Finasteride: I lied to everyone, sorry!

[Diffuser44]

I was on finasteride for 8.5 years. Not 7.5 years.

Just thought you all should know the true facts.

Seriously though, I think I'm ready to say goodbye to the world of hair loss and be on my merry way. You guys do a good job of convincing people that hair is everything and that without it you are nothing. Good for you guys for making men feel so down about their genetics. I for one can't do that anymore. My attitude has reverted back to being pro bald and embracing it. Keeping a good attitude and focusing more on having a personality, sense of humor, style in clothing, friendliness etc. I for one know lots of shaved head dudes that are super friendly and pleasant to be around. It's not all a bad *** image having a shaved head. It's about accepting who you are with confidence. No matter what drugs you take and what you do to keep your hair, deep down you are still a baldy via your DNA. NO matter how much you try to change it, having surgery, worrying a wig etc.

I understand why so many of you want to keep your hair. You know that some women prefer men with hair and won't date bald men. You want to look like the long haired movie stars or rock stars. It gives you confidence knowing it looks good. All of that is a fantasy. Men go bald - its a fact.

My message to the young men just starting to realize you are losing your hair:

You are going to be recommended to take propecia. This drug alters your hormones significantly. They don't really know all of the implications of what that does at the current moment. Many of the testing that was done was published by Merck with biased opinions. There may be a point in your life down the road where you decide to stop taking finasteride. Whether it lost its effectiveness, sides started happening, you want to see how it feels not being on it after being on it for 8 years, etc. When and if you do quit you will go bald at that point in your life, and will have potentially permanently altered your brain's chemistry and your hormones. On top of that you will go bald. My point being, you could just let the baldness happen when your young, embrace it with a good attitude and own it. That way you won't have to worry about the other ****, not waste money, and what not. I will guarantee you you will still get laid and be successful. Yes the sides are extremely low. They are indeed between 1.5% to 18.5% for impotence alone. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Permanent impotence is highly doubtful but there are men that get permanent side effects and in some cases actually do commit suicide. Hopefully later on we get solid studies that help to explain and prevent this phenomenon. Will this happen to you? I'm going to go ahead and say no. I think the chances of this happening to you are exactly the same as if you didn't take the drug at all. Maybe even more so due to the fact you might get depressed of your hair loss if you don't acquire the right attitude.

I strongly strongly recommend just letting nature takes its course and not worrying about it. Forget about the media, and negativity towards baldness. If you really do need to keep your hair for whatever reason go ahead and take finasteride. It should be safe to use. Every drug has a subset of people that react badly to it. It's just that finasteride is a cosmetic drug and might not be worth the risks for many men. But if you were like the 18 year old version of myself, hair loss was just one more ****ty thing to happen to my life that I just didn't want to deal with. I understand why you would want to take it. I may even recommend you take it. After all if you're coming onto a hair loss site worried about your hair I can tell you are going to be very much affected by your hair loss. But to some everyday guy on the street I can tell is losing his hair and doesn't seem upset with it, he doesn't even need to know about the drug.

 

[ladysmanfelpz]

Well good for you. You've been on here for like the past month straight contemplating your decision. I've always said its a treatment not a cure. And 8.5 years is a long time to get over hair. If someone has bad acne they look at whatever to clear themselves up and look 'normal' like everyone else their age, even tho most teenagers have acne. A lot of parents are stupid and get their kids on accutane and whatever just to clear up their skin while in a few years most kids should clear up and not have scars unless its very severe. We live in a day of drugs and its whether the benefits outweigh the consequences. Yes we all could be so much better if we didn't put drugs in our system or eat so much gluten or worked out 5 days a week and only had 2 drinks tops on a friday night, but its called life. We do what makes us happy and we live, both positive and negative experiences. Yes decreased 5AR activity may have an affect on brain tissue, and new evidence points that the brain develops til 25, and 3 years from now science will say the brain never stops developing. Well 18 beers with your homies probably isn't the best for brain tissue either and guess when we do most of our drinking? Our developmental period.

