Do you take finasteride and do you experience side effects?
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cthulhu2.0
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I've noticed some lethargy while on finasteride, but it is not bad enough to make me quit at the moment.
ThatHairStruggle
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I don't notice anything except it's been a while since I've had to clean hair off my keyboard so that's probably a good sign. No visible results yet 
my husband took it and within 3 weeks I had noticed strange behaviour. He will tell you it took 5 months before he realised something was wrong, I disagree. In hind sight I would not advise anyone to take this "medication". 14 month psychosis was the end diagnosis. That was 3 years back. I believe this medication has cost him his sanity. Certainly has cost him his marraige. I do believe however there was a problem there before he started this medication (nothin too severe) , but I've no doubt finasteride pushed him over the edge. He should never have been prescribed it. Depression as a side effect does not describe my experience. It was psychosis he went through. The depression came when he stopped the medication and began thinking clearly. (More like horror at his behaviour and lack of emotion - that would depress anyone) He is not the same since 3 years later. Still paranoid, selfish to the point of madness and has found God.... There is a lack of emotion and complete paranoia which is the root of the problem. To me, it's like paranoid schizoprenia. I do believe there was a weakness there before taking this drug, but I blame finasteride for the psychosis. Get off this stuff, think about your thoughts and if they make sense and find someone you trust and go with what they advise even if you are in complete denial that anything is wrong. Hopefully you are one of the ones that does not experience side effects and more luck to you if you are. For me personally, I am horrified when I see young mens posts about taking finasteride for hair loss when I'm still reeling from the nightmare that drug has brought into what was our home and family.
Finasteride is generally a safe drug to use.
Your husband was wrong taking medication without medical supervision. It does no such thing to the general population.
He was prescribed this by a consultant at a private hospital with an excellent reputation. I agree. He should have been medically supervised while on it. Depression was not listed as a side effect in 2009 when he started taking this. There were a series of flaws that led to disaster. There was no psychological screening before being prescribed it, he was assured there were no side effects worth mentioning, and he was able to renew his prescription after 6 months without any sort of check up. I know it does no such thing to general population, however, it can be dangerous if you are susceptible. There is a "bad smell" about this drug and too much whispering for want of a better word. I wanted to scream about it but the unfortunate thing is, no one wants to shout out that they were mad on this. There is a stigma with mental health, and no one is proud of there actions when they are ill. My husband hired a prostitute while on this. He is not the type to do that. I cannot emphasize enough, this was bizzare. He had cosmetic surgery done when there was no need. He did awful things that he is ashamed of. No one in their right mind will own up to behaviour like this as it's simply embarrassing and not condusive to getting your life back together....when you have already been hammered with depression and remorse. Thow in some apathy and emotional flatness (intermittently) and you end up in psychiatric care. Not something anyone wants to brag about I'm afraid.
Dark Link
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I'm not going to say that this wan't caused by finasteride... But I will say this. With millions of men taking the drug there are bound to be coincidental circumstances when men "lose it" around the time after starting the drug. Judging your story, yes "judging" I would say the issues your man had were not caused by finasteride.
There are stories similar to you for men that have taken flonase. A harmless nasal steroid for allergy inflammation. "There is no doubt in my mind my brother committed suicide because of the poisonous drug flonase." Your man was more than likely going to have these things happen to him regardless of taking finasteride. I know you want something to blame but c'mon. Really!?
I'm not joking about the flonase thing either. People have literally posted online that their family members committed suicide because of flonase. Yeah.. sure they did.
Now post finasteride syndrome may be real for some people. But those people aren't going to be purchasing sex from w****s anytime soon.
Thank you for the comments, poorwife. I will definitely take it into serious consideration. Mental illness runs in my family, and I'm currently struggling with it right now. Something that worries me is that finasteride could possibly worsen what I'm already going through.
Dark Link
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Honestly kpat, I wouldn't take finasteride if you have a history of mental illness in your family.
Not that the finasteride is going to cause mental illness. I just don't think it's the best idea for someone that is prone with mental illness to be altering their hormones that doesn't help their mental illness.
Fewer drugs the better.
That's kind of what my gut is telling me. Especially since some of the rare but severe side effects include depression. But maybe my tea/pumpkin seeds/saw palmetto treatment will work and then I won't have to think about finasteride xD I don't know. I thought this site would help me worry about it less, but since I've joined it's been so much more prevalent in my thoughts >-< And I'm not at all closer to making a decision.
I assume that you are not medical professional. With your limited knowledge on mental disorder and understanding of the situation, the least you can do is show some empathy. furthermore, u are a senior member.
