Finasteride User Reviews & Ratings (Page 4)

• Ric...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 30, 2022

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "Prescribed in 2019 for prostate. I took it without researching out of desperation. Fast forward to 2022. I have been on a downward trend, self-admitted to the hospital for a week on the beach, depression, anxiety off the charts, every day was a push. Hard to smile, could barely get hard at all, didn't care about caring. Hair has been growing in thick. Off this stuff for a month, keep the hair, give me back my life and joy, and undo all the damage to me. DO NOT TAKE THIS MEDICATION. More than likely, the people pushing it aren't taking it. No different from corner drug dealers! OUR SYSTEM IS BROKEN."

• Jac...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 22, 2016

For Androgenetic Alopecia "Started taking finasteride for hair loss 4 years ago at the age of 22 when the balding became evident. My balding started in the crown area and moved its way toward the temples, so I am/was a diffuse thinner. I was lucky enough to stop it in time and regrow virtually everything and more with this medication, along with the help of Minoxidil. There are no side effects for me to document. My sex drive has and is still always in hyper speed; I have suffered no brain fog, no ill effects to speak of whatsoever. Besides the price tag, this medication will save your hair. You have to try it out for yourself. And just to note: there is no possible way for 1 pill to have permanent side effects, do your research."

• Bob...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 14, 2022

For Androgenetic Alopecia "The drug is posed as a clinically safe way to reduce hair loss. Studies supposedly proved this, and all doctors considered it safe. After taking this drug, within 2 hours, something shifted in the way I perceived the world; anxiety and emotional empathy were abnormally heightened. Attributing it to temporary effects, as seen in painkillers and recreational substances. Took one more dose. It’s currently >6 months after quitting. These effects and more still remain. Research concludes its effects are set in the epigenome. - sour ammonia body odor - pale skin - thin body hair - more subcutaneous body fat - muscle loss calves; forearms; neck - gynecomastia - female fat distribution - loss of ambition/enthusiasm/life energy - loss of libido/ED - personality alterations - altered brain-body connection - depression/suicidal ideation"

• Joe...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 30, 2025

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "Works great for me. Sleeping all night long. Yes, it lowers sex drive, but I still have more than enough. I’m 53 years old, and finasteride has worked way better for me than Flomax. It has greatly improved my life."

• roc...
• June 13, 2018

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "I tried taking this at two different times, 5 mg, once at 51 years old and again at 53. Both times I took it due to a perceived thought I had an enlarged prostate, and was sold, by a doctor, it could help my serious thinning of hair. Well, the first time I took it for about a month and was on a cruise ship. I am in decent shape, and one morning I ran up a couple of flights of deck stairs which I had done a million times in the past and wow, could not get my heart to slow down. Normally, I recover pretty fast but it took about a minute for my heart to slow down, which is a LONG time. I felt like I was having a heart attack. Had another incident while on an excursion snorkeling which scared the .... out of me. I stopped the drug and when I got home, began working out. I did a yearly physical, and my sugar was a little high, began treadmill 3 times a week. 1 year later, I decided to give it another try for hair loss and perceived BPH, the same thing happened."

• con...
• May 9, 2017

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "Suffering badly from sleep deprivation due to being woken to pee 6 times a night, prescribed Tamsulosin Hydrochloride, minimal reduction, doctor then prescribed Finasteride to assist Tamsulosin, which after 3 months was not achieving a result. Finasteride made me very ill within days of taking it: dizziness, nausea, some loss of feeling in fingertips, buildup of calcium in tendons on hand. Made an appointment to discuss with doctor (two weeks, 3 days earliest that could be booked), week and two days before doctor appointment, sudden loss of sight in left eye due to a blood clot behind the retina."

• far...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 11, 2024

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "I have been on 5 mg finasteride for 3 weeks. I am 61 years old. I have had most of the side effects. Started with terrible brain fog for a few days. My testicles ache every day. My penis shrinks more every day, but the meds make me horny. I masturbate. I don't get hard, but started with brown cum, watery. Now I'm almost dry cum. See how it goes. Only 3 weeks on meds, no testicle shrinkage yet. I read a lot of bad things. My marriage is sexless, so keep going. See if it improves."

• Jim...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 3, 2019

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I have taken this drug for 3 months and take writing this review very seriously, as I can see some negative feedback which I believe to be inaccurate. The drug does not work immediately, so be wary of any review where the user has taken it for less than 3 months. After becoming anxious about going bald, I bought a 3-month supply. I started noticing hair loss reducing from about 6 weeks on, as my desk was no longer covered. Hard to tell if any regrowth, but as I started early, I still had a reasonably healthy cover. Not being anxious about premature aging has really helped my confidence. Have experienced no tangible side effects, but in the first week believed it may have affected sex drive, but as this has disappeared, I now think it was a mental block. Can't say I have noticed any other issues. For me, it has been very positive, as I no longer worry about looking old for my age."

