Starting To Experience Sides- Need Advice!

[Boston222]

Hi all,

Ive been on finasteride for roughly 2 and a half months. The first month I used 0.5mg dosages everyday and experienced no side effects besides watery semen and delayed orgasms (not a bad thing). However, after a month I boosted to 1mg as directed by dermatologist because 0.5mg was well tolerated. So far its been more of the same however the last couple of days I've been experiencing erection troubles like I've never experienced before. I tried to have sex completely sober two nights ago after work however couldn't get it up. I figured it was just because I was sleep deprived and exhausted- however in the morning I had the same issue. I got it up and then it died before I could put the condom on. Eventually I got it up long enough to use however even then I felt like it was dying.

Since then I've been paranoid that its the finasteride causing ED and lack of interest in sex. Every time I take a piss I make myself get a boner just to be sure and even then it takes some effort to do so. Also my dick just seems shrivelled in general when not hard. Im not sure if finasteride is causing this or its all mental because im obsessing over it so much. I had a girl over last night, she was on her period so sex wasn't an option however being around her I wanted to see if I could get an erection just from hugging and being around her- like I normally do when in bed with a girl. No luck. Im scared and need advice. Do I drop dosage back down to 0.5mg? Do I stop all together? Is this all mental? Do I get my hormones checked (willing to do so)? If finasteride is causing this, can I make lifestyle adjustments to overcome this?

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[ruffledfeathers]

I experienced the same thing on 1mg of finasteride. Although I felt the effects much sooner than you did. It's a pretty simple concept to why this is happening. The male body needs androgens to fulfill physiological functions like libidio, sensitivity, sex drive, ext.. When you take finasteride (both 0.5mg and 1mg inhibit the same amount of DHT, check the dosing curve) you systemically lower the amount of androgens in your body. To put this super simply and use arbitrary numbers, lets say your body needs 10 androgens to fulfill healthy physiological functions. When you take finasteride, you drop that level to 6. With only 6 androgens, you can no longer fullfill your body's requirement, and you start to experience very real side effects. You can read all sorts of advice only about how switching to every other day, or topical finasteride, or a bunch of different variations. But the reality is, the difference in DHT inhibition between .03mg and 5mg is within a few percent. You kind of have a choice to make. You can continue finasteride and deal with the side effects, maybe grab some Cialis or something, and keep your hair. Or you can drop the finasteride, regain normal sexual function, and pursue other treatment options. The unfortunate thing is, nothing will work as good as finasteride. You can offset the loss by minoxidil + needling, or try topical anti androgens like CB or RU that block a portion of all androgens (not just DHT) at the scalp level. But nothing will be as easy or work as well as finasteride. This is a really tough decision, I'm struggling with it right now as well.

Getting your hormones checked without having baseline values, and without having the proper spec lab work, will likely not yield any insight. I wouldn't focus on it.

 

[Jonomor]

Hi all,

Ive been on finasteride for roughly 2 and a half months. The first month I used 0.5mg dosages everyday and experienced no side effects besides watery semen and delayed orgasms (not a bad thing). However, after a month I boosted to 1mg as directed by dermatologist because 0.5mg was well tolerated. So far its been more of the same however the last couple of days I've been experiencing erection troubles like I've never experienced before. I tried to have sex completely sober two nights ago after work however couldn't get it up. I figured it was just because I was sleep deprived and exhausted- however in the morning I had the same issue. I got it up and then it died before I could put the condom on. Eventually I got it up long enough to use however even then I felt like it was dying.

Since then I've been paranoid that its the finasteride causing ED and lack of interest in sex. Every time I take a piss I make myself get a boner just to be sure and even then it takes some effort to do so. Also my dick just seems shrivelled in general when not hard. Im not sure if finasteride is causing this or its all mental because im obsessing over it so much. I had a girl over last night, she was on her period so sex wasn't an option however being around her I wanted to see if I could get an erection just from hugging and being around her- like I normally do when in bed with a girl. No luck. Im scared and need advice. Do I drop dosage back down to 0.5mg? Do I stop all together? Is this all mental? Do I get my hormones checked (willing to do so)? If finasteride is causing this, can I make lifestyle adjustments to overcome this?

Any advice is appreciated!

Seeing as arguably 0.5/1 have the same inhibit the same amount of DHT, maybe bring it back down to that and see if that reduces sides.

Also if you’ve only just switched to 1mg then if you don’t want to reduce then maybe let your body adjust, sometimes sides alleviate with time.

 

[Boston222]

Seeing as arguably 0.5/1 have the same inhibit the same amount of DHT, maybe bring it back down to that and see if that reduces sides.

Also if you’ve only just switched to 1mg then if you don’t want to reduce then maybe let your body adjust, sometimes sides alleviate with time.

thank you! I haven't heard that the body needs to adjust and sides may alleviate with time. Ill stick with it for another week and see if it improves.

 

[Boston222]

Has anyone else experienced sides this early that later went away? Or conversely has anyone maybe talked themselves into ED and lack of libido? Is it possible that your ED was psychological because you experienced it and then kept expecting it to happen? I say this because i have had ED troubles before starting finasteride- but only because i wasnt turned on by the girl i was with in the moment. Is it possible that my ED at this point is psychological because i now kind of expect it to keep occuring? I say this because the ED has come on so suddenly that i believe psychology must be contributing to it atleast in part. For context im 21yr/o male who keeps good diet and works out atleast 4 times a week- not fat and dont feel as though i have low testosterone/high estrogen.

 

[JeToker]

Has anyone else experienced sides this early that later went away? Or conversely has anyone maybe talked themselves into ED and lack of libido? Is it possible that your ED was psychological because you experienced it and then kept expecting it to happen? I say this because i have had ED troubles before starting finasteride- but only because i wasnt turned on by the girl i was with in the moment. Is it possible that my ED at this point is psychological because i now kind of expect it to keep occuring? I say this because the ED has come on so suddenly that i believe psychology must be contributing to it atleast in part. For context im 21yr/o male who keeps good diet and works out atleast 4 times a week- not fat and dont feel as though i have low testosterone/high estrogen.

It's not just possible that it's psychological, I would argue given how few people suffer side effects in placebo-controlled studies of finasteride; how demonised finasteride is and how pervasive the awareness of side-effects are that is is highly likely that it is psychological.

I myself suffered ED the first day on finasteride, it went away the next day. This drug has been used for decades to treat BPH and the incident rate of side effects is very low. You could be one of the unlucky ones, but IMO, it's likely in your head.

 

[Inigo1202]

I'm two months into Finas and I haven't experienced any sides, not sexual or whatever. So Im sorry to hear that, it must be depressing.

Give it a few more weeks. If the sides persist, drop the medication.

There's Finastopic out there as well. Which could really be your choice since it usually comes with 25% of the side effects that the pill have.

 

[mvalley]

It's best to check your DHT levels via a blood test before/while using finasteride. I suspect a lot of the major side effects are with folks going to near zero DHT.

The most persistent minor side effect I get with finasteride is morning wood completely stops if I'm on it.