2 years on finasteride

[alarkan]

I am 40 and have been on finasteride about 2 years and 8 months. The results for the hair on my head has been good even though there are some side affects I can live with. A couple of months I had some embarassing situations that made me more conscious about my body changes. People were commenting and teasing me about having a pear shaped figure and female fat distribution when I was wearing shorts during the summer.

Do other guys have problems with more weight gain below the waist?
I always considered myself slim even though I went from size 30 to 34 waist pants, but really used the same notch on my belts in the last 2 years. Since starting finasteride my weight has been about 144 to 154 pounds. I still wear small or medium sized tops when I first start.

I have been to the doctor and was told my hormone levels are within normal range and suggested I could start going to the gym to tone up my lower body. I may have some minor gyno and errectile difficulties but the hair on my head is more important. My older and younger brother are already balding on the crown and the front so I am afraid to stop since it's very likely I would develope the same baldness pattern as my brothers.

So far its been a month since I registered at the gym, but i haven't adjusted into a regular routine in going every 2 days. First week I went 3 days and felt too tired that I onyly went once on the 2nd week, 3rd week once, and 4th and 5th week 2 times. My wife thinks I have a sexxy body and keeps telling me I don't need the gym. After having sex I don't seem to have the energy to go the gym, but I keep reading on how people tend to have more energy for it from excercising. Does it take more time or is that only for younger men?

If anyone has had any similar experiences after 2 years I would like to her about.

 

[antman]

i was overweight about 2 years ago and brother told me about how i had a black women's ghetto booty. with cardio and diet i lost weight but people told me that i looked thin and frail; it was by doing upper body weight lifting that made me look more normal.
As for exercise and energy - it seems to be a combination of food, stress (well, a lack of it), rest and exercise that gives me more energy (just in general as well).
I would recommend giving different lifestyle changes a go (diet, exercise, what u do for fun eta); what floats one person's boat will sink another person's boat. Just do whatever works for you.

 

[Wuffer]

If you read any fitness forum, you will find hundreds of posts similar to yours. People starting to go to the gym and simply not having enough energy. It's not something unique to people taking finasteride; I went through the same thing when I started going back to the gym. You really have to kick your own *** for a while (weeks to months) and FORCE yourself to go, hell or high water. After a while, you get into the routine of going. Even when I feel fatigued and lethargic, I force myself to go to the gym, crank up some high energy music and an hour later I feel like a million bucks.

There is not much evidence that finasteride could make you gain weight in 'female' zones (except in rare cases of gyno of course). I always get a fat *** and love handles when I gain weight, and this didn't change at all while on finasteride. It's unfortunate, but the older you get, the less energy you will have, the harder it will be to lose weight.

I've been working out most my adult life, off and on. My only tip is to make sure you working out CORRECTLY. I wasted years going to the gym and not getting results. When I finally got a competent personal trainer and learned how to work out correctly, I got more results in 6 months than I did in 2 years. I would start out with a body weight routine, and forget about weights. Focus on stretching, increasing core strength, and cardio involving high intensity exercise. You can do daily bodyweight routines that don't take more than 10 minutes, and kick your *** more than an hour lifting weights at the gym.

 

[alarkan]

I lost about a few pounds and have been really pushing myself with cardio exercise 6 times a week. Twice a week I do some weight lifting to build upper body strength. I look a slimer around the waist, but it makes hips and thighs more noticeable. I'm going to keep working and build some upper muscles like shoulder and arms and maybe this will balance my figure to towards an apple shape.

 

[RebelHair]

Yes DHT Blockers can produce these type of changes to the body.
Do you have any other side-effects, even minor ones?

 

[wstef]

When men age they generally get fatter around the middle anyway. It's usually the last part of the body where weight is lost from in men. If I gain weight it goes straight on my belly.

Like Wuffer mentioned, with going to the gym it takes time to get used to it. I was pathetic when I started going to the gym. I couldn't do a press up properly, I could only run for 5 minutes without feeling exhausted etc. Now I am much stronger and I can easily do an hour of cardio and not feel tired (I actually feel euphoric for most of the night after a good cardio session!). You need to be dedicated with the gym. I go 4 - 5 times a week now and on "days off" I do something like Swiss Ball exercises (working on the core mainly) and I am going to start Yoga soon I think.

Good luck!

 

[holyhead]

**** ****ed me up the same way..**** load of water weight around the mid section just appeared quick after stopping the drug and gets worse..no help.

 

[JTS]

The only way that finasteride can induce those sorts of changes is by giving you a more feminine hormonal profile. If your hormones are in order then there's no reason that it should have such an effect on you.

EDIT: Holy ****ing necro thread batman

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

Wow this thread is scaring me away from finasteride.

 

[JohnH1]

I asked my derm about this and they said that weight gain can occur in older men when starting Finasteride, but it is pretty rare. In terms of more "feminine" weight gain, I'm not sure.