Sore Nipples with Propecia

[Broken]

Hi,
I'm 23 and always had a broad forehead & the density of my hair was also not something to boast about. Nobody in my family has a history of baldness but last year I had some hairfall, with the scalp at my crown showing, also some thinning at the sides & slight receding of the frontline. It could be because I moved into a hostel last year (hard water probably?) & increased intake of alcohol & tobacco with not so healthy diet, though the crown spot was slowly becoming visible even before that.

So I went to see a derm on April first week & he prescribed me Rogaine 5% Foam, Cicloperox 1% shampoo & Biotin supplement. I didn't see any progress & probably it got a little worse, so I went to him again in April end & then he prescribed me Propecia. Now I've been taking Propecia for almost a month now (1mg daily) and during the last 2-3 weeks I have had this problem of sore nipples consistently troubling me. I used to think it was just a case of jogger's nipple since I have been running quite a lot these days, but it just would'nt go away. Then I looked up on the internet & found horror stories about gyne & Propecia. I have not, till now, experienced any sexual side effects, though the ejaculate has probably reduced.

I want to know whether I should continue with Propecia or not. I'd definitely go & see my doctor in a few days & tell him about the side effects but I'm afraid that if I'd have to leave Propecia, then I wouldn't be able to get the regrowth that I was hoping for. Also, if I leave Propecia, will my hair start falling out?

Looking at the side effects, I am not comfortable with taking Propecia for years just to keep my hair on my head. Losing my libido & the energy in my junior is not what I'm willing to trade.

Please tell me what should I do.

 

[Mew]

Looking at the side effects, I am not comfortable with taking Propecia for years just to keep my hair on my head. Losing my libido & the energy in my junior is not what I'm willing to trade

Please tell me what should I do.

Relying on other people to dictate your life is not very bright and shows a lack of self confidence in one's self. Since you state you are not comfortable taking the drug anyway, my opinion is you should discontinue.

Gynecomastia is a listed side effect of the drug and seems you are likely experiencing this. If you are not comfortable with developing male breasts and potential side sexual, mental and physical side effects in the future, do yourself a favor -- listen to your body and give the drug a break. Or you can continue on and see if things improve, which of course they 99.9% won't because you are still inhibiting 5AR2 and DHT, and increasing Estrogen as a result.

Your choice.

 

[Broken]

Looking at the side effects, I am not comfortable with taking Propecia for years just to keep my hair on my head. Losing my libido & the energy in my junior is not what I'm willing to trade

Please tell me what should I do.

Relying on other people to dictate your life is not very bright and shows a lack of self confidence in one's self. Since you state you are not comfortable taking the drug anyway, my opinion is you should discontinue.

Gynecomastia is a listed side effect of the drug and seems you are likely experiencing this. If you are not comfortable with developing male breasts and potential side sexual, mental and physical side effects in the future, do yourself a favor -- listen to your body and give the drug a break. Or you can continue on and see if things improve, which of course they 99.9% won't because you are still inhibiting 5AR2 and DHT, and increasing Estrogen as a result.

Your choice.

I am not asking for your opinions to 'dictate' my life. I am just lost here. I don't think the doctor here knows so much about the side effects, because he never told me about them, I only came to know through the internet.

I want to know whether these symptoms are fairly common & will subside after a few weeks. Or are they indications of 'bigger' things to come? Some of you guys have been taking Propecia for long & I thought you could help me out.

 

[dougfunny]

what you need to watch out for is feminization of your nipples which can happen slowly.. you might want to take a before picture now to be able to compare down the road to see if you are developing gynecomastia.

 

[Mew]

what you need to watch out for is feminization of your nipples which can happen slowly..

It can happen within weeks, months or years. But if it does happen, it's very likely it will continue, since you continue to surpress 5AR2/DHT and increase Estradiol for as long as you take the drug.

you might want to take a before picture now to be able to compare down the road to see if you are developing gynecomastia.

Actually, you should consider:

Swedish Medical Agency
http://www.lakemedelsverket.se/SPC_PIL/ ... %20ENG.Doctor

Package Leaflet Information for User, Propecia 1mg

Under "Special Warnings and Precautions for Use ", pg. 2, section 4.4:

Breast cancer has been reported in men taking finasteride 1 mg during the post-marketing period.


Under "Undesirable Side Effects", pg. 3, section 4.8:

persistence of erectile dysfunction after discontinuation of treatment with PROPECIA

male breast cancer

-----

If you decide to continue this drug, you should take baseline HORMONE tests for Testosterone, LH, FSH, TSH, SHBG Prolactin, ESTRADIOL, ESTRONE and ESTRIOL to ensure you no what your estrogen levels were prior to medication use. Then you can track changes over time while on/off the medication. Unfortunately, you've already started so baseline tests aren't possible, but you should be monitoring your hormones.

Also, be sure to check for any lumps or tissue changes in your breasts, considering the above warnings which have been recently added by both Swedish Medical Agency, UK MHRA and as of May 2010 the FDA is investigating wether they should add the warnings too:

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceCompli ... 210293.htm

The better informed you are, the more informed a decision you can make. Wish you luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Hoppi]

I reckon DIM or grape seed extract should take the sting out of Finasteride sides like these. Of course it may also cause a testosterone increase (not a huge one) so that will probably go even further to offsetting sides

 

[dougfunny]

I reckon DIM or grape seed extract should take the sting out of Finasteride sides like these. Of course it may also cause a testosterone increase (not a huge one) so that will probably go even further to offsetting sides

This is classic.

 

[G k]

I reckon DIM or grape seed extract should take the sting out of Finasteride sides like these. Of course it may also cause a testosterone increase (not a huge one) so that will probably go even further to offsetting sides

I wish, but not a chance in the world.

 

[Broken]

Visited my doctor & told him about breast tenderness & sore nipples. He told me to discontinue Propecia, but I thought why not take a chance with 0.5 mg. So have been on 0.5 mg for 5-6 days & the sides have gone. It's been one full month of Propecia, with 22-23 days on 1 mg & 5-6 days on 0.5 mg. My libido seems okay, the morning wood seems to have eased it a bit but I guess thats normal, otherwise my erections are as good as before & I can get it up whenever & wherever I want it to.

I have started to apply minoxidil twice a day, with grape seed extract + propecia. I am using XGain shampoo by Cipla.

I will keep a look out for any side effects creeping in, on a weekly basis.

Cheers

 

[Hairforever]

Gk are you still taking finasteride? How are the sides? I'm on 0.5 EOD and I take a DIM capsule with omega 3 oil. Sadly I don't think it's combating finasteride sides. The only effective combatitive treatment I've heard about is taking an aromatase inhibitor but that seems to bring with it dangerous side-effects :dunno:

 

[Hoppi]

I wish, but not a chance in the world.

Are you sure? Doesn't logic dictate that lowering estrogen/estradiol and increasing testosterone would result in fewer estrogenic sides?

 

[G k]

I wish, but not a chance in the world.

Are you sure? Doesn't logic dictate that lowering estrogen/estradiol and

Its just not strong enough Hoppi. They might help to get you on track once you've quit finasteride, but finasteride is like the wrath of god on your hormones. You would at least need the help of a demi god to counter act that, of which DIM and grape seed extract are not.

My project for the past 9 months has been trying to find ways to counter propecia sides. I found nothing helped. The closest I came was eating tons of brocolli, and taking vitamin d supplementation. But the benefits were mild, and wore off quickly. I think the only thing that would work, would be prescription strength Amridex to delete estrogen, just like finasteride deletes DHT. But you would still have low dht! I swear to you my face aged 10 years on finasteride, because dht is responsible for collagen production. Now that I am off of finasteride, my face is back to normal. I mean asides from the hell I went through on finasteride, it really was a crazy experience seeing how hormones can literally reprogram your body.

And no I'm not some anti-finasteride nut, I just got tons of sides from it as it seems many people do. If I was one of the few that are totally side free I would be laughing right now, not opening up to some random guy on the net!

 

[G k]

Gk are you still taking finasteride? How are the sides? I'm on 0.5 EOD and I take a DIM capsule with omega 3 oil. Sadly I don't think it's combating finasteride sides. The only effective combatitive treatment I've heard about is taking an aromatase inhibitor but that seems to bring with it dangerous side-effects :dunno:

I quit more than a week ago. I just cant get back on the stuff. I literally look better with thinner hair and my face normal, than with full hair and finasteride face.

The worn out face didnt appear until about the 11th month mark. But the sexual sides appeared at the 5th month mark. Slowly but surely all of the sides manifested. But I suppose the sides are just the natural result of having low DHT.

Hell I wonder if there are people who are dht deficient as a result of some sort of disease? I tell you taking propecia is like giving yourself a disease to live with!! All of a sudden it consumes your life and you are looking for ways to treat it!!

 

[Hoppi]

[quote="G k":j0wzufu9]I wish, but not a chance in the world.

Are you sure? Doesn't logic dictate that lowering estrogen/estradiol and

Its just not strong enough Hoppi. They might help to get you on track once you've quit finasteride, but finasteride is like the wrath of god on your hormones. You would at least need the help of a demi god to counter act that, of which DIM and grape seed extract are not.

My project for the past 9 months has been trying to find ways to counter propecia sides. I found nothing helped. The closest I came was eating tons of brocolli, and taking vitamin d supplementation. But the benefits were mild, and wore off quickly. I think the only thing that would work, would be prescription strength Amridex to delete estrogen, just like finasteride deletes DHT. But you would still have low dht! I swear to you my face aged 10 years on finasteride, because dht is responsible for collagen production. Now that I am off of finasteride, my face is back to normal. I mean asides from the hell I went through on finasteride, it really was a crazy experience seeing how hormones can literally reprogram your body.

And no I'm not some anti-finasteride nut, I just got tons of sides from it as it seems many people do. If I was one of the few that are totally side free I would be laughing right now, not opening up to some random guy on the net![/quote:j0wzufu9]

Very interesting, and yes perhaps you are right about the strength of finasteride versus the strength of DIM or GSE, you make a good point.

