The psychology behind Propecia side effects?

[mahhong]

I have been debating for several months whether or not to start on Propecia. I'm experiencing the early stages of MPB (not too noticeable but clearly going to get worse) and know it's a very effective treatment to maintain your current hair.

 

My main concern has been the reported side effects. There now seems to be a common consensus that more men experience some form of side effects than the original <2% reported in clinical trials. In addition these side effects are, in some cases, allegedly permanent or of indeterminate duration. Depression and near permanent erectile/libido problems are amongst the main reported negative side effects.

 

I've been trying to think as logically as possible about the reported problems with Propecia. Any statistician will tell you that it's never as simple as cause and effect in real life. A good but unrelated example of this is a study that was done in a housing estate near a power station that seemed to have a disproportionately high rate of cancer. The public were worried but the scientific truth was simple; the estate consisted largely of fairly poor families who generally were bigger drinkers and ate a poorer diet which was higher in saturated fats. In addition a lot of them smoked and most did little to no exercise. It eventually became clear that these other myriad factors were much more likely to blame for the cancer rates than the nuclear power station. In addition, when you broke the statistics down into more detailed sections (age, area, lifestyle etc.) the actual cancer rates were little different to those found in similar areas with a similar demographic but without a power station.

 

Anyway, apologies for the long digression but I was trying to make a point. My two main concerns with taking Propecia are long term sexual side effects or depression. So I started by looking at other causes related to the situation propecia takers find themselves in.

 

Everybody who takes propecia for hair loss shares one consistent problem; they are losing their hair! They also share a further attribute that is probably less discussed; they are worried and trying to do something about it. This poses an interesting set of circumstances on propecia takers. By taking propecia you are clearly defining hair loss as a problem and a lifestyle inhibitor. This creates an interesting psychological environment for propecia users; they are losing a battle and, even if propecia helps put them on the front foot, it is still a battle nobody asked for.

 

For the vast majority of people this isn't a problem. We all have physical or mental issues we must deal with and taking propecia is one way of dealing with one problem. But for some I would imagine taking propecia is the psychological equivalent of entering a scary and troublesome world. By trying to keep your hair you must acknowledge you could lose it and that losing it will be a major problem for you (otherwise you wouldn't be using propecia). This new way of dealing with life could easily have a negative impact on some people.

 

Interestingly many seemingly unrelated but actually similar lifestyle changes can bring about depression or paranoia. Going to university, moving house, changing jobs, worrying about getting older etc. Any new world we venture into is strange and frightening and those more sensitive to these changes are more likely to get depressed I would imagine. That can create a feedback loop if you actively worry propecia causes depression. You take propecia and consign yourself to a "battle" to keep your hair and the knowledge of this can make you worried and perhaps a bit unhappy. In turn, this unhappiness causes you to wonder if the propecia (the most obviously new change to your life) is making you unhappy. Then you open up a whole can of worms; if you stop taking propecia you've taken a big step back in your "battle". If you carry on taking it maybe you risk more depression, further side effects and still face the obvious hairloss/success worries.

 

It's interesting to note depression wasn't a factor in the initial clinical trials. I believe the reason for this could be the different psychological circumstances under which propecia was taken. Although these people were experiencing hair loss propecia was a new, experimental product; something people placed little or no emotional attachment in. Of course those on the trial would have hoped it worked but there are several factors to remember:

 

At the time the hair loss world was a different place with little to no approved treatments (certainly none with any obvious success). If propecia worked you could be happy with results and, if it didn't, you lost nothing. Compare that with today's environment where propecia is seen as many different things at once; a cure, a drug, a risk, a hope and a commitment. If someone came up to you on the street and said "guess the right number between 1-10 and I'll give you $10,000" and you got the number wrong, you'd walk away laughing about the whole thing. If you went on a gameshow and the host said "you're one question away from $10,000" and you got the answer wrong, you'd be upset. I think this might be the difference between propecia as a trial product and propecia as an FDA approved solution for hair loss; the expectation, and the psychological approach that you stand to lose something and not just gain something.

