propecia long term effects on hormones

[crossingfingers]

I was on propecia for about a year and I stopped taking it a year ago. I remember the last months before I quit taking propecia, I would run out and have big gaps in between such as 2 weeks before I got back on propecia and this happend probably 2 or 3 times. My question is: can finasteride permanently alter your testosterone levels even when you stop taking it for one year? For example, since finasteride blocks the conversion of testosterone into DHT, your body will produce higher levels of testosterone to compensate. Now here's the million dollar question: once you stop taking finasteride, will your hormones still be tricked into producing higher levels of testosterone than usual? Meaning, can finasteride permanently alter the level of testerone production even though your not taking it any more? Anybody willing to take a crack at this one?

 

[chewbaca]

Good post...this has been bugging me for some time.i guess we need Bryan to answer this....But just a bit i can contribute

Hormone levels drop a lot by the time u reach 40-50....regardless or not if
suffer from male pattern baldness or not...just that those with male pattern baldness coulndt wait to regrow their hair after they reach 40 as the hair follicles will shut down due to their constant retardation by male pattern baldness

I think there is a possibility that messing around with hormone levesl during teens or preteen period could forever alter their makeup as the body is still changing...Castrated males before puberty never seem to go bald while its not quite true for the same case after puberty...

So now the Q is after puberty is itpossible to alter forever the hormonal makeup ....FOREVER>>>>


and also i think even of there is a higher circulating level of T due tot he body being tricked into producing it...What still counts s the receptor sensitivity to the T>DHT

THis is where genetics come in...Need more info on this..wish Bryan can clarify....

 

[global]

I doubt it very much.

In any case your test levels are continually falling as you age so even if it did have an effect it would be counter-acted by the natural drop anyway.

 

[fabrizio72]

And if is the opposit?
Finastaride make a little up of testosterne. THis because testosteron doesn't becom DHT.
Also maybe the body see it and degrese the testostern.
The true is that only a good control of testing people can give an answer.
Ciao

 

[chewbaca]

And if is the opposit?
Finastaride make a little up of testosterne. THis because testosteron doesn't becom DHT.
Also maybe the body see it and degrese the testostern.
The true is that only a good control of testing people can give an answer.
Ciao

1)its still unclear (prove me wrong) if the increased T-level is only during finasteride usage and whether it may return to normal after stopping finasteride.

2)The 20 % increase in T level during finasteride usage, will it be counteracted as one ages assuming eg. long term finasteride users

3) OR the T-Level permanently gets upped due t long term finasteride usage?

4) Why do finasteride users report drop in results after 5 year mark?.

 

[Pelican]

I'm more than two years off finasteride 1mg daily and my hormones have had a very slow recovery. My estradiol was high for a male, my DHT was low (and I no longer have any interest in lowering serum DHT for any extended period of time), my testosterone was hovering just above the low end of the reference range. I put on fat, which caused additional problems with hormonal balance I'm sure, especially abdominal fat. I did not develop traditional gyno in the sense of breast tissue growth, but I did develop enough fat on my chest to accomplish something similar.

My estradiol has only in the last few months dropped back into the normal range for males, my DHT is low-normal, and my testosterone is climbing but is still in the low-300s. My free testosterone is apparently fine (whether that means I'm getting all the necessary benefits of it, I don't know) and so I am told testosterone therapy would do me no good. I am losing body fat now after trying for years and being virtually unable to budge. Unfortunately even though my DHT is low I am receding noticably at the temples, and my body hair -- literally all over -- is coming on strongly, and has been for a few years now.

 

[crossingfingers]

now what

so basically, my hormones will never fully recover to the way they were before I started taking finasteride? man if I knew that was the case, hairloss is trevial compared to having a hormonal imbalance.

 

[Bryan]

I've never seen a study which looked at hormone levels in men who had been taking finasteride for a long time, and then quit the drug; however, I'd be astounded if they didn't go back to normal. I wouldn't worry about it.

Bryan

 

[iseras]

Bryan, realistically speaking, how safe do you think finasteride is in the long term? Do you think it could permanently mess with your hormones? And if you ever decide to quit it, has it been proven that any potential side effects would go away and you'd go back to normal?

 

[chewbaca]

BRYAN , what does abnormal hormonal levels mean for hair loss.

Does it mean DHT are low what does that mean for hair loss after long term usafe on finasteride?

 

[Pelican]

As I said, my own hormone levels have slowly - and I mean slowly - returned to normal. Estradiol (and related) have completely normalized, though it took a good deal of time during which I had a hell of a time shedding the body fat I put on during finasteride use. My testosterone has gone up about 100 points, still very low normal but it is in the normal range. And my free testosterone is fine. Sexually all the equipment functions, but I don't have near the urge to use it (libido), don't receive the same sort of visual stimulation, etc. However, if I continue to shed body fat and put on more lean muscle mass (getting back to a healthy male body composition) I'm hoping I'll regain more of that.

I would strongly suspect that the amount of body fat I put on (which was an absolute shocker, because until my mid-20s I was around 11% body fat) together with the finasteride created something of a hormone/fat loop that just kept getting worse. (If you're not sure what I'm talking about, read about the effects of body fat, particularly abdominal fat, on hormones in men.) I absolutely could not break this loop until I quit finasteride.