Hey guys, i am 20 years old... i noticed thinning of my hair and receeding hairline about 2 years ago. I have been reading these forums for a few weeks now. Last spring i went to see a dermatologist recommended to me by my family doctor. The dermatologist prescribed me propecia and so i went on it and its now been 9 months since i have been on it. I do not really notice any change to my hair honestly. That now is unfortunately not the worst of my problems. A few months ago i noticed myself feeling really depressed and bummed out. I could not achieve a solid erection to have sex therefore i tried taking v**** and that seemed to work. Again, not the worst yet. For the past few months i started noticing im losing my memory i have to think hard before answering a question. I also seem to have gained extra weight around on my waist that feels really out of place and weird. The worst part of my whole experiece so far is that yesterday and today i broke out into tears about 5 or 6 times. This is not like me at all. I think about just life normal stuff in general and i broke out into tears. I feel EXTREMELY depressed guys, i have thoughts of breaking up with my girlfriend who im so in love with because i just dont feel right and can not think right. I can not concentrate at work anymore. I snap at my family and am never in a pleasant mood anymore. THIS IS NOT ME. I did connect all of these things before i started reading these forums and saw many other cases of the like. It was so bad today i called my dermatologist and left messages on his machine and told him what i was going through. His nurse left me a message and told me to discontinue immediately. Also in the past few weeks i have noticed oily skin on my face and a serious twitching under my right eyebrow. I am so scared. Please give me some feedback on my problems. As of today i am stopping the use of propecia. I am now worried that this memory loss, distractions, depression and anxiety issues will be permanent. I was never one to choke up or cry EVER. But i am even in tears writing this. I am extremely worried. Please let me know of any advice or anything that i can prepare for. I am only hoping that this all goes away, I am ready to lose my hair as it is natural, but i am not ready to have my life like it is today. Please give me feedback. Will this be permanent in your opinion? Thank you for reading.
20 yrs old, 9 months on propecia... PLEASE HELP
- Thread starter melo10
- Start date
muaythai187
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 1
Hey Melo I know how you feel because I'm on the same situation. Regarding the side effects your having it should go away once you stop propecia but the only thing that will not go away is if you developed Gyno which you never mention as one of your sides so hopefully that didnt affect you.
youngbaldie
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 3
Once you get off the propecia, you should start feeling better in 1 month or 2. The change is gradual, but you will be back to your old self before you know it.
As for your hair, nizoral may help, without the systematic sides, you won't get depressed. You should leave the nizoral on your scalp for 10 minutes, do this 2-3 times a week.
I sincerely hope you feel better.
As for your hair, nizoral may help, without the systematic sides, you won't get depressed. You should leave the nizoral on your scalp for 10 minutes, do this 2-3 times a week.
I sincerely hope you feel better.
The problems you are describing are likely due to elevated estrogens.
Get bloodwork done to see what's up with your hormones, you will likely find your Estradiol skyhigh.
Finasteride increases Testosterone up to 20% in some men. All that extra Testosterone would normally convert to DHT (which also keeps estrogen in check) but it can't since it's being blocked by Finasteride. So instead, it aromatizes into Estradiol (Estrogen).
Hence why the warning about gynecomastia, breast tenderness etc is on the drug packaging -- these are all signs of increasing estrogens in a man, as is depression, anxiety, becoming emotional (feeling like a woman), weight gain, loss of sex drive etc. You are essentially feminizing yourself and altering the androgen/estrogen ration in your body beyond it's normal balance, in favor of estrogens.
Bloodtests to get:
Total Testosterone
Free (Bioavailable) Testosterone
DHT
Estradiol (E2)
Estrone (E1)
Total Estrogens
LH
FSH
DHEA-s
Cortisol
SHBG
Prolactin
Progesterone
Albumin
ACTH
PSA
Aldosterone
Androstenediol glucuronide (Adiol-G) -- measures 5AR activity
Androsterone glucuronide
TSH, Free T3, Free T4
CBC or FBC (Complete Blood Count/Full Blood Count)
LFT (Liver Function Test - AST, ALT, etc.)
If you can't get all those, definitely get:
Total Testosterone
Free Testosterone
Bioavailable Testosterone
DHT
Estradiol (E2)
LH
FSH
SHBG
Prolactin
Androstenediol glucuronide (Adiol-G) -- measures 5AR activity
TSH
(Liver Function Test - AST, ALT, etc.)
Get bloodwork done to see what's up with your hormones, you will likely find your Estradiol skyhigh.
Finasteride increases Testosterone up to 20% in some men. All that extra Testosterone would normally convert to DHT (which also keeps estrogen in check) but it can't since it's being blocked by Finasteride. So instead, it aromatizes into Estradiol (Estrogen).
Hence why the warning about gynecomastia, breast tenderness etc is on the drug packaging -- these are all signs of increasing estrogens in a man, as is depression, anxiety, becoming emotional (feeling like a woman), weight gain, loss of sex drive etc. You are essentially feminizing yourself and altering the androgen/estrogen ration in your body beyond it's normal balance, in favor of estrogens.
Bloodtests to get:
Total Testosterone
Free (Bioavailable) Testosterone
DHT
Estradiol (E2)
Estrone (E1)
Total Estrogens
LH
FSH
DHEA-s
Cortisol
SHBG
Prolactin
Progesterone
Albumin
ACTH
PSA
Aldosterone
Androstenediol glucuronide (Adiol-G) -- measures 5AR activity
Androsterone glucuronide
TSH, Free T3, Free T4
CBC or FBC (Complete Blood Count/Full Blood Count)
LFT (Liver Function Test - AST, ALT, etc.)
