Best Way to Leave finasteride

[Broken]

Its been 8 months with finasteride & I am beginning to notice softer erections & harder erections are becoming somewhat harder to maintain. Although there are no other symptoms like Gyne or ED or decrease in Semen volume, I have decided to quit finasteride.

I have been taking 0.5mg finasteride every day. What would be the best way to quit?

By gradually decreasing the dose-0.5 to 0.25 to 0.125 ..? Would be tough to actually split that little pill though.

Or by increasing the time between doses. 2 weeks - every other day..2 weeks - every 3 days..4 weeks - every 4 days and then full stop..?

Please help me out here.

 

[Ende]

You should quit immediately, and hope that the wave of DHT is enough to restore the balance between testosterone and estrogen.

 

[Mens Rea]

No real accepted answer to this mate

Alot of people who have crashes after they go off it go off it cold turkey. Its speculation how tapering off would have helped or not.

Let's hope you dont have that problem either way.

If you're like most people you should be ok quitting straight out.

 

[Timi]

Quit first minoxidil for a week

I notice softer erections when i take minoxidil
minoxidil is a Bloodpressure Drug and can make
a softer Erektion

i had never a Problem with finasteride
but when i take minoxidil i become a liveless tail

Timi

 

[Broken]

I don't think its minoxidil, considering that these sides have only slowly developed & at this time I am not that regular with minoxidil. Anyways, I still have morning erections fairly regularly, and strong nocturnal erections as well. My only problem is that I don't want these sides to go worse. Right now, the erections are becoming softer, still do the job but they're softer & it doesn't feel right.

I read a few accounts of people who went off finasteride & most of them advice against going the cold turkey way. So I am really scared of going cold turkey. Thinking of extending the duration between doses. Has anyone of you guys tried going off finasteride? How did it go?

 

[Timi]

finasteride 2xin the week??

and minoxidil

Timi

 

[Ende]

I read a few accounts of people who went off finasteride & most of them advice against going the cold turkey way. So I am really scared of going cold turkey. Thinking of extending the duration between doses. Has anyone of you guys tried going off finasteride? How did it go?

They obviously don't understand what's causing the side effects. Even 0.05 mg finasteride is nearly as potent as 1 mg. For every day you keep using it, it gets WORSE.

 

[Timi]

But 0,05 works not so strong in the Prostata

i have take finasteride 2x1,25mg
i have become Prostata Pain
and Problems with Pissing
with 0,5-1mg finasteride No Problems

for 3Years Dutasterid
big Prostatapain and Blood in the Sperm
Dutasterid was a big error

Timi

 

[Mens Rea]

Enden, tapering off entail taking it at increasingly longer intervals. not just lowering the dose.

 

[Ende]

I know, but it still involves further suppression of DHT.

 

[Mens Rea]

I know, but it still involves further suppression of DHT.

Not, futher.

Continued. But at a progressively less rate.

Argument could certainly be made that it could be beneficial to your system, introducing higher DHT levels more gradually as opposed to one burst that sometimes isn't enough.

 

[Ende]

You increase the risk of developing secondary hypogonadism by tapering off.

 

[Broken]

You increase the risk of developing secondary hypogonadism by tapering off.

What does that mean, Enden? Actually, I had been thinking on the same lines as Colin, wouldn't one big rush of DHT upset the system as opposed to allowing DHT to come to its normal levels slowly?

 

[Timi]

is 0,2mg finasteride all 2Days enough?

Zink Daily 100mg?

Timi

 

[Mens Rea]

You increase the risk of developing secondary hypogonadism by tapering off.

That's somewhat unfonded Enden.

This guy has been on finasteride for 8 months. 2 or 3 weeks tapering off is highly unlikely to exacerbate any complications.

It is also the case that most people who developed secondary hypogonadism are the people who crash once they go off the drug after going cold turkey. Tapering off could mitigate the risk or atleast soften the blow.

