7 months on finasteride and I consider quitting it...

[Fear21F]

Hello,

I'm 21 and I have been on finasteride for 7 months now and I'm now considering to quit finasteride. Because of my young age and my ugly face with buzzed hair, I was resolved to handle any side effect from finasteride to keep my hair (which is NW1.5 now with thinning above the line). But now the balance is in the middle because of the accumulation of annoying side effects. Indeed, I have experienced :

- A little weaker erection --> not a big deal
- Less frequent morning wood --> not a big deal
- Chest pain --> It stopped within 4 months so it's not a problem now
- Fatigue --> I'm sure it's Propecia because I has stopped the drug 1 week and I feel completely different. There is two things about that : the fatigue which comes by peak sometimes and the feeling that I am more exhausted the morning than the previous night (I take Propecia at 10 PM)
- The sensation of a heavy brain
- Dry eyes and skin --> my left eye was twitching and sometimes burning the last month and I was very sensitive to sun. I also had sometimes blurred vision. When I stopped Propecia, it took few days to do not twitch at all and to have a clearer vision.
- A slight swollen face and body in general. --> Within 1 week, I look a bit slimmer but it could be a coincidence (I doubt because I haven't changed anything in my diet).

In fact the whole list sounds scary but these sides are actually mild but the combination is quite hard to handle. I was ready to accept most of them but the eyes and fatigue problems are a big issue for me because they are annoying in the daily life, especially in sports...
I'm sure it is not psychological at all, I was in denial but the facts are here and a mind can't cause this kind of 24/7 effects which go away while off the treatment...

Furthermore, I don't see any result in hair but it is probably too early...

I'm lost actually... Could these sides go away after the 1 year mark ?

(PS : sorry for my poor english
PS 2 : I'm not saying that Propecia is evil, I just tell what it caused on me. I do not regret to have tried it.)

 

[wstef]

The only side effect - so far - of Propecia for me was **** orgasms. Now that's gone I am fine.

At first oil production was lower, but it's back to it's normal self )much to my displeasure, because for me that was actually a good side effect, ha!) Then again, less chance of wrinkles!

If I suffered as many as you 7 months in I would have stopped. I am roughly 5 months in, perhaps more, and don't have any side effects from Propecia.

No, I do have darker circles around my eyes due to minoxidil, but I reduced the amount I apply and they're fading now anyway.

It depends on what you can handle. If you want to stick it out another 5 months and see, then keep going. If you have important stuff to do, a relationship, you require to be alert in your job/education etc... then it might not be worth it, just yet.

 

[Fear21F]

Thanks for your answer. After 2 weeks off I feel better :

- Libido is greater -> I erect without reason like before propecia
- Fatigue -> The difference is not enormous but I have not fatigue peaks like on finasteride
- Dry skin -> It went away
- Twitching eyes -> It remains but with a lower intensity. I think minoxidil is responsible too.
- Swollen body and face --> I look thinner and my breast looks more normal

In fact I feel a bit better but not as much (I mean that my sides were mild) so I will probably try it again for 5 months (if I encounter no major side) in order to see the effect on my hair and finally decide if I should continue or not.

 

[gojira]

what is your dosage of propecia before the problem happened?thanks

 

[Fanjeera]

What about morning wood?

 

[Fear21F]

My dosage was 1 mg every day (classical dose). I still continue with this dose.

I recovered morning wood after approximately 1 week off finasteride. I also erected without reason (I mean without seing a good girl, thinking about sex, etc...) while off finasteride like before.

 

[gojira]

what this is scary and im about to start taking finasteride. might just do it every other day 1mg.