Third and final attempt at finasteride

[Sonicblu650]

Sonicblu - i guess all we can do is find the dose that gives you tolerable side effects and commit to regular check-ups with a urologist. I think the goal is to find the dose that puts you on the flat part of the dose response curve which is somewhere between 0.2mg and 1.0mg for most people. As i said above i'm going to try 0.5mg twice a week.

hey goose, yeah thats my plan as well. Thats why i had to give up my proscar, could not really cut it down more than 5 pieces(1 mg) so today is my first .5 god i hope i wake up tomorrow pain free!

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Well its morning i feel the same lawn mower over my pelvic area feeling hahaha screw this! I tried! At least i can say ive done everything i can. I think im gonna wean off Propecia all together sighs.... Fudge my life!!!!!! Hahaha At least i still have a sense of humor right?

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Maybe i jumped the gun, i mean c'mon what did i expect? To really just be totally better from taking a . 5? I just got back from my daily jont to the methadone clinic(ive been on methadone for years) and the pain Isn't unbearable... So maybe just give it a lil time to adjust and ill get lucky

 

[Uncertainties]

Good luck dude post results please!

 

[gooose]

To recap i have taken four 0.25mg doses EOD followed by two 0.50mg doses EOD. Things were looking good for two weeks with zero sides aside from minor reduction in ejaculate and then on Sunday i got the ache in my left groin. So either the cumulative effect gave me the sides or it was the switch to the higher 0.50mg dose. It felt almost identical to a tight hip flexor / psoas strain i sometimes get while exercising. I can't help but think my ache while clearly caused by propecia is exacerbated by tendency to have a tight left hip muscle. I know for a fact that testicular pain can in fact be hip pain that feels like ball ache - my osteopath told me. So there's a possible link but it doesn't explain why propecia triggers the ache in the first place. So i was due my next EOD dose yesterday but i've decided to wait for the pain to clear first before resuming 0.25mg EOD. It feels like i'll be ok tomorrow.

 

[INT]

You are doing the right thing by slowly building up the dosage. Only I think that you are going a bit too fast. One week is not enough to give your body time to adjust.

If I were to start finasteride all over again I would start with 0.125 EOD for the first 6 weeks. Then 6 weeks of 0.25 EOD. 6 weeks of 0.5 EOD and so on till I would reach 1 MG EOD (You really don't need it every day so have results).

 

[gooose]

INT - thanks yes i switched up too soon in the faint hope i might not get the sides at all but now i know! Agree 0.25 EOD for 6 weeks is sensible. By the way are you getting any results since you started in Nov 2015?

 

[INT]

INT - thanks yes i switched up too soon in the faint hope i might not get the sides at all but now i know! Agree 0.25 EOD for 6 weeks is sensible. By the way are you getting any results since you started in Nov 2015?

No results but I was also not expecting much because I haven't lost much yet. See my topic here: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/showthread.php/95272-Long-curly-haired-man-And-so-it-begins

 

[gooose]

So three weeks into starting finasteride at 0.25mg EOD i can report the following:

1. 0.25mg EOD does not give me groin/ball ache, whether it be a single dose or over time.
2. Even a single dose of 0.50mg gives me groin ache and this takes 5 days to subside hence i am sticking to 0.25mg EOD.
3. Ejaculate load is reduced and slightly watery.
4. Unprovoked erections are rare but then i've always needed visual/touch stimulus even as a teenager - i am 38 now.
5. I still fap to p**rn daily but it's more because i'm bored as opposed to REALLY want to. I suppose this is what they call low libido? Definite side-effect.
6. I think quality erections and desire go hand in hand but perhaps experiencing what it's like to have one without the other.

So three weeks in i'm concerned about the loss of libido. How long should i give it to see if things settle?

 

[INT]

So three weeks into starting finasteride at 0.25mg EOD i can report the following:

1. 0.25mg EOD does not give me groin/ball ache, whether it be a single dose or over time.
2. Even a single dose of 0.50mg gives me groin ache and this takes 5 days to subside hence i am sticking to 0.25mg EOD.
3. Ejaculate load is reduced and slightly watery.
4. Unprovoked erections are rare but then i've always needed visual/touch stimulus even as a teenager - i am 38 now.
5. I still fap to p**rn daily but it's more because i'm bored as opposed to REALLY want to. I suppose this is what they call low libido? Definite side-effect.
6. I think quality erections and desire go hand in hand but perhaps experiencing what it's like to have one without the other.

So three weeks in i'm concerned about the loss of libido. How long should i give it to see if things settle?

Give it 3-4 months. Your sides don't seem to be that bad. In my first 2 weeks I had loss of morning wood, ED, loss of libido, brain fog, reduced ejaculation load and watery semen. At 3 months now and the only thing I still notice is lack of morning wood and erections are some days at only 80% and other days only at 90% of what they once were. So far my member hasn't failed me when I really needed it so I could live with it if this would mean maintaining my hair.

However, I will probably tapper off finasteride for a while. Got dumped by my girlfriend, starting a new job abroad and lack of exercise is all a bit too much for me at the moment. I think I would feel more secure about my finasteride use if I would have the confirmation that my body is able to completely go back to baseline... When everything is back to normal and when I will start working out again I will probably start again at a low dosage to see if I can completely alleviate my sides.

