cinematic

Unfortunately it seems that everytime I run my fingers through my hair more and more hair is coming out... Can anyone else chime in with experiences with propecia shedding? Up to ~1mg a day Monday to Friday now.

I'm one of the guys that flipped flop back and forth on whether or not to take Propecia... I tried it for 3 months several years ago and scared myself into side effects. When I went off of it, things 'bounced' back in a matter of weeks. After being off of it for over a year, I became desperate enough to give it another shot. Started taking .625 on MWF almost 5 months ago. About two months into trying it the second time, I bumped up the dosage to 1mg MWF. And now I'm working my way up to 1mg Monday through Friday. I believe the sexual side effects I have experienced thus far, for the most part, are indeed psychological. I have been able to perform sexually just fine (albeit with watery semen), until I start thinking about not being able to perform and then of course I can't! The good news for me is that I really do believe I am in the clear with regard to significant side effects - I just have to keep reminding myself of that and not scaring myself into falling back on fear. So now it's almost 4.5 months and I am taking 1mg 4 times a week. What should my goal dosage be? Should 1mg on Monday through Friday be enough? Or should I go for 1mg a day? Or perhaps 1.25 on MWF? I am doing my best to cut proscar into 5 even sized 1mg pieces right now... Up to now I haven't seen any signs of cosmetic improvement and hair continues to fall out. However, at the 4.5 month mark I am now seeing considerable shedding. After running my hands through my hair they are always covered in a lot more hair than normal. Ride it out, right? Just looking for some guidance and support from those who have been here before me... Thanks.

Darren, are you taking it everyday, every other day, or three times a week?

After lots more research (as if it helps at this point!), I decided to give it another go, but I'm approaching this with much more caution. From what I've read, the efficacy of finasteride is still quite high when taken at a much smaller dose, so I took my 5mg pill of proscar, quartered it, and then then cut those in half, leaving me with 1/8ths or .625mg pills. I am going to try taking the smaller .625mg dosages (was taking 1.25mg daily before), but would like some tips on how frequently to take them. I know many people take them every other day or even three times a week. Can anyone chime in on what is working for them?

I was hoping that some of you with both good and bad experiences with finasteride could offer some advice... I tried taking Proscar, cut into quarters, for 3 months and at the three month mark quit as I felt I was experiencing side effects (frequency of erections dropped drastically, morning wood gone, very difficult to maintain an erection, etc.) After quitting, within approximately 2 weeks I felt that things were back to normal. This was 6 months ago. I keep getting the feeling though that my symptoms may have been a bit more psychosomatic than they should have been. Prior to taking finasteride, I thought long and hard on it for literally years and I avoided it out of fear of the potential side effects... but of course, as my hairloss progressed, the desire to take it increased. I was really concerned to give it a try, but ended up going with it. I personally know of individuals taking the full 5mg pill for prostate issues and have absolutely no side effects, as well as individuals taking the 1mg version and having no issues whatsoever. And then I've read the bad experiences online and the horror stories about it wreaking havoc with negative side effects never going away even after ceasing to take the pill. I fear that this flood of information could have influenced my fears and experience a little too much. Should I give it another go? As my hairloss progresses further, I feel the desire to give it another shot, but I also get the feeling that I should just fold while I'm ahead. Of course it isn't a simple black and white decision - if I knew that finasteride would cause ED for me for sure, then hands down I wouldnt' take it because the use of my penis is more important to me than hair. But I don't know that for sure. If I were to give it another shot though, I should at least give it a fair one. But what exactly is a fair shot? Obviously if I have no side effects I keep taking it - but if I experience what I believe to be side effects, how long do I ride it out? 4 months? 6 months?