Loss Of Libido After Switching From finasteride To dutasteride

9tfrizzco

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Hello, I am a 29 year old male. I responded well to finasteride for 5 years (from 2013 to 2018). In 2018 due to hair greed and concern that I was slowly losing ground (in hindsight was probably overly paranoid, eughhh), and after looking at the very similar safety profiles of finasteride and dutasteride- I switched to dutasteride.
Everything was fine until about 10 months in (July 2019) when I noticed I wasn't actually craving sex anymore or feeling any real sexual attraction. This was pretty depressing. I dropped dutasteride almost immediately and have remained on finasteride since in the hope some libido would return, but about 7 months later and I still feel no actual primal urge. It's like something is altered on a neurological level. However, I do have the occasional erotic dream in which I feel genuine sexual attraction. Do you think this is a good sign that there could there be a psychosomatic element to all this? I would still maintain my libido has taken a serious hit and I never feel anything much while awake.
It's worth noting that my penis is still fully functional; sex is perfectly doable and reasonably enjoyable at times but not the same satisfying experience it once was, nor can I maybe do it as often. Orgasms still feel the same, ejaculate volume and consistency is the same. I do have though a pretty persistent mild, tingly, 'pins and needles' like feeling in my groin area.
Most of the time in the last 7 months I haven't been overly depressed or bothered about this as physically I am ok but when I actually think about it I realise it's kind of screwed up and would like to feel actual desire again. Any advice on how to maybe get something back? I realise now switching to dutasteride was a mistake but what can you do.
I have thought about weening off finasteride slowly and see if that shakes thing back into shape, with a view to get back on it again once I've wiped the slate clean. I've also ordered some tribulus as I hear that's good for libido. Anything else I can try?
 
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TomRiddle

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You can try to see how it goes for a couple of months without any of these drugs, but that if you are willing to see yourself loosing hair that is. It's kind of the only way you can actually see if there is a big difference between you when using finasteride and you without it... Except that you can try some tribulus maybe and some zinc, don't know what else could help you... I find it very good that you don't have other side effects especially after 5 years...
 

9tfrizzco

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You can try to see how it goes for a couple of months without any of these drugs, but that if you are willing to see yourself loosing hair that is. It's kind of the only way you can actually see if there is a big difference between you when using finasteride and you without it... Except that you can try some tribulus maybe and some zinc, don't know what else could help you... I find it very good that you don't have other side effects especially after 5 years...
Mm yeah I don't think I would be prepared to come off it for months. Would rather keep the hair I have now with the sexual function I have now. I am thinking about coming off it for a short period of time to see if that gives me a burst of something to work with, though I don't know if this is a good idea or not really
 

TomRiddle

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Mm yeah I don't think I would be prepared to come off it for months. Would rather keep the hair I have now with the sexual function I have now. I am thinking about coming off it for a short period of time to see if that gives me a burst of something to work with, though I don't know if this is a good idea or not really

You know how it is, it's your decision and if you can handle it this way why not... Try some zinc also i really think it could help in some way, try to take it in the morning after eating something...
 

9tfrizzco

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Had a grim couple of days since making this thread. No nocturnal erections and I just feel like an emptiness and lack of sexuality in my stomach.
Right now I can't even comprehend how I have managed to feel the flashes of libido over the last seven months that I have done, but they do offer a glimmer of hope. I'm going to ween off finasteride and see if it does anything, but I doubt it will make a difference as I was on it for so long without problems and really I don't want to come off finasteride anyway. Although I also find it hard to believe dutasteride would take as long to cause sides as it did. Six months into dutasteride my libido was very strong and then...bam
 

Mr White

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I took Proscar for 20 years, two months ago it stopped working, I was shedding like crazy and now I'm taking Avodart. It most definitely works, shedding stopped completely and my hair looks thicker and stronger than ever but there are side effects: zero libido, weaker erections.
 