 

Regarding the sexual side effects these, scientifically at least, seem much more plausible (as DHT is, of course, related to that whole biological side of us). But, that having been said, the same above applies. Impotence can be caused by worrying and self-consciousness and starting propecia can potentially bring about both.

 

Although I have not done extensive web-based research it's interesting to note it's much harder to find discussions/articles about people who take propecia/dutasteride for prostate problems and who mention depression than it is to find people who take propecia for hair loss who mention depression. This could be because more people take propecia for hair loss than prostate problems but, equally, it could be because those who take propecia/dutasteride for prostate attach a much different psychological expectation and hope to the medicine in that state than they do for the medicine as a hair loss drug.

 

I am just musing here as I try to make my decision. My hair is not as important to me as my sex drive, well being and mental state. I do not like taking drugs at the best of times and so the thought of going on propecia doesn't fill me with joy. I am also worried about doing permanent or even semi-permanent damage.

 

But I read what people say online and just wanted to try and put things in more context for myself and for others. When you take propecia you enter into a psychological contract with yourself which is far more complex than just "I'll take this and see what happens". You attach a burden of expectation, a fear of ramification and an obvious heightened awareness of your mental and physical well being and results. Some people with perhaps more sensitive or fearful psychological dispositions are bound to monitor themselves more deeply, perhaps too deeply. Suddenly a "down day" becomes worrying. Suddenly you notice an ache or a pain or some lethargy and the only thing you can think of is that you're on propecia.

 

What do you guys think? I'm going to weigh up the pros and cons for a few months and, although this post sounds like a defence of propecia, it's more me trying to play devil's advocate on the people that report negative side effects. That's not because I don't "believe" in the side effects, on the contrary, I'm very concerned about them. I'm just trying to make a decision and put my mind into a proper psychological position to do so and see it through.

 

I just find it interesting that depression is a common side effect of many cosmetic procedures or treatments. And, of course, hair loss treatment has one additional problem that many other medical and cosmetic procedures do not: it is a constant, never ending struggle and not a one off event. If you have surgery to remove fat from your face and it goes wrong you will be upset. If it goes right you will be ecstatic. If you have surgery or treatment for hair loss and it goes wrong you will be upset. If it goes right the optimistic among us will be happy and excited about the future and the pessimistic will think very differently: "is this permanent?", "is it over?", "oh god, i think propecia is losing it's effectiveness!" etc. etc. And therein lies the weakness in judging any hair loss product or treatment; there is no such thing as a "result", only a steady flow of progress or regress that we must work with and analyse to plan our next move. Even if you regain a total head of hair you'll spend the rest of your life worrying it stays that way!

 

So, that's my late night musing done! Just wanted to open up a debate on this as I think measured, reasoned analysis of the psychological issues surrounding hair loss treatment is unfortunately rare. There are too many people who are too quick in saying "take propecia, idiot!" and, equally, too many who are equally quick to say "it's hell in a pill, I suffered long term problems and it should be banned". The truth is nearly always somewhere in the middle of the extremes, so I wanted to use this thread as a chance to explore the wider implications for taking propecia and other hair loss drugs, and the effect they may have.

[prezident]

Mahhong,

 

Instead of "trying to play devils advocate on the people who report negative side effects of propecia," I suggest that you ignore the bull**** 'nonscientific' statistics that may or may not have been reported and focus on the 'physiologically' and 'scientifically' confirmed results that have been reported on the use of propecia. The results are staggering! The side effects are 'clearly' 'not' psychosomatic as you sugges!

[mahhong]

Hi prezident,

 

Thanks for your reply. I notice you chose to cut my quote off at the point I continued with: "That's not because I don't "believe" in the side effects, on the contrary, I'm very concerned about them."

 

I wanted to use this thread as a place to debate and share information about the side effects of propecia and look at it in a more rational way than just love it/hate it.

