Propecia (Finasteride) and Mood / Depression

[fkm]

Guys,

I'm writing this thread regarding my experience with finasteride and my increasing suspicions of its effect on mood and/or propensity to influence depression.

My own experience is that 3 days after starting Proscar (1.25mg), I became terribly depressed. I've been on it for about 3 months now and am still experiencing varying negative mood swings, ususally worst in the mornings. The main study on finasteride and mood (Altomare & Dermatol) indicated that depression occurred in 82% (19 out of 23) of patients after 9-19 weeks. Apart from this study and other anecdotal posts, there is not much information on propecia's effect on mood.

What I think would be helpful is to find out:

1. Did you experience a change in mood on Finasteride (& when did this happen)
2. Did your mood improve when you stopped taking Finasteride (& how long did this take?)
3. If you stayed on Finasteride, did your mood improve (& how long did it take?)

I would really appreciate any feedback!!!

 

[Guest]

I would agree with your assumptions to be honest. I have noticed this since I have started finasteride. I guess the fact it is messing around with your hormones then it will surley have an effect on the chemical reaction in the brain. I also think that taking pills to counter this will just cause more problems.

I was speaking with my girlfriend last night and said I might just stop finasteride and just let nature take it's coarse. Problem is that I would not be sure how I would react if i lost all my hair over the next year or so. It's a very tough trade off.

 

[Brasileirao]

1. Did you experience a change in mood on Finasteride (& when did this happen)
2. Did your mood improve when you stopped taking Finasteride (& how long did this take?)
3. If you stayed on Finasteride, did your mood improve (& how long did it take?)

1. No, I did not experience any changes in my mood. I have always been a happy go lucky sort of person. But when people piss me off, get out of the way. I think part of the mood change could be related to the fact that you are lossssing hair. When you have good days I'm sure you are very upbeat, but when the tables turn it's probably the other way around.

2. Havent stopped taking it.

3. Never noticed this as a side effect. I almost think this is all in the head. With that being said, this is just my opinion and I'm not a board certified doctor.

Tony Montana

 

[MillerEvolution]

1. Yes, within a few days of beginning.

2. Haven't stopped taking it.

3. I managed to minimize its effects on my life by changing when I take it. (see below)

As I've posted about a few times already--

"Hey guys. Been on finasteride a couple weeks now and it has had a pretty noticeable effect on my mood and energy level. I can definitely understand what the 'depression' people were talking about. I've found a decent way to combat this, however.

For me, the mood swing is always most noticeable in the first few hours after I take it. So, instead of popping it in the morning as I head off to work, I have begun taking it as soon as I get back from work (5 pm) and get my workout in right after coming home. That way by the time I arrive for work the next morning (8 am) the pill has been in my system a good 15 hours and thus it's side effects have diminished considerably. Using this method I really feel back to my old self. I don't know if there is any medical basis for this to work, since I was under the impression finasteride is time-released, but it certainly seems to work for me. This might be something to try for those who have experienced the mood shifts. "

So far this has worked great and I encourage others to try it and see if it makes a difference.

 

[mikee]

Mood changes

Hi everybody,

I've been taking finasteride for 3 months and I'm now taking the decision to stop
(It is actually some days i'm no longer taking it) as I was experiencing bad mood changes.

Since the beginning I had the impression that taking finasteride made me more nervous. After two months, I started
feeling more and more nervous and anxious or depressed. I started thinking that could have been an effect of finasteride as I was feeling very strange, in a way I had never experience. Trying to stop for a day the teraphy I always felt, the day after, much more relaxed. But the effects came back as I restarted taking pills.
When I spoke to my doctor about these effects He just told me that it wasn't possible.. I'm now surfing the web to see if someone else is experiencing the same side-effects, and I'm glad i've found some people experiencing it. I've even found a study that may confirm this side-effect:

http://static.highbeam.com/j/journalofd ... ticalopec/

I also found a study of the effects of dht on rats and dht seems to have a good effect in reducing anxiety:

http://www.aapspharmaceutica.com/search ... p?ID=54442

As every side effect of every drug these effects may probably affect only a small portion of patient but I think it should be indicated among the possible effects and more studies should be made.

thanks.