9tfrizzco

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I took Proscar for 20 years, two months ago it stopped working, I was shedding like crazy and now I'm taking Avodart. It most definitely works, shedding stopped completely and my hair looks thicker and stronger than ever but there are side effects: zero libido, weaker erections.
Does this loss of libido not bother you enough to try coming off? It didn't bother me for a while but now I have decided I want my libido back.

I'm just worried my loss of libido will be permanent. Though I have actually seen two four dutasteride studies with an incredibly low incidence of side effects at the end of the study. I think one showed a 0.5% incidence of libido loss and the other literally 0%. That's pretty compelling and why I don't think I can beat myself up too much for switching to dutasteride. I also felt sexual attraction again in my sleep last night but still feel generally pretty dead sexually. I'm going to go doctor just in case something else like a pituitary tumor is causing my symptoms.
 
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jh94

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Had the same. After a month or two I had zero desire to get off to p**rn or anything and when I met my gf my dick would max at 80~% erection and it was really hard to finish. Not sure if it was partly nerves but the libido definitely wasn't there. I remember for a month or two feeling how wierd it was that I didn't need to fap. I decided it wasn't worth it and went back to finasteride until things got back to normal and surprisingly my libido started peaking back up after 3-4 weeks (expected 5+) so I then tried dutasteride again and it happened again.

Decided to ditch it and go back to 0.25 finasteride until everything was stable and couple months later I'm back to 100% :)

Plan next is to slowly step back up to 1mg making sure everything is fine and potentially try dutasteride again once nerves are completely ruled out, but I really think there was more to it.
 
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skyline999

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Get some blood work done, get them to check for prolactin, full testosterone profile, full estrogen profile, SHBG profile, thyroid. How old are you if you don't mind me asking? Also do you do any exercise? If so, what kind and how many days?
 

9tfrizzco

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Get some blood work done, get them to check for prolactin, full testosterone profile, full estrogen profile, SHBG profile, thyroid. How old are you if you don't mind me asking? Also do you do any exercise? If so, what kind and how many days?
29.
Yeah I will do, might take a while though and I have a feeling it won't reveal much.
Next to none tbh, I have been pretty lazy for a while, but a healthy weight.
 

skyline999

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29.
Yeah I will do, might take a while though and I have a feeling it won't reveal much.
Next to none tbh, I have been pretty lazy for a while, but a healthy weight.
The bloods will be a good starter/indicator to see if anything is out of sync so will give you a starting point. Also try excerising 3-4 times a week, strength and cardio. Do you take any supplements?
 

whatevr

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Tribulus (VemoHerb/MediHerb brands), sorghum bicolor, butea superba.
 

Jus90

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Had the same. After a month or two I had zero desire to get off to p**rn or anything and when I met my gf my dick would max at 80~% erection and it was really hard to finish. Not sure if it was partly nerves but the libido definitely wasn't there. I remember for a month or two feeling how wierd it was that I didn't need to fap. I decided it wasn't worth it and went back to finasteride until things got back to normal and surprisingly my libido started peaking back up after 3-4 weeks (expected 5+) so I then tried dutasteride again and it happened again.

Decided to ditch it and go back to 0.25 finasteride until everything was stable and couple months later I'm back to 100% :)

Plan next is to slowly step back up to 1mg making sure everything is fine and potentially try dutasteride again once nerves are completely ruled out, but I really think there was more to it.


Why don't you keep the Finasteride and once a week take one Duta? You don't need Duta all the time, it stays in your body (They claim) for around a month so it should work well along with Finasteride ...
 

Jus90

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I took Proscar for 20 years, two months ago it stopped working, I was shedding like crazy and now I'm taking Avodart. It most definitely works, shedding stopped completely and my hair looks thicker and stronger than ever but there are side effects: zero libido, weaker erections.

20 years? That's long , very good improvement.

Had you got any blood tests? Do you workout often?
 

jh94

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Why don't you keep the Finasteride and once a week take one Duta? You don't need Duta all the time, it stays in your body (They claim) for around a month so it should work well along with Finasteride ...
Going to experiment with something like this soon
 
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