Finasteride aka Propecia/Proscar and Erectile Dysfunction

[Cork]

I have been reading a lot of articles on the internet that Finasteride can cause erectile dysfunction (one study put it at 15%) and can potentially cause it long term even after the patient stops taking the medication.

 

I have also seen it mentioned that male brest cancer is 200 times more likely to occur by taking this medication but from the little bit I read it was not an extensive study and was a small group so this might be easily disregarded.

 

The UK, Italian and Swedish governments have insisted that Merck (pharmaceutical manufacturer) put this warning on their packaging. At least two class-action lawsuits—one in the United States and one in Canada—have been filed on behalf of PFS patients seeking damages for the harm they say Propecia has caused them.

 

Quote from MensHealth.com - "But then, on April 19, 2011—in the wake of the new research, publicity about class-action lawsuits in the United States and Canada, and this magazine's continued requests for additional information—Merck suddenly reversed course, officially updating the label to include "reports of erectile dysfunction that continued after discontinuation of Propecia.""

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am considering a transplant in a few months and assume I will be recommended to take Finasteride post op so this is a big issue that is concerning me.

 

What is the general experience of this community on the side effects of Finasteride?

 

The article on MensHealth.com that inspired this thread: Baldness Remedy Side Effects | Men's Health

[pkipling]

Hey man. I've been taking it about 3 months now and have had zero problems down south.... Still fit as a fiddle. Thank GOD.

 

Fingers crossed it stays this way.

[Loags79]

Had side effects with 1.25mg.. Taking 1mg is much much better

[ontop]

Don't know I took my very first Fin just now ill let you know if I don't get morning wood

[Spanker]

No problems here. Some people do get sides, but some will get sides with a placebo. I think it's worth a try and if you can take it, don't. I personally rarely recommend transplants in men under 50 that won't or can't take fin. You can still get a transplant, but hair loss progression is usually much faster so it takes more maintenance procedures to maintain, it that is even possible.

[KO]

Finasteride is not a perfect medication, some people do indeed get sides, and a small minority get hit badly with permanent side effects. But most people take it without adverse events, and it is simply the best thing we have to keep our hair.

 

For a younger guy, I think it is important to be on this medication to prevent future loss, both in the recipient and in the donor, and they should try it before getting an HT.

[gillenator]

Cork,

 

Many docs recommend that men start low dose finasteride well ahead of their procedure to see how they respond to it. And those same docs for the most part feel that starting it ahead of time can reduce the level of shock loss although I have not read any real clinical studies that support that opinion.

 

While I do still believe that the side-effects are under-reported, I am of the opinion that they are the exception and not the rule.

 

In addition, I have conversed with a number of guys taking finasteride who stated they had some initial issues with sexual side-effects and stayed on the drug. Eventually, the side-effects went away.

 

That's not a recommendation to stay on finasteride if you were to have side-effects, only stating what I have been told over the years.

 

Was not aware of the change in Propecia's labeling...:rolleyes:

 

I started cutting Proscar in 1996 and been doing it ever since. I take 1/2 pill every other day and have complete blood work done every 90 days like clock work to be aware of any possible systemic changes that might occur. Have no problems with side-effects whatsoever.

[pkipling]

I should also add that I am only taking 1.25mg of the Finasteride daily - not sure if that's pretty standard or not. I also started taking it before the surgery, so as to hopefully cut down on the amount of shock loss I experienced. I didn't lose all of my grafts and experienced less shock loss than I was anticipating, so one could assume that was due to the medication.... But then again, we would never know if I would've had the same amount of shock loss without the medication either.

[gillenator]

Patrick,

 

I used to take 1.25 mg of Proscar daily but now I take the same dosage "every other day" and still maintain good efficiency. Did not experience a shed either, knock on wood...

 

I started low dose finasteride in 1996 and been on it ever since. My maternal grandfather and uncle were both a full blown Norwood 6 and I truly believe I would have reached that had I not started finasteride.

[pkipling]

Patrick,

 

I used to take 1.25 mg of Proscar daily but now I take the same dosage "every other day" and still maintain good efficiency. Did not experience a shed either, knock on wood...

 

I started low dose finasteride in 1996 and been on it ever since. My maternal grandfather and uncle were both a full blown Norwood 6 and I truly believe I would have reached that had I not started finasteride.

 

I've heard of this being quite common - switching the dosage to every other day... I'll run that by my doctor sometime in the future and get his thoughts on it, but for now I'm just fine with the daily dose.

 

Any particular reason you decided to switch to every other day? And how long have you been on the lower dosage/frequency?

 

Regardless.... I'm glad you dodged the NW6 bullet. ))

[ontop]

I take 1.25 daily for last 5 wks & if you call this sides I feel I need to pee more I get morning wood 5 days out of 7, If I take fin few hrs before bed I find I'm like a owl can't sleep but if I take it just before I hit the sack I sleep like a baby, I did have a few pimpels on my scalp & they have gone now , no shedding as such thank god early days tho) but feel like my hair is gone thinner maybe using Min twice a day is part of that I feel tho.

 

But overall I read that all the Meds takes time to be in your system for several months before you see & any postive things..

 

Back on your last comment or question i did some research & this was confirmed by 2. Drs I spoke to that. 1 mg of FIn is good in your system for 72 hrs & taking it say MW & Friday will be the same as somebody taking daily. Maybe somebody can chime in & confirm this but for me at this time is good to take it daily & if it did give me problems then I could drop the dosage down MWF well that's my back up plan anyways again still early days but touch wood no problems so far.

