Scary Side Effects From Finasteride! Please Help!

[alexheally]

I took finasteride for 7 months with no side effects then switched to dutasteride for 6 days
got low libdo first couple of days I thought the side effects might go away but at day 6 experienced erectile dysfunction.
I read online about ways to quit and it was suggest to decrease the dosage first before you quit
so I took finasteride yesterday but I feel like things are getting worst, Should I continue with finasteride or should I quit both?
I'm so afraid to end up with post finasteride syndrome, I have exams too and I can't focus from the anxiety
anyone help me please, what should I do?

 

[Ollie]

dutasteride can be a real hard hitter in regards to sides. Unlike finasteride that inhibits 5ar partially, dutasteride diminishes it almost completely. @Obsessive had a similar experience regarding dutasteride - from what i remember he felt better after a few weeks after switiching back to finasteride.
Unfortunately dutasteride has a pretty long half life so wont expel itself that quickly.

 

[alexheally]

dutasteride can be a real hard hitter in regards to sides. Unlike finasteride that inhibits 5ar partially, dutasteride diminishes it almost completely. @Obsessive had a similar experience regarding dutasteride - from what i remember he felt better after a few weeks after switiching back to finasteride.
Unfortunately dutasteride has a pretty long half life so wont expel itself that quickly.

when I took finasteride yesterday I felt that my libdo and erections got worst, didn't check myself tho but I don't feel myself getting horny as I used to, do you suggest me to continue in that case or quit?
I took it in the past too for 2 days only, got weaker erections the second day then I quite and recovered within a day

 

[Ollie]

when I took finasteride yesterday I felt that my libdo and erections got worst, didn't check myself tho but I don't feel myself getting horny as I used to, do you suggest me to continue in that case or quit?
I took it in the past too for 2 days only, got weaker erections the second day then I quite and recovered within a day

If you're recovering in a day or two from past experiences you'll have to put that down to placebo. It takes fat cells 1-2 weeks to reproduce the 5ar enzyme to begin converting T to DHT again. If you only last took dutasteride a few days ago you can expect it may take 1 month + to be at the same state you were when you were taking finasteride for those 7 months. Remember that libido and ED does come and go anyway naturally but whilst on these drugs will be far more obvious.

 

[alexheally]

If you're recovering in a day or two from past experiences you'll have to put that down to placebo. It takes fat cells 1-2 weeks to reproduce the 5ar enzyme to begin converting T to DHT again. If you only last took dutasteride a few days ago you can expect it may take 1 month + to be at the same state you were when you were taking finasteride for those 7 months. Remember that libido and ED does come and go anyway naturally but whilst on these drugs will be far more obvious.

In the past when I took it for 2 days and I was on finasteride for 1.5 month and have, recovered after 1 day but felt the hormonal shift after 4-5 days, felt so horny and got pimples on my face. but apparently it was short periods on both so I recovered easily.

Now, I can actually feel it, it's not placebo at all, the side effects are real, when I got low libdo first days I thought it can be placebo, but something like erections you can actually feel and see it. as well as my experience in the past so I know that this actually the drug not me. I think a lot of people can experience side effects after 1 week or 2 i'm not the first one, by the way i'm only 20 who experience stuff like that at that age?

tl;dr I want to know your thoughts will suggest me to quit cold turkey or stuck on finasteride for a week before I quit? cus quitting from 0 dht to 100 can cause you pfs, quitting from 30% to 100% as well but it's not gonna not be as bad as dutasteride
the problem is I feel my symptoms will get worst If I kept taking finasteride for a week before quitting

 

[Ollie]

In the past when I took it for 2 days and I was on finasteride for 1.5 month and have, recovered after 1 day but felt the hormonal shift after 4-5 days, felt so horny and got pimples on my face. but apparently it was short periods on both so I recovered easily.

Now, I can actually feel it, it's not placebo at all, the side effects are real, when I got low libdo first days I thought it can be placebo, but something like erections you can actually feel and see it. as well as my experience in the past so I know that this actually the drug not me. I think a lot of people can experience side effects after 1 week or 2 i'm not the first one, by the way i'm only 20 who experience stuff like that at that age?

tl;dr I want to know your thoughts will suggest me to quit cold turkey or stuck on finasteride for a week before I quit? cus quitting from 0 dht to 100 can cause you pfs, quitting from 30% to 100% as well but it's not gonna not be as bad as dutasteride
the problem is I feel my symptoms will get worst If I kept taking finasteride for a week before quitting

If you're gonna come off you'd need to do it very slowly. As far as sides currently depending when you last took dutasteride it may take a few weeks for you to feel back to 'normal'. Why in the past did you only take dutasteride for a couple of days ?

