time to seriously reevaluate propecia

[astral week]

yeah that 2% side effects is a real b**ch :whistle:

At this point there is absolutely no way that I believe 1mg of finasteride/day has any side effects in only 2% of people who take it. I'm willing to bet in 5-10 years we'll be looking back at that doseage of finasteride as stupid and risky. It's happened with a number of drugs, even after being deemed safe by the FDA, what makes finasteride so different?

I started propecia a year ago, and in the first week i did experience side effects. Libido was def down, and the semen was watery.

That cleared in 2 weeks and from then no other side effects.

It's been an interesting ride. Started off a Nw2 going towards a def Nw3, but now am back to a solid NW2. I feel like i am still getting results, slowly.

One year ago I was really depressed and thought I'd go bald in a few months because I went from NW1 - Nw2.5 in a matter of 6 months. Thanks to the propecia, I no longer worry anywhere near AS much, and can worry about better things. So the risk is worth it.

I assume you're taking the full 1mg every day? And how long did it take to see results?
seems like it's working pretty well for you

 

[ps1freak]

Yeah I am doing pretty well on it.

It's been a roller coaster ride like I said.I started in late October 2006 and nothing happened except my hair got really bad in late December. Remember looking in the mirror on Christmas Eve and was horrified at how thin the hairline got!

So I buzzed it down and stopped looking in the mirror. When I buzzed it, I did notice light faint growth around the lower temple regions.

Those regions filled in on my left side over the next 6 months while nothing happened on the right.

It's now been a year and the right side lower temples have started to fill in.

So it's been a slow process, and I've really thought about adding Foam, but decided to back out because the results were satisfying enough for me.

 

[bubka]

yeah that 2% side effects is a real b**ch :whistle:

At this point there is absolutely no way that I believe 1mg of finasteride/day has any side effects in only 2% of people who take it. I'm willing to bet in 5-10 years we'll be looking back at that doseage of finasteride as stupid and risky. It's happened with a number of drugs, even after being deemed safe by the FDA, what makes finasteride so different?

I started propecia a year ago, and in the first week i did experience side effects. Libido was def down, and the semen was watery.

That cleared in 2 weeks and from then no other side effects.

It's been an interesting ride. Started off a Nw2 going towards a def Nw3, but now am back to a solid NW2. I feel like i am still getting results, slowly.

One year ago I was really depressed and thought I'd go bald in a few months because I went from NW1 - Nw2.5 in a matter of 6 months. Thanks to the propecia, I no longer worry anywhere near AS much, and can worry about better things. So the risk is worth it.

I assume you're taking the full 1mg every day? And how long did it take to see results?
seems like it's working pretty well for you

well your opinion goes against EVERY single scientific study on a drug that has been on the market for over 15 years in the US alone

 

[astral week]

check this out, it's an interesting read:
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2002/102_drug.html

I hope I'm not giving the impression that I think finasteride is some sort of doomsday drug that will turn our testicles to dust or anything, because I AM still on it, just a much smaller doseage.

But problems do arise with supposedly "safe" drugs, and I don't believe all the negative feedback is all due exclusively to pessimists and hypochondriacs.

sh*t happens.

 

[bubka]

and data shows that people on less than 1mg grow back less hair

 

[flimflam]

I didn't read all the posts here because I can't be bothered, but I'll say this:

I was on propecia 1mg for 9 months and stopped cos I ran out and forgot to get a new prescription. It's been around 6 weeks since I stopped taking it. I've always maintained that I had zero side effects from the drug, but I also wondered if maybe I hadn't noticed them - that perhaps they'd come on gradually. Well after stopping 6 weeks ago, there is no change whatsoever in my alertness, sexual function, bags under my eyes, size of my chin, or any other bullshit that's pushed around this forum.

