Should I be crapping myself about starting Propecia?

[TinTon]

Ok so I'm just going 34 years old, thinning at the crown which has been very gradually occurring over the past 6 years. Now my hair on top is not only thinning at the crown but I'm starting to see the skin of my scalp through my hair in the mid to frontal region a lot more too.

I can start taking Propecia (1mg finasteride) when I want to but I'm basically shatting myself due to being vigilant and reading up about the possible side effects on the various websites and forums.

So yeah of course I've read tons of bad stuff and also some good stuff too, I did land on propeciahelp.com a few times initially but now I avoid it because overall it's not a fair view in terms of users of finasteride, I mean if there was a website dedicated to people who had great success with Propecia then maybe I could do a side by side comparison but of course naturally the only people who build a forum dedicated to hating the drug are the ones who have been stung by it.

I do know one of my good friends who has been taking Propecia 1mg for the past 8 years and has had zero side effects according to him (he's not a shy guy and would happily tell me if he had any embarrassing sides as the only reason I know about finasteride is due to him being happy to tell me without any prompting that he's on the drug, like I said he's not shy in the slightest about anything).

I've been to my pharmacy who said that I can happily start Propecia 1mg each day whenever I want and on that note I feel positive to have the availability of a decent solution to my male pattern baldness, however I'm not someone who blindly goes with the flow and so I have read up about the drug extensively and no about a lot of the possible sides, and of course naturally that has put me in a difficult position on starting to take the drug.

Things that have me scared the most are the breast related sides, i.e. gyno and breast cancer etc, of course ED and low sex drive is not something I would look forward to either but I think visible changes in the body or life threatening scenarios are far more serious to me.

I do have a flabby chest (pseudo gyno??) which I've had since puberty, but nothing too bad and it only really looks bad when I'm a bit overweight (which I am slightly right now), my sex drive is ok right now, not amazing but average really.

Should I be crapping myself (like I am doing) or just I just relax and roll with the flow on this? Need some unbiased opinions

Cheers lads

 

[Agustin Araujo]

Just start with taking Propecia 1 milligram daily. Side effects happen in about 2% of cases and will subside once treatment is discontinued. The horror stories online about Finasteride are unreliable and are full of vague anecdotal evidence. I take Dutasteride, which is basically a stronger version of Finasteride, and I've suffered no side effects. I wouldn't worry if I were you, just give it a go and see how it goes.

 

[TinTon]

Just start with taking Propecia 1 milligram daily. Side effects happen in about 2% of cases and will subside once treatment is discontinued. The horror stories online about Finasteride are unreliable and are full of vague anecdotal evidence. I take Dutasteride, which is basically a stronger version of Finasteride, and I've suffered no side effects. I wouldn't worry if I were you, just give it a go and see how it goes.

Thanks for the encouraging words Augustin, I think I will inevitably 'give in' eventually and get on the 1mg of Propecia each day

 

[TinTon]

By the sheer lack of response I'm going to go lean towards Propecia being relatively kind for most users, no outright Propecia haters responding, must mean that it's ok for the majority of folks.

 

[CyberStorm]

I experienced similar doubts and fears when I started my finasteride journey back in 2012. I experienced mild sides for the first few weeks. After my body adjusted to the drug, at around the 2 month mark, all sides vanished and I have not had any sides since. Every now and then I experience watery semen. But I've never experienced ED, low sex drive or any visible changes in the body. My 2c would be, try it for a month, see how your body tolerates the drug, then another month and so on...test, monitor and save your hair. Good luck mate.

 

[TinTon]

Thanks CyberStorm, yeah the pharmacy who provide the drug give you a one month supply to see how you get on with it and then you can get it in 3 month blocks from then onwards, so that could be a good idea, to see how I react to it over a month or so.

Yeah I sometimes experience watery semen every so often, and I've haven't even touched the drug as yet, so there could be many lifestyle factors that can cause watery semen.

Would be nice to have a decent head of hair for some more years, that's for sure!

 

[chazman37]

I noticed thinning in my crown so I needed to take action. I had success reducing sides by taking 0.25 mg generic finasteride daily for 2 weeks. Then 0.5 mg daily the next 2 weeks. Now I'm on 1 mg daily. I have no ED issues, but my semen is sometimes watery. I also use 5% liquid minoxidil at night. I'm in to month three now and hair loss had stopped. I no longer have shedding when I shower. I did go through a shedding phase weeks 2-5, but the meds stated that was expected. I have noticed the crown filling in. I will post pictures soon.

 

[violetfluff]

I experienced side effects but they faded.
Testicle ache came after 2 days on the 3rd day it was awkward to walk but that rapidly subsided in one week.
Dizzy spells lasted 3 weeks.
Sleep disturbance (waking up early i.e. 3-5hrs sleep/night) lasted ~5weeks.
Watery semen and increased sex drive that persist now, the latter makes me feel like a teenager again and it's distracting.

 

[TinTon]

I experienced side effects but they faded.
Testicle ache came after 2 days on the 3rd day it was awkward to walk but that rapidly subsided in one week.
Dizzy spells lasted 3 weeks.
Sleep disturbance (waking up early i.e. 3-5hrs sleep/night) lasted ~5weeks.
Watery semen and increased sex drive that persist now, the latter makes me feel like a teenager again and it's distracting.

Thanks for the replies fellas.

violetfluff: Yeah I heard some people saying they have increased sex drive, probably from a rise in testosterone levels as far as can gather. How long have you been taking finasteride for?

 

[violetfluff]

I've been taking it nearly 3 months but after the initial effects subsided I feel better than normal e.g. less apathetic.

I suspect if I stopped taking it would take some more time to readjust to the hormonal levels so other/counter side-effects could manifest if I did that.

 

[DeadLine]

Been taking 1mg finasteride for about 2 months now.
At first I imagined I had all the sides. This is because I also read all the negative comments about finasteride. A day or two after taking my first pill, the nocebo effect went away and I just went on with life. I have been noticing watery semen every now and then. The only other issue I have is an increased sex drive. My girlfriend brought this up. The thing is, she didn't even know I was taking finasteride at the time she noticed my increased sex drive. She has asked me several times now to stop taking it because she's becoming a bit stressed due to my sex overdrive.
Haven't noticed anything different about my hair except for new 'baby' hairs at the sides. Have been shedding quite a bit since taking finasteride, but haven't really noticed any further thinning or hair loss in general since taking it.
Anyway, I hope this helps with your decision.

 

[TinTon]

Been taking 1mg finasteride for about 2 months now.
At first I imagined I had all the sides. This is because I also read all the negative comments about finasteride. A day or two after taking my first pill, the nocebo effect went away and I just went on with life. I have been noticing watery semen every now and then. The only other issue I have is an increased sex drive. My girlfriend brought this up. The thing is, she didn't even know I was taking finasteride at the time she noticed my increased sex drive. She has asked me several times now to stop taking it because she's becoming a bit stressed due to my sex overdrive.
Haven't noticed anything different about my hair except for new 'baby' hairs at the sides. Have been shedding quite a bit since taking finasteride, but haven't really noticed any further thinning or hair loss in general since taking it.
Anyway, I hope this helps with your decision.

Thanks man, much appreciate hearing of your experience so far with finasteride.