the finasteride will lose it's impact on my hair (e.g. how long until it will be like I never took finasteride).

Also, I use Nizoral twice a week, is it worth adding anything else to my regimen? I am not willing to take anything with the potential to cause sexual side effects.

Thanks in advance.

 

[brian liles]

IMO I could care less about sex. my hair is more important than sex. I would rather have erection problems or lack of desire for sex, in order to keep my hair. everyone is different


once you stop finasteride, it can take 3-12 months before you experience catch up hairloss. when did you stop finasteride?

 

[oldmpber]

Well after 9 years of being on finasteride and 9 years of dealing with it's side effects, i think I am finally ready to throw in the towel. I started at 18 and I am now 27.

It has taken me from one of the horniest people I know and turned me into someone who couldn't get up to bang my ex-girlfriend who is model pretty. My own fear of quitting finasteride and going bald basically destroyed my relationship. My girlfriend complained about a lack of intimacy for about 9 months before she finally gave up.

So I've decided the time is now to grow a pair (literally and figuratively) and accept baldness. I would give anything to go back in time and just accept baldness and I am embarassed I kept taking the drug for so long when it was having such negative side effects. What a messed up set of priorities.

I would appreciate it if someone who has been through this before could let me know how quickly the finasteride will lose it's impact on my hair (e.g. how long until it will be like I never took finasteride).

Also, I use Nizoral twice a week, is it worth adding anything else to my regimen? I am not willing to take anything with the potential to cause sexual side effects.

Thanks in advance.

Well it was 5 or 6 years ago for me so may not have everything right but it seems like it was 3-4 months later and i started losing hair like crazy. It got to the point where I was really looking bald in the back. I stayed on minoxidil and crossed my fingers. Took about a year but I got 50-60% of that hair back.

Some people have said they lost no hair or hardly any getting off finasteride so it is one of those things you will just have to wait and see. Good luck!

 

[nohawk]

Come on home brother, come on home... I understand what you are going through. I was on finasteride for 5 years and went from testosterone-jacked rabbit sex with my ex girlfriend to hoping that she won't wanna have sex with me. Because most probably I would not wanna have sex and therefore not even get hard. She finally gave up on me due to lack of intimacy, understanding, etc.

I found a new girlfriend, who is pretty much an objective 9/10, and as soon as the novelty wore off I was back to not caring again... Im 25 so this was obviously not acceptable.

I got off the damn thing gradually... but still had the post-finasteride crash which I'm sure you'll get. I was able to somewhat recover by eating clean, getting all my vitamins, and going to the gym 4 times per week. Also stopped paranoia-masturbating.

In regards to hair, I was able to keep all my propecia gains by using a shampoo and conditioner called regenepure, nizoral once or twice per week, one application of rosemary oil on my hairline in the mornings, and one application of Lipogaine minoxidil at night. I also take two "Hairomega 3-1" pills everyday. I shed less now than I did on propecia and slowly getting my libido back.

good luck

 

[Beingbaldsucks]

Thats why I'm not touching this crap, don't care how good it is, better to use dht blocking shampoos like revivogen instead of riskin yourself

 

[Chris87]

So you had side effects for the entire 9 years you were on it? Were you aware that you had the side effects the whole time?

 

[Rawtashk]

Thats why I'm not touching this crap, don't care how good it is, better to use dht blocking shampoos like revivogen instead of riskin yourself

Those shampoos won't do (hardly) anything to keep your hair on your head. Also, you have a 98% chance of not getting sexual sides. If you do get them, then just stop finasteride. You'll have a 99% chance of the sides going away in a month or less. Basically you have a 1-in-2000 chance of getting sides that persist for more than a month after you quit.

I delayed going on finasteride for 2 years because I was afraid of sides. I'm 4 years in now, and side-effect free (except maybe some very minor ones, but nothing major). My current greatest regret in my life is that I didn't start finasteride 2 years sooner than I did. 80% of my current hairloss happened in those 2 years :-/

 

[mlb]

I quit finasteride after 12 years on the drug (started at age 21). I have very aggressive balding genes (younger brother is a nw6 at age 28). I maintained a nw1 up until i quit - i must be a great responder.

I would say i lost 20% of my hair in the first 6 months after quitting. Then it stabilized for about 10 months. And then it suddenly started thinning rapidly again. I would say I have now lost about 65% of my hair and am forced to use a #1 guard (2 years off the drug in total). I will most likely be fully shaving my head within 6 months.

It's pretty traumatic watching your hair disappear. But it's also pretty traumatic having sexual sides. I've tried a few things to counteract the loss but to no avail. My libido improved and morning erections returned - but it hasn't restored me to my early-20s libido levels.

Good luck.

 

[Mestys]

I quit finasteride after 12 years on the drug (started at age 21). I have very aggressive balding genes (younger brother is a nw6 at age 28). I maintained a nw1 up until i quit - i must be a great responder.

