Propecia/finasteride - 94% low libido, 92% erectile disfunction &...

[blizeH]

69% experience problems having orgasms, according to the Daily Fail today:

BALDNESS

Last week it was reported that men who take the hair loss drug finasteride, also known as Propecia, can experience prolonged periods of low libido.

Dr Michael Irwig, assistant professor of medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, discovered that 94 per cent of men taking finasteride developed low sexual desire, 92 per cent suffered from erectile dysfunction and 69 per cent experienced difficulty with orgasm.

Not sure I buy into this at all. I've been on Finasteride for maybe 2 years now and the problems I've had have been incredibly mild - my libido could well be a bit lower than usual although that's hard to judge, it certainly doesn't feel different, and apart from a brief run of slight and very occasional problems (which I'll blame mostly on me being a fail at putting on condoms) I haven't suffered the other two either.

What does everyone else think to this?

 

[Innermind]

I took it for 2 years also (propecia). And while I did not notice much reduction in libido, when you get off it, (if) you will notice that propecia was hurting your sex drive. And I am not talking about the several weeks after you quit were you get a surge in sex drive(which is great by the way), I am talking long term. For me, it really wasn't how often I got an erection, just that being off propecia my erections are of far greater quality.

So basically, while your on it you may not notice it because its a mild and gradual thing, when your off of it you will see the difference.

 

[Todd]

Here is the abstract for the study

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... x/abstract

This is why you should read ARTICLES and not QUOTES FROM articles. The study group consists of 71 men who, at an interview ALREADY HAD experienced sexual side effects.

Pardon the irony, but I'm going to quote from the article:

"

We conducted standardized interviews with 71 otherwise healthy men aged 21–46 years who reported the new onset of sexual side effects associated with the temporal use of finasteride, in which the symptoms persisted for at least 3 months despite the discontinuation of finasteride

So to interpret the study correctly:
Of the 71 men who experienced side effects after discontinuation (3 months) 94% developed low libido, 92% developed erectile dysfunction, 92% developed decreased arousal, and 69% developed problems with orgasm.

This is FOR THE TEST POPULATION, CONSISTING OF MEN WITH KNOWN SEXUAL DYSFUNCTIONS- the study only maps out what kind of dysfunction, and how many of the test population that got them. IT IS NOT DATA FOR A LARGE USER POPULATION.

I would also like to quote again from the abstract conclution

Study limitations include a post hoc approach, selection bias, recall bias for before finasteride data, and no serum hormone levels.