Permanent Finasteride side effects - the unwritten dangers of this drug

[propeciahelp]

Check http://www.propeciahelp.com to learn about the dangers of this drug.

If you're considering taking Finasteride for hair loss, DON'T. Read the member stories, blood tests and STUDIES on Propeciahelp.com about the dangers of this drug.

There are many men now experiencing secondary hypogonadism and early Male Andropause (low testosterone/DHT, high Estrogens, low LH/FSH) as a result of usage, and side effects did NOT resolve after quitting.

Many men have been left with decreased semen volume, shrunken penis/nuts, impotence, Peyronie's Disease (crooked penis), decreased mental capacity and total loss of sex drive, to name but a few. Side effects of this drug are very real and can be dangerous for those that get them, as for the most part they seem to be IRREVERSIBLE and PERMANENT.

Male Andropause, a condition usually seen in men aged 50+, is now affecting young men in their 20s thanks to this drug.

DHT is a vital male hormone and you are playing with fire by messing with it. Finasteride does more than block DHT, it also interferes with:

- blockade of numerous neurosteroid pathways -- such as 5AR-reduction of Progesterone -> Allopregnanolone (via 5a-DHP)

- blockade of 5AR reduction of Deoxycorticosterone -> 5aTHDOC (via 5a-DHDOC)

- blockade of 5AR reduction of Androstenedione/Testosterone -> Androstanediol (via 5a-DHT)

- interference with the brain’s GABA-A receptor, due to depleted Allopregnanolone

If any medical professionals know how to reverse the permanent damage this drug has caused to some men's endocrine systems, please visit http://www.propeciahelp.com and let us know what the cure is or which doctors have experience treating post-Finasteride side effects.

[Dean]

Rogaine?

[Ken]

I have been doing some of my own research and looking into possible, as well as documented, side effects to Finasteride. Until reading your comments, I have heard no such testamonials of such adverse affects. I find it very presumptious that you jump to such uneducated conclusions and defame a product that may potentially be the very cure to a persons menacing affliction. Inflammatory statements like the one posted here merely place fear into current or potential Finasteride users who, after reading your posting, will end up even more male-informed then when they began their inquirings into this drug

[zak]

true

[s kelly]

Finasteride has unequivently ruined my life. The sex drive has been washed from my brain. I can still get erections but the pleasure sensation in my brain has gone. Worse than that though are the other side affects. My skin has aged by thirty years underneath my eyes, ive developed diabetic symptoms which started with seemingly hyperglycemic eyes and a raging thirst but the doctors say im not diabetic, my nervous system has developed neuropathy which seems to be affecting everything. Ive got numerous other side affects - im become a chronic insomniac. The studies i have made seem to sugest the cause is Gaba "a" or cytochrome p450 where the metabolism has been messed with.The inhibitor side of finasteride seems to have aged, or caused the death of the T cells or the levels of finasteride in my blood became toxic and ruined my blood. Im lost can anyone help.

[3pfnm]

s kelly,
I recommend you visit http://www.propeciahelp.com and read the studies posted there. From that point you can work with your doctor and get advice from individuals who have been in the same boat.
Oh, and Ken, you're the mal-informed one here, and the only thing truly inflammatory is your belittling VERY REAL PROBLEMS. Potentially permanent damage to one's sexual organs and nervous system is a menacing affliction... just like ignorance.

[John]

The only side effect I've noticed from propecia is this brain fog, but more specifically when I speak I trip over words and I think about what I'm saying, and often it doesn't come out as smoothly as I'd like.

[Smitty]

Ken wrote:

I have been doing some of my own research and looking into possible, as well as documented, side effects to Finasteride. Until reading your comments, I have heard no such testamonials of such adverse affects. I find it very presumptious that you jump to such uneducated conclusions and defame a product that may potentially be the very cure to a persons menacing affliction. Inflammatory statements like the one posted here merely place fear into current or potential Finasteride users who, after reading your posting, will end up even more male-informed then when they began their inquirings into this drug

WOW what a tosser

my bet is this guy has been paid by people to go around on internet forums and defend the drug, to mislead people, trying to cause confusion 'well lots of people report side effects but others are extremely thankful to this drug, hmmm i might give it a go just to see how i go on it'

job well done, thats all it takes

[Propecia Side Effects]

http://www.youtube.com/watch...   
2007 Swedish TV documentary on undocumented Post-Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar) permanent sexual side effects -- which can continue indefinitely after stopping the drug for a certain percentage of men.

Many young men around the world based their decision to take Finasteride in the form of Propecia 1mg or Proscar 5mg for hairloss, based on the assurances by their doctor, the FDA's Propecia clinical trials (2% of men may experience side effects) and Merck's medical literature that states any side effects experienced on the medication should resolve with continued use, or most certainly upon discontinuation.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case for a certain percentage of men worldwide. These men continue to suffer (often in silence) from devastating, and thus far irreversible, mental, physical and sexual side effects from Finasteride -- despite Merck's claims that such side effects would resolve after quitting.