I would say i lost 20% of my hair in the first 6 months after quitting. Then it stabilized for about 10 months. And then it suddenly started thinning rapidly again. I would say I have now lost about 65% of my hair and am forced to use a #1 guard (2 years off the drug in total). I will most likely be fully shaving my head within 6 months.

It's pretty traumatic watching your hair disappear. But it's also pretty traumatic having sexual sides. I've tried a few things to counteract the loss but to no avail. My libido improved and morning erections returned - but it hasn't restored me to my early-20s libido levels.

Good luck.

You will never be restored to your early 20s libido because you're not 20 anymore. I'm sure a lot of people who have used finasteride long term blame the drug for natural ageing.

 

[oldmpber]

I quit finasteride after 12 years on the drug (started at age 21). I have very aggressive balding genes (younger brother is a nw6 at age 28). I maintained a nw1 up until i quit - i must be a great responder.

I would say i lost 20% of my hair in the first 6 months after quitting. Then it stabilized for about 10 months. And then it suddenly started thinning rapidly again. I would say I have now lost about 65% of my hair and am forced to use a #1 guard (2 years off the drug in total). I will most likely be fully shaving my head within 6 months.

It's pretty traumatic watching your hair disappear. But it's also pretty traumatic having sexual sides. I've tried a few things to counteract the loss but to no avail. My libido improved and morning erections returned - but it hasn't restored me to my early-20s libido levels.

Good luck.

You will never be restored to your early 20s libido because you're not 20 anymore. I'm sure a lot of people who have used finasteride long term blame the drug for natural ageing.

When it happens fast I do not think it is natural aging. And if you take TRT , yes you will feel 20 again and will want sex 24/7

mlb - have you thought about just reducing your finasteride dosage? I had problems too and trying to see if 1 to 2 times a week will work- too early to say yet.

 

[mlb]

I quit finasteride after 12 years on the drug (started at age 21). I have very aggressive balding genes (younger brother is a nw6 at age 28). I maintained a nw1 up until i quit - i must be a great responder.

I would say i lost 20% of my hair in the first 6 months after quitting. Then it stabilized for about 10 months. And then it suddenly started thinning rapidly again. I would say I have now lost about 65% of my hair and am forced to use a #1 guard (2 years off the drug in total). I will most likely be fully shaving my head within 6 months.

It's pretty traumatic watching your hair disappear. But it's also pretty traumatic having sexual sides. I've tried a few things to counteract the loss but to no avail. My libido improved and morning erections returned - but it hasn't restored me to my early-20s libido levels.

Good luck.

You will never be restored to your early 20s libido because you're not 20 anymore. I'm sure a lot of people who have used finasteride long term blame the drug for natural ageing.

When it happens fast I do not think it is natural aging. And if you take TRT , yes you will feel 20 again and will want sex 24/7

mlb - have you thought about just reducing your finasteride dosage? I had problems too and trying to see if 1 to 2 times a week will work- too early to say yet.

I'm not going to lie...i've been toying with the idea of going on .125mg. I look pretty good with a #1 cut though so shaved might look fine too (but I do like having a good hairline).

As for not being early-20s again, I agree. However, there is no doubt my libido went up when off finasteride. Plus, I went from NEVER having morning erections to having them 5 days a week. Clearly finasteride was having an impact.

 

[Mestys]

Of course your libido will improve if you take trt but naturally testeosterone levels drop and oestrogen levels increase. Also we're not talking about sudden side effects this chap has been taking finasteride for 12 years, I'm sure if he had sudden side effects there would be no way he would of taken the drug for such a long time.

Edit,didn't see your post. Yeah there is no doubt finasteride causes side effects but I'm sure a lot of long term finasteride users blame finasteride for a slow reduction in sexual function where it in fact is probably down to ageing.

 

[badbeat2]

So you had side effects for the entire 9 years you were on it? Were you aware that you had the side effects the whole time?

Yes, to me having a chance to have a hot girlfriend was more important was more important than having the ability to satisfy a woman. It's some screwed up logic, but the question was have hair and limited sex drive or have massive sex drive and no one attractive to screw.

Pretty pathetic.

 

[badbeat2]

I quit finasteride after 12 years on the drug (started at age 21). I have very aggressive balding genes (younger brother is a nw6 at age 28). I maintained a nw1 up until i quit - i must be a great responder.

I would say i lost 20% of my hair in the first 6 months after quitting. Then it stabilized for about 10 months. And then it suddenly started thinning rapidly again. I would say I have now lost about 65% of my hair and am forced to use a #1 guard (2 years off the drug in total). I will most likely be fully shaving my head within 6 months.

It's pretty traumatic watching your hair disappear. But it's also pretty traumatic having sexual sides. I've tried a few things to counteract the loss but to no avail. My libido improved and morning erections returned - but it hasn't restored me to my early-20s libido levels.

Good luck.

One of my biggest fears is how are people going to respond to me going from a full head of hair to a bald head in approximately one year. How did you deal with this?

