Finasteride side effects - comparison

[nafta]

I have just started finasteride again after having tried it 12 years ago and stopping as I had a ht. I naively assumed that a single ht would solve the issue - and because I thought I was experiencing sides even though I was only 25 I stopped. I decided to try again as it does seem to be effective for those that can use it.

 

So after 3 days on it I do believe I'm experiencing something again so wanted to compare this with anyone else good enough to share their experience - even those without loss of libido may experience watery seen or loss of morning wood for example. It would also be good to know if the fact I am experiencing something so quickly is a sign I should stop immediately or not.

 

Age:

 

Time taking fin:

 

Sides first noticed: (could be never for those lucky enough)

 

Type of sides:

 

Did sides go away while on fin:

 

How long till sides went away after stopping:

 

 

I'll go first -

 

 

Age: 37

 

Time taking fin: 3 days

 

Sides first noticed: 1 day

 

Type of sides: Softer erection, harder to stimulate.

 

Did sides go away while on fin: Not yet

How long till sides went away after stopping: NA

 

 

Thanks to everyone who replies or who has other advice.

[Bill - Seemiller]

nafta,

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with finasteride. I wouldn't think you'd start to experience side effects only after 3 days of use, but I suppose it's possible. Some of it may also be mental, but who am I to judge? Personally, I never experienced any side effects when I used finasteride but I did eventually decide to stop for my own reasons. Personally, I just didn't like the thought of taking medication my entire life. So even though I used finasteride for at least 7 years without any side effects, I no longer take it. My hair is thinning in the back below the crown but I haven't lost any additional hair from no longer taking it...at least not yet.

 

Each person is different, so keep that in mind. But for me, I didn't experience any side effects, thankfully.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[nafta]

Hi bill,

Thanks for the reply. I absolutely think some of it could be mental / 'placebo effect' in reverse - that was part of the motivation for asking for others experiences. I see from your photos you have a great result - did you loose much hair while on it? Do you think ht is (in the end) the best way to handle loss?

[Rashid36]

I took fin 0.5mg half a tab for around 7 months and i noticed a big difference in the thickness of my hair.

 

Recently i noticed i did not get any early morning erection and no erection during the day.

I stopped it completly for 1 week and these sides went.

 

Now i take less then half a tab daily and things are normal but how much this will help my hair i don't know, yet.

[BaronVonHairline]

I have just started finasteride again after having tried it 12 years ago and stopping as I had a ht. I naively assumed that a single ht would solve the issue - and because I thought I was experiencing sides even though I was only 25 I stopped. I decided to try again as it does seem to be effective for those that can use it.

 

So after 3 days on it I do believe I'm experiencing something again so wanted to compare this with anyone else good enough to share their experience - even those without loss of libido may experience watery seen or loss of morning wood for example. It would also be good to know if the fact I am experiencing something so quickly is a sign I should stop immediately or not.

 

Age:

 

Time taking fin:

 

Sides first noticed: (could be never for those lucky enough)

 

Type of sides:

 

Did sides go away while on fin:

 

How long till sides went away after stopping:

 

 

I'll go first -

 

 

Age: 37

 

Time taking fin: 3 days

 

Sides first noticed: 1 day

 

Type of sides: Softer erection, harder to stimulate.

 

Did sides go away while on fin: Not yet

How long till sides went away after stopping: NA

 

 

Thanks to everyone who replies or who has other advice.

 

 

Wow, your story is almost identical to mine.

 

I first tried Fin about 13-14 years ago(?) and took it for about 6-9 months. Around that time I had a small HT. I then stopped Fin even though I wasn't discernibly feeling sides. I just didn't like the idea of staying on a med like that for decades. So I came off it. Then, for whatever reason, I lost barely any hair for the next dozen or so years. I really don't know why. Then suddenly, around a year ago, I started losing a lot, and continue to do so till today.

 

I am now 37, and just like you, after 12+ years off fin, and after many months of indecisiveness, I finally went and got some. I took 0.5mg every other day for just 1 week and already noticed some sides. I had been having very regular morning erections, and erections in general had been stronger and better lately than in a long while. Within a week of taking fin, no morning wood, and erections were weaker, harder to achieve, hard to keep, and felt slightly numb. Also occasionally felt some sharp pains in the shaft, very brief, but still.