I'll be back on it as soon as I can get a damn doctor's appointment. LDN's a nightmare sometimes :/

 

[evildude]

and data shows that people on less than 1mg grow back less hair

in the first 6 months that is. how much regrowth one might see over the course of several years is unknown, but 1mg catches up to 5mg after one year, after lagging behind 6 months into treatments.

furthermore, the 2% number is probably bullshit. according to dave001, studies show that self reporting of sexual side effects lead to significantly skewed results as a result of underreporting. this is common in all drug trials, not just propecia.

 

[bubka]

yeah, it probably close to like 90% then :whistle:

 

[evildude]

i remember reading dr.rassmann on baldingblog said he would guess it was around 10-12%. still a clear minority, but vastly greater than 2%. i think that would be closer to the true number...

 

[Iowaya]

I don't buy the %2 either, why would so many people on this forum has sides of one sort or another, no, I think it's higher than %2, for sure. I'm not saying finasteride is the devil, but I'm a little worried about it really. I have almost zero sex drive now, not that it matters, I'm a 21 y/o virgin with zero prospects, but I miss jerking off every other day, now I do it like once a week, and I never enjoy it anymore.

The worst part is seeing a chick and thinking to myself, "she's pretty, but wtf does it matter, I'm not turned on". :sobbing:

And yes, I'm being serious, not mildy sarcastic.

 

[Toyboy]

if it kills your libido whats the point of using it?

 

[Pondle]

I don't buy the %2 either, why would so many people on this forum has sides of one sort or another, no, I think it's higher than %2, for sure.

In the Glaxo study around 40 per cent of men taking a placebo reported an 'adverse reaction' (LOL), and a similar proportion of guys on 5mg finasteride also reported an adverse reaction.

Remember that this forum has several thousands of members, but only a relative handful of active posters. Many of the posters are, frankly, guys with social or emotional 'problems' of one sort of another, while a whole bunch of others are here to promote their pet theories - remember the shampoo guys? It's hardly a representative sample of men using Propecia or hairloss treatments generally.

 

[evildude]

another important aspect of this, is the "power of the mind". when the people in trials were told about the possible side effects, far more experienced them than in the trials they weren't told about the specific possible side effects. does that mean it was all in their heads? does it mean that they were just more alert to different changes? who knows and that is part of the problem with spouting off these numbers as if they were a fact. all you can really be sure of, is that a minority experience side effects, but whether you are in that minority, you won't know for sure until you try it.

 

[astral week]

I'd definitely agree that this site is far too skewed to make any realistic conclusions about the real % of people with side effects, but it should be taken into consideration. not everyone here is insane.

 

[bubka]

and some people believe in bigfoot, and the earth was created in 7 days as well

 

[flimflam]

me and bubka are teaming up and forming the Norwood Vigilante Squad. We know your names, we know where you live and we're coming round your house tooled-up with cans of Rogaine and basebell bats to beat the living sense into you.

And we're getting t-shirts printed.

It's for the best.

 

[Dogs3]

I didn't read all the posts here because I can't be bothered, but I'll say this:

I was on propecia 1mg for 9 months and stopped cos I ran out and forgot to get a new prescription. It's been around 6 weeks since I stopped taking it. I've always maintained that I had zero side effects from the drug, but I also wondered if maybe I hadn't noticed them - that perhaps they'd come on gradually. Well after stopping 6 weeks ago, there is no change whatsoever in my alertness, sexual function, bags under my eyes, size of my chin, or any other bullshit that's pushed around this forum.

I'll be back on it as soon as I can get a damn doctor's appointment. LDN's a nightmare sometimes :/

Thats a really good example right there of testing peoples assumptions that propecia is responsible for every single physical problem one experiences after starting to take it. This forum is a blessing and a curse.

