Propecia's devastating effect on neurohormones

[Ende]

They don't mention anything about Propecia's effect on neurohormones, nor do they mention that it decreases the free testosterone level in every single person that's using the drug. Some people have evidence which proves that Propecia induced a complex case of secondary hypogonadism. Moreover, possible side effects like depression and permanent erectile dysfunction were added recently, a long time after the drug first was approved. Another interesting change, is that you're now supposed to contact your doctor immediately, if you notice any signs of gynecomastia - and that's because estrogen dominance will induce hypogonadism. Those who took the drug after the information was added will have a very hard case, but for people like me - it's different. The side effects were supposed to subside when I stopped the treatment, but they didn't.

I believe that I'm very close to solving the problem, and I know exactly how to bring Merck down.

 

[TravisB]

Hmm I think that people who want to win with Merck should present very strong medical evidence.

 

[Wuffer]

This may have been answered already, but can allopregnanolone be taken as a supplement? I guess even if it can, the question is would it be bioavailable to your brain though your bloodstream.

 

[Ende]

You can use a progesterone cream to increase the allopregnanolone level, although you probably wouldn't benefit much while using finasteride - if anything at all.

 

[thylax]

to Enden:

I am waiting for your reply: How can a physical quantity decrease strictly above 100%, as you claim in your first post?

 

[Ende]

That's a very good question. Take a look at the chart - isn't the values in percentages? At the top of that column, you see a triangle( II-I, %). Doesn't that mean that the difference between group 2 and 1 (after and before treatment) is in percentage? However, I don't think a reduction of more than 100% is possible - so someone clarify this, please.

 

[rgbnm]

Hi guys, just had a look through this topic, and since this seems to be a very serious (and potent) risk for any finasteride user, I started to wonder about a couple of things (I think nobody has asked about that yet, if so, sorry for spamming):

- Does this neurological degradation get worse with higher dosage, and so small doses like 0.25-0.5 could have a rather negligible effect on brain issues? Or is it the same for any finasteride amount?

- How about a topical finasteride application? Could it be less harmful?

- Last one: Could it be that the allopregnalone fluctuations depend very much on an individual case? I mean, just some of the users get prone to them? (After all, there have been so many finasteride studies and probably none of them has implicated such side effect).

Once again, please excuse me if this has been posted before

 

[hairhoper]

Oh c***, I've never been worried about sexual sides rly (just doesn't seem to be a problem, after 2 years on finasteride my labido is crazy as ever)... but this worries me. I need to be sharp to do my job.

 

[rolltide10]

My side effects have never been sexual....just weight gain that will not go away no matter how much I diet/exercise. I do have some dry skin and wrinkles as well.

Are these problems from finasteride irreversible?? I'm not taking any hair loss meds and haven't since Oct. 2010. I basically just want my healthy body back.

Are these sides reversable, like as easy as getting a testosterone or DHT supplement fro my dr.? I just want my healthy body back I dont care about hair anymore.

 

[Chris87]

My side effects have never been sexual....just weight gain that will not go away no matter how much I diet/exercise. I do have some dry skin and wrinkles as well.

Are these problems from finasteride irreversible?? I'm not taking any hair loss meds and haven't since Oct. 2010. I basically just want my healthy body back.

Are these sides reversable, like as easy as getting a testosterone or DHT supplement fro my dr.? I just want my healthy body back I dont care about hair anymore.

I'm no expert but..weight gain like that could be from high estrogen levels..you should have your hormone levels checked

 

[rolltide10]

My side effects have never been sexual....just weight gain that will not go away no matter how much I diet/exercise. I do have some dry skin and wrinkles as well.

Are these problems from finasteride irreversible?? I'm not taking any hair loss meds and haven't since Oct. 2010. I basically just want my healthy body back.

Are these sides reversable, like as easy as getting a testosterone or DHT supplement fro my dr.? I just want my healthy body back I dont care about hair anymore.

I'm no expert but..weight gain like that could be from high estrogen levels..you should have your hormone levels checked

I'm hoping it's as simple as that man. Before I was on the stuff I was fine, and 2 weeks after I got off I gained 15 lbs of fat!!! and have not been able to lose it no matter how much I diet and change up my workout routine. It's like it's permanent or something which really scares the s*** out of me giving me panic attacks.

So if my estrogen is high, I should be looking to get on a test booster right??

