very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update, Horrible DHT)

[BALD$ING]

hey guys
Ive been on finasteride for 3 years now, and even tho it didnt reverse my loss it significantly slowed it down. I have had 0 side effects as far as i can count (still horny as sh*t) but my sperm is watery and i am 10 pounds heavier than when i started, which could be also due to lifestyle.

Anyway after reading some of the horror stories on here, im terrified and debating getting off this sh*t before something permanent happens. Im getting a blood test on tuesday to check my hormonal levels just to make sure. Any suggestion by you guys?

Also i feel like my nut sack is getting longer and balls are getting bigger? is this a side effect. sorry for the graphic details and thank you

 

[Rawtashk]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride?

First of....take a deep breath and just relax. You said yourself that you haven't had any problems, so why are you going to freak out when you read about someone else's problems?

2nd, most likely the fact that you've gained 10lbs in the last 3 years is because of your diet and lifestyle. I put on about 20lbs after I got on finasteride...but it had nothing to do with finasteride and everything to do with me being a lazyass.

Also, the chance of you getting permanent sides are less than you have of getting in a car wreck the next time you drive somewhere. So, take comfort in that

 

[BALD$ING]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride?

Thanks for the quick response, but my question is, do estrogen levels elevate in all patients using this medication?

 

[Pyro]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride?

man if you want my opinion, there's no point in asking people here if you should stay on it or not. Everyone reacts differently to finasteride in terms of side effects. Somebody could tell you "yeah stay on it man, you will be fine" then a week later you get massive permanent side effects. Somebody could also tell you "Oh sh*t dude get off that, it's dangerous!" even though if you would have stayed on it for the next 10 years you could be perfectly fine. Nobody knows. finasteride is abit unpredictable evidently from other posters experiences.

 

[Mew]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride?

do estrogen levels elevate in all patients using this medication?

Yes, it can shift the androgen/estrogen ratio to be in favor of estrogen, however not in ALL patients. There are studies referencing this:

http://www.propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt ... ?f=8&t=185
http://www.propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt ... ?f=8&t=200

There are warnings about gynecomastia (male breast development) and male breast cancer on the package insert for the drug, which have been put there by FDA/Merck for a reason.

Does everyone get these side effects? No.

Should you get bloodwork for Testosterone, Free Testosterone, Prolactin, elevated Estradiol, Estrone and Estriol, and get checked out by a doctor for gyno etc? Yes.

Should you quit the drug? That's up to you. If you are developing man boobs and putting on extra weight in feminine fat deposit areas, you should probably consider it. I know I did when I had these issues.

 

[BALD$ING]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride?

well i don't have any side effects like i mentioned. very horny, still very athletic and fit, boobs don't hurt or got any bigger, and pretty manly looking as far as I can see.
Thank you all for the quick responses. i will report back with my blood test results.

 

[BALD$ING]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

Well i got some of my results back

Estradiol 21

Total T= 503
free T= 79.0

Im 165 pounds, muscular with 10% body fat. seems really low to me. the GP said everything is fine but i really am considering getting off this sh*t. what do you guys think?

 

[Wuffer]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

Your Estradiol is actually on the lower end of normal. I think the ideal range for a young, healthy guy is 10 - 30 (average being I think 20-50), so you are good... I wouldn't worry about that. Your T level could be higher, but what's your lifestyle like?

A guy in his early 20's that does heavy weightlifting regularly should show up over 700, but if you are more sedentary or just do cardio irregularly, your scores look about right.

Keep in mind that your results as they are mean nothing. You can't really draw any conclusions based solely on your results without any baseline to compare with. Maybe your levels have always looked that way. Maybe your estrogen was 10, but went to 21 from finasteride. You can't necessarily compare your results to the ideal average, and then conclude you are way off. Hormone levels fluctuate between different people, and everyone’s bodies use different levels.

Judge your experience based on symptoms. If you are perfectly fine, like it sounds like you are, then don't worry. If you think your lifestyle may have contributed to your weight gain, then it probably did. Go enjoy life.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

Dude you sound 100% fine. You are getting scared over nothing. Watery sperm is a 100% normal side of finasteride that tons of people get with no other side effects. You are 10% body fat?? That is low compared to most of the population.

Stay on finasteride, don't get off.