Most in the medical community are unaware of this possibility, dismiss such claims, or do not care to investigate further as to how or why the drug can leave some men with complete loss of sex drive, shrunken penis/scrotum, Peyronie's Disease (penile fibrosis), loss of penile sensitivity, loss of spontaneous/morning/nocturnal erections, chronic fatigue, decreased mental acuity, memory recall issues and much more -- or why after quitting those with permanent issues often find their Testosterone, LH & FSH levels drop through the floor (amongst other hormonal imbalances), often to hypogonadal levels typically only seen during male Andropause in old age.

Read the FAQ and Finasteride Studies section of http://www.propeciahelp.com for more information about the dangers and unlisted mechanisms of action of this drug (including neurosteroid inhibition in the brain), far beyond what Merck discloses in their advertising, medical literature and in their studies submitted to the FDA for Propecia approval.

5AR and DHT are absolutely critical for the proper mental, physical, sexual and fertility functioning of some men, and there are no guarantess that things will return to normal after taking drugs that disrupt or alter the endocrine system... including those like Finasteride that create a surrogate state of 5AR2 deficiency in men, thereby instilling a hormonal profile that matches that of a 5AR2-deficient pseudohermaphrodite.

Translation of video: http://www.propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.p...

End.

[ken is a douchebag]

ken is a total fkg tool an either a scumbag physician or a shill for merck.

[full of hair]

I've been taking propecia for 10 years and the only side effect I've experienced is better hair and more confidence with women.
Not only that, Lately I stopped propecia as an experiment to see how that would result.
The only side effect was hair loss.
I truly am convinced that alot of this smear campaign against the drug is largely psychosomatic.

[Esol Esek]

The idea that these effects would be psychosomatic is a stupid assertion. I took about 280 mgs of Proscar over 4 years, and I noticed an improvement in my hair growth, but also a decrease in semen production and now maybe some other things.
The fact that any of these things may be irreversible flies in the face of what Merck always claimed. I did think messing with hormones was a bit sketchy, so i didnt take the daily dose. I'm glad I havent taken it for two years, and just found out about all this when looking to order more. My hair hasnt all fallen out, and I cant say it did that much when I was taking it. Merck never mentioned any of these other hormonal side effects, which presented in a different way, actually seem pretty feasible. We'll see which way it goes, but I'm glad to have gotten out so far, but now I'm worried about getting my prostate checked.

[John]

I was taking Propecia for two years starting in 2002. Obtained fantastic results for my hair. Unbelievable. Stopped when the side effects became too strong. Too this day, I have very little ejaculate . More concerning, I suffer chronic fatigue. ( Fatigue started while on Propecia ) I have seen many docotors and had many tests and can not determine cause. One could surmise the fatigue to me froma variety of reasons from diet to stree, however the lack of ejaculate can not be explained away. I firmly believe these are long term side side effects are from my Propecia use 6 years ago.

[steve]

As with all drugs there are side effects. Merck have done trials on Proscar for the prostate and was passed by the fda. Merck then found out that Proscar can re-grow or stop hair loss and did a five year trial on this, which was passed again by the fda and renamed Propecia.

As i said at the start all drugs have side effects but there are very slim.

erectile dysfucntion is one of the side effects listed and is quiet a common one, but this goes away quickly once the person has stopped taking the medication. I belive http://www.propeciahelp.com is a bit of a scaremonger..

[steve]

If your worried about Propecia or what ever drug your taking is causing side effects just go see your Doctor or even simpler still stop taking the drug EASY!!

[Fredman]

Hi All:
I have a few ideas and comments which might help some of the sufferers.