I'm glad to hear you are getting off it, and personally 18 is too young to start for me. You may have limited some development since most men don't fully develop til 21 or even later. I struggled through hairloss since 17 but when enough became too much, I got on finasteride shortly after I turned 22. It can still tear at me because you never will know if you were fully developed or what not, but thats life and you make your decisions and move on. I'm taking a slight break with topical spironolactone and a buzz until 25 and then may contemplate getting back on for another 2-3 years, but that will be max for me. Hopefully I will have completely overcome my insecurities and can go through with my decision with no second guesses. I wish you the same as well.

 

[wrwr]

Thanks for your post.
i am mega lurker, but I share the same thoughts.

I have a pharmaceutical education and understand the imperfection of finasteride solution. And without finasteride everything else looks so useless (like hair transplant). Is a true shame we don't have anything better at 2014.

 

[Diffuser44]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6843122

5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone could be measured in almost all samples, which suggests that this is the most important androgen in the human brain.

The article is from 1983. This tells us it is not a propecia help study trying to prove post finasteride syndrome.

 

[SayifDoit]

I do find it hard to recommend propecia but honestly it's perhaps the only option people who are balding have and from what I can tell the magority of people who go on here actually care/want to keep their hair. I'm not sure about most people but I always tell them the drug is dangerous/risky, and doesn't work for everyone. Let's be honest though how could you be so stupid not to research/read about a drug, I mean all the information is out there. Nothing right/natural about alopeica, it's similar to cancer yet accepted?
How can anyone think it's ok to loose all your hair at 23?

 

[sidewayscat]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6843122

5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone could be measured in almost all samples, which suggests that this is the most important androgen in the human brain.

The article is from 1983. This tells us it is not a propecia help study trying to prove post finasteride syndrome.

Do you understand the drug that you are/were taking? Or did you not read the study? This study is irrelevant to the discussion.

Finasteride does not inhibit type 1 5alpha,

 

[Notcoolanymore]

I don't know you and I am not trying to offend you, but based on everything you have been "learning" about finasteride and its effects, you should not even consider taking it. You would always be thinking that you feel something, or something isn't right. Your mind is way too tainted at this point to be comfortable taking finasteride or any drug really. Hopefully you never have to take any prescription drug in your life, because I am sure the potential sides of those drugs will be much worse.

Acceptance isn't a bad thing and if that is where you are at then good for you, but being slick bald isn't for me at 37. A few years from now, who knows. You have definitely got me thinking about many things, but at this point have not changed my decision on taking finasteride. You have been a solid contributor to this site and I will thank you for your interesting threads.

One last thing. I hope you are not one of those guys that is against finasteride, then changes his mind when his looks go in the crapper. I have seen many guys fight against taking finasteride because of sides, only to come back later when their hair is beyond repair finally hoping to get on finasteride and get all their hair back.

 

[WorkHardPlayHard]

To all young guys: Don't listen to OP.

If you have male pattern baldness, DHT is the culprit. Eliminate DHT/treat aggressively and move on with life. Life is too short to not attempt to optimize it in all facets, including looks.

If treatments don't work for you, at least you tried. Move on.

If treatments work, keep it up. Move on.

Don't be fear-mongered versus your only true, preventative treatment option.

 

[Diffuser44]

I don't know you and I am not trying to offend you, but based on everything you have been "learning" about finasteride and its effects, you should not even consider taking it. You would always be thinking that you feel something, or something isn't right. Your mind is way too tainted at this point to be comfortable taking finasteride or any drug really. Hopefully you never have to take any prescription drug in your life, because I am sure the potential sides of those drugs will be much worse.

Acceptance isn't a bad thing and if that is where you are at then good for you, but being slick bald isn't for me at 37. A few years from now, who knows. You have definitely got me thinking about many things, but at this point have not changed my decision on taking finasteride. You have been a solid contributor to this site and I will thank you for your interesting threads.

One last thing. I hope you are not one of those guys that is against finasteride, then changes his mind when his looks go in the crapper. I have seen many guys fight against taking finasteride because of sides, only to come back later when their hair is beyond repair finally hoping to get on finasteride and get all their hair back.

I was done with posting but this needs to be addressed. I take and am able to take prescription meds just fine. Most of them aren't for any longer than a couple of weeks. It's the needing to take a drug for an extended period of time that can have complications. For the 11 years I've been and adult man only 2.5 of them did I not have my dht decreased by more than 70 percent. 8.5 years is a ****ing long time to be altering hormones. Meanwhile you've been on it 2 days and have the gull to dismiss my case like its nothing.

