finasteride users. How do you justify the drugs safety?

[Yoshi3Mario]

I am more than likely going to start taking finasteride in less than a week for the 2nd time. When you read studies that have been done where 5a reductase also inhibits progesterone becoming hidropogesterone and having harmful effects on the brains gabaa receptors that leads to less neurosteroid excitement and leads to depression blah blah.

I personally want to take this approach. The FDA trial claims there weren't any effects on these things. These studies are often not random, done on a small amount of people and have a lack of conclusion. They are also often done on rats, older men who might just be aging and changing anyway, etc.

The thing with me is I want to keep my hair. Just not desperate enough to sacrifice my bodies normal function. My gut tells me this drug is safe and it's been around for years. The only reason why it gets such a bad rep is because of trolls and hypochondriacs online and that the drug does have abormally high side effects 1 to 15%.

Like I said before, if my hormone results come back fine I'm taking it. But I don't want to be worrying about all of that other crap. What are your main reasons for ignoring and getting past that information besides your motivation that you will do anything to keep your hair?

 

[NesHair]

not giving a single ****, you are going to die anyway sooner or later. At least enjoy while you are alive.

 

[Yoshi3Mario]

Nice post! I'm sold! Both of your posts! We are doing this!

 

[NesHair]

There are some really negative and biased members on this forum, please do not soak their insecurities.

 

[Yoshi3Mario]

I see a trend of positivity coming back to the forum. Zzzzz, notcoolanymore are studs.

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I also want to be supportive of the bald guys who got sides and couldn't save their hair.

I envision a site where all men dealing with hair loss can come together. Whether they be bald, wear wigs, take meds, etc. We are all dealing with the same thing and I think we should be supportive no matter which way people go to deal with it. To me right now the obvious recommendation is hands down finasteride especially for men over 18 that just started losing hair.

 

[Notcoolanymore]

I can see you are still having second thoughts. You should, prescription meds aren't anything to be messing around with. Make the move when/if you are ready. My justification for taking finasteride despite all the potential drawbacks is that clinical trials and actual users(like yourself) indicate that for the most part finasteride is a safe drug to take. Now at close to 2 years of use I am concluding the same thing. With that being said the potential for sides will always be there and I accept that, but I don't obsess about it. In my eyes there was a risk involved in taking finasteride, but it was a risk I was willing to take to help improve my hair. If at any time I feel that risk is no longer worth it, I will stop.

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I also want to be supportive of the bald guys who got sides and couldn't save their hair.

I envision a site where all men dealing with hair loss can come together. Whether they be bald, wear wigs, take meds, etc. We are all dealing with the same thing and I think we should be supportive no matter which way people go to deal with it. To me right now the obvious recommendation is hands down finasteride especially for men over 18 that just started losing hair.

Yes we do need to be supportive of those guys and to the ones that decide to use other options to improve their hair situation.

 

[sportsfan12]

I am more than likely going to start taking finasteride in less than a week for the 2nd time. When you read studies that have been done where 5a reductase also inhibits progesterone becoming hidropogesterone and having harmful effects on the brains gabaa receptors that leads to less neurosteroid excitement and leads to depression blah blah.

I personally want to take this approach. The FDA trial claims there weren't any effects on these things. These studies are often not random, done on a small amount of people and have a lack of conclusion. They are also often done on rats, older men who might just be aging and changing anyway, etc.

The thing with me is I want to keep my hair. Just not desperate enough to sacrifice my bodies normal function. My gut tells me this drug is safe and it's been around for years. The only reason why it gets such a bad rep is because of trolls and hypochondriacs online and that the drug does have abormally high side effects 1 to 15%.

Like I said before, if my hormone results come back fine I'm taking it. But I don't want to be worrying about all of that other crap. What are your main reasons for ignoring and getting past that information besides your motivation that you will do anything to keep your hair?

13 weeks in- no sides and crown has already improved. Using with minoxidil as well which I was using for 2 years before starting finasteride.

Saw 2 docs both who were willing to write the script, one who had been taking it himself for 10+ years. That (along with looking at the clinical data) is when I felt comfortable starting.

 

[Aesthetic]

plain and simple answer for you.


I WANT TO KEEP MY HAIR

 

[2tite2014]

I got scared from finasteride due to a lot of the crap I read online. I've been on it for 5 months and haven't felt a thing in terms of side effects.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I got scared from finasteride due to a lot of the crap I read online. I've been on it for 5 months and haven't felt a thing in terms of side effects.

Most people don't. Most people are absolutely fine, but there are some people -- myself included -- whose body, for whatever reason, cannot handle the effects of the drug. Even those people that experience frequent side effects almost always recover fully to their pre-finasteride stage, for some it's longer than others. The human body is an amazing thing, and it's evolved over about 200,000 years to survive everything from famine, inclement weather, and predators to continuously procreate and become the dominant life form on Earth. It's highly unlikely that a pill no bigger than a tic tac would be able to bring us down. While I think that there are some men out there that have become irreparably damaged from PFS, you have a better chance of dying while taking a dump than it happening to you.

 

[Notcoolanymore]

Most people don't. Most people are absolutely fine, but there are some people -- myself included -- whose body, for whatever reason, cannot handle the effects of the drug.

It sucks that you are pretty much left without options unless you go with experimental treatments.

 

[chipsy]

Pop a pill and live your life bro. Haters are gonna hate!

 

[Armando Jose]

Just look at the *clinical* and the empirical data, the drug is in use for decades now and there is not a single incident reported that concerning any mental side effects. In theory, everything can happen, but it just not seems to happen in real life. Look at Dutasteride, also in use for more than a decade, even stronger than finasteride, yet not a single incidence reported. Anecdotal reports are not credible.

regards
Kater Kahlohr

All opinions are valuable. Anecdotal opinions is the first step ....
https://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLo....1429009184./1081292601891750/?type=1&theater

Without it, science don't advance.

