So, Shall I Start Taking Finasteride?

[tins]

Hi guys,

The 'horror stories' have put me off trying this medication for quite some time. I'm not at a point where my hair loss is getting me down in my day to day life that I'm seriously considering Finasteride. However if it was a case of having no hair of ED...

I imagine a lot of you on medication had this problem before taking the plunge. I'm not really sure what I'm looking for in replies here, maybe just a bit of reassurance and positivity to go for it and take the medication I guess.

 

[DiffThinner35]

Well the right time to start taking propecia is when your hairloss is minor .. You want to preserve what you have.

When there is major hairloss, propecia won't help you that much (or will in some rare cases). Word of advice - don't wait too long till it's too late.

 

[tins]

I cover it well at the moment. Although I don't like to be without a little Toppix in the crown. The sides to propecia/finasteride absolutely scare the life out of me. I mean obviously I can quit at the sign of any serious sides but hearing that some people take years to recover from ED?

 

[Panda89]

just look at it this way: people who have had success with finasteride have already moved on with their life and there is no reason for them to come on this forum to keep talking about their success and lack of side effects. in fact, if anything, they will go into hiding and never disclose the fact that they are taking hormone altering drug to people.
MILLIONS take finasteride and i assume anyone that is among the 1% to 2% are going to be on the internet anonymously and look for alternative treatment in places such as this forum.

obviously i'm not going to tell you what to put in your own body, but i can share my personal experience.
i'm coming up on my 4th month on the big 3 and beside the initial testicular pain in the first 3 weeks, i have had no sides at all. my libido is still high, my erection is still normal, and my penis has not shrunk.
i have had good regrowth on my temples and my crown and i'm definitely above baseline.

now that im on treatment i can't tell you how much better i feel about the whole issue, the fact that i'm doing something about it has helped me so much mentally. having a plan instead of avoiding it is liberating
i'm planning on staying on the big 3 for a year to a year and a half and get a hair transplant.
at least that's the plan so far

there are studies that show placebo effects to still be there even when the subject knows they are taking the placebo. our mind is powerful. FDA did clinical trials on propecia with around 1900 people. 1.8% of the people who took finasteride reported decreased libido compared to 1.5% of the placebo group. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2011/020788s018lbl.pdf
I've seen members here say the data is fake and claim over 30% of the people who take it will get sides. some even say 100%

you have to make the call for yourself.

 

[tins]

Appreciate the reply man. I'm going to continue reading up and maybe speak to my doctor but I'm swinging towards giving it a go.

 

[iCurly]

I was in the same position as you, i purchased finasteride about a month and a half ago but i didnt take it because i was scared, one day i looked at my hair and it seemed like it was getting worse , i caught it alittle early though, i do wish i started earlier (when i was a Norwood 1.5, i am now a Norwood 2) and hopefully propecia will keep it that way. I have had NO sideffects at all so far ( a couple days from two weeks on .50 mg daily) .

 

[tins]

Was that your choice to start on .50mg?

Is there a recommended dosage to start on?

 

[Sliceofbread]

Man I would love to have ed and low libido... what you should worry about is scalp pain, that is a bad side

 

[iCurly]

Was that your choice to start on .50mg?

Is there a recommended dosage to start on?

I mean the only reason i am having .50 mg is to save money lol. Apparently .50 mg is just as effective as 1mg but the dht may take slightly longer to reduce to the optimum ammount to stop hairloss

 

[tins]

Man I would love to have ed and low libido... what you should worry about is scalp pain, that is a bad side

Damn that must be some bad scalp pain? I haven't even come across that as a side effect until now!

 

[tins]

I mean the only reason i am having .50 mg is to save money lol. Apparently .50 mg is just as effective as 1mg but the dht may take slightly longer to reduce to the optimum ammount to stop hairloss

Ahh I see!

 

[recedingornot87]

Man I would love to have ed and low libido... what you should worry about is scalp pain, that is a bad side

interestingly finasteride actually nearly completed stopped my scalp pain. The hair still continues to fall aggressively though so it hasnt helped with that.

 

[Sliceofbread]

interestingly finasteride actually nearly completed stopped my scalp pain. The hair still continues to fall aggressively though so it hasnt helped with that.

I think at month 3 or 4 you maybe in for a surprise stop to your shed. We’ll see

And my scalp pain is very close to gone on day 11... hoping it keeps going down

 

[recedingornot87]

I think at month 3 or 4 you maybe in for a surprise stop to your shed. We’ll see

And my scalp pain is very close to gone on day 11... hoping it keeps going down

I doubt the shed will stop. Its been the same for 5 months now and hasnt changed a single bit in the last 2 months of starting finasteride. I think it will keep going until there is nothing to fall off anymore.

 

[Sliceofbread]

I doubt the shed will stop. Its been the same for 5 months now and hasnt changed a single bit in the last 2 months of starting finasteride. I think it will keep going until there is nothing to fall off anymore.

Don’t they say the hair cycle is like 3 months? I think you just need to complete your hair cycle and you’ll be good.

Atleast based on what I’ve read it seems stopping inflammation=stopping hairloss.

 

[tins]

The shed thing scares me as much as the other sides to be honest! (I understand it's technically a positive side if the hair grows back thicker and stronger) as I can hide my crown at the moment I'm worried I may shed so much that covering is no longer an option and I'll be one of the unlucky ones that doesn't recover after the shed. Thus speeding up the timeline to shaving my hair off!

I'm 33 in October. I have a wife and 2 kids so I'm settled with that side of my life. However as much as I think I'll never be able to fully accept my hair loss I'd like to reach at least 40 before having to shave my hair off.