Another Positive Propecia Experience
After reading this blog for over 3 years I just wanted to share a positive experience with propecia.
I noticed my hair was receding when I was 19. It came as no shock as my father and all his brothers were completely bald by the time they were 40. After reading many different online forums and websites and deliberating over it for 3 years! I decided to get a prescription for propecia.
My doctor stated that I was about a norwood 2.5 and just starting to bald in the crown when I started. I have been on propecia for 4 years now with amazing results. My doctor now thinks I’m a norwood 2 and have held that ever since.
I have also experienced ZERO side effects of propecia. It really works!
Now sure, the anti-Propecia squad will be quick to post comments about how this is some shill post (just like last time), but get real. The medication works, so it’s unsurprising that some people would want to write in about it. Besides, the amount of negative Propecia posts far outweigh those about positive results, and I appreciate when the readers let us know about what has worked in their battle against hair loss.
To the reader that wrote in — thanks for telling us about your Propecia experience! I hope you have continued success.
I am from India and have been taking Finpecia (finasteride drug made by Cipla that is available here) since almost 6 months now. The first few months, I did not experience any side effects but in the past month, I am experiencing a great loss of libido. And there are no reasons (emotional trauma or any lifestyle changes, etc.) other than this drug that I can think of having led to this. May be I fall within that 2% people. I am not pro or anti to this drug but just wanted to share this experience with those who are planning to start taking this drug. I am seriously thinking of stopping this drug in the hope of the reversal of the side effects.
JJJ – it’s either a legitimate symptom of Finasteride use, or it’s all in your mind. It’s best to talk to your doctor to help sort it out, but it’s only something you can figure out on your own. It may be worth trying coming off for a while, then going back on, but this still doesn’t exactly rule out the fact that your mind may be playing tricks on you. Of course, only do this under your doctor’s advice.
Jeff – incredible results. I don’t doubt it’s real either! My personal success with finasteride has not been quite that dramatic, but i’m extremely pleased with what it has accomplished in a few short years. Honestly, finasteride is really too good to be true. I’m still dumbfounded that it gets such an insanely negative rap.
Compared to 90% of other medications out there, Finasteride is chicken feed. It’s so well tolerated it’s amazing, and it’s extremely effective. I personally don’t think anyone should hesitate going on it if they are losing their hair.
JEFF – Those would be impressive results, but they do not appear to be the same person. The quality of the skin (wrinkles, smoothness and color) differs between pictures, the hair color is very different, and the degree to which the ears protrude also differs.
JJJ – Contrary to what Tex says, it is extremely unlikely that your drop in libido is psychosomatic if you say there have been no environmental changes in your life and it spontaneously appeared after 6 months. If I were in your position, I would definitely stop taking the drug to see if my sexual function restores.
I think too there are some haters over the internet, who not responded well to this drug, maybe they even didn’t get the sides (or they got some, not even far from what they’re talking about), but they haven’t saved their hair, and they are just jealous that some guys do well on this drug. I was stupid enough to listen them, and I’ve lost some hair lately.
Yeah, and I’m not a Merck guy, I’m living in Eastern Europe, so who ever decides to call me a Merck representative is a big fool.
From what I know, even Dr. Rassman’s son is on the drug, and that’s saying a lot. No father would punish his son to not have a decent life, just for saving his hair!!!
I think the Anti-Finasteride squad is made up of those few people which the drug did not work on. I’ve been on it for a year and a half, and I’ve even tried Avodart, and had zero side effects.
Dear Tex & Robert Solomon – Thanx for your responses, I really appreciate them. Tex – What you have written regarding going off the drug for sometime, how much should that be? And will that not reverse any benefits that I might have had? Robert – I agree with you have written because I was already aware about all this side effects stuff when I started taking this drug, but not even once during this entire period was I worried about these side effects or had experienced something like this. Request you guys to please guide me….
JJJ – coming off Finasteride for a month will have little to no effect on your progress, as long as you go back on shortly afterward. The damage your hair follicles would sustain during that time would be negligible. Again, I’m not suggesting you go ahead and do this; consult with your doctor before you change your dosage.
