This is going to be a long post, so I apologize in advance. Hopefully you'll find some of it interesting.
Yes, initially I had great success with the "big three" in terms of my hair; at its peak, I was very, very satisfied. I didn't grow lazy through, the regrowth just kind of plateaued after a while. Then when I unwillingly switched to rogaine foam in the middle of this (there was nothing else at the local CVS), it just became a mess to deal with and my hairline started to slowly worsen again. I kind of lost my enthusiasm by then and grew a little lax, at which point I think I misplaced my supply of propecia for a short while. Somewhere in there (as I obviously had to stop taking it for a few days) the mental side effects hit me a truck. It was really no joke... the worst depression you can imagine. I honestly saw no point to life itself, and the only thing that kept me going was that I was convinced it would get better. I think it took about half a year for everything to sort itself out, but it gradually did.
I had quit my entire regimen, so my hair loss had really picked up. Halfway through the next semester, I decided to try going with revivogen/rogaine, since I wanted to try something but was very much afraid of propecia. That combo, however, did nothing for me, and the revivogen was an absolute mess to apply. Eventually I realized that my hair was in the worst shape since I had started trying to get it back and I panicked. I went around my parents and doctors and simply ordered generic finasteride from India online with my own money (via the link on HairLossTalk.com). I figured that I would just cut it in halves and stop the moment I experienced any side effects (since I had never really experienced any significant sexual problems on my first run with the drug, I was only really watching out for the mental ones). Worst decision of my life.
And that's basically my story in a nutshell. I went ahead with finasteride for a number of months, not even sure how many... let's say 8-9. It stopped my hairloss and the rogaine may have even brought back some, but it was nowhere near as good as the first time around. In retrospect, I think some sexual sides (decreased libido mainly) started creeping up around the 4 month mark or so, but it was slight enough that I didn't notice at the time. Then in December I ended up having to taper off the drug and quit, because my next order didn't come in on time. That's when the sexual sides really hit me.
Since then I've been dealing with persistent ED (i.e. largely the inability to maintain an erection), a decreased libido (desire, arousal, stamina, sensitivity) and some other issues. When I first got off, I couldn't even achieve orgasm, but that went away rather quickly (although it's still more difficult than it used to be). I think my morning erections have also generally improved slightly... I now have them more often than not, although they're often very weak (disappear quickly). Everything else is still there... there are short stretches of time when I feel a lot better and short stretches of time where I feel a lot worse, but generally I don't have nearly the same sex drive as I used to or as I should (I turn 21 in October). The most devastating side has been the inability to maintain an erection... I used to be able to last as long as I wanted, and now I consider it a good day if I can finish sex at 80%+ hard.
It's been almost 9 months. I'm no longer really hoping on a natural recovery any time soon... maybe over several years, if that. The silver zinger has definitely helped at times in the past two weeks that I've worn it, but it's not a miracle cure and I ultimately feel that it's a just a band-aid solution. I will limit it to 3 days a week, try to do what I can with exercise and healthy living until the end of the year and then schedule an appointment with Dr. Crisler. Given how my case is even relatively mild compared to what others have gone through, hopefully he can help me out. If not... well, I really don't know. Thankfully, I wouldn't say that this drug has destroyed my life (I can still function... I still enjoy much of my life), although I would say it's robbed me of my youth and who knows if there are other long-term health implications in all this. I suppose I would just try to keep going forward and hope that time would eventually help.
In regards to HairLossTalk.com, I don't post there anymore. I really have no use for it... when you deal with something like post-finasteride syndrome at an age such as mine, you realize how trivial hair is. I shave my head, I'm happy with how I look and my friends and family don't look at me any differently... I have a wonderful girlfriend, and she's completely fine with it. If hair cloning ever comes around, I'll go for it, but until then hair loss is just not something that concerns me anymore.
If you want to, feel free to tell them yourself about what happened to me... you can even use this message. My guess is there will be a lot of skepticism and the typical retorts about 2% side effects and yadda yadda. Even if we assume that Merck's 2% claim is right (and I personally doubt it), that's not really the issue. The issue is that a certain number of men will get their sexuality, mental function or both taken away from them sooner or later if they take this drug, and there is no guarantee that they'll recover - that's undeniable. The biggest problem is that until you take the drug you have no idea which camp you'll fall into. If it turns out you're in ours, then the fact that 80, 90 or 98% of guys are doing just fine wont mean anything to you.
For a certain number of men, propecia is a very dangerous drug, and I wish that the online hair loss community would acknowledge this fact so that newcomers could make a better decision on whether the risk is worth it to them. When I was on HairLossTalk.com, the overwhelming impression I got from the forum was that propecia was harmless, that problems only happened to a very small minority of men while on the drug and that they always eventually resolved. I never knew that problems could occur after quitting the drug, and they they could potentially be irreversible. If I had been better informed, perhaps I wouldn't have let myself be burned twice, and would be in a far better place right now.
- Sighconot
