Has anyone on here ever successfully rode out finasteride sides?

[wessneijder]

I've read on Dr. Rassman's baldingblog that some users can ride out the sides as their body adjusts to the lack of DHT and become normal again.

Has anyone on here experienced sides the first few weeks but rode them out and now have no sides?

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

A notable example is Zeroheat's topic in the My Stories section. He had sides that disappeared after 3 months if you read through that amazing success story.

 

[Rawtashk]

What sides are you talking about?

Looking back, I had 4
Tiredness
Lower libido
Ball ache
Watery semen

Never had a problem with ED or anything like that, and all 4 sides were gone in under 4 months.

Are you having sides?

 

[Wuffer]

Overall after being on finasteride for 8 months, I probably had an increase followed by a decrease in libido over the first month or so, but it all evened out pretty quickly after. No other side effects currently to list...

The FDA trials for propecia showed that less than 0.3% of males still had sexual sides after 5 years of being on it. Evidence indicates sexual side effects lessen over time, and will eventually go away in almost all cases. Most studies don't show statistical significance of sexual sides when comparing the finasteride to placebo group after even a year of usage, so chances are, your sides will eventually go away.

However, if you have severe side effects for even a year after starting, is it worth waiting out? Thats up to you to decide.

Best of luck man.

 

[LordJim]

My nipples became extremely sensitive and hurt to touch after a few months on finasteride; I just ignored it and it soon went away.

 

[Primo]

I think it depends on the severity of the sides. A bit of ball ache and watery semen is nothing major, but if you get a bad case of ED from finasteride initially, it is very unlikely that this will resolve itself completely over time.

The harsh reality is some people have a more sensitive endocrine system and hormone balance than others and should stay well away from finasteride and any other 5-AR inhibtors.

 

[Seamus O]

I got my Propecia from the pharmacy today and am still considering whether to take it or not.

How would I know if I have a "sensitive endocrine system" before I took this medicine? Seems like that's something I need to know.

 

[Rawtashk]

You don't. Here are the facts (rough numbers)

2 out of 100 guys will have mild or greater sexual side effects.
1 out of 100 of those guys will have side effects that continue for months after stopping finasteride.

So, you have about a 1 in 5,000 chance of having lasting sides.

More rough numbers:
Do you have a girlfriend/wife? Do you have sex with her? Is she on the pill? If the pill is the only form of contraceptive you have, then you have about a 1.6 in 100 chance of her getting pregnant.

Odds are in your favor that you'll be fine. HOWEVER...if you stress out about sides and worry about it too much, then odds are that you WILL have sides. Your mind is a powerful tool. If you look hard enough, you'll find something that you'll contribute to sides.

My story
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65594

 

[Seamus O]

That's a decent analogy, I suppose. I think I'm going to go ahead and bite the bullet.

Rawtashk, I've seen a lot of your posts on here while I was trolling the board over the past few days. It looks like you've taken care of your problem, so thanks for staying on the board and not forgetting about us newbies out here. There is a lot of scary sh*t on in the internet about Propecia. People need to remember that the vast majority of people probably take Propecia, have great results, and never feel the need to come on boards like this in the first place. On the other hand, if you have a bad result (or a coincidental loss in libido) with starting Propecia then you are MUCH more likely to get on here and tell your story.

I looked at your "story" on here, and your thinning crown pictures are almost identical to where my hair is at right now. I only noticed it about a week ago, and I've been freaking out (borderline depressed) ever since. I saw the doctor a few days ago and he prescribed me Propecia. I have even picked it up from the pharmacy, but have been too scared to take it.

By the way and just as an FYI, my primary care doctor is the one that prescribed it, and he told me that I should be aware (he was doing some CYA) that it *could* cause loss of libido and he even mentioned that there have been reports of people that have had a permanent loss, but he stressed that none of those cases has even been proven to have been caused by Propecia. Keep in mind that I am a lawyer and my doctor knows this...so I am reluctant to think that he would prescribe me something that he would ever think would come back on him in the future. Obviously that's not conclusive of anything whatsoever...just take that for what it's worth.

Seamus

 

[Joe-1991]

I only had watery semen and aching testicles when i was on the drug. When i came off it i was left completely impotent, a messed up prostate, unable to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time, complete personality change. This has been going on for nearly 2 years off the drug now and at times is worse than ever.

My reaction to the drug/ coming off the drug is obviously quite rare but if it does happen to you at least you know that you took the risk and paid for it. I think persistent side effects do not occur often and like you say, most men out there do just fine or probably have slightly lessened libido, watery semen ON the drug. However, i speak to 4 very normal young guys like myself, from my country on facebook with the same issues. So it cannot be THAT rare.

I don't know if many guys on this forum ask themselves this but if finasteride was a walk in the park, why are there so many bald men out there?

Anyway, good luck!

 

[Agahi]

3 months on finasteride now, never had a side. It can go either way man just have to try it or you will never know. Believe me, I got scared and waited like a year after I found out about finasteride, and my hair took a hit because of it.

Best thing you can do is talk to a Doctor, and see what she/he says.

 

[Wuffer]

finasteride is actually not a very well known drug. I've spoken with dozens of my balding friends, and only a few have even heard of it. Of those that have heard of it, they think it's just one of those fake scam hair loss treatments that don't even work. I can't recall ever having seen a marketing ad or commercial for Propecia.

