Author Topic: propecia  (Read 10668 times)

Offline notanymore

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propecia.....does anyone know why it works, how it works, why it causes gyno, and if there is any way to use it safely?

Hairloss boards and hairtransplant surgeons promote the stuff like its candy and basically none of them have any side effects....Im talkin thousands of people......long time users

anyone have any info?

Thanks

Offline bogieman

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hoping its not a problem. been taking it for 4 years and had gyn for 22 years- my ps says that the dose is so small that in his opinion it is still safe for me to take-
i know there is some talk on these boards of it causing gyne-however it is my opinion that this is anecdotal in that the side effects listed for the drug do not mention it in controled studies. with propecia reducing a hormnoe that is a testosterone i think that is where the discussion begins
here is to hoping my ps is right!

Offline notanymore

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have you had any hair growth?

Offline Paa_Paw

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Welcome to reality.

The generic name is Finasteride.  

It can, and often does, cause Gynecomastia, lowered libido, etc. and the effects can be permanent.

People like yourself write in here all the time. Look through the back pages and you'll find more info than you can handle.

Sorry!
Grandpa Dan

Offline Hypo-is-here

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Quote
propecia.....does anyone know why it works, how it works, why it causes gyno, and if there is any way to use it safely?

Hairloss boards and hairtransplant surgeons promote the stuff like its candy and basically none of them have any side effects....Im talkin thousands of people......long time users

anyone have any info?

Thanks



Propecia's principle agent is Finasteride as has already been pointed out.

Finasteride is used in the treatment of prostate cancer to chemically castrate men to slow down the growth of that disease.

Finasteride lowers the potent male hormone dihydrotestosterone or DHT as it is sometimes termed.  In doing this the Androgen to Estrogen ratio or balance is shifted adversely in favour of female estrogens.

The result is an unhealthy hormonal picture that allows for the ERs (Estrogen Receptors) in the male chest to act upon the hormonal imbalance and the small glandular tissue that is present in all male chests is allowed to develop in much the same way that a womens chest develops through hormonal factors.


One thing that people don't seem to understand is this.


Hypogonadism is NOT testosterone deficiency.

It gets termed that in a round about way to make it more easily understood given that hypogonadism is an awful term.

But the reality is hypogonadism is a lack of testosterone and or its metabolites and dihydrotestosterone is testosterones principle metabolite.

So Finasteride lowers dihydrotestosterone and a lack of dihydrotestosterone causes hypogonadism.

And hypogonadism is a major cause of gynecomastia being an associated condition that accounts for 10% of all sufferers.  

Statistics sourced from;

Ismail and Barth (biochemists)  2002 white paper "The Endocrinology of Gynecomastia" and Glen D Braunstein's (endocrinologist) 1993 white paper "Gynecomastia".  And are based on relative frequencies.











« Last Edit: March 02, 2006, 02:11:05 AM by Hypo-is-here »

Offline notanymore

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thanks guys.....

I read the catsration thing....but im sure that is dose dependant....or there would be millions of castrated people that are currently taking propecia, which isnt the case, so the question comes down to how much dht doest the fin block in a dose, and how much dht blocked =loss in limbido or worse....

Thanks

Offline Hypo-is-here

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Quote
thanks guys.....

I read the catsration thing....but im sure that is dose dependant....or there would be millions of castrated people that are currently taking propecia, which isnt the case, so the question comes down to how much dht doest the fin block in a dose, and how much dht blocked =loss in limbido or worse....

Thanks



Who are you trying to convince here?

Listen to yourself, "you're sure castration is dose dependent"  :o

I am telling you that some men who take Propecia develop hypogonadism.  That is a fact that I can provide the evidence for.  That is the same as getting castrated (chemical castration) as it is reducing your androgen levels to a point where things do not function as they should without treatment.


If we were talking about something that could cause Aids would you be saying Mmmm I'm sure this is dose dependent or saying screw that I 'm not going near it?

