July 25 2005, 8:22 am PT | Posted in: Drugs
I am going bald, but after reviewing the several sexual side effects from Propecia that are in the drug warnings, I am afraid to take this drug. Is this a real concern or am I over-reacting?
I believe that like most men, any potential threat to your manhood should scare the hell out of you. There are many ways to answer this question. The official FDA studies show that the difference between the placebo group and those that actual took Propecia, is less than 1% of men are impacted by a reduction of libido (sexual drive). There is also a very small percentage of men who have ’sexual dysfunction’ (I hate this term because is implies that something is ‘broken’) which can be made worse by Propecia. The risk for worsening sexual dysfunction is in the order of 5%. So the proper answer to this question is that there is a very small risk of some type of libido or sexual performance impact by Propecia.
Men are highly suggestive, so if a man thinks that he is going to be the one out of a 100 men who have a decreased libido or sexual performance, men can easily talk themselves into this side effect. If the problem is one of sexual performance (unable to have the penis work the way the man wants it to work), then there may be issues that need to be treated with drugs like Viagra, Cialis, Levitra or the like. There is no need to sacrifice your hair just because your penis does not work as well as it did when you were 16 years old. Hair loss, libido and sexual function have one thing in common in that they are impacted by male hormones. If something is wrong with any of these three, please see a good doctor and fix the problem. I believe it is possible to have a good sex life and get your hair back or prevent it’s loss, so get a doctor involved with your problem if you have one.
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Hi doctor, I wrote you several weeks ago regarding to my frontal hair line which has some reseccion. I am 28 years old and last six months I have started to seeing my front hair line slowly thinning, and slowly receiving. I am between type 1 and type 2 pattern right now and I have seen change in 6 months even in 1 months.I have been seen a doctor for it. My family ,(my uncle , my father ) have all type 3A. And they have very tick hair. I have been using propecia for 3 months. It is not working for now. I was wondering would that be wise to see you to get an better to where I am and where it is going.Or it is too early to tell. All I am try to stop it before it gets worse. It is looking fine now, bad if it goes like this it may not look fine. And also smoking and sun seems to have bad effect on my hair loose .I am not smoker but I smoke once every two months for fun.Is it common that smoking effects hair loose? Thanks for your time.And also what is the chances that propecia can stop hair reseccion in frontal hair line?
Sam,
Please see my reply here: http://www.baldingblog.com/2005/08/08/can-smoking-cause-hair-loss/
I am 29. I started Propecia 6 months ago.
I can say without question Propecia markedly affects the penis. I was always strong in that before. And as soon as I started takin Propecia, it is a serious problem, even with a very hot girl or girlfriend. It sucks. I guess I was strong before because of testosterone, and now not. Also, I can only have sex once a day now, whereas before, lots, unless I pop penis pills, then it’s a bit better, but much less than without, which was stellar.
Sadly, yours, Why??