How To Find Out If Finasteride Is Causing Anxiety?

corza000

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I’ve been on finasteride since 2011 following fair hair loss in my early 20s. It went great. I’ve lost minimal hair over the course of 9 years. Had a period where I grew some back.

I have been lucky as I have never experienced any apparent sides. Libido and everything all good. No gyno etc.

That being said, I experienced depression in 2014 but worked through it that year. Since then I’ve had on and off anxiety. I was always a little bit anxious but it has been a bit more apparent in recent years. I still live a functional life and have many happy days though. But I’m left wondering am I contributing to my anxiety?

Now I’m left with a dilemma. Do I drop finasteride in hope that it can improve my anxiety. If It doesn’t work then I’m left an anxious mess with no hair but if I don’t do it I’ll never know.

Is there a way I can work out if it’s effecting me?

Thanks.

Mark
 

PeakyBlinderRob

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If I were you, I would stay on the finasteride (since you have had 9 years of success). Try a few things. Check on your diet, vitamins, nutrients. Are you active physically? Also, you can always adjusting your dosage (either reducing to 0.5mg or taking 1mg every other day). See if any of these help with your anxiety. I wouldn't drop the finasteride because there is a good chance you will lose the regrowth and continue losing hair (which can in the end, make you more anxious and depressed) Best of luck!
 

WaccWaccWacc

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I agree with the comment above. Although it is common that anxiety prone people realize their prone early in their life it can certainly develop as we age and have more responsibilities. I would seek other therapy to try to calm your anxiety.

If you took finasteride to save your hair you’re clearly bothered by it. Unless you’re forsure not bothered by your hair anymore, dropping finasteride in my eyes will only make your anxiety worse.
 

Gold24

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The short answer is yes finasteride is probably contributing to your anxiety. This is because of finasterides effects on neurosteroids. I could bore you with the technicalities of how this occurs but instead I’ll just say that finasteride also inhibits steroids in the brain from fulfilling their functions through blocking 5ar. Some of these functions include stress control and anti anxiety and anti depressant effects.

I believe that those who experience these sides on finasteride are in some may prone to anxiety and depression which may be why some people can get away with taking finasteride for 10+ years without any sides. If this is the case and if your hair is very important to you then it may not be a good idea to come off finasteride since it may drive you to even worse anxiety. So I can agree with these guys above that you should try some things that target your anxiety such as exercise, acupuncture, meditation and breathing exercises to keep you mind healthy.

additionally, I’ve read a study a while back that the neurosteroid In question (allopregnanolone) is inhibited ‘dose dependantly’. At 10mg (of finasteride) it is 99% blocked according to Yoshiyuki Mukai et al. Biol Pharm Bull. 2008. Therefore, the more finasteride builds up in your system, the more inhibition. So Alternatively what you could do is take a break from finasteride and let that build up clear and then go back at a lower dose. That way it will take longer to build up in your system again and inhibit the neurosteroids that your body needs for their calming effects.
Best of luck whatever you choose.
 

corza000

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Thanks for your replies. They are much appreciated.

To be honest, dropping finasteride scares the hell out of me. Hair loss has always made me feel terrible pre and post finasteride.

The neurosteroids is very interesting. I would love to know more but know if I search for it then I’ll come across some bad stuff on the internet. I think I’ll try cutting back or taking a break as an experiment.

I’m assuming what effects the sexual sides is not neurosteroids and different from the anxiety sides.
 

Gold24

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Thanks for your replies. They are much appreciated.

To be honest, dropping finasteride scares the hell out of me. Hair loss has always made me feel terrible pre and post finasteride.

The neurosteroids is very interesting. I would love to know more but know if I search for it then I’ll come across some bad stuff on the internet. I think I’ll try cutting back or taking a break as an experiment.

I’m assuming what effects the sexual sides is not neurosteroids and different from the anxiety sides.


That’s true. Unfortunatly looking into neurosteroids always leads you to Propeciahelp. I noticed you had another thread about anxiety years ago on finasteride. Have you experienced any other sides such as brain fog, headaches, pain in the neck or constant fatigue?

