Quitting Dutasteride - Think I May Be Getting Sides

[dralex]

Freaking out pretty bad here. So I know some of you know my story/regimen. Have been taking duta EOD for like 2.5 months or something. I had been on finasteride for 3 years prior and dropped it the day before getting on duta. I have had no regrowth, but haven't really given it enough time. Started duta because I was still losing significant hair on finasteride.

So within 2-3 weeks of dropping finasteride and starting dutasteride my libido and sex drive started going up. Had to beat off like every day (sometimes 2-3x/day), and was able to f*** girls multiple times for hours. It kept going up even up until the last few weeks. Even my semen volume/thickness went up significantly. I also felt literally amazing in every way. My body was feeling so good, my thinking was sharp, lifts were going up fast. But, slowly over the last few weeks it seems my sex drive has stabilized back down to normal, until recently I feel like it may have crashed. It could be partially in my head but I am not sure. First, just want to point out I do get whisky dick sometimes, and have had it even before getting on finasteride. I hadn't had sex in like 3 weeks. So on Friday, I was hooking up with some girl I really like after drinking a fairly good amount and couldn't get it up enough to have sex (thought it was a little weird because I hadn't beat off in several days and usually erections are crazy strong then). Couldn't even get fully erect from a blow job. Didn't feel too worried though because I was super drunk. Next morning I still couldn't get hard enough to bang (was hungover but still never had this issue before when sober). So it started messing with my head. Went out again the next night, Saturday, (was kinda drunk) and was able to get hard enough to have sex for a while (still not great erection quality), but then lost it when I pulled out to switch positions, and couldn't finish. I had to have like constant touching to stay hard, but there was like no way I was cumming regardless. This definitely worried me because I didn't think I was drunk enough to be getting whisky dick. At this point I was pretty worried so it was constantly on my mind, so I wanted to make sure my dick was still working. Sunday and Monday I couldn't get my dick hard for sh*t. I would try to watch p**rn and legit nothing would happen. Wasn't even interested in the p**rn whatsoever. Haven't been waking up with morning wood either. Finally was able to get a quality erection today watching sh*t p**rn (took forever though), but it just feels off down there. I am sure this is partially in my head, but this is freaking me the f*** out.

Even if it is mostly in my head, I think I'm going to have to quit. This sh*t is just stressing me out too much right now. It makes it even scarier knowing that even after quitting, this sh*t will stay in my system for months. If I take it any longer and I get sides, it may be in my system for years. Don't think its worth it anymore. This girl I've been banging lives a couple hours away and is coming up again to visit me this weekend. Freaking out that my dick might not work again this weekend. So yeah, what do you guys think? I am definitely quitting temporarily regardless, and probs won't go back on finasteride either because I didn't have good results with it.

My one theory is that maybe even on finasteride my libido was slightly lowered over time but didn't notice, and when quitting finasteride, my DHT levels went back up close to normal, and because the half-life is so short I was getting my normal hormone levels back? This is then why my libido and sex drive temporarily increased. And maybe the duta took a couple months to build up in my system, so now the DHT suppressed has surpassed what was suppressed on finasteride, and I don't have enough DHT to keep my libido strong? Idk...just a theory. O well, this sucks. What are your guys' thoughts? Not trying to freak anyway out, but didn't realize how brutal ED actually is, whether from the drugs or psychological. Sorry this is so long, worrying me pretty bad.

 

[Razzabo]

You played with fire and got burned. Your own fault. Dutasteride isn't even fda approved for hair loss. Only yourself to blame.

 

[dralex]

You played with fire and got burned. Your own fault. Dutasteride isn't even fda approved for hair loss. Only yourself to blame.

lol ok? thanks I guess

 

[Razzabo]

You have 5ar1 in your brain. Which you annihilated.

Should of just stayed with finasteride.

 

[dralex]

You have 5ar1 in your brain. Which you annihilated.

Should of just stayed with finasteride.

Finasteride was useless. I've researched the sh*t, I know the side effect chances are increased. If it is causing me sides I'll just have to wait for the dutasteride to get out of my system or lowered to what it was 1 month ago. Also fda approval doesn't really mean much. Just means its shown not to cause serious life-threatening effects. They don't give a f*** about an increased risk of ED. Duta is already approved for hair loss in other countries and is FDA approved for BPH. And I am pretty sure Duta only decreases 5ar1 by 50%

 

[g.i joey]

id blame duta especially considering you were on finasteride and didn't have any of these sides. If I were you I'd get back on finasteride and at least hold onto what you could

 

[dralex]

id blame duta especially considering you were on finasteride and didn't have any of these sides. If I were you I'd get back on finasteride and at least hold onto what you could

Thanks man. Going to quit them both for a while, at least until I am feeling normal, then maybe add finasteride back in the mix.

