Finisaride (Propecia): How long does one need to be on it for damage to occur?

[anyman]

I ask this as I used Propecia a good 8-9 years ago for hair loss and started to notice the symptoms of low T perhaps 2 years ago. I was only on it for a month as I quickly noticed porr erections and dropped it ASAP.

Is it possible that this brief exposure could have caused problems literally years later?

[jaydee]

The hard truth is yes it definately can. Ive heard people with permanent problems from taking it as little as 3 weeks. It somehow changes your hormonal pathways and doctors are still at a loss as to why some men do not recover from it.

[anyman]

I am having trouble coming to terms with the possibility that something I BRIEFLY took many years ago could have caused all this nonsense. If any part of me even remotely thought this was a risk I'd never have gone near it.

While I am ranting, if this is true, why havn't we birned the place that makes this poison to the ground? How can it still be sold?

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by anyman

I am having trouble coming to terms with the possibility that something I BRIEFLY took many years ago could have caused all this nonsense. If any part of me even remotely thought this was a risk I'd never have gone near it.

While I am ranting, if this is true, why havn't we birned the place that makes this poison to the ground? How can it still be sold?

Welcome to my little world of frustration.

Would you believe that my local GP who prescribed me this poison would not even make a report to the TGA (Australias FDA) because he did not beleive me that my side effects are not going away.

[JanSz]

Originally Posted by anyman

I ask this as I used Propecia a good 8-9 years ago for hair loss and started to notice the symptoms of low T perhaps 2 years ago. I was only on it for a month as I quickly noticed porr erections and dropped it ASAP.

Is it possible that this brief exposure could have caused problems literally years later?

What is your DHT, post value, units and ranges.

[zkt]

Its nice to know that the USA isnt the only place whos health care system is totally screwed up.

[troubledfinuser]

Originally Posted by anyman

I ask this as I used Propecia a good 8-9 years ago for hair loss and started to notice the symptoms of low T perhaps 2 years ago. I was only on it for a month as I quickly noticed porr erections and dropped it ASAP.

Is it possible that this brief exposure could have caused problems literally years later?

Its possible but not very likely. I guess u could have a borderline case of fin induced hypo but most sufferers from finasteride has alot of issues that they cant ignore for 8 years.
That is one scary drug, unfortenatly i know first hand.
Get some tests done b4 u try anything. U will prolly find lots of stuff on lowering e2 and getting yr testosterone to increase but not all sufferers have high E2. Like me for instance i have E2 at 12(bottom of scale) even when on testosterone gel. Just get tested b4 u try something even tho its tempting i know..


Cheers

[JanSz]

Originally Posted by troubledfinuser

Its possible but not very likely. I guess u could have a borderline case of fin induced hypo but most sufferers from finasteride has alot of issues that they cant ignore for 8 years.
That is one scary drug, unfortenatly i know first hand.
Get some tests done b4 u try anything. U will prolly find lots of stuff on lowering e2 and getting yr testosterone to increase but not all sufferers have high E2. Like me for instance i have E2 at 12(bottom of scale) even when on testosterone gel. Just get tested b4 u try something even tho its tempting i know..


Cheers

Is it possible that finasteride lowers ones DHT (permanently).

Wonder if there is Dr Marianco's post where hi is addressing finasteride issue.

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by JanSz

Is it possible that finasteride lowers ones DHT (permanently).

Wonder if there is Dr Marianco's post where hi is addressing finasteride issue.

That is my gut feeling too. We dont convert to DHT anymore. Even if the DHT is showing up in blood tests (or maybe even urines) Im still not sure that its the same DHT as it was before finasteride. Thats a long shot and a stab in the dark, but with all the info ive gathered its the best conclusion Ive got. And then youve got guys like me who's DHT was in the dirt, but it is now about mid-range on TRT, so you would expect some improvement with the rise in DHT.

I remember reading one thread about finasteride here from Dr Marianco, but thats about it. If anyone can give us a link to others please do. From memory he has a few guys who are on finasteride and said it was a matter of balancing the dose of finasteride so as to not drive DHT too low. I could have that wrong but thats the jist I got of it. Seems pretty simple, so why all the problems with that drug then?