I also got anxiety first on finasteride which progressed to the symptoms mentioned above. After quite a bit of research I found out that all of these symptoms actually stemmed from anxiety itself. Even when I look up videos on YouTube of all my symptoms it leads me to people with anxiety disorder. I’ve put it down to my body being exposed to anxiety/stress without a mechanism to fight it (due to inhibition of calming hormones) which eventually takes its tole on the body. This may sound like a stupid question but how does you anxiety feel? For me it’s like a feeling of dread rushing through my body like I can almost feel it when I breathe in and breathe out, then the headache gets worse due to muscle tension etc. The weird thing is that it just comes out of nowhere even without anxious thought, as If my brain is signalling for a threat despite there being none.
 

corza000

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Thanks for the reply.

no symptoms of pain. Not sure about brain fog. Just tired a lot of the time. Particularly in the mornings. Possibly from overthinking and general restlessness. I still perform a high functioning job and I think I do it very well but my brain is typically in overdrive and I’m less anxious when I’m occupied. I would describe it as a general anxiety that fades in and out. Particularly when tired or the mind is not occupied. When it is in action I will ruminate about perceived threats or have critical thinking towards the way I look. I tend to just get fixated on an issue I can’t fix and and stress ensues. I’ll have shallow breathing and high level of restfulness but no Physical pain.

I can have a coffee and it all goes away for a few hours and I feel amazing but then it comes back worse.
 

WaccWaccWacc

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Thanks for the reply.

no symptoms of pain. Not sure about brain fog. Just tired a lot of the time. Particularly in the mornings. Possibly from overthinking and general restlessness. I still perform a high functioning job and I think I do it very well but my brain is typically in overdrive and I’m less anxious when I’m occupied. I would describe it as a general anxiety that fades in and out. Particularly when tired or the mind is not occupied. When it is in action I will ruminate about perceived threats or have critical thinking towards the way I look. I tend to just get fixated on an issue I can’t fix and and stress ensues. I’ll have shallow breathing and high level of restfulness but no Physical pain.

I can have a coffee and it all goes away for a few hours and I feel amazing but then it comes back worse.
Yea same here. Its just a mixture of Anxiety disorder and BDD. You can take pills or just deal with it and work on yourself so that it affects your everyday life less and less.
 

jazz1

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I suffer from depression and anxiety regular from other issues in my life, but there are days I have fluctuations in my sex. I don’t think Finasteride is causing my anxiety to become worse, plus i use Topical Finasteride.
 

corza000

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Yea same here. Its just a mixture of Anxiety disorder and BDD. You can take pills or just deal with it and work on yourself so that it affects your everyday life less and less.

That’s interesting. I just looked up BDD and I damn well do all of the things it lists. Are you on finasteride too? How have you managed it?
 

corza000

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That’s true. Unfortunatly looking into neurosteroids always leads you to Propeciahelp. I noticed you had another thread about anxiety years ago on finasteride. Have you experienced any other sides such as brain fog, headaches, pain in the neck or constant fatigue?

I also got anxiety first on finasteride which progressed to the symptoms mentioned above. After quite a bit of research I found out that all of these symptoms actually stemmed from anxiety itself. Even when I look up videos on YouTube of all my symptoms it leads me to people with anxiety disorder. I’ve put it down to my body being exposed to anxiety/stress without a mechanism to fight it (due to inhibition of calming hormones) which eventually takes its tole on the body. This may sound like a stupid question but how does you anxiety feel? For me it’s like a feeling of dread rushing through my body like I can almost feel it when I breathe in and breathe out, then the headache gets worse due to muscle tension etc. The weird thing is that it just comes out of nowhere even without anxious thought, as If my brain is signalling for a threat despite there being none.

I’m interested in hearing how you have managed it. Are you still on any medication?
 

WaccWaccWacc

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That’s interesting. I just looked up BDD and I damn well do all of the things it lists. Are you on finasteride too? How have you managed it?
Um, mostly just keeping busy.

I realized that when I have nothing to do the anxiety just starts creeping back up. I think Ive had anxiety my whole life but it is now just amplified by hairloss. I just fix my hair in the morning and try not to touch/think about it the rest of the day and do my work. Harder than it sounds, I know.

I will point out that, when I first noticed I was balding. I was extremely insecure, almost didn’t know what to do or how to live. As the past 2 years have gone by and Ive tried treatments and gotten used to the notion of balding more I don’t get as fidgety anymore and never wear a hat either. Still insecure about it though, I dont know when that’ll disappear.
 

corza000

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Um, mostly just keeping busy.