 

[BALD$ING]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

Thanks for the quick response guys. I lift weights 4 times a week, but nothing heavy just staying in shape. Im 25 by the way
As far as the weight gain goes. i started eating healthy and dropped fast food plus 20 minutes of cardio 4 times a week and lost 5 pounds in 2 week

MY CONCERN THO i don get raging boners in the morning anymore. this has scared me because i dont want it to creep up on me. One thing to consider tho Ive been very depressed over my break up past couple of weeks so i wonder if that has to do with my testosterone levels?

 

[Ende]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

MY CONCERN THO i don get raging boners in the morning anymore. this has scared me because i dont want it to creep up on me. One thing to consider tho Ive been very depressed over my break up past couple of weeks so i wonder if that has to do with my testosterone levels?

Possibly. Try Dr. Shippen's zinc protocol, which is 100 mg zinc and 3 grams of vitamin C. I would take everything once a day, before bed. It works as an aromatase inhibitor, and will change the testosterone/estrogen ratio in favor of testosterone. Loss of morning erections is usually the first sign of estrogen dominance. Quit the treatment immediately when you get a solid morning erection.

 

[BALD$ING]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

yea, i understand its a normal side effect of finasteride. but i used to get them up to a few months ago. I understand my test results are fine, but i dont like this at all. im making the decision to quit or notby the end of this week.

 

[Rawtashk]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

I notice that my morning wood directly relates to the amount of stress I'm under. I'm a network admin, and our busy period every year is from about Jan-April. I've woken up with a boner maybe twice in the last 3 weeks, but I know it's because I am sofa king stressed at work right now. I also haven't tried to instigate sex with my wife more than a few time in the last few weeks either, and for the same reason.

Try this for the next week....get as much sleep as possible. Remove distractions for the last hour or so before you go to bed. Get at least 8 hours of sleep. See if that helps anything. I kinda freaked myself out about 6 months ago because I thought I wasn't getting much good sleep, and not many morning erections. Made a real concerted effort to destress and get lots of sleep, and it fixed everything

(read it here, if you're interested viewtopic.php?f=46&t=66803 )

 

[BALD$ING]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

well now that you mention stress, i have been very depressed due to my recent break up. Last i remember i was getting raging hard morning wood. so maybe im thinking about things too much. Once my DHT results come back ill be seeing an Endo anyway. thanks again for the comments.

 

[Mew]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

i don get raging boners in the morning anymore. this has scared me because i dont want it to creep up on me.

Absent or decreased morning erections were a statistically significant adverse event as noted in the original FDA Propecia clinical trials.

Decreased morning erections are an indication of decreased/low Free Testosterone levels. Get bloodwork to see where you stand (Total/Free Testosterone).

Personally I would take it as a warning sign, your body is trying to tell you something and you should listen. If you're young fit and healthy, used to wake up with raging hardons before drug, and now you don't within weeks/months of starting the medication, then it's very likely the culprit would be Finasteride as inhibiting 5AR/DHT can affect sex drive, erections, ejaculate volume, prostate function etc as noted by Merck/FDA labeling, and numerous published studies by various authors.

 

[Ende]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

Absent or decreased morning erections were a statistically significant adverse event as noted in the original FDA Propecia clinical trials.

What?! Could you post the original quote and statistics? I would like to see it.

Decreased morning erections are an indication of decreased/low Free Testosterone levels.

No, it's not, although it's connected. It's an indication of estrogen dominance.

 

[Timi]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

i have take finasteride allone 14Years and never weight gain

3Years minoxidil and 20Pound more the Body is full with water

 

[Mew]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

What?! Could you post the original quote and statistics? I would like to see it.

Images from FDA's 1997 Statistical Review on Propecia:

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfd ... _STATR.PDF

 

[Wuffer]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

If i'm reading that correctly, it looks like more men experience erectile dysfunction than loss of morning erection. That doesn't really make sense to me, since if you are experiencing erectile dysfunction, you would also lose morning erections as well?

 

[Ende]

Re: very scared, should i get off finasteride? (Update with lab results)

Wuffer, yes, but remember that ED may be caused by a lot of things.
It's a psychological factor as well.

Thanks Mew. The following quote made me wonder;

Comparisons between treatment groups at Month 12 on changes from baseline scores in the Sexual Function Questionnaire showed decreases in all parameters in patients treated with finasteride, while those treated with placebo did not or showed less decrease.

If every single person that took finasteride over a year experienced negative sexual changes, how the hell is it possible to state that only 2% experienced side effects from the drug? No matter how subtle the change is, it's still a negative side effect - and according to this statement, 100% of the subjects experienced side effects!