What do you think  ;)


Here is a story of one mans experiences with Propecia.  While I have been here at this site and others I have seen literally dozens of such cases.



Quote
It all started back in October 2002 but just a brief history before that. I started losing my hair in my late teens, early twenties but it has been a slow decline rather than heavy shedding. I tried minoxidil but because my hair is long it always made it look messy. When I heard about Propecia I thought what a great idea. Take a tablet each day and that’s that. It really did look like the miracle cure us baldies had been waiting for.
I started taking Propecia in October 2002. I got it from the Internet because it wasn’t available in the UK as far as I knew. I contacted Merk in New Zealand which is were my batch came from and they confirmed it was legitimate and not a cheap counterfeit. I showed them to my doctor and although he hadn’t seen Propecia before he asked me a few questions about my general health and said I would be ok to take them if I wanted to. I read the note about the 2% of men suffering from a lowered libido but also the fact that this returned to normal on stopping Propecia and also went away in men who continued to use the drug. I wasn’t dating at the time so I really did have nothing to lose, I just figured if I met someone I would stop using the drug and hey if it meant I would masturbate less I really didn’t care. I took the tablet each day for about 5 and half months. The drug had a huge affect on my hair and it grew a lot quicker and a lot thicker. All my friends noticed including my stylist, I was very happy about the positive effects.

Then I met someone I was really excited about. I immediately stopped taking Propecia and we started dating once a week. After a couple of weeks that’s when I realized things were quite the way they should be in the trouser department. I tried to masturbate but I could not get an erection even after a long time trying. Previously I had never had a problem and had always been quite a horny guy. I put it down to finasteride and thought that maybe I needed to give my body a little longer but after more time still no change. I became concerned and started searching on the Internet with Google. My worst nightmare was staring at me in black and white on the computer screen. Not one, but many cases of finasteride induced impotence. Men who had not recovered even after 3 or 4 years of finasteride I was completely distraught. I could not sleep and I could not eat, and I could not think about anything else. I cried and cried many times and the angst was almost unbearable.

I went to see my GP and told him everything, he was very understanding and made me an appointment with a doctor who was a Psychosexual specialist. I broke down in front of my girlfriend one night and told her everything and she was incredibly understanding and said she would stick by me no matter what. This was a huge relief and I was able to sleep and get back to some sense of normality. The specialist convinced me it was all in my head and he gave me some exercises to do with my partner and also Viagra to help me get over the problem. I believed him and practiced “sensate focus” with my partner and eventually used the Viagra. I did this over a 3 month period. Still suffering from impotence I decided after more research that the answer may lie within blood tests. I believed that Propecia had upset the hormone system and something was greatly out of balance. I went to see an endocrinologist and explained my symptoms as follows:

No morning erections and no daytime erections.
Great difficulty in getting or maintaining an erection for intercourse or masturbation. Watery semen
I felt very passive
My penis felt smaller, wrinkly, less full
My testicles hung lower and felt less full, my testicles previously would well up if I didn’t masturbate for a day or so.
My penis felt “disconnected” from my brain in some way.
Sometimes my erections stopped short and my penis would arch to the left.
An increase in tummy fat.
He did some basic blood tests and told me everything was normal but my Testosterone was slightly sub normal i.e. it was below the minimum range. He said that maybe I was a low Testosterone male. He said I could go on TRT either having Testosterone injected or a rub in gel. I didn’t like the sound of this as I would have to do this for the rest of my life. I also discovered that this would shutdown my testicles and I would not be able to have children whilst in this state. We agreed to leave it another 6 months and then see how things went. We did some more tests and this time my Testosterone was slightly above the minimum range. The endocrinologist was only open to basic TRT and was unwilling to try and restart my system or do any further tests to find out what was causing my the problems. As I didn’t agree he referred me to a Professor of endocrinology . I went to the appointment with great hope, after all the person I was seeing was a professor. I came out of the appointment and cried. He didn’t believe me and said it was all in my head and that I should stop doing research on the Internet. He wouldn’t treat me as everything was between the “normal” ranges in my last test. So this leads me to my present day. 3 doctors who don’t believe I have a problem and all unwilling to treat me, believe me or even investigate. I quit Propecia in March 2003 and I am still suffering side effects. I wrote to Merk a few times but they fobbed me off saying there was nothing they could do and they weren't allowed to help me. Although things have improved slightly I am far from normal. Not only is my quality of life suffering I am now increasingly concerned for my future health. No one knows yet what Propecia does to cause this condition and no one knows what the future ramifications are. Struggling with the symptoms is one thing, ignorant doctors just make the uphill struggle ten time harder. Still the fight goes on and I am currently in consultation with a doctor in the USA. I’ll keep you posted and if I could have my time again and I would never have taken Propecia. The truth is there are many men out there whose lives have been torn apart by a drug that was supposed to stop their hair falling out. I have heard of cases were finasteride has only been taken for as little as one month, the damage appears to be irreparable by the body alone and it is not known yet whether the damage can be repaired by treatment.
Unquote