• Cc7...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 29, 2021

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I've been using 1 mg finasteride over the past year. After a few months of use, I was unable to recall basic information that I otherwise would have had at the tip of my tongue. Brain fog, haziness in my responses, and sometimes I could not even verbalize what I was thinking. Find another way to save your hair loss."

• Bik...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 1, 2017

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "I am 54 years old. I've been taking finasteride...along with Flomax for almost 4 months...after being diagnosed with BPH a few months earlier. It has helped tremendously with urination issues. 3-month checkup went well. I will go back in Sept. of 2018 (one year from the start of meds). I have had no side effects until recently. Sexual desire is still very high...no problem getting and maintaining an erection. But about 3 months in, I was noticing less and less ejaculate to where now it's almost nothing. The feeling is still intense...but the well is going dry, per se. I also seem to get fatigued a little more than normal. I will be consulting my urologist about this in the very near future as instructed by him."

• nat...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 5, 2016

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I was on 1 mg about a year ago on and off for about 6 months. I only had slight pain and discomfort in my lower abdomen/testicles for the first few days. Then my morning wood disappeared and sometimes came back. At about the 6th month, I noticed bad shrinkage, low ejaculate volume. I stopped taking it, and after 1 month of seeing no improvement, I was breaking down. I was a tall, athletic 30 yr old man and feeling like I had nothing between my legs. It's almost a year since I stopped. I'm about 90% back to my old self (I think I'm one of the 'lucky' guys). I thought the number of negative comments were b.s. (they're not). The percentage of men being damaged must be much higher than reported. Don't take the risk."

• Ton...
• March 2, 2019

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I've been on this medicine right at 1 year, and all I can say is that the difference in my hair from day one to now is tremendous. When I first started, I still had a good amount of hair, I'm only 23, and I'm trying to catch my hair loss early on. I had fairly significant thinning on the vertex and crown to the point that scalp could always be seen. For the first 3-4 months on finasteride, I shed a lot, to the point that I thought the medicine was making it worse, I had lost an additional 40-50% of the hair on the top of my head. Now, at month 12, it has all entirely grown back, and then some. Wait out the shed, my friends, it will be worth it. You may also try adding saw palmetto, it sped up the results for me. I am happy to report no side effects at all, and now when I comb my hair every morning, there are less than 3 hairs in the brush or sink. My hair loss has virtually stopped altogether. I hope these results last, but the best advice I can give from my experience is: wait out the shedding."

• Hem...
• January 19, 2011

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I am 22, and I had some hair loss. I have started using this medicine, and right away after starting (less than a week!), I noticed that I have hair loss no more. Even when I intentionally try to pull my hair out! For help to grow new hair, well, I have used this medicine for about 4 months, and I can say YES, it works, but gradually."

• w77...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 19, 2017

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I've never written a review for a drug before. I'm 47. When I started thinning a couple of years ago, I freaked out and started looking into this drug. I read thousands of reviews, many of them negative. But I went ahead and started taking it anyway. Thankfully, it worked for me. I've been on it for 2 years. I experienced weird ejaculations/less intense orgasms starting about 3 days into taking it. It freaked me out, but I kept taking it as some of the reviews explained these side effects were temporary. Yes, the side effect went away on its own after about 2 months and all went back to normal. I noticed my hair loss stopped on its tracks about 3 weeks into taking it. Now I've regrown a lot of lost hair back. It changed my life."

• jus...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 23, 2023

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "Mixed results. I took 2.5 mg every other day, plus an herbal prostate formulation (saw palmetto, pygeum, stinging nettle, beta sitosterol). Good: slowed growth in prostate, improved symptoms of interstitial cystitis (burning, spasming), improved hair on head. Bad: reduced penis size, difficult erections, greatly reduced semen volume (retrograde ejaculation). Also had bad experiences with the side effects of tamsulosin and alfuzosin. Contemplating switching to Cialis, possible 2.5 mg every other day + the herbal prostate supplement on the other days. As best I can tell, not too many options for BPH sufferers: bad drugs or bad surgeries. And no understanding by the medical profession of the causes of enlarged prostate. Pretty pitiful, really. As is the case with so much of our medical system."

• Ak1...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• March 27, 2015

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I have been taking this drug for the last 5 years now, and it's working great. I have a head full of hair, and I feel very confident about my looks. I almost gave up on my hair, but Proscar 1.25 mg gave my life back. Also, I invented a pill cutter to cut Proscar 5 mg into 4 pieces for the daily dose."