In fact, many men choose to come off the drug for a couple months every year, just to re-introduce their body to normal DHT levels. Anecdotally, they believe this may prevent problems resulting from long-term use of the drug. I don’t believe this is necessary, but I figure it is worth mentioning.
Nate – funnily enough, I see many guys noting increase in sexual desire and ability shortly after taking Finasteride. I noticed the same thing myself for the first couple weeks. It did taper off after a while.
Finasteride can cause a slight increase in Testosterone levels. I believe this would explain this phenomenon. T is the primary androgen that maintains healthy sexual function in males. DHT basically serves no useful purpose in an adult male, and it definitely doesn’t have anything to do with sexual ability. If this were the case, 100% of people taking the drug would experience dramatic sexual side effects!
Tex – I have seen both of those informal surveys before but they are extremely problematic. As has been pointed on in the past, patients are not likely to complain to hair transplant doctors if they are having sexual side effects since this is not their area of expertise. Had the doctors actively surveyed each one of their patients, this would be a different story. This type of survey need not be too formal, but having a doctor actively inquire about their patients sexual health would make the claims a lot less weak.
Needless to say, you could hypothetically prescribe the drug to 3 million patients without side effects and then come across a single patient who would change this pattern. Once it has been demonstrated in a single case, the causal link exists even if it is extremely rare. This is somewhat of an analog to the black swan phenomenon and a problem of logical induction.
“DHT basically serves no useful purpose in an adult male, and it definitely doesn’t have anything to do with sexual ability. If this were the case, 100% of people taking the drug would experience dramatic sexual side effects!”
This is an extremely ignorant statement. DHT serves a very important role in sexual function, the maintenance of penile structure, and other purposes. It is not a fully understood hormone at this point in medical history and it may serve more functions in addition to what we know already.
Finasteride, as a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, also blocks the production of a variety of neurosteroids and other hormones in addition to DHT. Tex, I am shocked that you are offering your own ‘medical expertise’ given some of the comments you wrote in earlier posts.
I just checked my hairline in the mirror and no doubt about it, new hairs are sprouting up in front of the hairline. Small, not too noticeable, but encouraging to me. Been on 1/4 tablet of Target proscar since April 9. I think I’ll write into Dr. Rassman if these results keep going in this direction.
If you revisit your previous statement, you will see this article actually provides evidence against what you said. DHT serves several known critical functions, many of which are mentioned in the article. The conclusion correctly states that T is more critical for maintaining an erection, but DHT is also relevant. The fact that DHT is of secondary importance to sexual functioning would actually make use of the drug more dangerous since patients will be less sure of the consequences of taking the drug. As you have mentioned, less than 100% of patients experience sexual side effects but this does not prove that DHT is unimportant.
You ventured into dangerous territory when you said, “DHT basically serves no useful purpose in an adult male, and it definitely doesn’t have anything to do with sexual ability.” Please be more careful with what you say since people’s lives and well-being are at risk when you present them with incorrect information.
You’re right, I was actually off base when I said that, and I actually thought you misquoted me saying that. I would retract that statement and say DHT does play a role in the body of an adult male, but inhibiting the hormone doesn’t generally cause any adverse problems.
You are being a bit melodramatic. I don’t think my comments have risked any lives.
Let’s come back to this subject though. Look at the drug Dutasteride. It reduces serum DHT levels by roughly 95%. This drug was FDA approved for BPH; some side effects were noted, but they don’t even come close to what is seen in a typical SSRI. Sid e effects are similar to what’s seen in Finasteride, but maybe twice as common.
I keep hearing how important DHT is to normal sexual function, but I don’t see it. How is it that a drug that basically completely eliminates DHT from the human body doesn’t cause massive problems in everybody that takes it? I admit, as I’ve admitted before, I am a layperson. I have no medical degree or particular scientific background other than my passing interest in this subject. But this doesn’t make sense to me, and I’ve yet to see anyone sufficiently explain the reasoning behind it.
On the one hand, DHT is extremely important to a number of bodily functions, including sexual ability. On the other hand, when we eliminate it form our bodies, 95% of men get by without a single adverse reaction.
There are some serious gaping holes in contemporary medical knowledge. Not too much is currently documented about DHT which gives the impression that it is not important. This is likely to be very far from the truth, but consumers should be aware of this uncertainty when they are dealing with hormone altering medications.