 

[g.i joey]

INT i did that and completely regret it bro, do you have more serious sides that may be bothering you.. if you could get it up and dont suffer much with erections i suggest fixing your life while you are ON finasteride. i had ED problems for a week and stopped finasteride for a good month and a half, everything went back to normal within 2 weeks of stopping but my hairloss got alot worse.

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why dont you try minimizing your dose, .5 ed or rod

 

[INT]

INT i did that and completely regret it bro, do you have more serious sides that may be bothering you.. if you could get it up and dont suffer much with erections i suggest fixing your life while you are ON finasteride. i had ED problems for a week and stopped finasteride for a good month and a half, everything went back to normal within 2 weeks of stopping but my hairloss got alot worse.

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why dont you try minimizing your dose, .5 ed or rod

My hairloss is not that aggressive (I probably only lost half a Norwood in the last 10 years, 25 now) and I caught it really early. I already lowered my dosage to 0.62 EOD. The side effect I worry about the most is the lack of morning wood. I am afraid that it will somehow harm my penis in the long run... How are you doing now man?

 

[g.i joey]

TBH i get morning wood really often, even when i went through my bout of ED the only erection i was getting was morning wood, but couldnt get a hard on when trying for the life of me (i thought i was screwed), so i stopped finasteride and slowly my erections were returning. I take l-arginine now for the past 5 days and was back on finasteride now for a little over a week and idk if its placebo but ive been getting some solid boners so im not complaining at this point but i did experience some sides on my previous tries and most probably will experience them again eventually, a short week break should help you out but i plan to do so after solidly sticking to my regimen for at least 6 months, personally i think finasteride breaks should be taken once a year or something like that.

 

[gooose]

Almost 4 weeks now on 0.25mg EOD finasteride and side effects are reduced ejaculate and reduced libido. As the days pass i think the greatest fear is not that libido is now a bit lower but whether this is the beginning of a long trend towards something far worse. The groin ache has not returned ever since my brief flirtation with 0.50mg. I find this very interesting. It means that finasteride, or at least the chemical by-product that causes the ache, has a very short half-life otherwise accumulation of finasteride at 0.25mg would give you the same ache one would think. Once i get the ache however, it takes 4-5 days to go away even on cessation of finasteride altogether.

 

[gooose]

Ok folks another unmistakable side effect has crept up on me. I am putting on belly fat rapidly and out of all proportion with rest of my body (which is why i didn't notice at first). I have added 2-3 kg in belly fat over 4 weeks during a training and diet regime where at worst i should have had stable weight. i know my body well. What is it with this drug!

Anyone gone through something similar? This doesn't feel like one of them sides you just ride out.

 

[br1]

Ok folks another unmistakable side effect has crept up on me. I am putting on belly fat rapidly and out of all proportion with rest of my body (which is why i didn't notice at first). I have added 2-3 kg in belly fat over 4 weeks during a training and diet regime where at worst i should have had stable weight. i know my body well. What is it with this drug!

Anyone gone through something similar? This doesn't feel like one of them sides you just ride out.

This happens. As far as I researched seems like DHT helps with getting rid of fat in that area.

I never had a fat belly, but when I quit finasteride I lost a LOT of belly fat, so easily. Basically didn't change anything on my diet/exercises and the fat was going away on its own.

 

[gooose]

Encouraged it came back off in your case, but my goodness i can't carry on like this. This is not just normal weight gain but a change in body shape men are not supposed to encounter. Yes I could train harder, run longer etc but then the rest of me including my face will look unacceptably gaunt not to mention belly fat is a major risk factor for disease.

 

[gooose]

I've decided to stop finasteride having taken it for 4 weeks at 0.25mg EOD. Shall report on how quickly the various sides disappear including loss of libido, belly fat, and ejaculate volume.

 

[gooose]

It's been 2 weeks now since I stopped (recap - 0.25mg EOD for 4 weeks). I get ball ache with erections but strangely only when with a girl and not with p**rn. The prospect of actually having sex seems to bring on the ache. Ejaculate volume and force still about 25% below what I'm used to. Flaccid penis feels a tad smaller. Difficult to maintain any kind of erection post ejaculation. Libido not quite what i'm used to. Gosh...when i add up the pills i only took 4 x 1mg tablets of this stuff across 1 month. I mean how much damage can you do on 4 pills?! Hopefully i'll recover fully in another 2 weeks.

 

[tellersquill]

It's been 2 weeks now since I stopped (recap - 0.25mg EOD for 4 weeks). I get ball ache with erections but strangely only when with a girl and not with p**rn. The prospect of actually having sex seems to bring on the ache. Ejaculate volume and force still about 25% below what I'm used to. Flaccid penis feels a tad smaller. Difficult to maintain any kind of erection post ejaculation. Libido not quite what i'm used to. Gosh...when i add up the pills i only took 4 x 1mg tablets of this stuff across 1 month. I mean how much damage can you do on 4 pills?! Hopefully i'll recover fully in another 2 weeks.

I've had very similar side effects mate.

I was on them for two months and I had small weight gain (4lbs) and loss of sex drive - it is gutting because it stopped me losing hair very early on

 

[gooose]

It's not worth it. How long have you been off it and have you recovered from all the sides?

 

[tellersquill]

It's not worth it. How long have you been off it and have you recovered from all the sides?

I've been off for four days. My morning wood came back last night. I still feel a little smaller but I'm the same size when erect. I'm sure it will be as the days pass