Early Finasteride Side Effects - Continue?

[Lloydo]

Hi all,

New member here, just started fin 3 weeks ago.

It seems I might be highly sensitive to it.

A couple days in and my libido dropped. A week in, it was gone. Quite a weird feeling to have almost no sex drive at all.

3 weeks in and I am shedding a lot of hair.

Also had two brief episodes of mild testicular pain/ache.

As of yesterday, I've decided to stop for a couple weeks and try to ease back in on a lower dose, though I was already on just 3 tabs/week.

I am not sexually active, so the libido issue isn't a big one right now, but obviously it's not going to work long term. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to notice, but I did.

Is this something that might subside with time, or do you think it's pretty much no deal for me and fin at this point?

Thanks heaps for any input.

 

[Hristo13]

Hi @Lloydo ... sorry to hear about the side effects ... I've been on Fin for just under 8 weeks now ... luckily I didn't have any issues with my libido however I did experience some pretty heavy shedding and testicular pain.

With the shedding - I had an FUE procedure on January 5th so I am sure that also contributed to it ... My heavy shedding continued for about 5 weeks and its now pretty stable.

With the testicular pain - I still get it around once a week for about 24 hours. The pain is bearable and its more of an inconvenience. In my research on it they say that it does subside in time so I'm hoping it will eventually go away.  

[Rafyht]

Don’t take it 

[H.K]

what does did yo use ? 

[Lloydo]

I was only taking 1mg 3x / week.

I've done some research and there seems to be a view that such rapid reactions are not real, but a result of anxieties over the medication. In my case I've taken medications plenty of times before and I had no anxiety - I was excited and hopeful when trying it - but the sides were so obvious I couldn't ignore them.

I'll give it one more go, easing in from 0.5mg twice per week and see what happens.

Any more sides and I'll abort mission and go back to the doctor. 

Regarding the shedding - will that hair come back without finasteride? Am thinking I might get some topical minoxidil to help it along.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Lloydo

[Smacias15]

15 hours ago, Lloydo said:

I was only taking 1mg 3x / week.

I've done some research and there seems to be a view that such rapid reactions are not real, but a result of anxieties over the medication. In my case I've taken medications plenty of times before and I had no anxiety - I was excited and hopeful when trying it - but the sides were so obvious I couldn't ignore them.

I'll give it one more go, easing in from 0.5mg twice per week and see what happens.

Any more sides and I'll abort mission and go back to the doctor. 

Regarding the shedding - will that hair come back without finasteride? Am thinking I might get some topical minoxidil to help it along.

Let me know how it goes for you with 0.5 mg. I'm worried about taking fin as well. Some guys just can't tolerate it so best to stick with topical minoxidil, scalp Massages and a healthy diet(keto) along with intermittent fasting to lower your insulin

Edited March 13, 2022 by Smacias15

[Gatsby]

I'm not a doctor but I would stop the drug altogether. Stay off it for a good month (unless you are still experiencing side effects). Then I would introduce the drug at 0.5mg on Monday of week one. The following week I would add 0.5mg on Wednesday. Then on the third week I would add 0.5mg on Friday. If you have no side effects taking it now at 0.5mg Monday, Wednesday and Friday then I would just stay on this dose. After six months I would increase Monday to 1mg and stay on this for a month. If still not side effects then I would increase Friday to 1mg and stay on this for another month. Then after another month or two I would increase Wednesday to 1mg. I had sexual side effects on 1mg a day after being on the drug for one month. I ceased it altogether for a couple of months and I micro dosed the drug as above and I can now take 1mg on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with no problems. Wishing you all the best.

[Lloydo]

Thanks Gatsby, I saw your post in another thread where you did something like that and took inspiration from it.

I went off the drug for a little over 2 weeks. It only took just over a week for everything to come roaring back to normal. Probably because I didn't take it for long.

I've just taken 0.5mg for the first time since.

I'll take another 0.5mg in a week.

I am so sensitive to it that I am pessimistic, but we shall see!

[yesplease]

On 2/28/2022 at 12:24 AM, Lloydo said:

Hi all,

New member here, just started fin 3 weeks ago.

It seems I might be highly sensitive to it.

A couple days in and my libido dropped. A week in, it was gone. Quite a weird feeling to have almost no sex drive at all.

3 weeks in and I am shedding a lot of hair.

Also had two brief episodes of mild testicular pain/ache.

As of yesterday, I've decided to stop for a couple weeks and try to ease back in on a lower dose, though I was already on just 3 tabs/week.

I am not sexually active, so the libido issue isn't a big one right now, but obviously it's not going to work long term. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to notice, but I did.

Is this something that might subside with time, or do you think it's pretty much no deal for me and fin at this point?

Thanks heaps for any input.

 

I would advise you not to continue. 
 

You’re having sexual side effects. Why persist? 
 

