Started 1mg finasteride--Side Effects

[Cleveren]

So I just started, been on the drug for little under a week. Libido is a little lower and don't get erections too much anymore, but when I do get one, they're pretty strong and semen looks pretty good.

Had pretty bad insomnia first night, gotten better since

Feel sort of depressed/anxious sometimes for no reason at all---this is the worst side imo


My question for finasteride users: Have you guys had side effects like this and did they disappear after a couple weeks on the medication? Is my body just getting used to the drug?

 

[thedarkcolor]

I tried 1.25mg of finasteride daily about a year ago and it seriously messed me up. Gave me insomnia, puffy nipples, breast pains, emotional blunting, brain fog, and anxiety. I went to the hospital twice and I was a zombie for about a month. I thought I had ruined my life permanently. Then I slowly recovered back to 100%, although it took about a month.

I just recently tried taking .25mg of finasteride daily and I have a bit of insomnia and I'm depressed and feel pretty bland.... Been doing this for about a week and it's only gotten worse.

It's different for everyone. For me, I'm really trying to weigh the pros and cons to see if it's worth it based on my prior experience on the drug, which was a nightmare. However, I read things on this forum on the daily where people have side effects and then they just magically....go away. And then I've read of people taking both finasteride and dutasteride and have absolutely NO side effects. My point being that it's so different for everyone...I believe you should make your own educated decision based on how you feel, how you react to medication, and what you feel is best for you. Everyone's body is different.

Best of luck with whatever you choose to do!

 

[Cleveren]

I tried 1.25mg of finasteride daily about a year ago and it seriously messed me up. Gave me insomnia, puffy nipples, breast pains, emotional blunting, brain fog, and anxiety. I went to the hospital twice and I was a zombie for about a month. I thought I had ruined my life permanently. Then I slowly recovered back to 100%, although it took about a month.

I just recently tried taking .25mg of finasteride daily and I have a bit of insomnia and I'm depressed and feel pretty bland.... Been doing this for about a week and it's only gotten worse.

It's different for everyone. For me, I'm really trying to weigh the pros and cons to see if it's worth it based on my prior experience on the drug, which was a nightmare. However, I read things on this forum on the daily where people have side effects and then they just magically....go away. And then I've read of people taking both finasteride and dutasteride and have absolutely NO side effects. My point being that it's so different for everyone...I believe you should make your own educated decision based on how you feel, how you react to medication, and what you feel is best for you. Everyone's body is different.

Best of luck with whatever you choose to do!

Thanks man. I'm gonna stick it out and see if this is for me. Hope I make it.

 

[Cleveren]

Bump. I ended up getting off propecia after a week and have had severe brain fog since. It's been a week since I stopped taking propecia, and I'm really nervous... anyone have any insight?

 

[Mako17]

Many of the side effects are stemming from the estrogen rise which also increase prolactin as well as SHGB. Trying taking 50mg of zinc picolinate at the same time you take the finasteride. Also, add in some grape seed extract as well. Both will help with esotrgen and prolactin management. See if you notice anything after a week or so . Avoid zinc oxide very poor bioavailability...

Read this if you want to see the chemistry behind http://area1255.blogspot.com/2013/06/exclusive-what-how-of-dht.html?m=1

 

[youngguyhairloss]

Took my first finasteride pill yesterday and I became very hypertensive and a possible fever any insight ? I was thinking it was because I took two scoops of my preworkout two hours later from taking the pill and the mixture was no good , any ideas ?

 

[g.i joey]

I get that feeling if I don't get a full workout when I take my preworkout... don't judge finasteride effects when you're tweaked off a preW

 

[youngguyhairloss]

I get that feeling if I don't get a full workout when I take my preworkout... don't judge finasteride effects when you're tweaked off a preW

I've been taking preworkout for years and this never happen I felt like I had a bad fever hypertensive headache chills all that for like 10 hours ... It has to be because of the mixture cause finasteride has no hypertensive side effect rather a side effect is hypotension

 

[g.i joey]

I've taken preworkout twice this past month while on finasteride and it hasn't done that... but you said it was your first finasteride pill so it might be you sort of shocked your body. I'm not a Doctor and these are all assumptions but I've had no problem with preworkout while on finasteride

 

[youngguyhairloss]

I've taken preworkout twice this past month while on finasteride and it hasn't done that... but you said it was your first finasteride pill so it might be you sort of shocked your body. I'm not a Doctor and these are all assumptions but I've had no problem with preworkout while on finasteride

yeah so I went to see my Doctor today he said it was because I took the pill and then the preworkout the pill decreases bp and preworkout increase and that's what caused my fever he said to only take .5mg for the first five days til my body gets use to it and to discontinue the preworkout

 

[JTS]

So I just started, been on the drug for little under a week. Libido is a little lower and don't get erections too much anymore, but when I do get one, they're pretty strong and semen looks pretty good.