 

[ira_est_a_donum]

OP why not try 1mg or 1.25mg if you split your pills every other day or every 3rd day... I had to go from ED to EOD to every 3rd day to really reduce the side effects of loss of desire for sex... at ED dosage of 1mg my sex drive was really low... at EOD it was better but still not as high as it used to be... finally I settled on an every 3rd day dosage...

with the every 3rd day dosage of 1.25mg my sexual desire was maybe 75% of what it once was before finasteride... to me that was acceptable... and almost even better bc sex wasnt on my mind ALL OF THE TIME... just some of the time.... I never had ED issues...just loss of sex drive... was fine solo and erections were always strong...

from my research DHT levels are lowered after a finasteride dosage and do not recover much the day after, still not much the 2nd day after and barely move up the 3rd day after a dosage... its the 4th day after where DHT levels bounce back... so a every 3rd day dosage in theory provide nearly the same hairloss protection/prevention as a daily dosage.... Ive been doing it this way for a few years now and feel it is effective based on my hair loss being pretty much halted...

I would try this out for about 3-6 months... going 1.25mg E3D and see how that works...

if at about 3-4 months you dont notice a big improvement on your sexual desire, erections etc... then I would set up an appt with your dr and see about getting on a low dose HRT shot or patch.... OR maybe an antiestrogen... your general physican might not go for either of these...or you may just want to get a referral to an endocrinologist who knows their stuff on this kinda of stuff and you both can work out the right course of action to increase your sexual stuff while still trying to keep your hair...

you might find that you get the best of both worlds with doing the HRT and finasteride....

 

[mlb]

I quit finasteride after 12 years on the drug (started at age 21). I have very aggressive balding genes (younger brother is a nw6 at age 28). I maintained a nw1 up until i quit - i must be a great responder.

I would say i lost 20% of my hair in the first 6 months after quitting. Then it stabilized for about 10 months. And then it suddenly started thinning rapidly again. I would say I have now lost about 65% of my hair and am forced to use a #1 guard (2 years off the drug in total). I will most likely be fully shaving my head within 6 months.

It's pretty traumatic watching your hair disappear. But it's also pretty traumatic having sexual sides. I've tried a few things to counteract the loss but to no avail. My libido improved and morning erections returned - but it hasn't restored me to my early-20s libido levels.

Good luck.

One of my biggest fears is how are people going to respond to me going from a full head of hair to a bald head in approximately one year. How did you deal with this?

Just keep cutting it shorter as your hair gets thinner. I've been through about 6 different lengths over the last 2 years. Now that i'm getting to "very short" I definitely get some comments from people I haven't seen in a while. No one really cares. It is definitely stressful, just not the end of the world.

Also, as it pertains to women it doesn't seem to matter to be honest. Although I still have a decent hair line. Fully shaved might be a different story - not sure.

 

[oldmpber]

I'm not going to lie...i've been toying with the idea of going on .125mg. I look pretty good with a #1 cut though so shaved might look fine too (but I do like having a good hairline).

As for not being early-20s again, I agree. However, there is no doubt my libido went up when off finasteride. Plus, I went from NEVER having morning erections to having them 5 days a week. Clearly finasteride was having an impact.

Hope it works out for you. I was waiting for my new supply so I could cut it to .25 but heck maybe try .125 if I can cut it that small.

minoxidil is another can of worms, but it will buy you time and give you back some of your hair. Just be careful as it can cause skin problems over time...

 

[mlb]

I'm not going to lie...i've been toying with the idea of going on .125mg. I look pretty good with a #1 cut though so shaved might look fine too (but I do like having a good hairline).

As for not being early-20s again, I agree. However, there is no doubt my libido went up when off finasteride. Plus, I went from NEVER having morning erections to having them 5 days a week. Clearly finasteride was having an impact.

Hope it works out for you. I was waiting for my new supply so I could cut it to .25 but heck maybe try .125 if I can cut it that small.

minoxidil is another can of worms, but it will buy you time and give you back some of your hair. Just be careful as it can cause skin problems over time...

If you buy an exacto knife you can cut it into .125mg. I did it when i tapered off the drug.

 

[oldmpber]

I'm not going to lie...i've been toying with the idea of going on .125mg. I look pretty good with a #1 cut though so shaved might look fine too (but I do like having a good hairline).

As for not being early-20s again, I agree. However, there is no doubt my libido went up when off finasteride. Plus, I went from NEVER having morning erections to having them 5 days a week. Clearly finasteride was having an impact.

Hope it works out for you. I was waiting for my new supply so I could cut it to .25 but heck maybe try .125 if I can cut it that small.

minoxidil is another can of worms, but it will buy you time and give you back some of your hair. Just be careful as it can cause skin problems over time...

If you buy an exacto knife you can cut it into .125mg. I did it when i tapered off the drug.

tnx..will give it a try. My finasteride came in last night...

 

[DonaldAnderson]

This thread is depressing. :shakehead: