For Propecia users...

[jd_uk]

Have any of you been on the drug for a good amount of time and not experienced any negative side effects? (including even the ball ache)...what about semen reduction and sex drive? and obviously, did it help your hair?

So far, I think I've read about one case on here where everything went smoothly with no side effects and want to here about more before i try it.

 

[kthxbi]

dunno what you mean by a good amount of time, really. i've only been on it for 4 months but nothing so far. i had some brain fog and nausea for the first week of using it, both of which then completely went.

 

[Rawtashk]

I've been on it for almost 3 years (as well as Rogaine Foam, Nizoral, and Nioxin). I only had a small thinning spot on my crown and a little bit of receding at the temples. The receding slowed waaaay down, and the crown pretty much stopped.

I started with a 1mg dose at first. Had some ball ache on the 3rd day, so I got freaked out, bought a pill cutter and went to .5mg doses. Haven't had a problem with it since. I started up to 1mg doses a few weeks ago, and I haven't had any problems.

I did notice a bit of sexual changes at first...mainly I was SUPER horny! Things leveled out after that. I've gotten married since I started taking propecia, and have never once had my wife complain that I couldn't keep it up, or that I never wanted sex :-D

Sometimes my semen is a bit watery (another potential side), but I don't know that it's a big deal.

I'm going in next week for a comprehensive physical/blood work, so I should have more concrete facts after that.

Oh, and I'm also 27....don't know if that makes a difference or not.

 

[Mircalegro]

been on it nearly 5 weeks, which i know is too early to tell as far as maintanence goes, but my scalp itch and irritation that had been plaguing me for months has pretty much subsided (this was evident somewhere around week 3 i believe), due- im sure, to the finasteride- got rid of the androgen surplus goin on in my head i guess haha

no sides so far, pretty much at all actually. guess those could still be coming, but ive been doing 1.25 mg/day since day 1- i recommend if youre gonna do it just do it, dont get worried about getting sides, just take it and be done for the day- staying away from these boards will do you some good as well- thats what i did (and im about due for that again, i have been wasting entirely too much time on these boards lately lol).

with that in mind, if you really do get sides, you can just drop the stuff

 

[jd_uk]

im amazed at the lack of responses to this. there must be more people gettingg good results without side effects surely!?

also, if you do reply can you say if you had tests done on your dht and testosterone and were you worrid about your sperm count/quality too?

 

[jd_uk]

im amazed at the lack of responses to this. there must be more people gettingg good results without side effects surely!?

also, if you do reply can you say if you had tests done on your dht and testosterone and were you worrid about your sperm count/quality too?

 

[slurms mackenzie]

Check out the success stories section, most people who finasteride works for without side are just going to drop the tablets and then never check in to HairLossTalk.com again.

 

[Wuffer]

I think the vast majority of people that have great results and no sides don't bother hanging around HairLossTalk.com anymore!

It seems almost everyone reported testicular ache at some time.. I had it about 2-3 weeks in for a couple days. It went away and didn't return. If you consider this a side effect, I had a decrease in morning wood for the first couple months, but that's returned to normal now. I actually think my sex drive was increased when I first started (despite the decrease in morning wood) but thats leveled out now. No complaints from the gf; sex is just as good as before! This initial adjustment period seems pretty common, and affects people both positively and negatively. For the vast majority, this levels out after a couple months max.

I had blood tests done last october before I started finasteride (I started 01/01/11) and plan to have more done soon. This drug alters your hormones, so it's always a good idea to get a pre-finasteride blood test, get another one a couple months after, and one every year after that should you be on for that long. As finfighter mentioned, testosterone, dht, and estrogen are the scores you want to plot.

Haven't noticed any semen changes at all. I had great results with my hair, check out my story in success stories for pictures.

 

[jd_uk]

hey wuffer thanks for reply....regarding sperm i actually meant that what worries me is some people have suggested it can lower fertility. That to me is a huge concern as i want to have kids in future and haven't had any yet. id be devastated if in five to ten years i found out i couldnt have kids due to propecia.

have seen people say it diminishes sperm and reduces mobility...thats a huge side efect if so. And when the intial tests on fins safety were completed was this partt of the 'sexual' side effects which was a) tested for b) acknowledged?

do people get this tested??

 

[Wuffer]

Hey jd,

Yes, there is a study that indicates finasteride can cause reduced sperm quality. However, this article did not come to the conclusion that it could be permanent. I think they tested people after coming off finasteride and noticed things returned to normal.

Also, people that were affected by this already had low sperm quality. If you are concerned about this, get a sperm mobility test before starting on finasteride, and get this tested every year afterwards. If you find that you already have low sperm quality, then you might want to reconsider starting finasteride just in case. But for the 99.9% of young guys, this shouldn't be anything to worry about. Again, if something like this concerns you, test it regularly and keep an eye on it.

Are you talking about sperm quality during the initial trials? This was not reported, but I also doubt it was tested either. Again, like the whole debate about permanent side effects, this stuff has been on the market for 20 years. If a huge amount of people had their sperm quality crushed by taking finasteride, it would have been tested & confirmed in a lab setting and would be listed as a side effect by Merck. Everyone is basing this on a single study (there may be more actually, i've only seen one). As with all these studies, many people completely misrepresent the actual risk and ignore the scope.

 

[Wuffer]

(double post)

PS: I'll use this post to show you the study I was referring to:


viewtopic.php?f=46&t=65085


It's another 'nice to know' thing, but really no cause for concern.