 

I'm not outright suggesting the side effects of propecia are purely psychosomatic. What I'm saying is if you take propecia and experience physical problems, it's not necessarily as simple as saying "propecia caused this".

 

Many people take propecia and experience no problems; often for years. That doesn't mean it's safe, but it does mean that some people are able to tolerate it well. A few people seemingly have a massive negative reaction to it and, in the worst cases, seem to become permanently impotent or depressed. The positive cases, however, far outweigh the negative cases (even though there does seem to be more negative cases than the propecia trials would suggest statistically).

 

The entire point of this thread is not to jump on the pro/anti propecia bandwagon but perhaps to offer some compelling evidence and equally compelling reasoning on the potential negative effects of propecia. Would you care to share some of the staggering results you've managed to find?

[prezident]

Mahhong,

 

My childhood friend has been a urologist for more than 15 years. The day that i asked him to write me a prescription for propecia, i also asked him if there was any physiological evidence to support the OCEAN of reported negative side effects as reported on countless web sites. His response was....ABSOLUTELY!

 

He also advised me that it is commonplace for most physicians to downplay reports of negative side effects as being merely PSYCHOSOMATIC! He also told me that he has always believed that such misleading medical advice constitutes a complete and inexcusable derogation from the hypocratic oath by which all physicians are bound!

 

With respect to your allegation that the positive cases far outweigh the negative, I, and my Urologist friend, would like you to disclose the identity of the scientific study upon which you base your allegation.

 

I come from a family of trial attorneys and as a trial attorney with 'vast' trial experience i have examined, cross-examined and subsequently discredited countless medical and lay 'experts' who have generated reports that were not worth the paper that they were written on! I understand that you would like to have a discussion on this issue but please do not start the discussion by 'stating' that the positive cases far outweigh the negative. this is simply 'not' true!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Prezident,

 

My opinion on this matter aside, I find it odd that you would accuse mahhong of making statements without physiological evidence, flaunt your profession as reasons for doing so, and then make an equally crass statement of "this is simply 'not' true" without any proof of the opposite.

 

Since you accused mahhong of wrongfully siting that the positive cases of Propecia far outweight the negative, I suppose you have and are willing to share substantial evidence disputing this? So let's see it or simply have a discussion without demeaning someone else for sharing their opinion or observations.

 

Bill

[prezident]

Bill,

 

With all do respect, I am not the one who owes anyone an explanation! I am not the one who stated that the positives of propecia far outweigh the negatives! I suggest that you demand an explanation along with 'supporting' evidence from the 'one' who 'stated' that the positives far outweigh the negatives!

 

Bill, I must be frank! I am suprised at your less that impartial attitude! As a professional, i have always valued this site as a forum of impartiality! With all do respect, 'I' am not the one who posted an allegation without 'any' supporting evidence! I suggest that you direct your 'bark' at the one who posted the allegation about propecia without any supporting evidence!

 

With respect to your allegation that I flaunted my profession, i suggest that you re-visit the U.S. Constitution. If I remotely believe that someone is attempting to mislead either myself or the general public, i have an ethical obligation to call them to task! The next time that you take issue with me expressing my, or any other members, right to proof of any allegation set forth by any other member of this site, such as Mahhong, I will be there to set the record straight!

 

And to think that i suggested this site to countless other professionals in my community who suffer from MPB! I must say that i am embarrassed by your response to my post. Utilizing your logic, anyone is free to post any misleading statements without any supporting evidence on this site, and, if someone posts a challenging response, god forbid they do so withoutnot posting countervailing evidence! The result would be equivalent to your posting attacking me!

 

Your logic defies all concepts of legality and impartiality. However, i am willing to bet my net worth that you will attempt to portray 'me' as the bad guy for demanding supporting evidence for mahhong's unsupported allegations!

 

I cannot wait to share your response!

[why oh why]

Bill wasn't taking sides. since you demanded proof, he just asked that you provide proof of your own. lets call it "discovery". as a lawyer, you're supposed to know what that means. so, i won't explain.