I did hear however that resveratrol is capable of increasing testosterone by up to 40% through inhibition of the aromatase pathway. That's pretty darn strong! hehe

Oh, for the record there was a long thread about offsetting the long term sides of finasteride elsewhere, I'm not sure how much success people have had but it may have helped. If it were me I would be looking at... hmm.. perhaps things like maca, ginseng and fibroboost? And vitamin D? But then I haven't come across this yet so I have done limited research..

 

[G k]

Very interesting, and yes perhaps you are right about the strength of finasteride versus the strength of DIM or GSE, you make a good point.

I did hear however that resveratrol is capable of increasing testosterone by up to 40% through inhibition of the aromatase pathway. That's pretty darn strong! hehe

Oh, for the record there was a long thread about offsetting the long term sides of finasteride elsewhere, I'm not sure how much success people have had but it may have helped. If it were me I would be looking at... hmm.. perhaps things like maca, ginseng and fibroboost? And vitamin D? But then I haven't come across this yet so I have done limited research..[/quote]

Yeah maca really helps, and if that is true of reservatol it would help too. Brocolli makes like a 50% increase in testosterone or something like that also..

However its not enough. The reason is that low testosterone and high estrogen isnt the only cause of sides. Thats just the collateral damage. Low dht is the main cause, and also symptoms of an overburdened liver, because of the finasteride itself. The Only thing you can do to fight sides, is get your DHT back up! Kinda defeats the purpose tho...

I think the key would be studying those who do not get sides on finasteride. Its quite fascinating really. Some people get no sides, and no hair growth...Or get great hair growth and no sides...Wtf? You'd think dht would be more or less the same in everyone...Guess not. However, based on what I've seen, I think most people get sides...And either don't realise it, lie to themselves, or whatever. When someone says "im 97% the same down there", u know they are lying :x

But Im open to any ideas hoppi, however supplements don't seem to do much overall. I take a green supplement myself with tons of stuff in it...But I even heard that finasteride can hamper your absorbption of vitamins and minerals so that even if u take them u arent absorbing them..........What a b**ch this drug is!

Merk chemists fail hard!!!! Unless their goal is eugenics...

 

[dougfunny]

Merk chemists fail hard!!!! Unless their goal is eugenics...

??

I don't understand what you mean. What does this have to do with eugenics.

 

[G k]

Merk chemists fail hard!!!! Unless their goal is eugenics...

??

I don't understand what you mean. What does this have to do with eugenics.

what does the business of shrinking penises and lowering sperm count have to do with eugenics?

 

[dougfunny]

[quote="G k":3nb3qcko]


Merk chemists fail hard!!!! Unless their goal is eugenics...

??

I don't understand what you mean. What does this have to do with eugenics.

what does the business of shrinking penises and lowering sperm count have to do with eugenics?[/quote:3nb3qcko]

nothing..

 

[G k]

??

I don't understand what you mean. What does this have to do with eugenics.[/quote]

what does the business of shrinking penises and lowering sperm count have to do with eugenics?[/quote]

nothing..[/quote]

It was a joke :dunno:

not very funny I know... :thumbdown2:

 

[Hoppi]

[quote="Super Awesome Hoppipolla"949sb35]Very interesting, and yes perhaps you are right about the strength of finasteride versus the strength of DIM or GSE, you make a good point.

I did hear however that resveratrol is capable of increasing testosterone by up to 40% through inhibition of the aromatase pathway. That's pretty darn strong! hehe

Oh, for the record there was a long thread about offsetting the long term sides of finasteride elsewhere, I'm not sure how much success people have had but it may have helped. If it were me I would be looking at... hmm.. perhaps things like maca, ginseng and fibroboost? And vitamin D? But then I haven't come across this yet so I have done limited research..

Yeah maca really helps, and if that is true of reservatol it would help too. Brocolli makes like a 50% increase in testosterone or something like that also..

However its not enough. The reason is that low testosterone and high estrogen isnt the only cause of sides. Thats just the collateral damage. Low dht is the main cause, and also symptoms of an overburdened liver, because of the finasteride itself. The Only thing you can do to fight sides, is get your DHT back up! Kinda defeats the purpose tho...

I think the key would be studying those who do not get sides on finasteride. Its quite fascinating really. Some people get no sides, and no hair growth...Or get great hair growth and no sides...Wtf? You'd think dht would be more or less the same in everyone...Guess not. However, based on what I've seen, I think most people get sides...And either don't realise it, lie to themselves, or whatever. When someone says "im 97% the same down there", u know they are lying :x

But Im open to any ideas hoppi, however supplements don't seem to do much overall. I take a green supplement myself with tons of stuff in it...But I even heard that finasteride can hamper your absorbption of vitamins and minerals so that even if u take them u arent absorbing them..........What a b**ch this drug is!

Merk chemists fail hard!!!! Unless their goal is eugenics...[/quote949sb35]

Ah I never said that lowering estrogen would help with ALL finasteride sides though, just the estrogenic ones, like gyno.If you have more T and less E, you will surely have less gyno! hehe

And yeah man I'll link you to that thing about supplements, maybe you will find it useful