First the background: I'm a health nut / fitness buff with a degree in chemistry and thirty plus years of nutritional research. Within the constraints of my knowledge, I have used myself for a fair amount of experimentation including some rather lengthy tests with high levels of soy protein as well as saw palmetto, and I have (for a period) actually induced in myself the same kinds of side effects many of you have experienced through use of finasteride (Propecia, Proscar) such as decreased libido, difficulty / inability to achieve or maintain erection, and increased emotional sensitivity and fogginess of mind along with increased sleeplessness and decreased energy.
The reasons for this in me were:
a) soy contains isoflavones which are actually phytoestrogens. They are, particularly in soy, very strong mimics of human estrogen. Our bodies cannot tell the difference so by consuming the excess soy, I was actually increasing the estrogen to testosterone ratio in my body. Since only estrogen or testosterone can occupy the rather promiscuous receptor sites in the body, any site occupied by estrogen or estrogen mimics cannot be stimulated by testosterone. The net effect heightened my emotional level and decreased my sex drive.
b) saw palmetto is an herb that is also a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor (this is what finasteride does). 5-alpha-reductase is an important enzyme required by the body for a number of hormonal processes, but the most important of these is the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. By consuming regular amounts of saw palmetto, I actually reached a point where I couldn't get it up for a few days straight no matter how hard I tried (yeah, I was a little worried at first).
Now, many of you may have been told DHT is bad and causes hair loss. In part this is true, but DHT is also responsible for all of the characteristics which make us males male -- hair growth, deeper voice, sex drive, potence, and so on.
While we are young, we don't have much problem with our DHT levels. We grow hair AND get it up; however, as we get older, we might start losing hair and we might suffer from impotence. Why?
Normally there is a systemic cleansing process which "washes" the receptor sites of the hormones regularly; however, with male pattern baldness, it seems this cleansing system is partially broken down. The DHT sits in the hair follicle too long and eventually causes the follicle to die. My suspicion (from what I've observed and tested through the years) is that this improper systemic cleansing is actually caused by diet -- years of eating the wrong stuff for our bodies thereby accumulating toxins which simply put our bodies into overload.
Anyway, concurrent with this, it is my belief that the key to restoring the hormonal balance and hormonal cleansing process is to change our diets, but I don't want to get into that here. What I do want to say is this which might help some of you get your libidos back (see part 2):

[Fredman]

Part 2, con't

Cauliflower is a great vegetable which contains large quantities of indole-3-carbinol (this is actually true of the entire cruciferous family, but cauliflower is the best). This compound is extremely effective as helping us men remove excess estrogen in our bodies. This may help some of you purge yourselves. I suggest eating it raw, and do not take any vitamin C for two hours afterward as vitamin C will interfere with the i3c mechanism.
Please note that indole-3-carbinol will interfere with iodine uptake in the thyroid so you'll need to make sure to add a small amount of kelp or iodized salt at some time in your day when it is several hours away from the time you ate the cauliflower.
The quantity I'd suggest eating is a large clump of it daily for awhile (not a whole head, just a large floweret). It may take a week or three until you begin noticing any difference depending upon how out of balance your endocrine system is.
Next, Korean ginseng and Siberian eleuthero are some pretty good herbs which help increase your energy levels, and there's some speculation that they'll increase your testosterone levels / outputs though this is not yet substantiated in research.
I CAN say that I personally have experienced a major increase in sex drive with these herbs. It's like where you want, no you NEED, sex two, three, four times a day.(Needless to say, I don't take these herbs regularly. I have too much to do that wouldn't get done otherwise!)
As always, there's a trade off. These herbs may increase your blood pressure slightly. If you have any hypertension, be extremely careful using ginseng and euleuthero.
That said, I suspect there must be some reversibility of finasteride side-effects, but it may take a long time -- perhaps years. When I quit my experiments with soy and saw palmetto, it took me a good year and a half to finally stabilize my endocrine system again. I had plenty of fluctuations!(These days I actually consume small amounts of soy again with no ill effects, and I have now for at least a couple of years, but I don't overdo it anymore.)
So if anyone is curious at this point, I currently have a normal, active sex life (3-5 times per week, sometimes multiple times per day, sometimes skip a few days -- the usual), and I have a whole lot of hair on my head that I need to cut all too often plus I have a lot of energy all of the time so I'm definitely doing something right.:)
Lastly as a disclaimer, I must say I cannot accept any responsibility for how this advice is used or potentially misused. You, the reader, are on your own and accept full responsibility for how you use anything I have written here. That said, I wish you all the best and hope I might have helped in some way!
Fredman

[Scott]

Good morning,
Listen to what the man is telling you. Having taken Finasteride for many months, they symptology he mentions, is as factual.

There may be some redeeming qualities to Proscar aka Finasteride, yet, I have not come across them in my particular case.

Several othe individuals who had been on the medication had similar reactions as I expereinced and the original writer.

Take heed, and if your physician disagrees, find another urologist. Doxaszosin is also a bad drug.

[Scott]

Listen to the previous writer, he obviously has exerienced they symptology he writes about.
I too have been on Proscar aka FINASTERIDE and have encountered the same problems. Physians say, keep on it, give it a chance. After 6 months, I can no longer play around with chemicals that are playing havoc with my brain, libido, and a multitude of other problems. Sometimes the cure is worse than the ailment, and in this case, Proscar and it's generic Finasteride are worse. I am not alone in my judgment, I encountered several other men at my urologist who had their meds with them and we all had similar problems and lengthy conversations.

[Kent]

Hey al,

Finasteride is the only perscription med I take (strictly for hair loss) and I've taken it for about 10 years. A couple of years in I started having severe panic attacks. I'm not sure if it is linked to my taking finasteride, but now I am beginning to wonder. Does anyone else have any facts or developments on this?