[JanSz]

Originally Posted by jaydee

That is my gut feeling too. We dont convert to DHT anymore. Even if the DHT is showing up in blood tests (or maybe even urines) Im still not sure that its the same DHT as it was before finasteride. Thats a long shot and a stab in the dark, but with all the info ive gathered its the best conclusion Ive got. And then youve got guys like me who's DHT was in the dirt, but it is now about mid-range on TRT, so you would expect some improvement with the rise in DHT.

I remember reading one thread about finasteride here from Dr Marianco, but thats about it. If anyone can give us a link to others please do. From memory he has a few guys who are on finasteride and said it was a matter of balancing the dose of finasteride so as to not drive DHT too low. I could have that wrong but thats the jist I got of it. Seems pretty simple, so why all the problems with that drug then?

I think people with low DHT and T are good candidates for T-transdermals, possibly applied some amount of it to scrotal area.

[jaydee]

Already tried that and it did nothing whatsoever to help my symptoms. I will be getting some bloods done soon to see if the DHT went up (for what they are worth). My doc said it was ok since mine is a compounded T cream and has no alcohol in it.

It will be very interesting to see if the DHT went up by any significant amount because doing this should send it sky high.

Failing that, the next step for me is DHT cream and I would even like to try it regardless of if my DHT is higher or not just to see what would happen. It would also be interesting to see what urine testing would reveal about 5ar activity as opposed to just DHT blood test.

[anyman]

I've held off on doing pretty much anything except watch my diet and keep exercising until I meet with him. I tried the "clomid" test and saw a T increase from 200 to over 300. FSH and LH went from 1 and change to 2 1/2. Still very low IMO, but nevertleless reflects a 100% increase. I have no idea how to interpret this. Whiile a 50% increase in T sounds good, the final result was only 319 or so, still well below where I should be.

This whole thing can really get to me at times. I just want to live a normal life without stupid issues like this. In fact, "stupid" is the only word that comes to mind. What an utterly stupid affliction, never mind the body's even dumber inability to fix itself.

[JanSz]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Already tried that and it did nothing whatsoever to help my symptoms. I will be getting some bloods done soon to see if the DHT went up (for what they are worth). My doc said it was ok since mine is a compounded T cream and has no alcohol in it.

It will be very interesting to see if the DHT went up by any significant amount because doing this should send it sky high.

Failing that, the next step for me is DHT cream and I would even like to try it regardless of if my DHT is higher or not just to see what would happen. It would also be interesting to see what urine testing would reveal about 5ar activity as opposed to just DHT blood test.

Speaking of compounded T cream.
For years I was on Androgel 10grams.
I had a good absorption and high TotalT levels, as expected when reading the pamphlet.
I also had very high DHT.
In Feb07 I switched to compounded T cream, 100mg/1gram
Androgel is 1%
Tcream is 10% testosterone
I applied 1gram/day of Tcream, that is same amount of testosterone was applied to skin as before.
On April/07 blood test I had half of TotalTest and little less of DHT.
I doubled my Tcream to 2grams/day but did not have a patience to wait for next blood test. Besides, 2grams of Tcream plus 1gram of preg cream it was a big daily project.
I switched to Depo_Testosterone injections,
E3D, SubQ (T+hcg) around navel on the same day using 31ga short needle for both shots.
I have two days free of shots, I can take shower anytime I want.
I expect my DHT to get to within range.
I know that will not help you, you need more DHT.
I would rather use Androgel, large area need so more chance to get higher DHT, scrotal area if need be.
Dries real qiuck.
Cost may be a problem.

[anyman]

Originally Posted by JanSz

What is your DHT, post value, units and ranges.

Seems to be one measurement I'm a bit light on. Oddly enough, Dr. Shippen did not ask for a retest of it. Hmmmm..................

[JanSz]

Originally Posted by anyman

Seems to be one measurement I'm a bit light on. Oddly enough, Dr. Shippen did not ask for a retest of it. Hmmmm..................

Quote:
I've only got one reading on DHT: 10.28 ng/dl


Dihydrotestosterone DHT(25-75) ng/dL

Rise the DHT by
Spreading Androgel mostly on your genitalia
or
get DHT cream

report back when your DHT=75ng/dL