Weened off finasteride

[tomj12]

Hey guys, I was on propecia for a year in January and although I never had any big sides, I had low libido and tiredness etc and decided to come off it because I was scared of the long term effects. Just before I decided to stop I noticed I had weaker erections which seemed to be because of my libido and that I just couldn't get properly into p**rn or w/e, nothing seemed to do it. I decided to ween off.


I was on 1mg every other day so I decided to ween off like this: (half is half a pill and quarter is a quarter of a pill)
Half Friday jan 8th
Half Monday jan 11th
Half Thursday jan 14th
Half Sunday jan 17th
Half Wednesday jan 20th
Half Sunday jan 24th
Quarter Thursday jan 28th
Quarter Monday feb 1st
Quarter Friday feb 5th
Quarter Wednesday feb 10th
Quarter Monday feb 15th
Quarter Saturday feb 20th
Quarter Friday feb 26th
Quarter Friday march 4th

I noticed improvements quick, higher libido, strong erections, random erections in work and more morning wood etc and I was very pleased and couldn't wait to finish weening. However, I had a dose on Friday which was Feb 26th (second to last one..) and suddenly my penis feels strange and my libido is close to gone again and I have testicle pain, what is happening and how long will it take to resolve?


I'm wondering if the 6 days I didn't have propecia maybe cleared it completely out of my system and having that last dose was sort of like having a fresh dose again? I don't know.


Please help, cheers.

 

[Dolph]

I'm wondering if the 6 days I didn't have propecia maybe cleared it completely out of my system and having that last dose was sort of like having a fresh dose again? I don't know.

This is honestly not a bad guess. Even when I was on finasteride regularly, if I missed a couple days I would feel something going on with my body, and when I resumed, I would feel something different.

Unfortunately this isn't an exact science, everyone is different, etc etc.

I can't help answer how long it will take to resolve, but I followed a fairly similar pattern in my own titration off the drug. I think you should trust your body and your instinct by staying off the drug now and seeing if it resolves on its own. You can always go back on if problems arise. It seems like a positive indicator that things got so much better after you'd stopped. From my own experience -- and I'm only a few weeks into stopping -- I think my body simply doesn't enjoy the hormonal rollercoaster.

 

[jh94]

In theory what happens when you come off finasteride is this:

-Testosterone begins converting to DHT at a normal rate again, neurosteroids start being produced at normal rate again
-Your testosterone had already lowered its natural production a bit since it no longer needs excess to convert to DHT
-Testosterone dips as it's already lower than baseline and now begins converting
-Perhaps estrogen dip due to new high levels of DHT
-Balls begin to grow again to get back to normal testosterone production.
-Eventually reach pre-finasteride levels


Currently coming off for the last time too, it takes me about a month to start feeling normal again once completely off.

Stay patient and enjoy life.

 

[tomj12]

Cheers guys, just a bit confused as to why I was weening off and it was all looking good and everything was resolving, and how suddenly the last dose has hit me back. Maybe it is as you say, jh94, and that my testosterone/dht levels were returning to normal and then that dose of finasteride knocked them down again.