Anyone have strange side effects from Finasteride?

[Pelekis]

Can you give me your personal experience from the use of finasteride. Any strange side effects?
Since i started it i have this strange brain fog or something..

 

[Boberto]

Had similar brain fog and libido drop. Kicked in big time after 3 years use. Up until then no sides. Took me a good year to get back to pre fin state.

I would not go near the stuff again. I think its toxic stuff and could catch up with everyone eventually.

 

[ziggs11]

I've been on it for about six years now I think. Started it at 19.

I think "brain fog" or short term memory issues do happen. Didn't affect me in college and doesn't affect me at work today, but I feel like it still happens sometime.

Everyone reacts differently to meds. For me, my hairloss started reallly early and progressed quickly; I would literally be a bald guy without the meds, and my young age and rapid loss would probably rule out the possibility of a transplant, so game over. If you search my name you might find my thread I posted pics in.

You have to decide whether the benefits outweigh the sides you experience, like any drug. It's great for some guys, awful for others. Im not qualified to say whether your side effects will increase/decrease over time.

Good luck dude.

 

[Hairdirection]

Pelekis/Boberto,
Could you explain what exactly you experienced with brain fog and loss of libido. I think a lot of symptoms patients experience are brought on psychologically due to the fact they are worried about hairloss, this causes stress which in itself contributes to many symptoms.
Just for the record, I have been using the drug for 10 years without any sides.

 

[Pelekis]

I have noticed that my libido has decreased and erection strength decreased too and watery seaman. I cannot process things as usually about brain fog..

 

[ziggs11]

You should get your seaman out of the water before he drowns.

Jk. It sounds like you aren't tolerating the drug very well. You should ask your doctor about reducing the dose and seeing if that's any better. If not, and the sides outweigh the benefits, you'd probably be best off quitting it.

 

[Coopman]

Only side i had was watery semen. Been on the drug for nearly 13 years (off and on). In regards to libido cant say i notice much difference.

When you read about side effects on the Internet in repect to Finasteride usage, its very easy to believe that you are suffering from such symptons yourself. Its called the placebo effect. (this does not apply to everyone as some people do get actual side effects)

 

[Boberto]

My sides were definitly not placebo and were in line with the above. I say to everyone on it to try going off it for a year and see if they see a difference.

The sides dont hit obviously in a lot of cases. They creep up in a very slow gradual manner where the user gets used to them so slowly they dont notice them really getting them and get used to the new norm. And just accept things as age maybe. Or just dont notice anything at all if they dont have an really active sex life.,

You dont notice something like not having a rampant libido. Everything in that department worked Ok and in order on Fin albeit not as 'raging' and watery and volume reduced,
It was mainly just the desire was very slowly dulled where you could take it or leave it. That takes time to realise and only by going off it will you see the difference.

It was only when i quit and my hormones rebounded did i really realise the affect it was having.

In saying that i do accept some dont get sides and good luck to them.

 

[Pelekis]

I appreciate your thoughts guys. I will contact my doctor asap.

 

[Barren]

Here's my experience for what it's worth (actually similar to Boberto's above). I started balding at 21 and it made me very depressed. My baldness pattern is NW4. I tried various things including buying fin/propecia off internet websites (something I can't believe I did now looking back on it). I'm no longer sure of the timelines involved but about 4 years ago, I started taking propecia regularly and started growing my hair a little longer. I've had great results, maintained a lot of my hair and my curly hair covers what's left of my hairline. Some people have even asked me when drunk, if I have had a hair transplant!
Anyway, I'm 33 now and married to a very beautiful woman that I have been dating for 10 years. Over this time, I has gradually lost interest in sex and it became a bit of a chore. I never had problems performing but I just wasn't that interested, I never had morning wood for example, but there wasn't some big problem in our sex life, we still did it quite regularly.
I put it down to getting older and being with the same person for so long, but about 4 months ago I quit fin as we are trying to have a child. The difference is night and day, I am waking up with hard wood, libido has really increased and I feel great. My original intention was to get back on the fin when my wife got pregnant, but this hasn't happened yet and the changes that I noticed made me realise the effect fin was having on me. I'm after reading various hairloss forums for a few hours this morning for the first time in a while, and based on other peoples experiences I havr some rapid hairloss coming my way unless I go back on fin. I think my front has already thinned a little. So, I don't know what to do now. I would avoid fin but I have a head shaped like a rugby ball so shaving it short is not an option!
Anyway, that's my experience
On aside note, it's depressing to see how little has changed in the hairloss world since I began reading hairlosshelp.com/forums over 10 years ago, the cycle of hope being given and taken away, continues