 

[smyth01]

finasteride is safer to take than a lot of over the counter drugs people take daily. That's my justification.

 

[dudeofbro]

This will be my first post on this forum, please do not consider me an anti-finasteride troll or something else. Just reading some forums and trying to choose a right way to cure my hairloss (started at 21 and going for a year now. No slow hairline receeding, but going straight for NW2 very soon i suppose). And forgive my english.

First of all - we all know, what finasteride inhibits DHT, that's no secret. So i look at it not from the point of view like "some people have sides - some do not, and they can just jump off if they do". Inhibiting DHT is a change in hormonal system (at least it affects yout test and estrogen levels). So long-term usage provides nearly unavoidable changes in hormonal system functioning. Changes can go unnoticed (some people report slightly better mood and other stuff after quitting of finasteride, although they didn't think, that they had any sides), but my subjective opinion is what they will surely happen. Also DHT REALLY plays an important role in a grown male body. (Check "studies" section on propeciahelp forum. People here hate it, but studies are studies).

Next thing - 2% having sides is obviously a lie. You can just quickly read 30+ success stories from this forum and check them for reports of side effects. I feel like 60-70% have at least some of them. (again, this is experience-based. Check for yourself) Some new researches indicated like 20% of people having sides, or something like that. But sides can be bearable, and pretty ok at all if you don't have a girlfiend. (Some forum members claim what people, who are taking finasteride without any sides are just living their happy lives and don't come to forums like this. I doubt it. Personally i would write a report of fail/success of my regimen after some years on some forums, because i feel somewhat connected to people with same problem as mine).

And finally - post finasteride syndrome. It is certainly real. For some people it happens after years, for some - after few weeks of taking finasteride. And sides can continue after quitting. It is rare. But it happens to some people for sure. And they all regret their choice of taking finasteride for curing hairloss.

So, for me - i decided not to take finasteride for my hair loss as now i have a girlfriend and i am young. (bears and a bald head are better than erectile problems) If only i could begin balding at 30+. I would happily take finasteride or just do not care about hair loss so much. But for now i just don't know what to do. finasteride is not an option for me.

 

[Yoshi3Mario]

Nothing on propeciahelp is legitimate. The studies there are all rat studies. Nothing that pertains to humans. The Irwig study also doesn't count.

As far as dht goes finasteride only inhibits 60 percent of type 2. It inhibits bone of type 1. In an adult man dht really only plays a role in the follicles and prostate. Dht played a role while in your mothers womb to help you give a penis. It also plays a role during puberty. But after the age of 18 it just makes you go bald.

The only thing is dht is anti estrogen. So any testosterone that otherwise would have been converted to dihydrotestosterone will go somewhere else. This is why people have an estradiol increase as well as a testosterone increase.

I believe the sides to be around 2 to 5 percent. Which is actually a lot. 1 in every 20 guys will b**ch about something. Just keep in mind that this isn't black and white turning off the switch on your manhood. You are inhibiting a hormone that in an adult man does hardly anything at all.

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I think if you go back to the origins of the drug you will find that some men are more sensitive to finasteride. Maybe it inhibits more than 60% for them. Maybe they were already estrogen prone. Maybe they were morbidly obese or had other health problems. Maybe they were taking other drugs such as steroids, or anti depressants. Maybe it was psychological for them. Maybe they became depressed as they lost hair due to the drugs shedding phase. Maybe they thought they bought finasteride online but received fake estrogen pills instead. Way too many variables. All you can do is go by the FDA trials and the japanese trials that prove the drugs safety.

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I took this drug for 5 plus years without any sides at all. Did I notice a change when i went off? Maybe it was a sugar pill change. In retrospect I feel about the same. At the time I quit I probably too posted how great it was being off the drug. Probably cause I saw a spike on T for a couple weeks. Then I went back to normal after that.

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All I'm saying is that there are 3 things out there that can give you sides while taking finasteride that you should avoid. And you should avoid these things afterward because they will give you post finasteride syndrome if you let them. Propeciahelp, PFS.org, and hair loss sites in general. Although if you look past the bull****, the trolls, the hypochondriacs, etc you will find that propecia is just the same as any other drug. It's way more safe than birth control which has been known to physically kill people! For some of us we feel awesome on propecia because it raises your T and gives you hope for your hair. Nothing is more depressing then finding out you are going bald. Propecia is the one hope out there and you will feel good taking it.

 

[archdemon123]

It's all about risk. In our life, we deal with probabilites, everywhere! And it's all about preferences. Do you want to go bald? Sides are really unlikely to persist so keep with the drug

As for propeciahelp, lol, people there are mentally ill already. Some take a pill and say they had to go to the hospital. 99% of the stories you read there are DISHONEST.

 

[dudeofbro]

Well, this statement "Nothing on propeciahelp is legitimate. The studies there are all rat studies. Nothing that pertains to humans. The Irwig study also doesn't count." looks like trolling, seriously. I doubt what people report anhedonia and write complex reports of their finasteride usage and treatment after quitting, including many prescribed drugs and strict diets just to troll or because of their imagination. And "The studies there are all rat studies" is simply not true. I can post some links to their threads, but is it permitted on this forum?

Here are some studies, what are not Irwig's (i don't know why you dislike him. He did many studies in this area):
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0100237
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23070721

But i also found this Japanese study. Well, it seems like a good point for finasteride, although they took it only for one year. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21980923

I still don't know about finasteride. It certainly can cause sides. And i am still thinking what it causes them for much more people, than it is shown in studies. Only thing what i am afraid of is persistent side effects. Oh man, don't know what to do. Why did you quit finasteride, Yoshi3Mario?