User Reviews for Finasteride to treat Androgenetic Alopecia

"Hair up, little bro down. I have been taking 1 mg of finasteride for about three months and boys the hairline came back and the thickness was awesome but, I kid you not, went from a very good partner, who never had an issue with erection, to a self conscious, scared, full of thoughts 36yo, soft dude. I was reading a lot of bad reviews back there and the fact that my sperm turned more liquid didn’t help. However, in situations where I wasn’t thinking about it I could still perform decently and my body responded well. I decided to reduce the dosage to 0.25 mg every 2 days following few threads online suggesting micro dosing and that massively helped! I convinced myself that micro dosing could really help me psychologically, with very positive effects. The problem is that it is quite hard to track micro dosing and I am thinking about using my mobile development skills to create an app for that. If this post reaches more than 100 likes I will do it! Thanks :-)"

Propecia (finasteride) "I have PFS (Post-Finasteride Syndrome). I cannot sustain an erection during sex, suffer from genital anesthesia and/or numbness, have muted/blocked/pleasureless orgasms when I masturbate, and suffer from brain fog, memory loss, and thinking at times. I have low testosterone, extremely high FSH, low cortisol, low vitamin D, adrenal issues, and pituitary problems as a result of being on Propetia on and off for years. I’ve been off of Propecia for a year. Although I’ve had shock wave therapy to remove penile scar tissue and improve nerve damage and had testosterone replacement therapy, my sexual functioning and cognitive issues persist. Oh! And I became infertile on Propecia too. Fortunately, I had enough sperm left to have a baby with my wife via IVF. Stay away from this toxic and poisonous medication! It will potentially destroy your life."

"Reading the awful experiences other guys have had with finesteride is pretty scary. I've been on it for about 10 months and have honestly noticed no side effects at all and I've been reaping the hair growth benefits. From reading cited studies I've found the incidence of complications is very low (2% of men or somethng) If your unsure jump on google scholar and give a few a read! Definitely helped me (:"

"I took this drug for only 4 days in May 2019. I had mild hair thinning and went to a dermatologist who recommended it. I’d done research beforehand and knew about Finasteride already, and how for some men the drug could have serious side effects, but decided to listen to a “doctor” who assured me it was safe. It’s not, and I had to learn the hard way. This poison has completely ruined my life. I’ve completely lost my sleep and have total insomnia, no libido, ED, brain fog, fatigue, anxiety and depression, penile tissue changes, muscle wastage and weakness, ... The list goes on. I’m not making this up, this drug should be avoided. I’m 23 years old, I was healthy before I took this. There is no reason to believe this drug won’t mess YOUR life up. Please avoid it. I don’t even feel like the same person and regret my decision every single day and am having trouble adjusting to this new life. I hate myself for taking this risk."

Propecia (finasteride) "If you want a full head of hair then go for it. That full head of hair will of course help you with the ladies. However, once you get a lady you will be up the creek without a paddle because your old John Thomas will not work. I took Propecia for 8 years. The side effects came on slowly and I ignored them at my peril: choosing vanity over health and happiness. Still have fatigue, anxiety, issues with the old meat and two veg. Avoid this drug at all costs, buy a razor or trimmer and shave your head."

"Been taking for just under two weeks and feel like my penis is numb. The amount of erections I get during the day has gone from many to none. Much harder time getting it up. Worried about going on a date tonight. Not sure I care about how my hair looks at this point."

"I took finistride for 6 months. It works for making you hair thicker (after 3 months) and it does regrow a lot. I mean it, it works and it is amazing! The trade off... you lose your sex life and a unbelievable depression comes with it. They say 4%ish of men have these side effects. Don't believe it. It is a lot more then that. Some never recover. I recovered after 2 weeks of stopping. It sucks losing your hair. I wear a hat everywhere, my self image and confidence is shot, its depressing. I feel ugly, embarrassed and ashamed of myself. But that is nothing to the horror you will feel being sexually broken, lack of interest in sex, shrinkage on your testicles and penis, and dry orgasm. If the only thing you have to look forward to is going as Capt Picard on Halloween, at least you are still a functioning man. Hopefully, this drug and its dosage can be better refined one day as to not produced the side effects. Until then, stay away from this."

Propecia (finasteride) "At the tender age of 25, I noticed that my hair was beginning to thin. Not wanting to look like my dad or brother, I got a prescription for Propecia. So far, it's been working. In fact, if I miss a dosage, I'll notice little bits of my hair fall into my keyboard or the pages of a book I'm reading! Yes, this medication is expensive. My insurance won't cover it at all. (Funny that they cover Viagra, though). The only side effect is that I do notice a slight decrease in my sex drive - but honestly that's probably good. Keeps me out of trouble."

"Let me start off by saying that I realize everyone has different reactions to drugs, but here is my experience. I used generic finasteride for 6 weeks and although it helped my hair, the side effects were unbearable. This drug is straight POISON to my body. I have extreme brain fog and memory issues, ZERO sex drive, numb penis, low semen volume, softer erections, smaller penis and testicles overall, very bad depression and anxiety. I genuinely feel like this stuff has caused brain damage that hopefully will reverse itself. I’m still suffering side effects even after being off it for 3 weeks."