• Eth...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 15, 2023

For Androgenetic Alopecia "At the age of 19, I took finasteride for 2 weeks from dosages ranging from 0.25 mg to 0.50 mg. This was easily the biggest mistake of my life. As a consequence of my usage, I went on to rapidly develop post-finasteride syndrome - for me, characterized by continuously cold and numb genitals, muted orgasms, near absent libido, and weakened erections. It's been 2 years that I've been in this hell, and because of this, I have no sex or romantic life. I constantly regret taking this drug and think about what could have been had I never taken it."

• JPW...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 24, 2016

For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia "This did reduce the size of my prostate. I didn't have any urinary problems, but the doctor felt one lobe enlarged. Has reduced semen production quite a lot. Erections not as hard but still functional. Sex drive normal. I do have testosterone supplements, so that may have helped retain sex drive and erection ability. Penis does seem to have shrunk over the years on this drug."

• Don...
• December 15, 2019

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I've done a lot of research about hair and looking for natural ways to make my hair grow back. I've been working on my hair, and I have come up with the simplest solution within the last couple of years. Use shampoos that do not have sulfates and those that pull blood toward the roots of the hairs. Add a little mint oil to your shampoo. I use Nizoral quite often, as it also contains zinc. Leave your shampoo on for about 15 minutes before you rinse it off. I wash my hair twice a week unless it's summer and warm when I wash it three times a week. Result? It's growing back, slowly but surely. I'd say it should take about four years to have a full set of hair back. Save your money and health!"

• Rob...
• December 9, 2019

For Androgenetic Alopecia "Took Propecia for 18 years. Worked great. Insignificant sides. Well, it was years afterward that I started getting all the sexual and some cognitive (brain fog, bad sleep) side effects. Went to the doc about semi-hard erections, he gave me Cialis. I decided to go off the drug, and after about 2-3 months, I noticed my erections were completely hard as a rock. So much so, that it hurt when I got an erection (in a good way). It was growing BACK! I went back on the drug after about 1 year. My new hair loss stopped soon after, along with my penis working. This time it also started to get hard crooked. I stopped again. Many of the side effects men speak of on this forum are also dissipating. When I was on and had no big side effects, all was good and I thought the negative experiences were small. I'm done for good with Propecia - had I known before what I know now, I would not have started."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• June 24, 2019

Finasteride for Androgenetic Alopecia "I started on the drug in my mid-twenties. I have been taking it for over 10 years now. It has stopped my hair loss effectively and helped me gain some volume as well. I have not noticed any side effects. I stopped taking the drug for a month somewhere along the line, and I did lose more hair when I wasn't on it. That was some years ago. I have been on it ever since."

• Rob...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 27, 2015

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I noticed rapid shedding of hair in March of 2015. I would occasionally count hairs lost on a day to gauge the extent of the hair loss (getting better or worse). For months, I was losing well over 100 hairs a day, which was quite concerning. For some time, I deliberated whether to proceed with finasteride, as I was conscious of the negative side effects. I started taking finasteride in August. For the next four months, my hair loss continued. It's now December, and it has completely stopped. I can run my hands through my hair/have a shower and count little to no hairs at all. My hair also feels stronger and looks thicker, which is great. Better still, I have no noticeable negative side effects, and my sex drive is as it was previously."

• vet...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• July 24, 2021

For Androgenetic Alopecia "This drug is bad! It is given by the Veterans Administration for enlarged prostate. VA doctors, including urologists, have been incompetent and derelict in failing to warn veterans about the side effects of the drug and its dangers. They also fail to give hormone blood tests before taking and after taking for testosterone and other hormones to get a baseline. This drug has messed me up and millions of veterans who have enlarged prostate with no recognition nor treatment from the Veterans Administration or its urologists/doctors. VA doctors will tell you a fat lie that Post-Finasteride Syndrome doesn't exist, as all the symptomology goes away once you cease the drug. This drug has caused our veterans total impotence, shrinkage of the penis and genitals, enlarged breasts, brain fog, anxiety, depression, severe memory loss, sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleeplessness, suicidal ideation, and suicide."

• spa...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• December 16, 2014

For Androgenetic Alopecia "I've been on finasteride (Proscar) for 14 years. I started when I was 40 and noticed rapid and heavy hair loss occurring. When I look at pictures of myself now and back then, I can see that I have not lost any more hair since then. I do have to say that I have continued to thin more on the back of my head, but up front, all remains stable."

• And...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• May 1, 2022

For Androgenetic Alopecia "Do not risk this drug. Over ten years I’ve taken this drug, and I wish I never knew it existed. For 12 months I’ve been telling my GP I am no longer able to get sexually aroused, cannot trust my erection, struggle to orgasm, and my penis is completely numb. This is not 2% of men, as they say, latest studies are showing this is, at the lowest, 20% and growing as more men come forward. The ‘side effects’ also appear to not be reversible. That means you cannot have a child and will not be able to have a sexually active relationship. I’m struggling, it’s the realization I’ve been prescribed a super dangerous drug, and it’s not destroyed a large portion of my life."