 

[dralex]

Well idk whats going on with my body but I feel fine now, and my dick seems to be working fine now. I'm just not going to think about it, but still dropping the treatments. I am starting to realize there is no way I am getting any regrowth. Don't really see the reason to try to keep what I have left, when I honestly would look better with a hair system, as my hairline is pretty fuckd. No way in hell I am just accepting being bald, but may have to just go the hair system route. Willing to pay $2-3k a year to have it professionally done, if my hair starts tanking after dropping this stuff.

 

[Massive]

I also tried dutasteride for 3 months and the sides were definitely worse than finasteride for me. Also I probably wouldn't feel too comfortable taking it for many years in the long run. Have you posted pics of your hair? Just wondering how bad is it.

 

[dralex]

I also tried dutasteride for 3 months and the sides were definitely worse than finasteride for me. Also I probably wouldn't feel too comfortable taking it for many years in the long run. Have you posted pics of your hair? Just wondering how bad is it.

How long did it take for them to subside after quitting? And are you back on finasteride again, I remember you quitting for a while and you said your sex drive went up. What happened there. And I agree, one of the main reasons I wanna quit before I am on it too long is I am realizing I am not comfortable taking it long-term. If I get a scare like this 2.5 months in, I will absolutely freak if it happens a few years in, when there is no hope of getting the sh*t out of your system.

Never posted hair pics. Don't really see a reason to. I have photos that make it look insanely bad then ones where it doesn't look too bad. It isn't as bad as many people on this forum. I wouldn't even consider it a NW3 yet, as I have no crown loss. Big issue is my hairline has receded very bad. Never really minded it until it started receding/thinning heavily in the center which looks awful. The diffuse thinning sucks as well, but I can mask it with different hair products to make it seem thicker. If I do a really good job with styling products and use some concealers on the hairline I can make it look like I am not losing much hair other than the temple recession. Don't like using concealers much though. I honestly don't even know what my hair looks like without product in it when dry now. Just terrifies me thinking about it, because it would probs be brutal.

Btw your beard is fuckn amazing.

 

[Pephair]

I was on finasteride 1mg for 2 years. Hair loss stopped for those 2 years but crept back up again. Quit finasteride and the next day took dutasteride 0.5mg. Immediate brain fog an hour later, nothing bad, kind of had me full of energy to be honest. Also had an increase in sex drive.

After 4 days though, I just felt out of it. I went back on finasteride the next day, brain fog disappeared. And decided to follow the regimen from the Australian study of finasteride/dutasteride combo (finasteride every day, dutasteride one day/week).

I still get brain fog, but I take the dutasteride at 5pm at night where it's really not an issue for work. I just kinda zone out and watch tv. The next morning I'll be a tad hazy, but by the afternoon I'm back to normal.

If I see hair growth, that small side once a week will be well worth it. Gonna give it 6 months and see what happens.
Cheers

 

[WMQ]

OP, did your energy/gym performance drop accordingly when the ED came?

 

[WMQ]

When you first started dutasteride, you had decreased dht and skyrocketed T, that was likely why you felt so good first. After a while your body would adjust to normal T level accordingly but at the same time you had close to zero dht so the ed might kick in.

 

[Massive]

How long did it take for them to subside after quitting? And are you back on finasteride again, I remember you quitting for a while and you said your sex drive went up. What happened there. And I agree, one of the main reasons I wanna quit before I am on it too long is I am realizing I am not comfortable taking it long-term. If I get a scare like this 2.5 months in, I will absolutely freak if it happens a few years in, when there is no hope of getting the sh*t out of your system.

Never posted hair pics. Don't really see a reason to. I have photos that make it look insanely bad then ones where it doesn't look too bad. It isn't as bad as many people on this forum. I wouldn't even consider it a NW3 yet, as I have no crown loss. Big issue is my hairline has receded very bad. Never really minded it until it started receding/thinning heavily in the center which looks awful. The diffuse thinning sucks as well, but I can mask it with different hair products to make it seem thicker. If I do a really good job with styling products and use some concealers on the hairline I can make it look like I am not losing much hair other than the temple recession. Don't like using concealers much though. I honestly don't even know what my hair looks like without product in it when dry now. Just terrifies me thinking about it, because it would probs be brutal.