 

glad to know your urologist friend has been focusing on hair loss from the head which doesn't pertain to his specialty.

 

how about i go ahead and set up the same "predictive attorney" presumable defensive assault:

 

i'm sure you're going to call me ignorant, say that a doctor is a doctor, make a statement attempting to educate me to your awesome logic, and so on and so forth...

 

however, the obvious root of your agenda against the original topic (propecia) is showing through your arguments.

 

i guess we can add you to the 2% list of unhappy users who are crowding the internet. instead of the 1% that are sharing positive results here, or the 97% out living life as happy individuals.

 

fyi, since lawyers usually typically can't do math, 97+1+2 equals the full 100%

 

go ahead, call me whatever you will for "calling you to task" as an agenda driven, unhappy user.

 

since I'M from a family of lawyers as well, i will use the retort that i use on them.

 

"i don't care"

 

i've said my peace, this forum is supposed to be a caring environment for others to share and deal with our affliction. your presence, to me, is not needed. therefore, i won't be saying anything to you again.

 

hows that for setting up the "lets hear it, how am i wrong, i'm sure you'll belittle me because you're beneath me" catch 22? you know the one you blatantly tried to use against Bill?

 

-why oh why

a happy user, reporting no sides

[mahhong]

prezident;

 

I don't wish to sound mean or insulting but it's exactly the kind of tirade you have come out with that I was looking to avoid and you've proven my point exactly. You are against propecia, I can see that. I imagine you would be against propecia if a dozen more scientific trials were conducted and each came up with the same results as the initial FDA trial regarding propecia.

 

For the record I am not on propecia and it is my concern about the negative reports and my desire to know more that has stopped me from jumping straight on to the medication. But let's examine what I do consider to be the facts here (I, of course, cannot truly verify they are facts, but I have no reason to believe logically or scientifically they are not):

 

Propecia is taken by millions of men.

 

Millions of men have reported propecia as being of benefit to their hair recovery.

 

Millions of men have not reported becoming depressed and moody after taking propecia.

 

Millions of men have not reported erectile disfunction and/or permanent impotence.

 

Whatever the true numbers may be I think we could all admit that the number of men on propecia is in the millions and the number of reported negative cases are not in that range. I happen to believe that negative side effects caused by propecia are more commonplace than the relatively small scientific trial suggested but, whatever the facts, propecia is clearly not some potent poison that's killing off the libido and happiness of millions of men. If it was we would have seen a far greater negative response overall, especially on the internet. I would like to quite safely reassert my statement that the number of men benefiting from propecia seems to outweigh those who experience negative effects. I cannot "prove" this to you except by means of common sense in looking at the ratio of those on the medication to the relative number of complaints you see on the net and in the general public.

 

I would happily agree with you that most physicians support the results of clinical trials without really genuinely listening to the problems reported by patients (this goes for any medication and reported effect). I guess this is a combination of being taught to believe in the data, support the community, and the fact that psychosomatic symptoms, whilst they may not account for every problem, often do play a part in the problems patients have. This was entirely my point; it's easy to blame outside influences for your daily problems, from not going to the gym because you got caught in traffic and got home late, right through to assuming this pill or that pill must be giving you a headache, simply because you took the pill and now you have a headache.

 

I am actually a cynic when it comes to the medical world; something we share in common it would seem. I am, however, not an illogical cynic and I would respectfully suggest this is where we differ. I am waiting - eager, in fact - for you to show me the problems with propecia and the cases that prove this problem is more than either infrequent, temporary and/or definitely and consistently biological. I was actually looking forward to someone coming on to this thread with a substantial case against propecia (I have read plenty of substantial cases for it) but alas, you have written frankly the same diatribe I have read on every other anti-propecia site.

 

You may be right in your assertations. Your urologist friend may be right in his beliefs. I was hoping between you both you could have presented me and this community a convincing case.

