I Had Side Effects When I Stopped Taking Propecia

I was wondering how common it really is for someone to have substantial sexual side effects from Propecia. I am a young (22 year old) man who recently had erectile dysfunction and pain probems for a month or so which seemed to begin shortly AFTER I stopped taking propecia (I ran out). My urologist said to stop taking propecia because that might’ve caused them, even though I thought there might have been other causes, and even though they started once I was already done with or just ending propecia. And sure enough, the problems slowly went away. I would like to know if you think it was the propecia that caused the problem because I’ve heard the chances of sexual side effects are slim, like 2%. But I was considering taking propecia again because I know it helped me, and I now know that any problems would be reversible if I discontinued use. But my gut feeling is that it was the propecia and I shouldn’t even bother with it again, which is unfortunate. What do you think?

I tell patients that 1 in 100 men will experience a decrease in sex drive. However, I often find men are very prone to the power of suggestion, especially when it involves their manhood. For example, if there is a mention of decrease in sex drive, they may have a decrease in sex drive because they will be too worried and too obsessed about it. That being said, it is my opinion that pre-exisitng sexual dysfuction may sometimes unmask itself with a drug like Propecia. Some sexual dysfunction is present in 20% of men in their 20s, 30% in their 30s, 40% in their 40s, and so on.

Your story is unclear and it raises a red flag for me. Why is a 22 year old seeing a urologist? Did you see the urologist before or after you started taking Propecia? Do you have an underlying urological problem? Your erectile dysfuction may or may not be related to Propecia and its manifistation may have just been conincidental. There is really no way to tell. You should follow-up with your doctor to explore other possible medical causes of erectile dysfuction.