 

[FilthyFrancis]

Don't stop straight but try to taper off. Don't expect to receive clear medical guidelines on this forum as we are just forumers, not derms.

As Ollie said, libido and ED come and go. If you experienced ED for the first time, I would suggest not undertaking anything too radical. It seems quitting finasteride without tapering off is the real danger and you must not give in to this.

I would switch back to finasteride as the impact on DHT is less suppressive, to gradually bring back this important hormone in your system. If you then want to quit this drug, do it by diminishing the dosage/increasing intervals.

Calm down. Don't build up anxiety. Many people suffered from a similar issue and recovered rather rapidly. Chances for you to fully recover from this quicker than you think are way more important than the opposite.

Everything will be fine.

 

[alexheally]

If you're gonna come off you'd need to do it very slowly. As far as sides currently depending when you last took dutasteride it may take a few weeks for you to feel back to 'normal'. Why in the past did you only take dutasteride for a couple of days ?

alright I took finasteride again will stuck with it for a week, I have generic brand so I cant cut the pill into 0.25 dosage, should I took it each other day after I finish a week or what?

I quit in the past cause I felt side effects from dutasteride but mainly is because I thought I have gyno (my left breast is slightly bigger so I thought it can be first signs of gyno), so I done a blood test and checked my old photos and my body used to look like that so I knew it's not gyno then started again after 3 months

I will really appreciate if you tell me the best way to quit, is switching to finasteride before quitting right or wrong as well?

 

[alexheally]

Don't stop straight but try to taper off. Don't expect to receive clear medical guidelines on this forum as we are just forumers, not derms.

As Ollie said, libido and ED come and go. If you experienced ED for the first time, I would suggest not undertaking anything too radical. It seems quitting finasteride without tapering off is the real danger and you must not give in to this.

I would switch back to finasteride as the impact on DHT is less suppressive, to gradually bring back this important hormone in your system. If you then want to quit this drug, do it by diminishing the dosage/increasing intervals.

Calm down. Don't build up anxiety. Many people suffered from a similar issue and recovered rather rapidly. Chances for you to fully recover from this quicker than you think are way more important than the opposite.

Everything will be fine.

isn't finasteride half life is 4 to 7 hours? so if I took it each other might be a wrong idea cause my dht is coming back after that period then I take it again? I know I might sound dumb but I don't get this idea
can you suggest me a plan to try? after a week I start to take it each other day then third week each two days, then fourth week each 3 days, then I quit after that, Is it a good to way to tapper it off?

 

[Ollie]

alright I took finasteride again will stuck with it for a week, I have generic brand so I cant cut the pill into 0.25 dosage, should I took it each other day after I finish a week or what?

I quit in the past cause I felt side effects from dutasteride but mainly is because I thought I have gyno (my left breast is slightly bigger so I thought it can be first signs of gyno), so I done a blood test and checked my old photos and my body used to look like that so I knew it's not gyno then started again after 3 months

I will really appreciate if you tell me the best way to quit, is switching to finasteride before quitting right or wrong as well?

If you're actually coming off then you need to ideally do a new dose every 2 weeks because it takes that long for the enzyme to be fully produced, then another 1 week to allow for any receptor regulation to take place. Coming off finasteride if you're going to be safe about it would take a long time to do. You can safely drop straight to 0.25mg . Once you get below 0.1mg you'll probably need to dissolve finasteride in alcohol and dose via liquid so you can be precise.

isn't finasteride half life is 4 to 7 hours? so if I took it each other might be a wrong idea cause my dht is coming back after that period then I take it again? I know I might sound dumb but I don't get this idea

Half life means the dose in your blood halves every 7 hours so doesn't expel for quite a few days. However thats not really the point - your DHT will not come back untill the enzyme is reproduced. This depends on the person but as i said it can take 2 weeks - some people 1.