 

I will gladly admit my assertations have been based loosely on a combination of internet research, reading the admittedly few genuine statistics and applying a sense of logic to the personal stories found on the net. I have, however, found no absolutely conclusive proof that propecia=bad. I have found plenty of evidence that propecia affects your body and some people seem to be affected negatively, but I knew that. You can say the same about paracetamol. Or nuts. There's barely a substance or material on this Earth that doesn't have negative effects on some small percentage of the population. Arsenic, however, or Sarin gas, is poison. It will damage any human it contacts. Propecia is not a "poison". I wanted to establish how likely it was propecia was doing some damage to your body and, most importantly, the permanency of this damage. I can live with side effects but I do not like taking unnecessary risk; if I can feel safe enough through my research to try propecia I will. If the worst I can expect is a couple of weeks or months of low libido I'm happy to see what happens and make my own judgement. If I stop taking the pill and that doesn't subside I don't think I could accept that.

 

Anyway, please don't be one of those posters who will keep telling me I am stupid and my facts are wrong without helping me get my facts right. All I wanted was to find one person who both disliked propecia and had a very compelling case for doing so. I have found plenty who dislike propecia and can keep telling me in various colourful ways (and often with an excessive use of CAPS). If you're a distinguished attorney hanging around with distinguished urologists and you both have great inside information on the dangers of propecia please help the less distinguished of us by giving us the facts and letting us come to a conclusion based on them. That was the point of this thread and I am eager to see it achieved.

 

I suspect, unfortunately, you will tell me I do not understand, am not worthy of the knowledge, am lazy because I don't go find it myself or that you no longer care what happens with my hair loss because of my allegedly poor argument. I do hope you surprise me, and I imagine the rest of us, and become a help and not a hindrance.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Prezident,

 

My post was about process, not content. As an attorney, I'd expect you to understand and appreciate the difference.

 

This community is available for its members to discuss topics related to hair loss and share their candid opinions and observations. Had you simply challenged mahhong to provide proof of his observations rather than boldly claim he is wrong without providing any of your own evidence, I wouldn't have replied to you the way I did.

 

Nowhere on this thread did I take sides. I simply pointed out the hypocrisy of your demands for proof when you didn't supply any yourself.

 

Obviously, "why oh why" gets it. Perhaps you ought to take another look at your own post and see how pompous it was rather than getting all bent out of shape about it :-P.

 

And I noticed you used your professional skills at an attempt to dodge that I asked you to provide proof of why mahong is wrong. However, we're still waiting for it :-).

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

By the way prezident...

 

Frankly, asking someone to provide proof that "the positives far outweigh the negatives" is pretty ridiculous. Unless every single Propecia user has been polled, there's no way to prove or disprove this.

 

It's obvious by Mahong's tone that he is sharing his own observations and attempting to discuss this topic with an open mind. Other than agreeing or disagreeing with him and providing reasons why, I see no reason why anyone would become so hostile and demand proof of someone trying to host an open discussion.

 

But since you are the one making absolute statements, the burden of proof falls on you.

 

Bill

[ohnomahair]

Manhog, I began wondering this topic myself! It was not long ago that I began taking finasteride, 1.25 mg EOD, I began 4days ago! What I noticed right away was I began LOOKING for these side effects, I've payed very close attention to my body these past days, however I've made a HUGE mistake by not having any real basis for comparison, since memory is greatly flawed.

Thus to me it is no surprise that you would find individuals trying to find symptoms to the drug and thus creating a self fulfilled prophecy, since the mind is VERY powerful.

 

One has to consider that as you get older your libido is going to drop whether you like it or not and whether you're on finasteride or not, it will still drop!

 

It really helps to read articles on finasteride, (check out regrowth.com they have some good articles) Many studies (not just merks) have found that side effects are low in comparison to a placebo group.

 

However because I'm a young lad and consider myself cheap but suave- I chose to do the finasteride EOD since I hear it's just as effective and takes the chances of "sides" away.