Yeah I must be a crazy person huh? Since quitting finasteride I've been divorced and have lost a job. I can't learn the same way I used to be able and my memory as absolute ****. But go ahead. Praise your beloved anti androgen pill. I bet it will keep you very pretty.

I have a news flash for you people. There are three types of reductase and finasteride blocks two of them. And yes all of them play a role in the nervous system. This is why some people get brain fog. I've tried very hard to make finasteride look safe in my head and that I didn't cause myself harm but the evidence of the harm this drug can do to a man keeps piling up. I live in a state of indifference on most things. I just don't care anymore. Part of me wants to take finasteride again to see if I will once again feel normal again.

- - - Updated - - -

Another point. Finasteride isn't the same as most
other prescriptions out there. I used to need a prescription for Claritin and other allergy meds. But you don't see a site out there for post Claritin syndrome and people suffering endocrine system crashes and lingering neurological problems.

 

[Notcoolanymore]

Reading my post again, I am still not sure what I said to set you off, but whatever. Yeah I have been taking finasteride for 2 days side free and you took it for 8.5 years WITHOUT SIDES. I could see your point if you even claimed to have PFS, but you don't. You have been in a state of panic for the past two months because of sides you may some day get because a few guys on the internet claimed they got sides after they stopped taking finasteride. Now you are blaming finasteride for the loss of a job and your divorce? Give me a break.

Again, taking finasteride is not for everybody. If you don't want to take it then don't. But don't get mad at me when I point out the obvious: YOU WILL GO BALD. If you are as pro bald as you claim then you would have no problem with me saying that since it is the truth. Based on your over reaction it is clear that you cannot stand the thought of being bald, but are too s**t scared to do anything about it. Don't get mad at me, I didn't put you where you are at. You did it to yourself.

 

[dreamermerlin]

I was done with posting but this needs to be addressed. I take and am able to take prescription meds just fine. Most of them aren't for any longer than a couple of weeks. It's the needing to take a drug for an extended period of time that can have complications. For the 11 years I've been and adult man only 2.5 of them did I not have my dht decreased by more than 70 percent. 8.5 years is a ****ing long time to be altering hormones. Meanwhile you've been on it 2 days and have the gull to dismiss my case like its nothing.

Yeah I must be a crazy person huh? Since quitting finasteride I've been divorced and have lost a job. I can't learn the same way I used to be able and my memory as absolute ****. But go ahead. Praise your beloved anti androgen pill. I bet it will keep you very pretty.

I have a news flash for you people. There are three types of reductase and finasteride blocks two of them. And yes all of them play a role in the nervous system. This is why some people get brain fog. I've tried very hard to make finasteride look safe in my head and that I didn't cause myself harm but the evidence of the harm this drug can do to a man keeps piling up. I live in a state of indifference on most things. I just don't care anymore. Part of me wants to take finasteride again to see if I will once again feel normal again.

- - - Updated - - -

Another point. Finasteride isn't the same as most
other prescriptions out there. I used to need a prescription for Claritin and other allergy meds. But you don't see a site out there for post Claritin syndrome and people suffering endocrine system crashes and lingering neurological problems.

Oh man, we understand your point of view, but don't you think it's enough?
You are starting to resemble an anti-Merck agent.
Do you have strong scientific data(Studies, etc) to support your claims that finasteride affects the brain/memory/etc?
Not to desconsider it, but if DHT is implied in memory, then how do women memorize things? Because they don't have DHT for sure, and it's quite unprobably that basic brain functions differ that much in man vs woman, we are the same species, for god's sake.
And as a matter of fact, i too am taking finasteride for a couple of years now, and i can tell you my brain functions just fine, no difference from before, in fact maybe i can say it's even better. "Brain fog" you say is completely inexistent, trust me. My brain is in fact clearer than before, i can say.
Can you and others like you please stop with this finasteride bashing strategies?
It is strongly unlikely that male hormones like DHT have anything to do with brain functionins/reasoning/memorizing things. OF course they can be implied in the brain in sexual act for example, because sexual stuff are also controlled by the brain, but don' tell me DHT helps me memorize better, it simply doesn't look to have any sense.
Or, then tell me, if male's memory is supported by DHT, then female memory is supported by what? Estrogen?