I realized that when I have nothing to do the anxiety just starts creeping back up. I think Ive had anxiety my whole life but it is now just amplified by hairloss. I just fix my hair in the morning and try not to touch/think about it the rest of the day and do my work. Harder than it sounds, I know.

I will point out that, when I first noticed I was balding. I was extremely insecure, almost didn’t know what to do or how to live. As the past 2 years have gone by and Ive tried treatments and gotten used to the notion of balding more I don’t get as fidgety anymore and never wear a hat either. Still insecure about it though, I dont know when that’ll disappear.

that’s interesting. Sounds just like me. Occupied mind and I’m all good. I just try to remind myself that no one really gives a sh*t what your hair looks like (at least not like I do)
 

Gold24

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I’m interested in hearing how you have managed it. Are you still on any medication?

Currently I’m just riding out the side effects to see if I can find a way to beat them without having to cease medication. What I’m doing is probably pretty crazy considering how badly the sides are affecting my cognitive function every day (woozy/lightheadedness, tension headache in back of head and neck and general anxious feeling 24/7), but I value my hair that much that I’m willing to suffer them every day until I can find a remedy.

I truly believe that they are all stemming from anxiety itself. It relates heavily to what WaccWaccWacc has just mentioned above. I had my stress levels measured when I first noticed I was losing hair and they were through the roof, one of the highest the clinic has recorded. They recommended that I take some time of work to relax and I did thinking it would reduce my stress levels. However when I went back 1 month later my stress levels actually increased. This was because I had nothing to do at home but concentrate on my hair for a whole month. But when I went back to uni and had to force myself to socialise and be proactive with work my stress levels dropped a huge amount because I didn’t have as much time to think about my hair loss. However, ever since lockdown that stress built up again since I had nothing to do again but think about my hair. My clinic explained to me that stress builds up on your system and how chronic stress can have an bad effect on your health. So now I believe I’m stuck at the point where i have all of the anxiety symptoms but possibly no way to get rid of the anxiety due to finasterides supression of allopregnaolone and it’s effect on the GABA A receptor of releasing calming/anti stress hormones in the body.

But in relation to how I am going to manage this, I am going to try force my stress levels downwards through keeping myself busy, New job, exercising, acupuncture, meditation etc in the hope that my stress/anxiety levels will decrease, hence decreasing the muscle tension caused by anxiety’s constant fight or flight mode that it puts your body into as well as the other symptoms. I don’t know if it’s possible since finasteride is basically blocking the body’s mechanism to fight stress/anxiety but I’m going to give it a try. Additionally I don’t know if you’ve seen the topical dutasteride thread but some users that had bad finasteride side effects have tried it with no sides and significant scalp DHT supression with minimal Serum DHT supression so I’ll try that also.
 

corza000

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Currently I’m just riding out the side effects to see if I can find a way to beat them without having to cease medication. What I’m doing is probably pretty crazy considering how badly the sides are affecting my cognitive function every day (woozy/lightheadedness, tension headache in back of head and neck and general anxious feeling 24/7), but I value my hair that much that I’m willing to suffer them every day until I can find a remedy.

I truly believe that they are all stemming from anxiety itself. It relates heavily to what WaccWaccWacc has just mentioned above. I had my stress levels measured when I first noticed I was losing hair and they were through the roof, one of the highest the clinic has recorded. They recommended that I take some time of work to relax and I did thinking it would reduce my stress levels. However when I went back 1 month later my stress levels actually increased. This was because I had nothing to do at home but concentrate on my hair for a whole month. But when I went back to uni and had to force myself to socialise and be proactive with work my stress levels dropped a huge amount because I didn’t have as much time to think about my hair loss. However, ever since lockdown that stress built up again since I had nothing to do again but think about my hair. My clinic explained to me that stress builds up on your system and how chronic stress can have an bad effect on your health. So now I believe I’m stuck at the point where i have all of the anxiety symptoms but possibly no way to get rid of the anxiety due to finasterides supression of allopregnaolone and it’s effect on the GABA A receptor of releasing calming/anti stress hormones in the body.