 

Good luck to you on your hunt, but remember with all the studies out there, there's only ONE way to find out if you'll actually get the sides haha. For me trying to make it as an actor, it's well worth the risk.

[default609]

Wow, when I get a lot of time I'm gonna read this and put my two cents in here. I bet there's some good stuff in this.

 

Sorry for such a random/short comment.

[mahhong]

Hey Guys,

 

Thanks for your replies. Propecia really is a tricky one as far as I'm concerned. I do believe a lot of people worry about the side effects and this, in turn, exacerbates any changes in their body.

 

That having been said my natural instinct is to not really use medication if I can help it. I believe the vast majority of meds are safe and work well but, frankly, I'm one of those people that would like to keep myself as med free as possible.

 

From my research I would say that, for the majority of men, Propecia works both effectively and safely. For the minority of men that get side effects, most of them will experience only minor sides or those side effects will disappear quickly upon ceasing the medication.

 

However there are those few who do seem to have long term or even potentially permanent reactions to Propecia. These cases do seem incredibly sporadic when you think of the amount of people on the medication but, nevertheless, they do occur (although precisely how or why remains unclear). At the end of the day Propecia is effectively messing with the natural balance of your hormones. Regardless of your reaction to that change in balance that's what it does.

 

In addition to that it seems propecia is not a permanent solution to maintain hair. Granted most men seem to have between 5-10 very good years on propecia with some claiming more, but inevitably it seems propecia loses its effectiveness. This makes sense when you consider that propecia basically inhibits some but not all DHT. DHT is still doing damage to the follicles but at a much slower rate.

 

So I'm trying to decide what's best. My rational and logical side knows propecia is unlikely to generate any side effects and that, even if it does, they're likely to be mild and easily reversed upon cessation of the drug (if this was a guarantee I'd be on it in a shot!).

 

However there is the other side of me that says you're risking (no matter how small the risk)long term or even possibly permanent sexual or psychological damage in return to a long-standing but ultimately temporary way to maintain existing hair (predominantly in the vertex and top regions of your head).

 

It's a difficult decision to make. For example even if I get psychosomatic side effects they're still side effects and they still cause stress, worry and uncertainty. If I get off the medication as a result of it then any money or patience I spent on propecia will have been wasted. If I remain on it I have to deal with the uncertainty of why I have side effects.

 

I would rather spend the money and effort on HT's and have several (or more) done over the next 10-15 years as needs be, but only if this is a sensible and workable solution. I'm 27 and my hairloss is still not really noticeable to anybody who isn't looking for it, so it's a real dilemma!

[Amandeep]

Hey Bill I've started taking propecia for 2 weeks now (I'm taking it every other day) and the sides I've experienced have been brain fog and there has been a slight reduction in semin volume . I haven't had any other sides and I was just wondering whether I should continue taking the drug and whether the brain fog would subside with continued use? (The brain fog does seem to wear off the next day, as I'm taking propecia every other day). I'm in the UK and get propecia from a company called boots, the people I've spoken to there don't seem to really know much about the drug as they didn't know about the reports of permanent side effects and completely panicked when I said I get brain fog. My actual doctor also seems clueless as she literally searched the drug on wiki in front of me and didn't really offer much advice lol. I really would appreciate getting some advise from people who know about the drug.

[Rootz]

My main concern has been the reported side effects. There now seems to be a common consensus that more men experience some form of side effects than the original <2% reported in clinical trials.

 

Where is this new consensus coming from, message boards? The problem with online polling is those who do not have issues with the drug are significantly less likely to post about it, or even be on a message board about it to begin with.

 

There are several large scale, seemingly credible studies supporting the 2% figure. I think it's silly to overlook these results and instead try to draw statistical conclusions from various stories posted online.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think Finasteride is a very serious drug that will alter the chemistry of your body in ways that can potentially lead to major problems. I think everyone who takes it has side effects. But, I think only around 2% have reactions significant enough to really be noticeable. I also think most or even possibly all of the horror stories about the drug are psychologically driven. Some of the things people claim the drug has done to them doesn't even make sense. I tend to think if some of those people had taken sugar pills under the same assertions they'd still have problems.