 

[Ende]

If you don't have any sexual problems, your estrogen level is fine. However, androgens in general, and especially DHT makes it easier to lose fat. Finasteride shrinks the prostate, and you may have less DHT floating around. How's your prostate fluid? It should be white.

 

[rolltide10]

If you don't have any sexual problems, your estrogen level is fine. However, androgens in general, and especially DHT makes it easier to lose fat. Finasteride shrinks the prostate, and you may have less DHT floating around. How's your prostate fluid? It should be white.

Like a white-ish color yes, well it's the same since before the meds, so I guess that's a good sign.

And yes my DHT was measured last April at 21, when the normal range is 25-100. And my testosterone was 521 when the normal range is 300-1100.

I also have more dry skin/lips/hair since stopping a year and a half ago. I also have sensitive nipples now that are "pointy" but I don't know if I have gyno since my whole body (especially the estrogen dominant areas like butt, inner thighs, hips, waist, breasts) have all gotten bloated. No matter what I do, even taking the strongest fat burners have no effect on my weight.

So would taking hormone therapy fix these problems for sure? When I go see my doctor again what kinds of tests should I be asking to be done? And honestly I don't care about my hair anymore I just want to be healthy and have the energy I used to have. I mean I was the Strong Safety on my Community College football team, and now I look like an 40 year old Fullback. It's so depressing and all this happened so quickly.

 

[Ende]

Try a ketogenic diet. If you have gynecomastia, you'll feel lumps below your skin around the nipples.

 

[rolltide10]

Try a ketogenic diet. If you have gynecomastia, you'll feel lumps below your skin around the nipples.

I've tried a low carb, high protein diet before, basically what I'm kind of on now. And diets where my calories are even like 1000 a day, but I don't get enough energy with that low of calories. But I'll look more in depth about the diet. Appreciate the suggestion man.

And I think it's probably not gyno, just increase fat around the "womanly" areas. It does seem as if my nipples have "air" in them now, if that makes any sense. And my nipples have gotten sensitive though like a burning, piercing sensation that arises from time to time. And it seems my nipples are harder a lot more often.

No sexual side effects in terms of performance, or erectile dysfunction. And MAYBE this is just in my head, but it seems as if my testicles have shrunken, maybe by 10%? Is that even possible with the side effects?

Well I have a doctor appointment coming up in about 3 weeks, first with my derm, who will then approve me to an endocrinologist after my visit. I'm wondering what type of tests, like specific tests, I have have them run so I can find out what the exact problem is and how to try and fix it.

 

[rolltide10]

Well besides Testosterone, DHT, Total T, Free T, and Estrogen.....which tests should I ask for??

Like are there any other hormone tests, or Liver tests I should asked to have done??

 

[Erick.]

We examined the groups of 20 men in the average age of 69.2 ± 6.5 years

I have no idea how anyone could consider test results of old men who are taking a high dose of finasteride for BPH to be at all relevant to young men who are taking a lower dose for male pattern baldness.

All drugs have the potential for side effects which need to be weighed against their benefits. I have been prescribed drugs far more potent than finasteride and with far worse potential side effects that I still thought were worth using.

Is anyone here in their 20s or 30s actually planning to take finasteride for 30+ years? I'm certainly not.

 

[Hairforever]

The trouble is even if you intend to quit finasteride well before 20-30 years, the damage may already be done. You might only find out in your 50s and 60s with premature dementia.

 

[Lux]

The problem is that there was no placebo group in that study. All patients were informed about the study, perhaps they were informed about possible depression as a side effect and they got a depression.
Just curious, if neurohormone was dropped by 3-8 times in every man, then why there are just a few people who has depression? propecia has been taken by over 500 000 people for years!

 

[DarkMatter]

That's a very good question. Take a look at the chart - isn't the values in percentages? At the top of that column, you see a triangle( II-I, %). Doesn't that mean that the difference between group 2 and 1 (after and before treatment) is in percentage? However, I don't think a reduction of more than 100% is possible - so someone clarify this, please.

Forgive me I've been out of school for a while, but if I remember correctly, delta % change in math is typically calculated as:

% Change (delta)= ( ( Final value - Initial value ) / Final value ) * 100

For example Final value = 10, Initial value = 40 then:

% Change = ( ( 10 - 40 ) / 10 ) * 100 = -300%


Looks like that's how the math was done.

You can look at it the other way as well, which I think is what most people are looking for, that is: (40-10)/40 = 75% decrease from the original.