Finasteride Side Effect %

[Big Rome]

Hi All,

I intend to jump on medication in the coming weeks to prevent any loss of my current head of hair! 
I always see scientific comments & stats to suggest side effects on Finasteride only affects as little as 2/4% of its users but on most forums and every individual who comments on the drug seem to state they got sides, in my humble opinion the sides seem to affect WAY more than 2/4% of its users?

Could any current Finasteride users or quitters confirm if you got sides whilst using Fin and the dosage you were taking? I wanted to do a poll but I don’t know how 🤣

Thanks in advance guys!! 😊 

[A_4_Archan]

You can do the poll when you start a topic..

There is no "one size fits all" thing here..to be frank scientific data shows 3-4% get sides but as you said even i came through so many people stating that they got sides and that would really challenge those data...i guess this will always be a mystery and there are wide variety of people and this much wide trial isn't possible so it all comes to trial and error on our side... everybody reacts to medication differently so this things can't be pre judged unless you try it...there are side effects thats for sure and there are ofcourse nocebo effects too...and if you are lucky thn you will have none...so i would say consult a good doctor and thn do all the required reports and set your dosage accordingly...for me its working very well since long and i hope it works out for you too...best of luck...

[mr_peanutbutter]

pointless topic to be honest, all of this has been discussed in depth and people get very emotional over it and it never leads to anything

some food for thoughts from my side

-people who get sideeffects are more likely to share their story on the internet then people without side effects (selection bias)

- There were 8 million active prescriptions of finasteride in the US alone in 2020. There like 330 million americans compared to 8 Billion global population, so globally finasteride is probably taken by a lot of people. lets say 60.000.000 million people take finasteride right now, if only 2% of these people develop sideeffects then we are already at 1.2 million people. and if we include also people who at one point took finasteride this number will increase even more. and if even a tiny fracture of these people writes about it on the internet its already enough to get the impression that everyone gets sideeffects to 100%
 

- its well known however that companies always trick in studies so i wouldnt be suprised sideeffects are higher.  also i think we should seperate between tolerable/barely noticable sideeffects and intolerable sideeffects. for example watery sperm is something that occurs for almost everyone. then decrease of morning wood is also probably something that probably happens to many, maybe without even monitoring. but is that something that will be counted as ED in studies? most likely not. 

 

- the truth is probably in the middle. my guess is higher then what they tell you in studies but also lower compared to what finasteride fear mongering tell you online. i can garantuee you that you will take far more dangerous medications in the future down your lifetime. in the end try it out, if you dont feel it works out for you, drop it and relax. within 2-8 weeks possible sideeffects (except gyno) will have disappeared by 99.99% chances.

Edited June 21, 2023 by mr_peanutbutter

[Big Rome]

2 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

You can do the poll when you start a topic..

There is no "one size fits all" thing here..to be frank scientific data shows 3-4% get sides but as you said even i came through so many people stating that they got sides and that would really challenge those data...i guess this will always be a mystery and there are wide variety of people and this much wide trial isn't possible so it all comes to trial and error on our side... everybody reacts to medication differently so this things can't be pre judged unless you try it...there are side effects thats for sure and there are ofcourse nocebo effects too...and if you are lucky thn you will have none...so i would say consult a good doctor and thn do all the required reports and set your dosage accordingly...for me its working very well since long and i hope it works out for you too...best of luck...

thank you for your feedback brother 

[Big Rome]

1 hour ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

pointless topic to be honest, all of this has been discussed in depth and people get very emotional over it and it never leads to anything

some food for thoughts from my side

-people who get sideeffects are more likely to share their story on the internet then people without side effects (selection bias)

- There were 8 million active prescriptions of finasteride in the US alone in 2020. There like 330 million americans compared to 8 Billion global population, so globally finasteride is probably taken by a lot of people. lets say 60.000.000 million people take finasteride right now, if only 2% of these people develop sideeffects then we are already at 1.2 million people. and if we include also people who at one point took finasteride this number will increase even more. and if even a tiny fracture of these people writes about it on the internet its already enough to get the impression that everyone gets sideeffects to 100%
 

- its well known however that companies always trick in studies so i wouldnt be suprised sideeffects are higher.  also i think we should seperate between tolerable/barely noticable sideeffects and intolerable sideeffects. for example watery sperm is something that occurs for almost everyone. then decrease of morning wood is also probably something that probably happens to many, maybe without even monitoring. but is that something that will be counted as ED in studies? most likely not. 

 

- the truth is probably in the middle. my guess is higher then what they tell you in studies but also lower compared to what finasteride fear mongering tell you online. i can garantuee you that you will take far more dangerous medications in the future down your lifetime. in the end try it out, if you dont feel it works out for you, drop it and relax. within 2-8 weeks possible sideeffects (except gyno) will have disappeared by 99.99% chances.