I speak from experience. I had similar symptoms when I tried fin at various doses/schedules. I continued for longer than I should have, and struggled with side effects for a long time after stopping, and never fully returned to baseline. 
 

You’re body is trying to tell you something. Listen to it. 

[Lloydo]

3 hours ago, yesplease said:

I would advise you not to continue. 
 

You’re having sexual side effects. Why persist? 
 

I speak from experience. I had similar symptoms when I tried fin at various doses/schedules. I continued for longer than I should have, and struggled with side effects for a long time after stopping, and never fully returned to baseline. 
 

You’re body is trying to tell you something. Listen to it. 

Thanks mate. Yes, I have decided to stop altogether.

When I posted this thread I had taken it at the recommended dose of 1mg 3x / week for a couple weeks, then stopped. Everything returned to 100% normal after 7-10 days.

Decided to have one more go as follows:

- 0.5mg 1x / week for 2 weeks = all ok

- 0.5mg 2x / week for 2 weeks = ok the first week, maybe minor issues second week

- 0.5mg 3x / week for 1 week = all the sides came back

Which has let to a total stop as of about 3 days ago.

Not only do I have ZERO libido, but also crazy anxiety spikes and mood changes.

I'm out for good.

As to your question, "why continue?" - because if it worked I'd have been happy with my hairline for years to come. The doc indicated that he consitently gets great results with "guys just like you."

Hopefully I haven't pushed it too far. I think I was fairly conservative, but the sides were surprisingly aggressive.

[yesplease]

58 minutes ago, Lloydo said:

Thanks mate. Yes, I have decided to stop altogether.

When I posted this thread I had taken it at the recommended dose of 1mg 3x / week for a couple weeks, then stopped. Everything returned to 100% normal after 7-10 days.

Decided to have one more go as follows:

- 0.5mg 1x / week for 2 weeks = all ok

- 0.5mg 2x / week for 2 weeks = ok the first week, maybe minor issues second week

- 0.5mg 3x / week for 1 week = all the sides came back

Which has let to a total stop as of about 3 days ago.

Not only do I have ZERO libido, but also crazy anxiety spikes and mood changes.

I'm out for good.

As to your question, "why continue?" - because if it worked I'd have been happy with my hairline for years to come. The doc indicated that he consitently gets great results with "guys just like you."

Hopefully I haven't pushed it too far. I think I was fairly conservative, but the sides were surprisingly aggressive.

I hear you.

I tried as low as 0.25 eod and it was ultimately still an issue. 

I understand really wanting to make it work. And it’s been hard for me to watch my MPB progress since I stopped fin. But it’s just not worth it. Sexual health > hair.  

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

You should consult a doctor asap. If you are having side effects with finasteride then you need to address it. Lowering the dosage could be beneficial or using topical finasteride as per the advice of the doctor.

[Viney]

I confess to know nothing about the science or technicalities behind hair loss drugs but I actually found when I switched from 1mg oral fin to 0.5mg oral dut my libido improved and the minor side effects I was having on fin appear to have gone away.

Dut is supposed to be the stronger drug so I do find this a bit odd. This could just be some kind of mental placebo effect.

Not sure if anyone on this forum has had a similar experience? 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Viney

[Lloydo]

I know there is a view out there that side effects are mostly psychosomatic.

I didn't know that some of the side effects I got were possible side effects, so I'm pretty confident that's not me.

But people react differently and often unpredictably... so maybe dut is still an option, as it was for you. 

Am now using topical minoxidil to help ensure the shed hairs come back.

Going to see the doctor in a couple weeks to see if he has any ideas for me.

[yesplease]

On 3/31/2022 at 9:31 AM, Lloydo said:

I know there is a view out there that side effects are mostly psychosomatic.

I didn't know that some of the side effects I got were possible side effects, so I'm pretty confident that's not me.

But people react differently and often unpredictably... so maybe dut is still an option, as it was for you. 

Am now using topical minoxidil to help ensure the shed hairs come back.

Going to see the doctor in a couple weeks to see if he has any ideas for me.

While diminished libido and ED can both be complex and multi-factorial, testicular pain is difficult to attribute to a psychosomatic process. 
 

I know for me, I fully expected to have no side effects. And the testicular pain/ache was certainly real and in retrospect a likely indicator that the drug was impacting my sexual health. 

[BurnieBurns]

It's an absolute life saver for some, but there's also some unlucky guys (myself included) who finasteride just doesn't agree with even if you're young, healthy weight, fit, and don't have a phobia of it. It can get frustrating not being able to tolerate the only real treatment we still have right now, but it just how things are.

By all means try a topical formulation if the micro-dosing oral doesn't work out (hope it does), but I've rarely ever seen examples of people who can tolerate any topical fin if they still got significant sides on micro-dosed oral.

Edited April 20, 2022 by BurnieBurns

[vladamirs]

It would be best if you stopped taking Finasteride. 

Edited June 16, 2022 by vladamirs