Btw your beard is fuckn amazing.

It went like this. I was finasteride (genuine Propecia from local pharmacy) for 5 months and losing my patience because I kept losing ground, at the time my hair still looking okayish and I didn't wanna get to the point where I have to buzzcut, so I pretty much dismissed all the horror stories on dutasteride and only paid attention to the success stories. I then got some generic dutasteride (dr. reddys), and because I couldn't trust the generic dutasteride to be legit I kept using both dutasteride and finasteride everyday.
After 2 weeks of taking both I just felt out of it, fatigued, simply zoned out. I then decided to alternate between dutasteride and finasteride, meaning one day I'd take dutasteride and the next day finasteride. This went for about 3 months. dutasteride really killed my sex drive, morning wood was history, walking in public I'd feel like I have a steam noodle between my legs. I then quit all treatments for 6 months. I felt better mentally after 2 days, knowing I'm gonna put that sh*t in my body, it really uplifted my spirit. As for the actual side effects, probably a few weeks to start feeling better, could be up to a few months. I can't remember how long it exactly took but over time I felt better, sex drive was coming back, semen wasn't watery, these things take time. However, in retrospect, at the time I always thought finasteride/dutasteride were hindering my gains in the gym, but actually those times I was my strongest/biggest at the gym.

After I took 6 months off finasteride+dutasteride, I later went back to finasteride+minoxidil for 10 month and got good results actually. It's weird, like, I'd still see a lot of shedding, but altogether but hair looked better than ever. Right now I'm off treatments completely for like 5 months, but that's unrelated here and I'd rather send you a PM about that. Regarding sexual side effects, I think that dutasteride was a no go for me, finasteride was somewhat okay for long term, but now that I'm completely off I realize how much I'm better off without it.

Btw I noticed you mentioned concealers, I was a slave to hair fibers for 2 years, never ever left the house without it, would even fall asleep with it quite often. It's very addicting. I now just buzzcut on 3-7mm and face reality. The 'withdrawal' was quite hard but I'm glad I did it. Also thanks for the beard compliment! But I actually shaved it off for a few months and now I'm it's growing again as I just wanna do a 'short full beard'. Honestly long beards are a turn off for the majority of women and I'd only get compliments from guys.

 

[dralex]

OP, did your energy/gym performance drop accordingly when the ED came?

That's what I was worried about as well. My energy was low and my whole body felt off for a bit, but randomly feel good again from time to time. Gym performance is still pretty great though. Lifts still going up this week. That's like the one plus that's remained. After every lift I feel amazing and I'm shocked I am continually going up fairly significantly. I had kind of plateaud before getting on duta. Just yesterday i was doing weighted Pull Ups with 90lbs attached expected to get like 6-8 and somehow pumped out 10. Idk if it's the duta doing this but i don't know what else it could be as my diet is actually pretty sh*t right now and I'm drinking a decent amount.

Also people talk about how you will get excess fat build up from the extra estrogen on duta. This hasn't been the case for me at all. Somehow my weight is going down, even though my diet is crap, my lifts are rising, and have down literally zero cardio in the past 2 months. Thats why I loved this drug so much at first. I was getting these lifting benefits, helping keeping my weight down, improved my mood a lot, and most importantly significantly increased my sex drive and erection quality. Didnt expect these benefits to just start fading like this.

 

[dralex]

It went like this. I was finasteride (genuine Propecia from local pharmacy) for 5 months and losing my patience because I kept losing ground, at the time my hair still looking okayish and I didn't wanna get to the point where I have to buzzcut, so I pretty much dismissed all the horror stories on dutasteride and only paid attention to the success stories. I then got some generic dutasteride (dr. reddys), and because I couldn't trust the generic dutasteride to be legit I kept using both dutasteride and finasteride everyday.
After 2 weeks of taking both I just felt out of it, fatigued, simply zoned out. I then decided to alternate between dutasteride and finasteride, meaning one day I'd take dutasteride and the next day finasteride. This went for about 3 months. dutasteride really killed my sex drive, morning wood was history, walking in public I'd feel like I have a steam noodle between my legs. I then quit all treatments for 6 months. I felt better mentally after 2 days, knowing I'm gonna put that sh*t in my body, it really uplifted my spirit. As for the actual side effects, probably a few weeks to start feeling better, could be up to a few months. I can't remember how long it exactly took but over time I felt better, sex drive was coming back, semen wasn't watery, these things take time. However, in retrospect, at the time I always thought finasteride/dutasteride were hindering my gains in the gym, but actually those times I was my strongest/biggest at the gym.