[cheesy77]

Just a side issue, but I'm curious as to where people derive this figure that 'millions of men take propecia'.

 

From reports online it is evident that Merck's sales of propecia typically rank somewhere between $350-500 million per year. At the upper end this is about 290million pounds.

 

I am from the UK, where propecia costs upwards of 300 pounds per year on prescription. I presume costs are not too disimilar across the world.

 

Therefore, by my maths skills that roughly equals 1 million men who use branded propecia globally.

 

I also realise that there are alternatives, that some use Proscar or Dutusteride, but surely these are not in huge numbers because it is arguably unlikely they'd even know about this alternative unless they visit forums such as these.

 

I'd estimate that the total number of people using some form of fin for hair loss could be as low as 2 million worldwide. I'd be very surprised if its any more than 3-4 million.

 

When you consider that hundreds of millions of men are balding worldwide, this is a tiny proportion.

 

Does anybody have any alternative figures? Just curious as to why people always say these meds are used by millions and millions.

Edited July 1, 2014 by cheesy77
mistake

[BaldingBogger]

I really wish people would stop making posts trying to dismiss people reporting propecia side affects as physcological or 'all in ones head'.

 

The fact is a lot of people get powerful side affects from this powerful drug. People can go for a few years before they kick in or a few weeks. Everyone is different. I also accept some dont get side affects. And good for them.

 

I just wish people would stop trying to dismiss people's valid concerns re this hormone indoctrine altering drug just to try make themselves feel better because they are taking it.

 

Personally i think it is a ticking time bomb that could hit people later in life . You cannot play around with hormones like that and accept no consequences.

 

But that is just my opinion based on personal experience and awareness of previous medical scandals. I obviously hope im wrong for people taking it. There are clear physical ways these side affects manifest themselves that ensure they cannot be affected by someones potential anxiety.

 

The 2% figure on side affects also is a nonsense. These studies were funded by Merk whos track record in this area is extremely dubious. The likelyhood is a lot of men with not the most active sex lifes who dont notice anything wrong with their libido.

 

I will state one major phsycological affect propecia does have and that is the reluctance mentally it instills in people on it to ever come off it. The user simply does not know how much it is to credit for his existing hair and becomes paranoid of coming off it for fear of losing lots of hair.

 

When in reality it could only be having minimal benefits for the user but causing him issues.

[hsrp10]

BaldingBlogger,

 

I'm in agreement with you, though thankfully I've not experienced any permanent side effects, I've had some odd ones on this drug for sure, and I believe it's not as simple in every case to just take it and automatically be guaranteed great results without any negative impact.

[Rootz]

I really wish people would stop making posts trying to dismiss people reporting propecia side affects as physcological or 'all in ones head'.

 

I believe everyone has side effects from the drug, but some more severe than others. Like you said, it messes with the chemistry of our bodies on a fundamental level... how could you NOT have some type of side effect? I think in the overwhelming majority of cases the side effects are minimal enough not to be a problem. I don't know how many of the doomsday stories from people with permanent debilitating side effects are real, but what I'm sure of is that many of these (how many? I don't know) are the placebo effect manifest... so I tend to take stories with like those with a grain of salt. This is unfortunate because I would bet some major permanent problems are in fact directly related to the drug.

 

The 2% figure on side affects also is a nonsense. These studies were funded by Merk whos track record in this area is extremely dubious.

 

When I was researching this heavily I remember there being at least 3 large clinical studies that seemed credible. One was related to Merckx, and of course I was dubious of that one, however the other two were not as far as I could tell. If I remember they were all independent of each other and concluded somewhere around 1.5-3% chance of side effects. Why do you say the 2% figure is bogus? I mean should I believe scientific studies involving thousands of people, or...?