On the one hand, if it werent for this forum i would still be taking procer*n and would have no idea that the big three is the best way to go. On the other hand Ive researched so much that i feel like im going outta my fu*king mind sometimes when i feel like im getting sick or getting bags some bullshit like that. I try to think of it logically though, before starting to take propecia i wasnt the least bit worried about decreased libido or sexual sides. I was more worried about getting eye bags and skin problems. And wouldnt you know it? after 1 month i had absolutely no decrease in sex drive and i felt i was getting bags under my eyes. So i just said "f*** it" im gonna keep taking this stuff regardless of what my mind tricks me into thinking because its the best treatment available barring a hair transplant and wouldnt you know it, the eye bags seemed to dissapear magically.

It goes to show the power of suggestion. Anyone experiencing any insignificant sides might want to try keeping it to themselves from now on instead of scarring themselves and others into stopping the treaments.

 

[bubka]

one guy on here had his penis turn black because of propecia, another LIE that Merck does not tell you :whistle:

 

[Dogs3]

This is probably the funniest account of propecia sides ive ever seen



Here is someone from askapatient.com who seemed to have some incredibly major side effects, i hope he can pull through:

bloat, homosexual thoughts and tendencies. Before propecia I was 100% straight, Ive been on it 12 months and just last week my brain fog from it was so terrible that i found myself unwittingly yet actively participating in a gay rights parade on the north side of Chicago in "Boys town". Bloated body. It also gave me an insatiable desire tropical starbursts. I am NOT KIDDING. I can't go 2 hours without having a tropical starburst, its ruining my life. I go fired from my job for breaking into the vending machine when I had no coins left for the candy. But worst of all, my wife recently left me because I could no longer sustain an erection. Last month, we hadn't had sex in a good deal of time and she was pressuring me into it. In order to try to fool her, I recently purchased a strap on device but could not bring myself to buy the dildo for fear of embarrassment. While we were leading up to the sex, I managed to strap on the device without her seeing me (it was dark in our room). I was starting to panic though since it became apparent that I could not become sexually aroused so in my haste I crudely fixed the device with a king sized package of tropical Starbursts wrapped in a condom. To my amazement, the intercourse was completed without incident with her even remarking as how she had never felt me so hard. I felt satisfied, however, things ultimately took a turn for the worse when my rapacious desire for the waxy little candies reared its ugly head. Trying my best to be crafty, I attempted to remove the package from the condom without her noticing. Unfortunately, while turning on the bedside lamp she caught me in the act and put two and two together. Needless to say it was a loathsome sequence of events that followed, leading to our eventual seperation. "finasteride face". I have recently moved in with a man named Lance who I find can satisfy my newly discovered sexual interests. Another side effect that bothers me is the fact that since starting propecia, the skin in my face looks nearly a year older. Also, when starting propecia i has some slight thinning all over the head and receding hairline, a model norwood 2 i would say. After two weeks of taking it all my hair was lost, including the hair on the sides and back of my head, my chesthair, back hair, facial hair and pubic hair vanished without a trace. I am truly as bald as an egg all over my body. However, I remained optimistic that this was simply a "shedding period". I went to see my dermatologist after the shedding and he was surprised at my condition to say the very least. As luck would have it, the decrease in dihydrotestostrone combined with the fluctuation of my hormones from the finasteride has genetically mutated me into a sort of seal creature who has no need for body hair, much less hair on my head. I remained resilient though in the face of this news by proclaiming that i wished to up my dosage. However, he urged me to cease taking the 1mg for fear that I may mutate further and develop fins, a flipper and whiskers. The brute even went so far as to cut me off. Since then, i have resorted to turning tricks on lower Wacker Drive for quick fixes of precious finasteride, which i now have to free base in order to sustain my fiendish cravings. Bottom line: Know what your getting yourself into before starting propecia, it is a dangerous drug that can have life altering, and genetically mutating side effects. After a year though, I am confident that improvement will be made. Here is a link to a picture of me as of today. You can see some vellous hairs on my lower forehead starting to appear. Good luck to all those finasteride useres... http://www.spiralkid.com/blogpics/seals2.jpg

 

[bubka]

WHY DOES MERCK NOT TELL US THESE THINGS WITH THEIR POISON