 

[Bismarck]

I recommend to read
- A diffuse thinner's story
- Comprehensive list of dutasteride side effects
in the Treatment-section. It's mainly about dutasteride but also applies to finasteride.

 

[lossing my hair]

When taking a medicaton like Propecia we have to be willing to not let alot of these side effects we read on the internet get in our head. if we take the med and fear about the sexual sideeffects, and all these stories we so much read about. i guarantee you that you will have sexual sideffects and those other specific sides. If you fear the sides which i feel is normal because all these stories we read you will experience them. i also believe that if stress accelarates male pattern baldness that it probably makes the treatment less effective.
I have one month in a half on propecia and i have not gotten one sideeffect from it and i got on it on a previous stressful life and i have not notice nothing getting worst. I believe im not experiencing no sides because my attitude and fearless mind.
don't get me wrong i believe that only 2% of the sides they claim is BS and the 9 out of 10 successis BS too, but i also believe that if we go on propecia or any medication with fear we will experience the sides and make the treatment less effective. This is my opinion.

 

[The Rock]

well since i've been on finasteride, my strenght has sky rocketed back to what it was 8 months ago........this was the day i stopped lifting for a while..........only thing is after an intnese workout, which i have day in day out 6 days a week i am litterally exhuasted afterwards, dont think i ever use to be this tired.....but im back up to 197 lbs i was at 175 a few months ago so one way or another, and my hair is a bit worse been on finasteride for over a month and a week or so.........but it is early thats all i've got to say

 

[Norwood2.5]

When taking a medicaton like Propecia we have to be willing to not let alot of these side effects we read on the internet get in our head. if we take the med and fear about the sexual sideeffects, and all these stories we so much read about. i guarantee you that you will have sexual sideffects and those other specific sides.

Your suggestion is that the fear of it could make sexual performance worse. However, loss of morning erections is a firm indicator that the problem is not psychological but physical and I can tell you from experience I am pretty sure it is physical. Fortunately, the problem for now stays with loss of morning erections and for the rest erections are still possible and more or less normal as far as I can tell. So I tend not to discredit his problems immediately. Every person reacts differently to medication and it is possible that is a side for him, it is also possible it is not and he would have had it anyway. Personally, I haven't noticed any mood changes but then again I don't take it that long yet.

 

[hairschmair]

Wow, 90% are affected by depression when somehow in the Merck study change of mood DOES NOT EVEN SHOW UP IN THE LIST OF REPORTED SIDE EFFECTS. Not 2% like the sexual side-effects, not even 1%.

I agree entirely with 'lossing my hair'. I believe 90% of reported side-effects are psychological. Now before someone comes along and tells me that I have no right in discrediting what people are reporting, I just want to say that this is MY opinion and I have a right to it. This is what clinical studies using placebos are for.

 

[hairschmair]

"Clinical studies have shown that 92% users of HairLossTalk.com have shown a marked decrease in libido compared to 1.4% in the placebo group"

 

[juststarting]

However, loss of morning erections is a firm indicator that ....

haha, great unintentional pun! Firm indicator... hee hee

No, i am not making fun of your sides, laughing at the pun is all.

 

[juststarting]

"Clinical studies have shown that 92% users of HairLossTalk.com have shown a marked decrease in libido compared to 1.4% in the placebo group"

haha, good point

If HairLossTalk.com forums were the patient population for the original merck studies, propecia would never had been allowed, and proscar would probably have been removed from the market!

Normal disclaimer: Again, not making lite of anyone experiencing sides. Sides are an extremely serious topic, I understand completely.

 

[chewbaca]

I think the the reason why Propecia was allowed cause probably Merc or FDA knew that these sides were expereinced by the majority of users.But the question is whether these sides were life threathening or not. I guess most drugs are approved based on this assumption alone.I am sure most drugs out there have sides but the decision alone is left to the user to decide if he wants to continue using the drug or not.

I think the finasteride side effects are just like any other normal anti depressant drugs.Which is why they are negligible...

Well i think the sides like depression is probably psychological and propecia is not to blamed as the main reason for it.Its because u are already depressed about your hair loss and taking propecia just worsens it due to its potent effect on the body system..And when u see the results kicking in, i think there will probably be a marked decrease in the depression experienced