Thank you bro, appreciate your in depth comments. May be a ‘pointless’ topic for somebody as experienced as yourself but for me, somebody yet to start meds’ I can assure you it doesn’t feel pointless at all lol 

[Gatsby]

Finasteride would have to be one of the most prescribed medications in the world when you consider the incidence of MPB in men (particularly young men). The drug has been around for decades and I speak with a lot of people who have had or are considering surgery. When I ask are you on finasteride the overwhelming majority say yes. When I ask do you get side effects, again the majority, say no. I personally think they just get on with their lives as it doesn't warrant a mention. But if you do get side effects (like I do on oral finasteride) the outcome is devastating to the individual (especially if you are young and have so much hair to lose) as it really puts you at a major disadvantage when trying to treat MPB. It's this focus on side effects in the very low numbers by comparison that speaks the loudest on forums, YouTube, etc. It's not because the incidence of side effects is 50%, etc. It's because of the huge disappointment that it creates. I never hear or read of threads/articles on how finasteride 'doesn't' give me side effects by anyone.

[Big Rome]

52 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

Finasteride would have to be one of the most prescribed medications in the world when you consider the incidence of MPB in men (particularly young men). The drug has been around for decades and I speak with a lot of people who have had or are considering surgery. When I ask are you on finasteride the overwhelming majority say yes. When I ask do you get side effects, again the majority, say no. I personally think they just get on with their lives as it doesn't warrant a mention. But if you do get side effects (like I do on oral finasteride) the outcome is devastating to the individual (especially if you are young and have so much hair to lose) as it really puts you at a major disadvantage when trying to treat MPB. It's this focus on side effects in the very low numbers by comparison that speaks the loudest on forums, YouTube, etc. It's not because the incidence of side effects is 50%, etc. It's because of the huge disappointment that it creates. I never hear or read of threads/articles on how finasteride 'doesn't' give me side effects by anyone.

Thank you Gatsby, really appreciate your help. Could I start with Oral Fin 3 x a week do you know? 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@Big Rome,

I understand where you’re coming from for sure. You read a lot more reports about side effects on discussion forums and it seems like it’s way more than 2 or 4% of individuals taking finasteride that are experiencing side effects.

Now, I’m not a doctor nor am I a scientist but we do need to remember a couple things. When percentages are given, they are provided based on scientific studies that are conducted on a certain number of individuals and groups. It is not a scientific study conducted on all finasteride users in the world.

Therefore, in real life, we don’t really know for sure exactly what percentage of Finasteride users are actually experiencing side effects. But we do know that based on the study that was conducted, that only a small percent of those involved in the study experienced side effects.

So the question becomes, can you trust the study enough to believe that only a small percentage of those who take finasteride will experience side effects? Or do you believe there was a margin of error in the study? Was the sample size big enough or diverse enough? Did it take into account real world situations?

When I was younger, I used to hear studies and percentages, especially about risks of side effects in medication based commercials and would immediately question it making statements like, “well, I was never tested”.

Or even when statements like “4 out of 5 dentists recommend…(a certain type of toothpaste)” but yet I went to several different dentists at different points, and they all told me that it didn’t matter which toothpaste I used.

The point I’m making is, some studies are just plain bogus, and other studies are more trustworthy. But at the same time, no study can account for every real world situation and give you accurate percentages of all people in the entire world as it applies to that product.

Long story short, I do believe that only a small percentage of those who take finasteride actually experience side effects. As to risk factors, and whether a particular person is more susceptible, then another, I don’t know. I suggest speaking to a doctor and then making a decision as to whether or not finasteride is right for you.

I hope this helps 

Rahal Hair Transplant

Edited June 21, 2023 by Rahal Hair Transplant

[Gatsby]

2 hours ago, Big Rome said:

Thank you Gatsby, really appreciate your help. Could I start with Oral Fin 3 x a week do you know? 

Absolutely and it is often prescribed in this manner. All the best mate. 

[Turkhair]

Every drug causes side effects.

They’re still brought to the market because the benefits outweigh the risks.

There are rare few drugs like Finasteride that have been taken by such a large population of humanity for such an extended period of time long term. If you still feel scared and paranoid then you shouldn’t bother taking any medicine because majority of drugs on market haven’t been eaten for such extended periods of time. 

When I first doses myself with Finasteride, my heart felt pumping fast. Because I was scared of permanently getting ED, being depressed forever, getting my ass numb and never able to father a child ending Turkhair good name. I took another and felt silly, that was almost half a decade ago.