Maybe I should stop using finasteride

[callpizza]

I have been using finasteride for a year and four months, and it is very effective. However, looking back on the medication time for more than a year, there are actually many side effects.
In recent months I have reduced my dosage to 0.5 or 0.125 or even less at a time.
The other day I looked up some information about the serious side effects of finasteride, and I was honestly frightened. I felt like I was in a state of anxiety and even a little impotence.
I wonder if I should stop, adjust my mindset, and think about whether I should stop finasteride or not. See if there are other ways to stop hair loss.

 

[Derek Clapton]

It works but there are side effects for most people. You have to decide if they are worth it or if you can combat them. If I HAD to use it I would look at aromatase inhibitors to deal with elevated estrogen, although probably that actually helps with hair growth somewhat.

 

[losingbattle88]

I have been using finasteride for a year and four months, and it is very effective. However, looking back on the medication time for more than a year, there are actually many side effects.
In recent months I have reduced my dosage to 0.5 or 0.125 or even less at a time.
The other day I looked up some information about the serious side effects of finasteride, and I was honestly frightened. I felt like I was in a state of anxiety and even a little impotence.
I wonder if I should stop, adjust my mindset, and think about whether I should stop finasteride or not. See if there are other ways to stop hair loss.

I get less morning wood and weak ejaculations. It stays permanent too despite quitting. Update its not permanent this time for me. God is good.

 

[callpizza]

It's been almost a year since the last post
I haven't been on this forum for the past few months because I feel that my status has been okay and the side effects seem to have little impact.
But starting from October 8th, sexual side effects reappeared, morning erections began to disappear again, and erectile function became somewhat poor.
But this year, my dosage of finasteride has been very low. For a few months, I took a quarter of a tablet every day, and in recent months, I have been taking half a tablet every two days.
Of course, it could also be related to my lifestyle this year. I spent about half of the year sleeping between 3-5 am and waking up between 11-1 am. Lack of exercise, and in recent months, many things have made me feel mentally anxious.
I don't know, maybe oral medication is not suitable for me. I need to adjust my lifestyle first and see if there is any improvement. Maybe I should switch to topical finasteride or only use minoxidil.

 

[losingbattle88]

It's been almost a year since the last post
I haven't been on this forum for the past few months because I feel that my status has been okay and the side effects seem to have little impact.
But starting from October 8th, sexual side effects reappeared, morning erections began to disappear again, and erectile function became somewhat poor.
But this year, my dosage of finasteride has been very low. For a few months, I took a quarter of a tablet every day, and in recent months, I have been taking half a tablet every two days.
Of course, it could also be related to my lifestyle this year. I spent about half of the year sleeping between 3-5 am and waking up between 11-1 am. Lack of exercise, and in recent months, many things have made me feel mentally anxious.
I don't know, maybe oral medication is not suitable for me. I need to adjust my lifestyle first and see if there is any improvement. Maybe I should switch to topical finasteride or only use minoxidil.

I tried topical at only 0.25mg. it still goes systemic. My semen quality and weak seeping/struggling ejaculations got way worse. So I had to stop. I was on oral previously but topical definately wasnt milder when it came to side effects. Im not upset because dutasteride nor finasteride worked for my hair. Im just using natural treatments today and my hair is stabilized. And the sexual sides are gone.

 

[callpizza]

I'm back.
It has been 3 years since I took my first dose. Since last year, the dosage has been reduced to about 5 months (just over 4 months), and I have only consumed one box of 1mg, 30-pill finasteride.
The amount of hair can only be maintained, which is far less than the amount of hair loss three years ago, but it won't be much more. Just keeping it, when the hair is greasy, the appearance of hair loss will be more obvious. If you don't wash your hair one day, it will become very greasy the next day.
Regarding side effects,. Morning erections sometimes occur, sometimes there is no erection, and the hardness of the erection is somewhat weaker than before taking the medication
In terms of psychological state and anxiety, I have undergone a very noticeable change, which is my fear of heights. Of course, even before taking the medication for the first time, I still had a fear of heights, but it was far from causing anxiety. For example, the anxiety caused by paying excessive attention to heart rate when climbing, and the fear of heights even when looking up at the sky from within a building. Of course, there are too many things in life that can make people feel anxious
I am unable to determine whether these side effects are caused by the medication, as my current living conditions are not optimal. Over the past year (possibly longer), I have been getting around 3-5 hours of sleep, experiencing limited sun exposure, decreased physical activity (especially strength training), unhealthy diet, and so on.
I usually sleep for at least 6 hours, typically 7 hours, and occasionally wake up early. I have a habit of staying up late every day.
I plan to go to the urology department for some examinations and will consult a doctor recently. I intend to further reduce the dosage to approximately 1 mg per week (0.5 mg on Wednesday and Sunday), and then discontinue using finasteride at a certain point and switch to other treatment methods. We also need to make changes to our living conditions.
Consume 60-90 milligrams of zinc daily

That's roughly it.