 

[alexheally]

If you're actually coming off then you need to ideally do a new dose every 2 weeks because it takes that long for the enzyme to be fully produced, then another 1 week to allow for any receptor regulation to take place. Coming off finasteride if you're going to be safe about it would take a long time to do. You can safely drop straight to 0.25mg . Once you get below 0.1mg you'll probably need to dissolve finasteride in alcohol and dose via liquid so you can be precise.



Half life means the dose in your blood halves every 7 hours so doesn't expel for quite a few days. However thats not really the point - your DHT will not come back untill the enzyme is reproduced. This depends on the person but as i said it can take 2 weeks - some people 1.

View attachment 134328
this Is the type of pills i'm taking should I break it and dissolve in water and drink it when I need to get under 1mg?
can't I lower the dose by taking it each other day instead? or taking finasteride on longer periods is not effective?

 

[Ollie]

View attachment 134328
this Is the type of pills i'm taking should I break it and dissolve in water and drink it when I need to get under 1mg?
can't I lower the dose by taking it each other day instead? or taking finasteride on longer periods is not effective?

Taking 1mg over continually prolonged periods really isn't at all effective in maximising safety as you're not allowing your DHT to slowly decrease, but rather you're just letting the drug drop your 5ar the same amount just less frequently.

If each capsule contains 1mg you need to dissolve it in Ethanol (ideally >98%) - not water.

At whatever speed you come off you still want to dose daily so your blood concentrations stay level and consistent.

 

[alexheally]

Taking 1mg over continually prolonged periods really isn't at all effective in maximising safety as you're not allowing your DHT to slowly decrease, but rather you're just letting the drug drop your 5ar the same amount just less frequently.

If each capsule contains 1mg you need to dissolve it in Ethanol (ideally >98%) - not water.

At whatever speed you come off you still want to dose daily so your blood concentrations stay level and consistent.

thanks a lot for you help man I really appreciate that, I just have one more question is there's specific amount of ethanol I should be using? also should I dissolve the whole pill or quarter of it to get the 0.25mg dosage?

 

[alexheally]

is it safe to drink it?
when drinking alcoholic beverages, consuming ethanol alone can cause coma and death. Ethanol may also be a carcinogenic; studies are still being done to determine this. However, ethanol is a toxic chemical and should be treated and handled as such, whether at work or in the home.
https://www.msdsonline.com/2014/04/21/ethanol-versatile-common-and-potentially-dangerous/

 

[Ollie]

is it safe to drink it?
when drinking alcoholic beverages, consuming ethanol alone can cause coma and death. Ethanol may also be a carcinogenic; studies are still being done to determine this. However, ethanol is a toxic chemical and should be treated and handled as such, whether at work or in the home.
https://www.msdsonline.com/2014/04/21/ethanol-versatile-common-and-potentially-dangerous/

It’s fine dude it’s the type of alcohol that’s in every alcoholic drink . Get something like ever clear - depending where you live.

You could put 10mg in 10ml of alcohol and dose using a dropper. So 0.1mg would be 0.1ml of alcohol etc ...

 

[alexheally]

it's been 3 days on finasteride after quitting dutasteride, my erections are a little bit better but I've like no libdo, I feel finasteride making my libdo worst, Should I quit finasteride too or to stuck with it a little bit more?
I feel like finasteride making my libdo worst, what should I do?

 

[Ollie]

it's been 3 days on finasteride after quitting dutasteride, my erections are a little bit better but I've like no libdo, I feel finasteride making my libdo worst, Should I quit finasteride too or to stuck with it a little bit more?
I feel like finasteride making my libdo worst, what should I do?

Dude stop freaking out and 'checking' your libido. Stick with just finasteride (which you say you were fine with) for a few weeks. If nothing gets better and you cant recover from the dutasteride whilst on finasteride then you'll have to slowly taper off finasteride - you may even find a dose on finasteride that allows elevation of the sides.

 

[alexheally]

Dude stop freaking out and 'checking' your libido. Stick with just finasteride (which you say you were fine with) for a few weeks. If nothing gets better and you cant recover from the dutasteride whilst on finasteride then you'll have to slowly taper off finasteride - you may even find a dose on finasteride that allows elevation of the sides.

it's day 4 now on finasteride, I recovered like 70% of my libdo and 70% of my erections seems like things are getting better now, thanks for your help and advice Ollie
I will post updates if things got better or worst in the future