This is the guys site and it links to a yahoo group specifically for propecia sufferers

http://www.propeciasideeffects.com/


According to Eurgene Shippen one of the worlds leading authorities on hypogonadism and male hormones- propecia and other drugs containing small amounts of Finasteride can in a minority of men cause a form of hypogonadism that is very difficult to treat.  

and view the comments of one top hormone doctor here  
 
http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=1;action=di splay;num=1139738214  
 
P.S  
 
Do not touch propecia or any product containing finasteride with a barge pole- avoid like the plague and use at your peril.  











« Last Edit: March 03, 2006, 03:01:31 AM by Hypo-is-here »

Offline travelingfool

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Yes, stay away from Propecia/Finesteride.

I have been suffering from 1 month of use for the last two years. Symptoms: gynecomastia and lowered sex drive.

I went from having sex 3-5 a week to not having it at all...So if you want to have hair badly enough to grow boobs and lose your sex life, go ahead. After seeing many posts similar to mine I don't believe the company's claims of low side effects.

Hard to believe that a pill the size of a pinhead (after dividing up the Finesteride pill) could cause so much damage but it did.

Offline orrible

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I agree that it is very strange how it can affect peple in so many ways. The hairloss forums are full of people taking it claiming not to have side effects. I took naturals as i was scared of propecias sides and got gyne anyway.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2006, 07:41:00 AM by stonecold »

Offline notanymore

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thanks for all the replies guys....

curious what "naturals" are though stonecold....?

Offline Hypo-is-here

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Just as I was thinking that as the messenger I had popped my head up above the parapet for a little too long....  ::)

Nice to see you taking the info on board...this is one subject where people are honestly looking out for your best interests.

Offline bogieman

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wow - dont you think that side effect would be in their studies?

quote:It can, and often does, " cause this?
I think the word often is a bit much - has it happened? im sure- does it happen "often"
i seriously doubt it
/
as far as the sex side effects- not me for the past 5 years-

has it grown hair- not really but i stopped loosing it -

/
again my ps said that the dose is too low to cause-


Offline notanymore

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I'm probably not gonna take it....I have a pretty good regeimn without propecia and I dont want to risk the side effects. I do think that thay happen rarely and are irreversible in very limited isolated patients, but...

anyway...thanks for posting guys......

If you want to see comments from literally hundreds of propecia/finas/avodart/dut users, goto hairtransplantnetwork.com.......

I know this is kinda off topic here, again thanks for listening.....and good luck gettin rid og the gyno......It changes you...no shit

Offline orrible

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naturals are sold in health food shops as alternatives to drugs. Herbal remedies.

Offline Texan

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I cant believe you'd take a risk like that. But whatever.

I'm guessing you're not sexually active?
Man Boobs Gone In 3 Weeks.
Hopefully It All Works Out.


 

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