TS - it's really up to you

 

[He-Bat]

I am no Dr. but from what I have read, quitting cold turkey is not a good idea, that's were the problems begin for many of the propeciahelp sufferers. Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[longgone]

I am no Dr. but from what I have read, quitting cold turkey is not a good idea, that's were the problems begin for many of the propeciahelp sufferers. Slow and steady wins the race.

This presupposes that DHT will return gradually if you wean off the drug, but I know of no reason to think that is the case. Since DHT levels are reduced by virtually the same amount whether your using 1mg, .5mg, .25mg, etc., "tapering" is just prolonging the damage to your endocrine system. It would be particularly worse if you took days off between doses, because then your DHT levels would just be fluctuating wildly up and down. Remember, the half life of finasteride is only about 6 hours, so a day after a new dose the drug is out of your system. It takes time for DHT levels to return to baseline, but that is besides the point.

 

[Ende]

The "crash" is onset of secondary hypogonadism. Most who did, said that the symptoms improved, before they got worse than they were before they quit the drug. Let me explain why;

When you get severe side effects from finasteride, you're DHT deficient, your estrogen level is elevated, and your testosterone level is suppressed as a natural consequense to elevated estrogen level. DHT is the hormone which counters estrogenic effects on the body, and maintains the testosterone/estrogen ratio. When you quit, the testosterone level decreases further, because of convertion to DHT. This wave of DHT suppresses the estrogen level, and improves your testosterone/estrogen ratio, which improve your symptoms. I believe, that in some cases, this wave of DHT isn't enough to restore the balance. What happens is that the estrogen level continues to raise again to the point of DHT deficiency - and now you have a low testosterone level in addition. You're on thin ice when you get sexual side effects from finasteride, and every bit of those pills you swallow suppresses your DHT level more. Hence, tapering off increases the risk of developing secondary hypogonadism.

You need all the DHT you can get. Besides from Colin, people I've seen advocating tapering off, are people who have never used the drug, people who have used the drug without any problems, and those who got screwed over and believe that androgen deprivation made the androgen receptors more sensitive, and that the wave of DHT which they got when they quit the drug, made the body downregulate androgen receptors, causing androgen insensitivity syndrome. Estrogen isn't even a part of their hypothesis, but I know for sure that it's the main reason for all this trouble. I've a problem with estrogen, Colin has a problem with estrogen, Monty does, Shma is another example.

You have to make up your own mind, but I'm telling you, tapering off, is a stupid f*****g idea.

 

[Ende]

About AIS, I don't see how it fit. First of all, from what I've read, this is something you're born with, and what about all those body builders abusing steroids? Don't you think they would suffer from AIS? It doesn't make any sense.

 

[Mens Rea]

You have to make up your own mind, but I'm telling you, tapering off, is a stupid f****ing idea.

Well I'm just going by the general consensus mate.

From propeciahelp's website:

Thus, the question is: should I quit cold turkey or ween off the drug? Obviously the sooner one can get off the drug, the better. We have no evidence that either method will make a difference in terms of "avoiding" side effects after quitting, but going by common sense, we believe it makes sense to ween off in order to help reduce shock to the endocrine system. Additionally, according to Dr. Crisler, DO ( http://www.allthingsmale.com ), weening off over several weeks is advisable.

If you are taking Propecia, we recommend gradually reducing the dosage from 1mg to 0.5mg (half a pill) to 0.25mg (quartered pill) to 0.125mg (8th of a pill), to 0.0625 (16th of a pill) over time while increasing the days between dosing (ie instead of taking it everyday, take it every every 3rd day, 5th, 7th and so on), until you are ultimately no longer taking the drug.

If you are taking Proscar, same concept -- reduce from 1.25mg/day (quartered), down to 0.625mg (8th) and possibly 0.313mg (16th of a pill -- if even possible to split it this much), over time.

Before you quit, it is also recommended you take bloodtests as outlined in section 6. This is so that you will have evidence of Finasteride's effects on your hormones while on the drug, to compare against after quitting.

http://www.propeciahelp.com/faq


I definately find it particularly interesting that Dr Crisler adovocates this.