A question about gyno

[lookhowshiny]

I'm confused. It's basically the main reason I'm afraid to take finasteride. How come it's so popular in these forums? I've checked with a doctor, it's close to impossible to grow tits with finasteride (according to medical stats at least). Every 10th fkn guy experiences gyno in here, are they just all trolls?

Also, what's the deal with hairless men? How come they don't grow tits 'by nature'?

 

[Norsk]

I think you'll find that the guys who got gyno are a rather small minority on this forum. It's just that many of them naturally make more "noise" about the gyno than all the other guys make about not getting it.

As for it being impossible according to stats, gyno is listed as one of the possible side effects. I personally don't trust Merck when it comes to the probabilities. Sexual side effects also seem much more common than 2%.

As for my own case of gyno, I do admit it might be paranoia. But since I felt my nipples looked suspicious AND I had some of the typical gyno sensations, I didn't dare to continue on finasteride. It was high time to quit anyway, since I had suffered sexual side effects for 6 months (since day 2), and they were definitely not only in my head. Now been completely off proscar for 52 days and I still suffer the sexual side effects but notice no signs of gyno.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "hairless men". If you mean guys with little body hair, but full head of hair, they aren't "hairless" because they have low levels of male hormones, but because their hair is less sensitive to male hormones than us male pattern baldness guys. Propecia doesn't knock our DHT from a high level down to normal. It typically lowers the DHT level from normal to very low, which for some people leads to gyno, possibly because estrogen levels rise in some of us?

I wouldnt avoid trying propecia because of the possibility of gyno alone. You won't get huge b**ch tits overnight. It seems to me that most who get gyno have sexual side effects first.So I think you'd be safe from gyno if you have no sexual side effects. I might be wrong here, though, so you may want to do some research on your own.

Some guys get their various hormone levels checked before starting on proscar/propecia, so they can check whether something is wrong if they get worried after being on the treatment for a while. Also I wish I had taken some baseline pics of my chest when I started, not only on my hair. Because when I started worrying about my nipples I had nothing to compare with. So that's another possible safeguard.

EDIT: BTW, I took a look at the thread where you asked about your hairline. I believe it is only a maturing hairline, doesn't look like you're going bald.

 

[lookhowshiny]

Hairless men, well, I've seen lots of guys with no hair on their arms, for example (and I have some on my fingers even). I thought higher levels of estrogen have contributed in some way. I've never seen a balding guy with little hair on their legs as well. Just an observation though.

Regarding my hairline. I'm confused about that as well. Here's a large picture of my scalp - http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3056/001pv6.jpg. The doctor told me to get some vitamins and wait before getting on finasteride, but I've no faith in him. Shouldn't it just go up, instead of thinning (if it were to be a process of my hairline maturing)? Also, the earlier you get on treatment - the better, eh?

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Libido]

I have very little hair on my legs, but the hair on my head doesnt seem to care at all about that. Also very little chest-hair.

So nah, dont think that has anything to do with it.

 

[Eureka]

Well, It does seem to come up a lot. People who take finasteride, get positive results, and don't experience any sides are not likely going to jump on a forum just to talk about it. Whereas someone who experiences the effects of the drug negatively, their much more likely to want to talk about it and find other people who will sympathize or relate to their problem.

Gyno is a very real issue though, and it's a larger percent then what's acknowledged by merck and other such companies.

 

[paximperia]

Here's my take on it... I've been taking Propecia since 01/2007 and my experience has been:

1. The gyno is not technically gynocomastia, but is a redistribution of fat on the abdomen and chest. I experienced this on Propecia, and after losing weight it is no longer noticeable (even to me). It is not [in my case] actual tissue growth, and would not get classified as gyno in the trials, and probably not even breast enlargement since it was not very severe.

2. My body hair has thinned, gotten shorter, and blonder. I suspect that this side-effect wasn't reported because the hair count hasn't decreased (the hairs have just become small and transparent), and the doctors in the trial were probably not expecting body hair to decrease, and the doctors only report side-effects which they believe have a reasonable chance of being caused by the medication. It's also possible that I am an out lier in this regard. Part of the reason I don't trust the "official" side-effects is because of this. I KNOW with 100% certainty that my body hair has decreased on my arms, legs, underarms since starting Finasteride.

All that being said, I was very happy with Propecia and I am very glad that I took it. I would probably be bald by now (it was very aggressive).