 

[Bigmac]

Hi Barren,Thanks for sharing your experience with Fin, if Fin were giving me low libido I would accept that if I kept my hair but everyone is different in what they want.
I hope you and your wife manage to have a child, as for nothing much changing, you're correct.
Take care.
Bm.

 

[Paul Vinci Hair Clinic]

I have used Finasteride myself for over two years and supplied it to several hundred clients.
I have not had any side effects myself but a very small number of people do and one of the side effects is like you described.
If its affecting your life then stop using it and consider Saw Palmetto or PRP treatments you can read more about that on this URL


I work as a consultant for Vinci Hair Clinic, my opinions expressed here are my personal views.

 

[Paul Vinci Hair Clinic]

Here is the URL to read about PRP an alternative to Finasteride
http://www.vincihairclinic.com/treatments-for-men/alternative-treatments/platelet-rich-plasma-treatment/#.UyiKH_l_sSY

 

[Prohairclinic]

We have offered thousands of patients to start using Finasteride over the last 10 years.
The number of complaints we got (sides) are far less then 5 procent.
The amount of people with sides produced from Minoxidil 5% much higher (head ache, dry skin, ...).

If people are not willing to use Finasteride we offer them Keratene Retard, a scientiffally proven alternative to lower DHT.

 

[leahmich77]

I experienced confusion, brain fog, and diminished sex drive with finasteride. It's sad that it has to create these side effects when it is actually working on me.

 

[baldasabadger10]

I had a slight decrease in erection strength at first, but it soon returned to normal when my body got used to it. No other side effects to report though thankfully.

 

[leahmich77]

baldasabadger10 wrote:

I had a slight decrease in erection strength at first, but it soon returned to normal when my body got used to it. No other side effects to report though thankfully.

Hi! so you mean to say that now you are no longer experiencing any sexual side effects already? I hear that these are permanent.

 

[pkipling]

I've been on it for almost a year with no obvious side effects. I personally try to stay very on guard for the "placebo effect" myself, as I know that it's in my nature (human nature, really) to start taking on symptoms once they're suggested to me. Just by reading this, I immediately think, "Wait.... Maybe I do experience brain fog..." Then I can come up with reasons to justify why I may or may not be experiencing this.

The WebMD effect is a prime example. How many times do we go on WebMD to research something we're experiencing, and within an hour, we've diagnosed ourselves with stomach cancer, chronic bronchitis, and our left big toe should probably be amputated.... I'm (slightly) exaggerating of course, but the point remains the same.... I'm sure there are people who experience legitimate side effects from Finasteride, but I have a really hard time believing that it's more than a very small few. Most of the time, I have a feeling the symptoms are self-induced.

The best advice I can give for people taking Finasteride is to take it daily like a multi-vitamin and forget about it. Don't think about it. Don't analyze if it's working, not working, causing sides, not causing sides, etc. Take some photos once every 3 months if you want to monitor its success, but other than that.... Forget about it. ))))

 

[marcos72]

I didn't have any side effects but I know people that had to reduce the dose because they were really worried.
Ask you doctor os try reducing the dose and see if you feel any difference.

 

[pepgea]

I experienced the same brain fog you say at the beginning of my treatment but after a few weeks I started to feel better. Maybe you body needs to adapt to new medication. Obviously I'm not a doctor so it's always better to ask