If you can't get all those, definitely get:
Total Testosterone
Free Testosterone
Bioavailable Testosterone
DHT
Estradiol (E2)
LH
FSH
SHBG
Prolactin
Androstenediol glucuronide (Adiol-G) -- measures 5AR activity
TSH
(Liver Function Test - AST, ALT, etc.)
RaginDemon
Senior Member
- Reaction score
- 3
It sounds like your turning into a woman.
Thank you guys immensely for your response, I truly appreciate it. I have an appointment with the derm in a few weeks. I cannot get in any sooner. I will ask about these tests. In your opinion, what are the chances i will go back to normal? I need a good memory and quick mind for work, i need to be energized and all of the feminine traits i am feeling is simply not right and not me. I dont know why i did not know of this earlier. Is there anything i can do to help this process? Some of the websites and forums i have seen give propecia an extremely bad image, telling of how the effects are permanent and basically saying it has ruined their life. This is horrifying as i have my whole life ahead of me much like the others here. Its been 2 days off propecia. Does this mean that soon i will be normal? ie. my memory, emotions, anxiety, body fat etc. And also will now my hair shed faster? I am not ever using another drug for my hair or anything with side effects so serious, perhaps a shampoo? Please get back to me when u have the chance. Thank you again.
If things go according to plan, within a few weeks you should be feeling much better, if not fully recovered. For some it may take a few months to a year.
If however you end up feeling worse off then when you were on the drug, you may want to get bloodwork done as I suggested to see what's going on.
If however you end up feeling worse off then when you were on the drug, you may want to get bloodwork done as I suggested to see what's going on.
youngbaldie
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 3
melo10 said:
The chances are, you will return completely to normal. It may take a while, probably a few months to feel the same as you did prior to taking the drug, but it will happen.
You will probably experience some fluctuations the first month or two. On some days, you will have 'spikes' in your libido and mood, then you will drop down and be depressed. This may go up and down for several weeks. But as the months progress, the depressed/low libido days will become further and further apart, until virtually nonexistent.
Propecia is a strange drug, and getting off of it can be tricky because of the sense of constant fluctuations in mood and sexual desire. A few days or a few weeks after stopping the drug, there may be some days where you feel worse than when you were on it, but don't let this fool you, eventually you will feel back to normal. You just have to keep assuring yourself of this, and then, before you know it, your hormones are up again and you feel like you did before ever taking propecia. If you have bad days (and they can get really bad at first), you just have to keep reminding yourself that its only temporary and to ride it out, things will turn around.
Some people think that as soon as you stop propecia, each day off it, you feel better. Thats not the case, its a very gradual process, with ups and downs, but over several months, you just start seeing more ups, until thats basically all you see.
I would taper down off the stuff very slowly.
And I agree with youngbaldie's post about the effects of stopping Finasteride. It's probably gonna be a bit of a rollercoaster ride for a few months.
If you believe Merck, there should be another 50-100 more Propecia users out there with absolutely no side effects whatsoever for every one guy like this who is complaining of getting them. Ri-i-ight.
And I agree with youngbaldie's post about the effects of stopping Finasteride. It's probably gonna be a bit of a rollercoaster ride for a few months.
If you believe Merck, there should be another 50-100 more Propecia users out there with absolutely no side effects whatsoever for every one guy like this who is complaining of getting them. Ri-i-ight.
I have been off the pill for 5 days now... and already the twitching in my face is gone but i definitely have some psychological effects such as memory, alot of anxiety etc. I am not to sure if i am feeling better yet or not but i will not expect anything for some weeks to months as advised. I went to see my family doctor today and he said no blood work is necessary and to come see him in a few weeks and let him know whats going on. I also have an appointment with the dermatologist in a couple of weeks who i will advise of my problems. I am definitely shedding when i run my fingers through my hair though... does this mean i am losing it already or just a normal shedding cycle in your opinion? I was reading up on some shampoos such as nizoral and nisim biofactors and some of them say they also block dht. Wouldnt that cause the same problems as propecia that does the same thing? Or are these shampoos a much safer option without the high chance of major side effects? I would like to try fighting hair loss some way but i am told that there are very few options and after propecia, pills are definitely not an option for me. Shampoos just seem safe and simple? I have had family members on rogaine but they claimed it did not work well for them at all. Any thoughts? Are some of these shampoos worth while? Anybody have any decent results? Is there also anything i can do to help the process to return back to normal? I am eating brain food such as fish and trying to stay away from alcohol, doing excercise etc. but im not sure if thats all i can do? Thank you for listening.
ripple-effect
Experienced Member
- Reaction score
- 11
I get that sometimes too, but it has nothing to do with finasteride....it's usually caused or happens because of too much stress. As for melo...to be honest...I really don't even think finasteride is causing all your problems. I think it's a deep psychological effect caused by something else and you're just blaming it on finasteride....not that I'm defending finasteride or saying that it can't be finasteride....it's just my opinion. It very well could be finasteride cause I don't know you anymore than you know yourself. :agree:
The derm also feels that it might just be psychological effects as well and i am not sure if its for sure propecia or not but before i used the drug i never felt any of these things i dont have any reason to be depressed family and life wise.... the hair issue causes sadness etc but i dont know about serious psycho effects like depression, stress maybe. The twitching stopped the day after i stopped taking it and i agree it might have been stressing about the drug rather than the drug itself. It might be some of the forums scared me alot about long term effects etc. Now that im off however, is there anything other than rogaine i can try to stop shedding and receeding hairline? shampoos? some types of creams?