Experienced sides from finasteride

[therambler]

Hey everyone, Embarrassing post coming up.

So I'm 38 years old and I've been on Finasteride for a long time now, around 10 years initially with no issues, I considered myself one of the lucky ones. A couple years ago I suffered from ED  I was able to move past this and have ah.. performed fine since. Whenever it came to sex I have been a bit anxious about it since that experience though, but still managed fine.

I had my second HT very recently and after this I added Dutasteride - 0.5mg,  3 times a week into the mix along with 1.25 mg Finasteride on the days I wasn't taking Dutasteride and Oral minox.

Well, I had another episode like above at the weekend  I'm assuming the side effects were from the medication, I've no way of knowing this for sure.. It could just be anxiety from knowing the medication had changed and fear that this might happen.

I'm wondering what to do next, Ideally I want to stay on the meds to give myself the best chance of a successful outcome. I'm considering reducing the dosage slightly maybe rather than going off them cold turkey.. Would appreciate peoples advice or if they had any similar experiences

[mafpe]

try to get off it for a month, you might lose ground, but if the problem is gone, then it's the culprit, otherwise, other type of helps might be the answer. 

or, reduce the dosage to a very minimum for a month, where the effect would be way less(0.25 per day, for example). this might still lose you some ground, but i can't think of any other way to pinpoint if your problem is caused by the meds or not.

[sukh123]

Your 38 as you get older your test gets lower naturally so it’s more difficult for free t to  pick up the slack for you nuking your dht, which is the most androgenic hormone in your body  . I recommend getting blood-work, in fact I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t, considering this drug will alter all of your hormones , ones that people don’t even talk about such  As LH and FSH. 

[sukh123]

1 hour ago, mafpe said:

try to get off it for a month, you might lose ground, but if the problem is gone, then it's the culprit, otherwise, other type of helps might be the answer. 

or, reduce the dosage to a very minimum for a month, where the effect would be way less(0.25 per day, for example). this might still lose you some ground, but i can't think of any other way to pinpoint if your problem is caused by the meds or not.

It’s unlikely he  will lose ground, while the drug clears your system immediately it takes the 5ar enzyme sometimes three months to get firing properly again. 

[BaldDude]

Same thing happened to me, have you tried topical fin?

[therambler]

1 minute ago, BaldBobby said:

Same thing happened to me, have you tried topical fin?

I haven't, not too sure of it's availability in Ireland to be honest. What did you do after it happened yourself?, lower the dosage or go off fin, or switch to topical?

[BaldDude]

Just now, therambler said:

I haven't, not too sure of it's availability in Ireland to be honest. What did you do after it happened yourself?, lower the dosage or go off fin, or switch to topical?

I quit cold turkey and it took months for the sexual side effects to go away.  I'm about to start topical dutasteride and see how it works.

[therambler]

Thanks, be interested to see how that works for you! I really believe now these side effects are underreported because of the embarrassing nature of them.

[Mike10]

I have been saying it alone, sides can appear after many years of Fin. There are many cases like this on the German Forum. Eventually they got off the drug 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Therambler,

Honestly, I’m not sure why you added Dutasteride to the mix if you were already having the occasional sexual issue whether it’s from finasteride or not. Dutasteride blocks both type 1 and type 2 5-alpha reductase enzymes and as a result, it’s more potent. It’s potentially more effective and creates the possibility of even greater side effects.  Is finasteride not working for you? What made you decide to add dutasteride?

Also to be honest, you may want to talk to a physician and get tested for other possible issues that may be causing the sexual issues. For you to randomly start experiencing side effects many years tells me that something else might be going on. Sure, anything that inhibits the production of DHT may exacerbate the problem but it might be worth getting checked out by a physician to make sure nothing else is potentially going on. 

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

[ciaus]

Unless you were continuing to lose ground, there's no reason to jump on or add dutasteride. And I mean losing ground in the mid scalp and back around the crown areas. Even with meds, alot of us still eventually lose a good bit of the frontal area unless you started finasteride super early, and depending on your genetics,  even then expect a decent chance you'll still need some hair transplant work to keep your frontal area looking strong at some point down the road.

 

There's too many unique mental/physical/genetic/lifestyle variables for standardized advice, which is why doctors make so much money. Anecdotally some people report temporary side effects when they start a DHT blocker the first few months.  That may be due to actual adjustments in the body, or just a mental adjustment where they finally get over the anxiety-induced symptoms caused by worrying about getting actual symptoms from the drug.

 

But at a minimum, even us amateurs here on the forum can correctly advise: If your loss was already stable with just finasteride, and you were trying to give yourself some 'extra protection' by adding dutasteride, then drop the dutasteride. Maybe if you stick with it the symptoms will subside in a few months, but its not worth taking a more powerful drug when you can't even effectively evaluate that you're getting any worthwhile benefit from it.

 

[NARMAK]

OP, whilst i think the Finasteride could be a potential cause, the fact that you haven't had issues before may also indicate that something has possibly changed elsewhere. 