After I took 6 months off finasteride+dutasteride, I later went back to finasteride+minoxidil for 10 month and got good results actually. It's weird, like, I'd still see a lot of shedding, but altogether but hair looked better than ever. Right now I'm off treatments completely for like 5 months, but that's unrelated here and I'd rather send you a PM about that. Regarding sexual side effects, I think that dutasteride was a no go for me, finasteride was somewhat okay for long term, but now that I'm completely off I realize how much I'm better off without it.

Btw I noticed you mentioned concealers, I was a slave to hair fibers for 2 years, never ever left the house without it, would even fall asleep with it quite often. It's very addicting. I now just buzzcut on 3-7mm and face reality. The 'withdrawal' was quite hard but I'm glad I did it. Also thanks for the beard compliment! But I actually shaved it off for a few months and now I'm it's growing again as I just wanna do a 'short full beard'. Honestly long beards are a turn off for the majority of women and I'd only get compliments from guys.

Thanks for the long response man. Feel like I can relate to your experience. Could you please pm me about why you're off/the difference in how you feel off. Would be greatly appreciated. Have to contemplate whether going back on finasteride or not after this.

Also curious if you had a girlfriend or consistent f*** buddy during any of this? Sometimes hard to gauge your sex-drive and erection quality when you don't have someone to consistently bone.

 

[WMQ]

That's what I was worried about as well. My energy was low and my whole body felt off for a bit, but randomly feel good again from time to time. Gym performance is still pretty great though. Lifts still going up this week. That's like the one plus that's remained. After every lift I feel amazing and I'm shocked I am continually going up fairly significantly. I had kind of plateaud before getting on duta. Just yesterday i was doing weighted Pull Ups with 90lbs attached expected to get like 6-8 and somehow pumped out 10. Idk if it's the duta doing this but i don't know what else it could be as my diet is actually pretty sh*t right now and I'm drinking a decent amount.

Also people talk about how you will get excess fat build up from the extra estrogen on duta. This hasn't been the case for me at all. Somehow my weight is going down, even though my diet is crap, my lifts are rising, and have down literally zero cardio in the past 2 months. Thats why I loved this drug so much at first. I was getting these lifting benefits, helping keeping my weight down, improved my mood a lot, and most importantly significantly increased my sex drive and erection quality. Didnt expect these benefits to just start fading like this.

Man don't know if you saw that peapoddy guy's log in the success section but that sounds almost identical to yours.

I was wondering did you experience any change in itch and shedding as your energy/libido fluctuated?

I think I'm experiencing something similar. Taking dutasteride one to two times a week in addition to my low dose finasteride and after four weeks my gym performance, libido and itch all skyrocketed. Was bumping up my weight literally every week. Hairs coming out like mad.

 

[dralex]

Man don't know if you saw that peapoddy guy's log in the success section but that sounds almost identical to yours.

I was wondering did you experience any change in itch and shedding as your energy/libido fluctuated?

I think I'm experiencing something similar. Taking dutasteride one to two times a week in addition to my low dose finasteride and after four weeks my gym performance, libido and itch all skyrocketed. Was bumping up my weight literally every week. Hairs coming out like mad.

I had less itch on durasteride than finasteride. My itch was pretty brutal on finasteride. Itch was almost nonexistent at first when starting duta, but has started coming back over the last month. Didn't really shed hairs really either, but have noticed an increase in shedding these past few weeks.

 

[dralex]

Dicks working fine now...Morning wood back as well. Man ain't hair loss the best...our only option to stay sane is to f*** with our hormones and libido. Not sure where to go from here. Probs will just go back on finasteride 2mg daily, even though I know my hair is going to continue to get worse and have no chance at any regrowth now . f*** this sh*t, duta was my last hope.

 

[WMQ]

I can sympathize.

It seems that dutasteride just accelerated my hair loss due to reflex hyperandrogenicity. It took away the last strands of normal thickness hair on top.

And I had so much hope. I was just in denial and I even thought maybe I still had a slim chance to grow it back.

Everytime I try a treatment it just backfires. Knowing now I might have had more hair if I didn't try it at all. Still just couldn't look at it going without doing anything.

Transplant won't work since I'm diffusing in nw7 with retrograde. Looked into hair system and realized taping a piece onto my oily inflammed scalp really isn't sensible in any way. And I've already seen how deformed I look with a shaved head.