[dsm2894]

My girlfriend has not broken up with me yet for this reason (she has many other reasons to ditch me, but not this one). I take it when I brush my teeth in the AM.

[gillenator]

I've heard of this being quite common - switching the dosage to every other day... I'll run that by my doctor sometime in the future and get his thoughts on it, but for now I'm just fine with the daily dose.

 

Any particular reason you decided to switch to every other day? And how long have you been on the lower dosage/frequency?

 

Regardless.... I'm glad you dodged the NW6 bullet. ))

 

 

Patrick, due to the residuals of finasteride having a long shelf life, the frequency is not a big issue IMHO. The main idea is consuming an average of 1 mg daily to attain the level of efficiency for treating MPB and established by Merck's clinical trials when the drug was approved by the FDA.

 

I basically switched to EOD because the generic form is difficult to cut into four equal pieces. I purchase the generic form of it which has an odd shape to the pill. The name brand Proscar tablet is easier to dissect but much more expensive.

 

And the kicker is that I have two brothers who are just one year apart in age and neither of them got MPB, just me...:rolleyes:

[pkipling]

And the kicker is that I have two brothers who are just one year apart in age and neither of them got MPB, just me...:rolleyes:

 

Looks like we need to find out who your real father is.

 

On another note, I've been cutting the generic into quarters myself, and I agree it's not the easiest to cut evenly. Some days I may get a tad more, some days a tad less - but I assume it balances itself out in the end.

[lazlowrealgenius]

ill give you my perspective, i just started fin also.

 

Im a surgeon, 31 yo. Hair started to fall out very rapidly over the last 8 months which was not expected based on family history. All labs were normal and derm said it was MPB. I hadnt had a hair cut in 1.5 years and had very long thick hair, so any hair i was losing up until i got my hair cut i just thought was from not having one for a long time. Then I thought it was from stress because i was at the end of my residency, studying for boards, taking a lot of trauma call. Finally realized since june that there is no excuse and it is just mpb. I knew about all of the side effects of fin and debated whether or not to take it for a while until i got to the point of not being able to handle what i saw happening in the mirror.

 

i considered minox but i refuse to use something twice a day for the rest of my life. i debated using fin because of sexual side effects, gynecomastia concerns.

 

i started 2 weeks ago on 1 mg. insurance didnt cover generic, was 46 dollars for 30 days at walmart.

 

day 1 semen was different, watery.

by day 7 i realized that i wasnt getting spontaneous erections in the morning

I can still get elicited erections however, and orgasm does feel different, likely due to different semen viscosity.

afer day 7 i went down to 0.5 mg to see if it would make a difference, and it still feels the same.

 

im going to give it a full month and see how i feel. I dont think any of this is psychological. id say its worth a try for everyone. losing your hair in your 20's, 30's is ridiculous.

 

the thing that bothers me the most is that there isnt more money going into this problem. minox and fin were only approved for mpb secondarily after noticing beneficial side effects. There isnt really anything for androgenic though that has been solely developed for this purpose. There is a new antibody drug for areata which is pretty cool, but even that wasnt developed for that purpose.

 

i think PRP is non-sense honestly. We use it for shoulder/knee/hip injections for rotator cuff tears/arthritis/etc. There is minimal scientific evidence that it really works. It just incites a non-specific inflammatory response and makes the developers of the systems lots of money in the process. stem cells are also a nice idea but its not going to be a viable treatment for decades imo.

 

there was a study just published comparing avodart to propecia showing a better outcome with avo. if you have access to the actual full paper youll see they quote relatively similar side effect profiles. it will be interesting to see if fin goes out the window soon for avo, but it also might just be that its better for the company because its more expensive for the consumer.

 

there are risks and benefits for every decision in life. every time i counsel a patient on an injection or surgery i have to tell them that they can bleed, get infected, have neurovascular injury. same goes for pills. the question always is, how much is a problem effecting your life, and does it drive you crazy enough to risk making your life worse after treatment. for me, i just cant imagine being bald at 31. i dont think ill look like myself. it feels disfiguring. and honestly if i think about it hard enough, its ridiculous. im treating a projection in the mirror, and likely the only person that cares whether im bald or not is me and im really just treating my insecurity.

 

if after a month fin bothers me too much im just going to shave. it sounds like transplant is useless without fin to protect further loss because it cant cover enough area with enough density to make it look right.

Edited November 18, 2014 by lazlowrealgenius

[Number47]

I had the side effects, they kicked in about 6 months after i started taking it. In the beginning i was actually more horny than ever but then things went south.

 

My hair were at its best on it i couldn't believe the change! I stopped it due to the side effects, tried again after a year experimented with low doses and everything the side effects were there again and this time they started immediately.

 

I got off it and buzzed my head after that, there was no other alternative since minox wasn't working for me after 8 years on it.

 

I am not gonna touch this thing again ever in my life, i was younger than now and i had to use viagra to be sure that i am not gonna be humiliated in possible sexual encounters. Most pathetic time in my life,i had a full head of hair and a disfunctioning dick!

[Rock82]

I started fin at age 23 when I was like NW2 and didn't notice much sides expect maybe some fatigue. Then I started reading horror stories on the internet that scared the crap out of me and I stopped after 5 months and just started combing my hair forward to hide recession. Now fast forward to age 32 and I'm a full blown NW6 (holy sh*t, FML). After bouts with various concealers I started shaving my head completely at age 30. I really have mixed feelings about not staying on fin, I'd feel horrible if I somehow permanently F'd up my hormones but I'd still have hair at least and look way better. Sad that we have to choose between these 2 options, I can't believe how slow science is progressing in this area.