Mentally for example you were concerned of performing in the moment and then also thought the medication might impact you and imo, this raises the possibility of not necessarily ED being a constant thing but in that specific moment causing you not to perform. 

As men age, we tend to battle ED whether using Finasteride or not and our health condition impacts us more so if we smoke, are overweight etc. that can also factor in. Depending on the circumstances of when you perform, such as perhaps not knowing the person, nervousness etc. might also factor in alongside whether you drank alcohol. 

Overall, don't ditch the Finasteride just yet but maybe drop the Dutasteride and see if there's other areas that might impact your performing. 

[therambler]

Really appreciate all the good advice and opinions here thank you. It's true I did seem to have my hairloss under control with fin so adding dutasteride probably wasn't a great idea.

Definitely agree that it could be more a mental issue being anxious about potential issues rather than actual side effects, it's really difficult to know to be honest.

I'll go back to just fin for now anyway, maybe a M/W/F split rather than every day. I'll also look up getting some tests to make sure everything physiologically is as it should be. Thanks again for your advice 🙏

[MAIZE1694]

12 hours ago, therambler said:

Hey everyone, Embarrassing post coming up.

So I'm 38 years old and I've been on Finasteride for a long time now, around 10 years initially with no issues, I considered myself one of the lucky ones. A couple years ago I suffered from ED  I was able to move past this and have ah.. performed fine since. Whenever it came to sex I have been a bit anxious about it since that experience though, but still managed fine.

I had my second HT very recently and after this I added Dutasteride - 0.5mg,  3 times a week into the mix along with 1.25 mg Finasteride on the days I wasn't taking Dutasteride and Oral minox.

Well, I had another episode like above at the weekend  I'm assuming the side effects were from the medication, I've no way of knowing this for sure.. It could just be anxiety from knowing the medication had changed and fear that this might happen.

I'm wondering what to do next, Ideally I want to stay on the meds to give myself the best chance of a successful outcome. I'm considering reducing the dosage slightly maybe rather than going off them cold turkey.. Would appreciate peoples advice or if they had any similar experiences

 

A lot of men get ED as they get older. If you've been on fin starting at 28 then had one episode of ED eight years later at 36 that could def be natural. It's hard to know. There are still risks nonetheless when using fin.

I didn't have any side effects until about 7 months in. It wasn't random ED years later either. I straight up had loss of blood flow "down there" and also felt a sharp drop in mood. It lasted about a day and I was able to power through it with no recurring episodes since.

Can a once or twice occurrence be attributed to fin? Or is that simply anxiety? It's hard to say. I would think that if you are prone to side effects then they shouldn't just "go away". But the body does adapt. 

Side note - Have you consulted your doctor about combining DUT+FIN? 

What is the efficacy on 3 days DUT 4 days FIN? If FIN was no longer working I would stick with DUT once a day.

[Mike10]

I would submit that it is (highly) unusual for men to experence ED issues under the age 40. It is unbelievable the lenghs people are going tthrough here to defend this drug. The truth  is that the vast majority of "normal" people in the outside world rather prefer to lose their hair than taking this drug lifelong.  

[NARMAK]

6 hours ago, Mike10 said:

I would submit that it is (highly) unusual for men to experence ED issues under the age 40. It is unbelievable the lenghs people are going tthrough here to defend this drug. The truth  is that the vast majority of "normal" people in the outside world rather prefer to lose their hair than taking this drug lifelong.  

"Researchers found that ED affected 26 percent of adult males under 40 years old. Almost half of these people had severe ED, while only 40 percent of older males with ED had severe ED. Researchers also noted that younger males with ED were more likely than older males with ED to smoke or use illegal drugs."

https://www.healthline.com/health/erectile-dysfunction/young-men#:~:text=Researchers found that ED affected,smoke or use illegal drugs.

Sorry, but i'm not going with your assertion that Finasteride is the boogeyman on this. With the state of the world as it is with microplastics, obesity, mental anxiety to look good, perform in the moment like a porn star etc. its actually even more likely that younger men are manifesting ED. 

[civic]

Finasteride is pretty tricky pill, some never develop side effects, others do. My dad is 90 yrs old & takes 5mg dose for prostate & has zero sides. I, however tried fin at age 28-30 & did experience sides, but they resolved upon quiting.

[Mike10]

38 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

"Researchers found that ED affected 26 percent of adult males under 40 years old. Almost half of these people had severe ED, while only 40 percent of older males with ED had severe ED. Researchers also noted that younger males with ED were more likely than older males with ED to smoke or use illegal drugs."

https://www.healthline.com/health/erectile-dysfunction/young-men#:~:text=Researchers found that ED affected,smoke or use illegal drugs.

Sorry, but i'm not going with your assertion that Finasteride is the boogeyman on this. With the state of the world as it is with microplastics, obesity, mental anxiety to look good, perform in the moment like a porn star etc. its actually even more likely that younger men are manifesting ED. 

Well done Narmak. I guess I got schooled on this one. 26 percent that is a lot, I thought the percentage was much lower. But Fin could still be to blame , I guess there is only one reason to find out.