 

It is possible these are early sides that would subside with continued usage, or even totally possible this is entirely psychosomatic. However, I think even just these few days have turned me off from fin. #1 because it does feel like the sides were legitimate, and #2, because even if they aren't, I see that psychosomatic issues can be bad enough.

 

So as of now, I don't think I will be continuing on fin. I will continue using Regenepure, and will consider adding Min and/or other things, but I think both for the legitimate risk, and for the fact that maybe I've just read too much about PFS for my own good, that maybe fin just isn't for me.

[BaronVonHairline]

Oh, on a side note, though I never noticed any sides when I was in my 20s on fin, there were some things I experienced afterwards that may have had to do with it, that I'm really not sure. Ie--I used to often have watery semen, and this was for a long while, and was years after stopping fin. I never knew that was a potential fin side at the time so I never connected the dots, and I also just kinda thought, "well, I guess some guys have that." It was also yellowy sometimes.

 

Also, I hadn't had morning erections for years. I thought it was a thing that just went away with late teen/early 20s horniness. Then, out of nowhere, within the last few months, same time frame as when my hair started falling out again, morning wood came back with a vengeance as an almost daily thing. Also my erections have been better, harder, easier to get and keep, and more frequent than they have in who knows how long. Recently, I would get them midday, for no reason other than a hot girl would walk by, or I'd even just have thoughts of someone.

 

Now, again, I have no idea if any of this has anything to do with fin, so I may be utterly grasping at straws here. But after coming back to research fin recently, all these years later, there were some things that have happened over the years that were similar to what some people describe as lingering effects. Then again, I didn't have bad problems with libido or erections all that time, just less frequent wood and some watery instances.

 

It's really hard to say. I could be randomly connecting dots in reverse like a loon. But it seems weird to me that out of nowhere, all these years later, my hair would start falling out and at the same time, my erections et al would suddenly be better than they have in years. Maybe it's just an unrelated jump in testosterone or something of the sort? No idea.

 

Long story short, I'm confused....which would be fine, so long as I could continue to be confused with a magnificent head of hair.

Edited March 7, 2017 by BaronVonHairline

[nafta]

Oh, on a side note, though I never noticed any sides when I was in my 20s on fin, there were some things I experienced afterwards that may have had to do with it, that I'm really not sure. Ie--I used to often have watery semen, and this was for a long while, and was years after stopping fin. I never knew that was a potential fin side at the time so I never connected the dots, and I also just kinda thought, "well, I guess some guys have that." It was also yellowy sometimes.

 

Also, I hadn't had morning erections for years. I thought it was a thing that just went away with late teen/early 20s horniness. Then, out of nowhere, within the last few months, same time frame as when my hair started falling out again, morning wood came back with a vengeance as an almost daily thing. Also my erections have been better, harder, easier to get and keep, and more frequent than they have in who knows how long. Recently, I would get them midday, for no reason other than a hot girl would walk by, or I'd even just have thoughts of someone.

 

Now, again, I have no idea if any of this has anything to do with fin, so I may be utterly grasping at straws here. But after coming back to research fin recently, all these years later, there were some things that have happened over the years that were similar to what some people describe as lingering effects. Then again, I didn't have no morning bad problems with libido or erections all that time, just less frequent wood and some watery instances.

 

It's really hard to say. I could be randomly connecting dots in reverse like a loon. But it seems weird to me that out of nowhere, all these years later, my hair would start falling out and at the same time, my erections et al would suddenly be better than they have in years. Maybe it's just an unrelated jump in testosterone or something of the sort? No idea.

 

Long story short, I'm confused....which would be fine, so long as I could continue to be confused with a magnificent head of hair.

 

Your story is amazingly similar to mine - so much so it makes me wonder in a way if I was partially DHT deficient for years after my initial fin usage. I've heard that after coming off fin the body does not always revert to the perevious DHT level. For example, in my late twenties / last few years I would have had sex regularly, but also lost my erection sometimes - and always thought I was too young for that.

 

Now at 37, in the last year or so I would have said my libido had increased somewhat, and failed erections decreased, and even the odd morning wood appeared, etc. I don't want to sound like the difference was dramatic - but I'd say noticeable. I recently think my hair loss - which has progressed slowly over the last 12 years has (perhaps) started to accelerate.