I think this stuff with finasteride affecting the brain is pure fiction/ invention. Some people realized that the stuff with finasteride alkterting hormones/sex life doesn't scare some at all, and they came with this theory with brain affection.
I know a few doctors(hair transplant surgeons included ) which take finasteride for 18-20 years and have no problems/symptoms. Would they be so unconscious to harm their brain for such a long time if your theory was true?

Ok, if your decision was to stop taking finasteride, then fine, perfect.
If your hair loss no more bothers you and you're ready to accept it, then, fine again.
Go on and live your life, why bothering with this forum and trying that hard to convince other people to stop taking finasteride?
It's their life, their body, their decision. We appreciate your concern on their safety, but, we got the point, it's quite enough.
Have a good day!

 

[Diffuser44]

Oh man, we understand your point of view, but don't you think it's enough?
You are starting to resemble an anti-Merck agent.
Do you have strong scientific data(Studies, etc) to support your claims that finasteride affects the brain/memory/etc?
Not to desconsider it, but if DHT is implied in memory, then how do women memorize things? Because they don't have DHT for sure, and it's quite unprobably that basic brain functions differ that much in man vs woman, we are the same species, for god's sake.
And as a matter of fact, i too am taking finasteride for a couple of years now, and i can tell you my brain functions just fine, no difference from before, in fact maybe i can say it's even better. "Brain fog" you say is completely inexistent, trust me. My brain is in fact clearer than before, i can say.
Can you and others like you please stop with this finasteride bashing strategies?
It is strongly unlikely that male hormones like DHT have anything to do with brain functionins/reasoning/memorizing things. OF course they can be implied in the brain in sexual act for example, because sexual stuff are also controlled by the brain, but don' tell me DHT helps me memorize better, it simply doesn't look to have any sense.
Or, then tell me, if male's memory is supported by DHT, then female memory is supported by what? Estrogen?

I think this stuff with finasteride affecting the brain is pure fiction/ invention. Some people realized that the stuff with finasteride alkterting hormones/sex life doesn't scare some at all, and they came with this theory with brain affection.
I know a few doctors(hair transplant surgeons included ) which take finasteride for 18-20 years and have no problems/symptoms. Would they be so unconscious to harm their brain for such a long time if your theory was true?

Ok, if your decision was to stop taking finasteride, then fine, perfect.
If your hair loss no more bothers you and you're ready to accept it, then, fine again.
Go on and live your life, why bothering with this forum and trying that hard to convince other people to stop taking finasteride?
It's their life, their body, their decision. We appreciate your concern on their safety, but, we got the point, it's quite enough.
Have a good day!

It's the way our brains our wired in the womb.

- - - Updated - - -

If your brain is better on finasteride it's going to be that much worse when you go off it. Your body requires itself to adapt on finasteride. It thinks it's a permanent rewiring. When you quit that's when things go bad.

 

[Notcoolanymore]

Oh man, we understand your point of view, but don't you think it's enough?
You are starting to resemble an anti-Merck agent.
Do you have strong scientific data(Studies, etc) to support your claims that finasteride affects the brain/memory/etc?
Not to desconsider it, but if DHT is implied in memory, then how do women memorize things? Because they don't have DHT for sure, and it's quite unprobably that basic brain functions differ that much in man vs woman, we are the same species, for god's sake.
And as a matter of fact, i too am taking finasteride for a couple of years now, and i can tell you my brain functions just fine, no difference from before, in fact maybe i can say it's even better. "Brain fog" you say is completely inexistent, trust me. My brain is in fact clearer than before, i can say.
Can you and others like you please stop with this finasteride bashing strategies?
It is strongly unlikely that male hormones like DHT have anything to do with brain functionins/reasoning/memorizing things. OF course they can be implied in the brain in sexual act for example, because sexual stuff are also controlled by the brain, but don' tell me DHT helps me memorize better, it simply doesn't look to have any sense.
Or, then tell me, if male's memory is supported by DHT, then female memory is supported by what? Estrogen?