But in relation to how I am going to manage this, I am going to try force my stress levels downwards through keeping myself busy, New job, exercising, acupuncture, meditation etc in the hope that my stress/anxiety levels will decrease, hence decreasing the muscle tension caused by anxiety’s constant fight or flight mode that it puts your body into as well as the other symptoms. I don’t know if it’s possible since finasteride is basically blocking the body’s mechanism to fight stress/anxiety but I’m going to give it a try. Additionally I don’t know if you’ve seen the topical dutasteride thread but some users that had bad finasteride side effects have tried it with no sides and significant scalp DHT supression with minimal Serum DHT supression so I’ll try that also.

Interesting. When you had your stress levels tested and they were through the roof- was that prior to finasteride/medication? What did you notice the difference before and during? I guess from reading that you have weighed up what you were like pre medication compared to now and you still choose now.

I’m relatively new to this but have you considered GABA supplementation or adding things that naturally increase GABA to your intake? I’m wondering if there can be a balance between GABA levels and medication.
 

Gold24

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Yes it was just before I started Finasteride. But I started finasteride within 2 weeks of noticing my hair loss, but I had already lost a lot before I even noticed. So the shock of hair loss would have put my stress levels very high. i noticed my breathing was effected badly, I could never get a full breath, felt like my throat was constricted and heart palpitations every now and then. But when i started to get my stress levels down I could feel my airways open up and generally just felt more relaxed which I believe was due to my hair improving and keeping myself busy.

I have just tried diazipam which targets GABA through increasing neurosteroids and it’s definitely helped. Calms my system down and eases the muscle tension in my body. I guess this just reaffirms what I originally though was the issue. Only thing Is I don’t want to have to be taking these long term so I guess time will tell if I can get rid of these anxiety symthoms indefinitely.
 

IslaStephenson

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Hello there! I came across your old forum post about your concerns with finasteride and anxiety. I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with this issue. Hope you feel better now. I just wanted to suggest a kava bar that might help you relax and unwind - Hideout Kava Bar Downtown West Palm Beach. They offer a range of kava strains that could potentially help with your anxiety. In terms of your dilemma, have you considered talking to your doctor about it? They might be able to provide some guidance or suggest alternative treatments. It's also worth noting that taking a break from finasteride could be an option, but it's important to do so under medical supervision. Anyway, best of luck to you, and I hope you find a solution that works for you.
 
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Speenybean

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Coming from someone who feels the same about Propecia and anxiety I will give you this advice. First things first. Pick up a book called “At Last A Life” by Paul David. This book is a game changer and literally changed my life after suffering my very first panic attack at the age of 36. I’ve been on Propecia for 9 years as well. I’m def anxiety and stressed proned. Secondly download one of two apps , or both (Headspace or Insight timer). These will also be life changing for you as you start your journey into mindfulness and mediation. I will say Tred lightly with meds and therapy. Those are usually resources that will not address the cause and kinda just put a hand aid over it. Get that book asap and then read the sequel. I’m telling you it will change your life!!!
 

Yaumide

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Finasteride is a medication used to treat hair loss and enlarged prostate. Anxiety is a potential side effect of this medication, although it is not very common. If you are experiencing anxiety and suspect that it may be related to finasteride, here are some steps you can take:

1. Consult your healthcare provider: Talk to your doctor or healthcare provider about your symptoms and concerns. They can help determine if finasteride is the cause of your anxiety or if there may be other underlying factors.

2. Keep a journal: Keep track of your symptoms and note when they occur. This can help identify patterns and potential triggers.

3. Consider alternative causes: Anxiety can have many different causes, including stress, lifestyle factors, and underlying medical conditions. Make sure to consider other potential causes of your anxiety, such as work stress, relationship issues, or a history of anxiety disorders.

4. Consider discontinuing finasteride: If your healthcare provider determines that finasteride may be causing your anxiety, they may recommend discontinuing the medication. However, it is important to weigh the potential benefits and risks of discontinuing the medication and discuss alternative treatments with your healthcare provider.

5. Consider therapy or other treatments: If you are experiencing anxiety, consider seeking therapy or other treatments to help manage your symptoms. This may include cognitive-behavioral therapy, relaxation techniques, or medication.

Remember, it is important to work closely with your healthcare provider to determine the cause of your anxiety and develop an appropriate treatment plan.
 
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