I know. This is the predicatment I'm in. No one can say for sure that finasteride caused this, even me. It's the timings though, something deffo went pear shaped when he started on this drug. You must understand though, he did go mad while on it. I've known him for years, we were in school together, he was head boy! So not the prostitute type, this was alien behaviour and it did escalate on finasteride. I cannot emphasize enough, he completely changed. And the muscle twitching was weird also. That drug did not agree with him at all, almost killed him (he was suicidal) not wihle on it, but he did stop taking it for a week as he was on an antibiotic and that when the suicidal thoughts came into play. The timings are all linked and we keep coming back to finasteride. That's all I can say. I'm a prefessional and so is he. He is highly intelligent and was always a gentleman. We are not prone to mass hysteria or any of that crap, just 2 normal people who had an awful mental illness experience and I can't rule finasteride out as a cause. The only reason I bother to write on this blog, is just to tell my story of my experience so that whoever out there can be aware that this did happen to us.
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Dear kpat, I would take finasteride if I had a large tumour and was at death's door with this as the only option for curing me. (even then, I would think long and hard about it) For hairloss, no. Honestly, I don't get why worry so much about hair. I think bald men are so attractive. Most women do. Why are you so insecure about physical stuff, it's really not important. You need to love yourself a bit more as you are.
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You poor thing. Mental illness is horrible. But it is an illness, remember that. Treat it as such, it's no ones fault. I wish you every good luck with your struggle and hope you have friends and family that are supportive. Try to be happy. Life's short and precious.
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Dear kpat, I would take finasteride if I had a large tumour and was at death's door with this as the only option for curing me. (even then, I would think long and hard about it) For hairloss, no. Honestly, I don't get why worry so much about hair. I think bald men are so attractive. Most women do. Why are you so insecure about physical stuff, it's really not important. You need to love yourself a bit more as you are.
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You poor thing. Mental illness is horrible. But it is an illness, remember that. Treat it as such, it's no ones fault. I wish you every good luck with your struggle and hope you have friends and family that are supportive. Try to be happy. Life's short and precious.
The reason I worry about hair loss is not to attract anyone. I worry about it because I have realized my identity is greatly tied to it. I identify as a non-binary gender, and I am transgender in the way that I was assigned male at birth but identify largely with being female. Not completely, but largely. I have wanted long hair for basically my entire life, and when I didn't want it, it was because I had repressed it. I am now finally growing it out, and it's getting to a place where I can look in the mirror and finally see what I've wanted to see for my entire life. It makes me feel ecstatic thinking of how it's actually a possibility. I struggle with the fact that my hair is so greatly tied to my identity, because I feel like it shouldn't be. It's just hair, right? But it feels so right when my hair is how I want it to be that I forget to care about how trivial it should be. When I try to justify it, I think of other physical things that define me and my gender: my penis, my body hair, my skinny-ness, my eyes, my lips, my good skin, my clothes, my makeup, etc. Technically, those are just things. But to give up any one of them, the things I use to express and define myself physically, would be extremely difficult. I'm trying to decide if I want to take a pill that could let me express myself in a way I really want to and risk rare side effects, or if I want to keep trying what I'm trying. So I don't know what to do. I have not decided whether or not I want to take finasteride. The choice is really hard. But I cut my bangs today, and I feel like they look really great, and I feel so great. Do I want to give up this feeling? How much should I risk to always have this feeling?
Hi kpat, gosh, you do have a lot going on. It must be exhausting for you worrying about your physicalities and image. I hope you are working through this with support and not trying to figure this out on your own. This is something which goes back to your childhood. I can't imagine what it must be like to be born a boy but know something is amiss all your life. I really don't believe growing your hair is going to give you fulfillment though. You're absolutely right, your hair should NOT be tied to your identity. Go with you gut feeling on that one. (Easy for me to say I know.) You need to find some inner happiness first and accept yourself as you are. Everybody is unique. Reading though this forum, it's sad to see so many people hurting. My nightmare has completely changed my attitude to everything, and now, I don't care if someone looks physically unattractive or whatever, I don't even see it or notice it anymore. It's so not important. It's what is inside that counts. I'd throw out that mirror if I were you. I think the wish for long hair is a childhood dream that your brain has convinced itself over the years will somehow bring you joy. Perhaps it will - I don't think so. Be aware poor self image does go hand in hand with mental illness. You just see your own version of yourself. Others may see you differently. Get that sorted before doing anything extreme to change your physicalities, you may come to a point where suddenly you don't give a **** about your hair or anything else, and if anyone has a problem with how you look then they are no friends of yours. I used to worry about weight, acne as a child, silly things like that. Now I couldn't care less about those things and I have to say, it's so refreshing. You should try that for a few weeks as a challenge, just change your attitude and see how much happier and lighter you feel. I swear to you, it works. Anyhow, you have some good luck wishes from me Mind yourself.
Mind yourself.