I think this stuff with finasteride affecting the brain is pure fiction/ invention. Some people realized that the stuff with finasteride alkterting hormones/sex life doesn't scare some at all, and they came with this theory with brain affection.
I know a few doctors(hair transplant surgeons included ) which take finasteride for 18-20 years and have no problems/symptoms. Would they be so unconscious to harm their brain for such a long time if your theory was true?

Ok, if your decision was to stop taking finasteride, then fine, perfect.
If your hair loss no more bothers you and you're ready to accept it, then, fine again.
Go on and live your life, why bothering with this forum and trying that hard to convince other people to stop taking finasteride?
It's their life, their body, their decision. We appreciate your concern on their safety, but, we got the point, it's quite enough.
Have a good day!

Usually when I quote other posters, I will just quote a portion of their post. This post was that good that I wanted to include the whole thing. The majority of this crap that you read online about guys that claimed to have finasteride sides is just a bunch of bs. I want to make it clear that I do believe that there are guys out there that have suffered sides from finasteride, but the majority of guys that are making claims are just full of it. They bought into all of the nonsense that they read online and now they are too scared too do anything effective about their hair loss. The sad thing is that many of these guys are pretty damn smart and should know better. They should know that the internet is full of misinformation, especially when it comes to hair loss. It has been one huge snow ball effect of nonsense when it comes to finasteride. A 30 year old drug! First it started off with the most scary thing that any guy can imagine, not being able to use their d**k. It went from that to growing breasts, then to not being able to put on muscle, to it effecting the brain. What next? Again this is a 30 year old drug, and now this is happening to most guys that take the drug? It is just effin ridiculous and many of the guys falling into this trap should know better.

Unfortunately this is the internet and the cycle is just going to continue and just get worse. Way worse. Every day there are countless threads being started just like this one. More guys with anxiety about their hair loss will read that yes they can treat their hair loss, but the rest of their lives will be destroyed if they do. It's just a shame it really is. So many guys out there that will needlessly suffer because of all of this garbage.

- - - Updated - - -

The anti finasteride guys will always give their input to dismiss any of the positives that can result from taking finasteride. They will agree that yeah you can regrow some hair, but sooner or later you will suffer from some sort of sides. They will provide every possible scenario to scare you into believing you are never out of the woods when it comes to finasteride sides.

The thing is that I would say that most finasteride users are not Pro finasteride at all. That doesn't make any sense as most of us would rather not take a prescription drug for the rest of their lives. We do it because we realize that their is nothing more effective to treat our hair loss. If there was a more effective/safe solution, we would take it in a heartbeat, but unfortunately that treatment doesn't exist. Everything else that is available is snake oil and possibly more dangerous and not worth our time.

For the guys that don't want to take finasteride for whatever reason, I would say don't take it. I respect your decision. But the last thing you should do is come on here or any other hair loss forum and spread a bunch of misinformation. This community should be all about support and helping each other. I am all for the truth when it comes to finasteride sides, but all the "what if" scenarios and other stories that pass for "facts" are not helping anybody.

I try to understand why the "anti finasteride" guys do what they do, and I don't get it. If there comes a point where I unfortunately suffer from sides, sure I will tell my story, but I wouldn't come on here and blame all my ailments or life's failures on finasteride. I wouldn't do that because I know it would be untrue, and at the end of the day it was my choice to take finasteride. Nobody is shoving this pill down my throat and anything that results from its' use is on my shoulders. I don't know if it is just because these guys are pissed off that they are unable to treat their hair loss and they want other guys to be in the same boat. Or if they don't want others to have success because they weren't able to have any. I just don't get it.

 

[dreamermerlin]

It's the way our brains our wired in the womb.

- - - Updated - - -

If your brain is better on finasteride it's going to be that much worse when you go off it. Your body requires itself to adapt on finasteride. It thinks it's a permanent rewiring. When you quit that's when things go bad.

Oh please, excuse me with this pseudoscientific opinions... it's getting boring.
It doesn't "rewire" anything...Brain does not work with DHT and that's all.
This is a complete invention...
Oh, and if brain is so good at adapting, why wouldn't it adapt back when someone quits finasteride??
So it can adapt to an artificial drug, but it can';t reverse to its original natural state?
Give me a break...IF you really want to convince somebody of something you'll have to try much much harder than now.
Even the "brains are wired" stuff is kind of odd...