 

So could it be that my DHT was lower for years, which was naturally keeping my hair loss from progressing - and once my body kicked itself into normal DHT production my libido increased and my hair loss has too? Again - its not been a dramatic shift, but something to consider.

 

One other thing - it could all be in my head (pardon the pun!) - perhaps I'm noticing my hair loss more now as its just been progressing steadily, but the ht has 'protected' my hairline and now its receding past that point? I do think the whole top of my head has thinned out in the last year - though still not noticable as I've longish hair all over/diffuse thinning. I'm kind of scared I'll go from full head of hair to nothing in a year - with the transplanted tuft at the front!

[BaronVonHairline]

Are you still on fin, or planning to continue? Have your sides subsided?

 

I've wondered the same thing too. Was my DHT lower all those years and I didn't even know it? Seems kinda far fetched, but it was weird that my hair loss suddenly stopped for literally like 12 years, and then resumed, and when it resumed, all those other libidinal symptoms went away.

 

I don't know. Half of me thinks it's crazy to think that, and that I could give fin a shot and save my current head of hair. The other half thinks, what if just 6-9 months on fin at age 24 altered my body till 36. That is terrifying, if it happens to be the case.

 

I really wish there was an answer for all this. I keep trying to imagine myself, more and more, with a shaved head, to get used to the idea, so if/when it comes to it, I can just do it and move on, but it's really taking me a long time to get my head around. I just don't have that 'badass tough guy' personality. I've had long, shaggy guitar player hair my whole life. Bah! Such a drag.

[nafta]

Are you still on fin, or planning to continue? Have your sides subsided?

 

I've wondered the same thing too. Was my DHT lower all those years and I didn't even know it? Seems kinda far fetched, but it was weird that my hair loss suddenly stopped for literally like 12 years, and then resumed, and when it resumed, all those other libidinal symptoms went away.

 

I don't know. Half of me thinks it's crazy to think that, and that I could give fin a shot and save my current head of hair. The other half thinks, what if just 6-9 months on fin at age 24 altered my body till 36. That is terrifying, if it happens to be the case.

 

I really wish there was an answer for all this. I keep trying to imagine myself, more and more, with a shaved head, to get used to the idea, so if/when it comes to it, I can just do it and move on, but it's really taking me a long time to get my head around. I just don't have that 'badass tough guy' personality. I've had long, shaggy guitar player hair my whole life. Bah! Such a drag.

 

At times I envy guys who have shaved. I can't because I've had a ht and it would be obvious - but the relief for this who take the plunge and shave and then dont have to worry about it again. However I'm sure I'm idealising that as much as those who may idealise / wish they had started things like fin and ht earlier to preserve their hair. Either road is not easy.

 

I've stayed on fin for the time being. I'm currently microdosing it. What amazes me is the dosage curve really is very flat - 0.1mg still can show sides, though perhaps a little reduced. I agree the thought that the effects of fin lingered for 12 years is terrifying. I am in exactly the same boat where I'm.questioning of even microdosing is a sane thing to do given the potential power of this drug.

 

However on reflection I had higher libido in my twenties than i dId 12 years after stopping fin - i just never felt it was high enough during any period and perhaps blamed fin for that.

 

I remember at 25 telling a doctor i found it difficult to have sex more than once a day and she looked at me wit an expression as if to say 'get over yourself' - as at her age it likely was once a week or less!!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Nafta,

 

Finasteride is a peculiar drug, the reality is, not everybody knows whether or not the medication is really helping them. But we typically stay on it because there is the chance that if we stop that we will lose any hair that it maintained. For me, I started taking it almost immediately before my first hair transplant but by then I had already lost a lot of hair. I was a fool Norwood 5A which is pretty significant balding.

 

Wearing the time I was using Propecia, I did not re-grow any hair but I did believe it was helping you maintain the hair blow my crown, I mediately above the occipital ridge which is the area hair transplant surgeons take a donor strip for FUT. that said, I had made the decision to stop taking it, not because I experienced any side effects, but for personal reasons. For me, I just didn't like the thought of taking any medication for the rest my life and less I absolutely needed it. That said, I haven't taken finasteride for over two or three years and I have not lost any additional hair. I suspect, that Propecia really just did nothing for me and thus, I was likely wasting a lot of money on a drug that didn't help me.

 

That said, it does help a lot of people but I probably wouldn't stay on it if I was experiencing side effects. That is a choice that you will have to make.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill