Truth about propecia/ finasteride reducing libido?

[cat3appr]

Hello,

I've been taking finpecia daily regularly for 3 months now, together with minoxidil. I've been reading random non official statements all over the net about propecia / finpecia reducing sexual drive. They even created the website propeciahelp just to talk about it. Wikipedia, which can be considered objective, reports that " in December 2008, a swedish medical agency concluded a safety investigation of finasteride and advised that finasteride may cause irreversible sexual dysfunction " Even Merck included potential sexual disfunction as side effects... so I honestly don't know what to think ... so far I didn't have any sexual reduction problems but what if? Any testimony about that?

many thanks

 

[meddyharry]

Well, on the one hand http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23193746 ("There was no sexual side effect.")
On the other hand http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20956649 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21418145 about (permanent) sexual side effects.

You may want to read through this http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3481923/ analysis as well, which includes a dozen studies on finasteride to make up your own opinion.

What dose of finasteride do you take daily? I personally think that the lower the dose, the lower the potential side effects.

 

[Quantum Cat]

wikipedia is not objective on a controversial subject. It all depends on who the last person who edited it was

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I personally think that the lower the dose, the lower the potential side effects.

unlikely, since from 0.5mg upwards the same amount of DHT is suppressed. Lower than that, side effects may be reduced but so will the drug's ability to prevent hairloss, so you might as well not be taking it at all

 

[cat3appr]

thanks meddyharry, I didn't know that website. it's very interesting. I have been using Finpecia, 1mg per day tablet. As I mentioned it has been 3 months, but I can tell that I've been noticing a decrease in sexual desire and arousal, while I can't be totally sure about hair re growth. They are definitely not falling and they are stronger than ever but I'm using minoxidil 5% as well.
So I guess I'll have to stop with finasteride, too bad because I believed in it, but I am more interested in keeping my healthy sexual life.
Anyone could recommend a good alternative for finpecia without side effects?

 

[Rawtashk]

6 years in, no lack of libido for me.

Here's another question for you...would you rather have 80% of your sex drive and 80% of your hair, or 100% of your sex drive and 0% of your hair (on top)?

I know what my answer is.

 

[Quantum Cat]

any other side effects, Rawtashk?

good to hear another success story with finasteride

 

[Allen Parks]

6 years in, no lack of libido for me.

Here's another question for you...would you rather have 80% of your sex drive and 80% of your hair, or 100% of your sex drive and 0% of your hair (on top)?

I know what my answer is.

are you in a sexual relationship? (be honest)

 

[cat3appr]

6 years in, no lack of libido for me.

Here's another question for you...would you rather have 80% of your sex drive and 80% of your hair, or 100% of your sex drive and 0% of your hair (on top)?

I know what my answer is.

I've stopped Finasteride 2 weeks ago, but I'm continuing with minoxidil 5% twice a day, and I am not noticing any difference, sure it's too early but still, I don't see any hairloss in the shower for example. So for now I'll keep using only minoxidil and see how it goes. As soon as I'll see some sign of hair loss I'll start with finasteride as well.

ps, Rawtashk, your 80% / 100% question is entertaining, but you realize that there's no scientific demonstration behind it right? The only scientific proofs are those that meddyharry posted in his links above, which gave me the reason to stop finasteride for the time being.
If one day there will be more proven researches that Finasteride doesn't affect sexual life, I'll be more than glad to start using it again