Also, most guys don't particularly enjoy losing their hair, but choose to do nothing about it. This is either because they simply don't care, or don't think they can do anything about it. There is also such a huge stigma surrounding treating hair loss, I bet many guys simply won't treat it because of that fact alone.

Considering how effective it can be, Propecia isn't very successful drug. I think it averages somewhere around 500 million a year, which is peanuts compared to some other medications out there. I don't think they marketed it correctly or nearly enough; at least not up here in Canada.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

finasteride is actually not a very well known drug. I've spoken with dozens of my balding friends, and only a few have even heard of it. Of those that have heard of it, they think it's just one of those fake scam hair loss treatments that don't even work. I can't recall ever having seen a marketing ad or commercial for Propecia.

Also, most guys don't particularly enjoy losing their hair, but choose to do nothing about it. This is either because they simply don't care, or don't think they can do anything about it. There is also such a huge stigma surrounding treating hair loss, I bet many guys simply won't treat it because of that fact alone.

Considering how effective it can be, Propecia isn't very successful drug. I think it averages somewhere around 500 million a year, which is peanuts compared to some other medications out there. I don't think they marketed it correctly or nearly enough; at least not up here in Canada.

This is true. I've never seen a Propecia commercial nor have I head anyone ever mention finasteride or Propecia outside of hair loss websites.

 

[Agahi]

Didn't know about it until about 2 years ago and have been on MIN for like 5 years, so I'd agree it is not very well known in the USA either.

 

[Seamus O]

I only had watery semen and aching testicles when i was on the drug. When i came off it i was left completely impotent, a messed up prostate, unable to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time, complete personality change. This has been going on for nearly 2 years off the drug now and at times is worse than ever.

My reaction to the drug/ coming off the drug is obviously quite rare but if it does happen to you at least you know that you took the risk and paid for it. I think persistent side effects do not occur often and like you say, most men out there do just fine or probably have slightly lessened libido, watery semen ON the drug. However, i speak to 4 very normal young guys like myself, from my country on facebook with the same issues. So it cannot be THAT rare.

I don't know if many guys on this forum ask themselves this but if finasteride was a walk in the park, why are there so many bald men out there?

Anyway, good luck!

Joe, when did you start to notice that you were having problems with ED and lack of sleep/personality change?

 

[Joe-1991]

I had many of the bog standard side effects you see reported on the hairloss forums, i.e. watery semen and aching testicles.

It was around 3-4 weeks after i quit a last run of finasteride that my body crashed and i have been having serious problems ever since. It has been 17 months.

 

[Joe-1991]

Where did you get these facts?

You don't. Here are the facts (rough numbers)

2 out of 100 guys will have mild or greater sexual side effects.
1 out of 100 of those guys will have side effects that continue for months after stopping finasteride.

So, you have about a 1 in 5,000 chance of having lasting sides.

More rough numbers:
Do you have a girlfriend/wife? Do you have sex with her? Is she on the pill? If the pill is the only form of contraceptive you have, then you have about a 1.6 in 100 chance of her getting pregnant.

Odds are in your favor that you'll be fine. HOWEVER...if you stress out about sides and worry about it too much, then odds are that you WILL have sides. Your mind is a powerful tool. If you look hard enough, you'll find something that you'll contribute to sides.

My story
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65594

 

[Joe-1991]

Hey Joe, this might sound like a dumb question but have you thought of going back on finasteride to see if that does anything to make you normal again?

It's funny you say that because i went ahead and did it - the guys over on the side effects forum were not happy. Anyway, my body returned close to normal for 10 days and then it wore off.

Testosterone boost?

 

[marker20]

You know, people make a big deal over the fact of taking a drug that messes with your hormones, but a huge percentage of women alter their hormones everyday when they take birth control. I realize that a discussion about finasteride's safety could and should be more informed and nuanced, but the *mere fact of taking a hormone-altering drug* isn't an argument against it.

Also, I do think that sides are WAY over-reported on forums. I talked to my doctor, and he said only one of his patients ever stopped taking Propecia due to loss of libido. I think most people probably take it after having seen a commercial (and I've seen many!) without obsessing on the internet.

For a parallel example -- for months before buying a MacBook Pro, I frequented a few forums and read about all of these supposedly common problems (overheating issues, yellow screen tint, etc. etc.). I bought one, it was fine, and I stopped using the forum. And apparently a huge amount of other people have bought MacBook Pros without any problem.

Beware of extrapolating what you observe on the internet. Just because a lot of guys seem to complain doesn't mean that they're a representative sample. It's pretty useless data... which is why people run controlled experiments.

 

[marker20]

You know, people make a big deal over the fact of taking a drug that messes with your hormones, but a huge percentage of women alter their hormones everyday when they take birth control. I realize that a discussion about finasteride's safety could and should be more informed and nuanced, but the *mere fact of taking a hormone-altering drug* isn't an argument against it.

Also, I do think that sides are WAY over-reported on forums. I talked to my doctor, and he said only one of his patients ever stopped taking Propecia due to loss of libido. I think most people probably take it after having seen a commercial (and I've seen many!) without obsessing on the internet.

For a parallel example -- for months before buying a MacBook Pro, I frequented a few forums and read about all of these supposedly common problems (overheating issues, yellow screen tint, etc. etc.). I bought one, it was fine, and I stopped using the forum. And apparently a huge amount of other people have bought MacBook Pros without any problem.

Beware of extrapolating what you observe on the internet. Just because a lot of guys seem to complain doesn't mean that they're a representative sample. It's pretty useless data... which is why people run controlled experiments.