February 9 2007, 3:33 pm PT | Posted in: Drugs
Hi Dr. Rassman,
I am a 26 y/o male who has been taking propecia for about 9 months now. I have been experiencing sexual side effects for the whole time I’ve been taking the medication. I have read in blogs/articles that the side effects tend to go away after prolonged use. If they were to go away, would they be gone by the 9 month point?
If they should have been gone by now, I have no choice but to decrease the dosage to .5mg. Why do you recommend being off the drug for 2 weeks before switching to the .5mg? I understand that its b/c you want to side effects to go away before switching….but will the side effects not go away if you switch immediately from 1mg to .5mg and continue to take daily?Can you please explain the rational behind this b/c I am afraid of losing more hair by not taking the medication for 2 weeks. Please respond Dr. Rassman, these sexual side effects are depressing me quite a bit. Thanks for the help.
The sexual side effects associated with Propecia are generally temporary. Taking 1/2 the dose may also alleviate the side effect. Taking 1/2 dose is 70% as effective and it is certainly better than taking no finasteride.
Before considering changing any drug regiment you need to discuss this with the doctor that prescribed you the medication. You may have another medical problem unrelated to the use of Propecia that is causing your sexual side effect. Some men can not get over this sexual side effect problem and then for a good sex life, they would not take this drug. Minoxidil is a reasonable alternative in such situations.
The purpose of stopping the medication for two weeks is to determine if Propecia was what was causing your side effect. In theory even this method is flawed, because of the placebo effect.
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
Related Entries
- Side Effects from Propecia Still Here Months After Stopping The Drug
- Noticed Side Effects Starting Months After Finasteride Use
- If They’re Going to Show Up, How Long Until Propecia Side Effects Are Present?
- Should I Stop Taking Propecia Due to Sexual Side Effects?
- If 1/2mg Finasteride is 80% Effective, Does that Mean 80% of the Side Effects?
Balding Forum
I’m 25 yrs old and took Propecia for 2 weeks due to hair loss concern. I have since been off the drug for 3 weeks now and I’m still experiencing side effects (severely decreased libido and ED). I have also since received blood test with normal to above normal T-Levels. What else can I do? What can help remedy the situation?
Took propecia for 6 weeks. Since week 2 i had erection problems and serious libido drop. Quit after week 6. Now, and 4 yrs later i still cant have an erection. Im living the healthier of life styles, sport and lift weights, eat accordint to nutritionists and sleep before 10 pm each nite to increase my adrenal capacities since propecia has made so much irreversible damage to me that i dont know where and whom to see to talk about it. I have kept track of all my hormonal levels since the day i took the drug. Testosteron drop has been more than 60% in the last 4 yrs, so has FSH (from 6.4 went down to 2.3) Dht returned to normal but there is a constant fluctuation between other hormone levels such as prolactin, progesterone and free testosterone which is so inexplainable for me. I have been keeping track of my hormones sice 8 yrs now when i first started professional training and never seen such a damage in my hormonal status before. I am constantly putting on weight around the waist despite eating and exercising very carefully but above that problems such as erectile dysfunction, drop of libido, lowering of sperm count, pain in groin/testicles and decreased motivation, decrease in penile size and others are caused for sure by propecia and are irreversible. I am suggesting that FDA should look into this drug much more carefully and see about those 1.8 and 2% numbers revealed by Merck to be sufferers. I know of at least 15 people in my home town of 20.000 that have taken propecia and still cant revover. Imagine that