Had pretty bad insomnia first night, gotten better since

Feel sort of depressed/anxious sometimes for no reason at all---this is the worst side imo


My question for finasteride users: Have you guys had side effects like this and did they disappear after a couple weeks on the medication? Is my body just getting used to the drug?

Hey, sorry about the semi-hijack but I also started about a week ago and have been experiencing some similar side effects.

No spontaneous or morning erections for the last few days with almost no emission (though the consistency is ok...**** this is a gross post). I can still get erections but its noticeably harder to get it up. My libido is totally unaffected though.

I'm pretty worried about this so I'm stopping today until I get back to normal. Then I might try taking it once or twice a week and see how that goes.

 

[violetfluff]

I'm pretty worried about this so I'm stopping today until I get back to normal. Then I might try taking it once or twice a week and see how that goes.

There's a good chance that these side effects will just dissipate if you stick with it, it may take a couple of weeks or months.

You could try quartering the pill and take 0.25mg every day and increase by 0.25mg every 2 weeks until you reach 1mg that may eliminate the side effects or lessen their intensity and spread them over a longer period.

 

[JTS]

There's a good chance that these side effects will just dissipate if you stick with it, it may take a couple of weeks or months.

You could try quartering the pill and take 0.25mg every day and increase by 0.25mg every 2 weeks until you reach 1mg that may eliminate the side effects or lessen their intensity and spread them over a longer period.

I've heard that before but the idea of erectile dysfunction is just too scary for me to keep going. Part of my issue might be that I'm taking 1.25 a day since only proscar is available in my country. I've done some reading that suggests that the pills actually work to block DHT over a period of days so I'm hoping that taking less but working in some minoxidil and Nizoral would do the trick.

 

[violetfluff]

I see, so you're not taking "propecia" as your regimen describes, you are taking proscar or a generic equivalent.
I think you are allowing your fear of side effects to sabotage you from taking one of most effective treatments available.

If the side effects are a result of low DHT then you will have close to the same intensity of sides on 0.2mg/day or 1mg/day given the dose response curve. If some of the sides are a result of secondary effects as result of blocking 5-alpha-reductase working it's 'magic' on other hormones then this is not applicable

 

[Black Mamba]

I'm not using finasteride, but Minoxidil, it decreased my libido & cause erection problem. But if I stop using minoxidil, in 3 months everything back to normal. And when I start to using it again, in just 1 month the libido & erection problem arise again

 

[JTS]

I see, so you're not taking "propecia" as your regimen describes, you are taking proscar or a generic equivalent.
I think you are allowing your fear of side effects to sabotage you from taking one of most effective treatments available.

If the side effects are a result of low DHT then you will have close to the same intensity of sides on 0.2mg/day or 1mg/day given the dose response curve. If some of the sides are a result of secondary effects as result of blocking 5-alpha-reductase working it's 'magic' on other hormones then this is not applicable

I know that your probably right but the issue is that I'm moving to a new country soon and need full use of my junk, I also came to the realization that I'd rather have two weeks of a working penis than a life-time of hair. I'm still experiencing sides, I woke up with a chubby the last couple of days but its still clearly not all there and there's still not much ammo in the drums if you get my drift. I also have been feeling pretty weak, it was really bad on Sat but improved the following day, I dont know if this has to do with the pills but considering its effect on testosterone I see it as a possibility. I've been doing bear crawls up a nearby hill these last couple days to give my testosterone a kick, it's had no effect on the sides but it makes me feel less nervous about my current situation. I'm so mortified by this whole experience that, in a fit of rage, I shaved all my hair off and came to the realization that I look fine and have the appropriate shape to rock a bald head. So with that said I'm getting rid of the rest of my proscar- I tried minoxidil before going on finasteride but it never worked, I'm hoping that mixing it with nizoral and spironolactone will do the trick but if it doesn't I'm ok with that.

 

[dunno]

Been on 0.5mg propecia for 3 years now. initial couple weeks i had all kinds of crazy sides, low libido, watery semen, felt like a ****ing zombie, it was like my body was getting attacked internally. But i decided to wear them out as i didnt see any other choice for me. And it went fine, havent had any sides since those initial weeks.

 

[Cleveren]

Update: I have full blown PFS. Be careful guys. Neg me to hell, but it's happened to me :\

Hope you all have better luck than I did

 

[g.i joey]

hey Clevern, that really sucks man. its gonna take a while for your libido to recover. what symptoms made you realize you had "full blown pfs"?

 

[Cleveren]

hey Clevern, that really sucks man. its gonna take a while for your libido to recover. what symptoms made you realize you had "full blown pfs"?

Hey man,

My libido is actually decent and so are erections, but I've had some severe brain fog and muscle wastage, shot endocrine system (mainly hypogonadal test levels), lack of deep sleep, penile shrinkage, and fatigue.

I really didn't think this was possible from finasteride, but it happened..

Just watchfully waiting now for hopefully a recovery or some improvements.