"Don’t get scared off by some of the negative reviews on here. Yeah there’s a small chance you may get erectile dysfunction, but the vast majority of men who take this drug don’t experience that. I haven’t experienced any kind of depression, ED, brain fog or any of the other symptoms people mention on here"

"WHAT I WISH I HAD KNOWN before taking this drug: 1. sexual side effects are common: 20% of men, says the Head of Urology of St Louis Hospital in Paris. I believe it's 100%, see my next point. 2. This is not a drug you can "try and see how it goes". First, my side effects came so gradually... "this must just a natural fluctuation" ... "Is it just in my head?" ... "Oh wow I'm half impotent now, at age 36, I guess it wasn't in my head". 2. The side effects do NOT go away after quitting (it's been several years for me) and there is no known cure. 3. What is at stake, besides "ED": less desire for your partner affects the affection/quality of your relationships and happiness. The drug damages your brain chemistry/regeneration (hello depression and early Alzheimers). And then of course the fact that sex/masturbation don't bring me all that much pleasure anymore."

Propecia (finasteride) "I took 5 pills from April 2-6. Over the course of those 5 days I had worsening symptoms of brain fog, headaches, sleeplessness, suicide ideation, ED/impotence, loss of libido, increased fat mass, and muscle weakness that didn't dissipate for a month and a half. Even now (July) I still have increased fat mass, increased tissue on the breast, peripheral edema (mild) and difficulty (mild) with erections. I'm not as focused or driven due to ongoing sleep difficulties (mild/moderate) and the intensity of these effects. Every day I regret taking this drug. I took this drug without researching any side effects, I really regret not looking into possible side effects. Please be aware that the consequences could be extremely negative and persistent."

Propecia (finasteride) "Complete Brain Fog, worse than anything you can imagine, literally can't get out of bed because of the brain damage that this drug induced on me, I feel completely literally detached from the world now, not to mention even the less serious it caused, ED, no Libido, Head Pressure, complete cognitive shift, feel like I'm in a whole different world, NEVER TOUCH this drug EVER EVER EVER, unless your old and have nothing else to lose and don't care about life any more. I would trade this with ANY other disease just for my brain function to come back again, I feel like I'm in a coma, it's absolutley frightful, everyday 24/7, it never leaves, sexual sides are a joke compared to this."

"Please do NOT use this drug. I took it at a healthy sexually active 19 year old, because I wanted to stop loosing hair. My girlfriend broke up with me six months later...because I could not get an erection. My penis is not the same. I told myself everything would be the same after I stopped. I quit this poison six months later and have not had a girlfriend since. Thought the side effects would go away but they haven’t. Please don’t."

Propecia (finasteride) "Started the drug in January 2020 and now almost May. Took a while for me to know if the drug was working since I saw no visible improvements until after I had been on it for 3 months. Adding on to that, during those 3 months I had no clue if I was even responding to the drug since I had absolutely no side effects whatsoever, not even minimal side effects, just nothing (I typically view side effects as a way of knowing if the drug works and having absolutely none was concerning). Despite delayed positive effects I consider this drug to be the saving grace to my self confidence. Only rating 8 stars at the moment since I am satisfied with what has happened so far but I am hoping as I continue taking the drug I can get even better results."

"I have now used this product for last 12 years and fortunately it suits me. I have 2 kids in the last 6 years and my sex drive is normal. Highly recommend this product as 12 years back I had turned almost bald."

"I've been on it almost three months. I did research to learn what it would do as far as hormones and I did a few things to counter those possibilities. I lost 25 lbs of weight, weight train, supplement with boron and zinc to keep the estrogen down and here's my experience at this point. I started at half a milligram and went up to a full milligram after about 6 weeks. Orgasm, slightly blunted, but no erection issues or drive issues. Higher energy and no prostate spasms like I occasionally had before. I have notice my orgasms improve, as if my body is adapting, but nothing real serious as far as negative side effects."

Propecia (finasteride) "I took finasteride for hair loss in 2017. I experienced testicular pain and loss in semen volume. While on the drug I noticed a callous type knot in my left hand. I stopped the drug and within a week developed severe upward curvature from peyronies disease. I had bloodwork done and I'm now hypothyroid as well. Before I took this drug I was perfectly healthy. I'm now experiencing weight gain and feel like I'm 70 years old. I'm 36."

"I was given this drug finasteride by a complete imbecile of a dermatologist at the age of FIFTEEN. I am now 30 and I am only just getting over the side effects after more than ten years of being off the drug. It is highly destructive, far more than the reported 2% of people. I suffered pretty much every symptom in the book: sexual, cognitive, muscular, sleeping, depression, gastrointestinal. Why potentially risk destroying your life? I can assure you from first hand experience, it is absolutely not worth it! At one stage I went eight years without any form of sexual activity and as a former sports enthusiast, I can now no longer run more than a few seconds without horrendous leg pain. I piled on around three stone as part of a monstrous metabolic crash and my university degree was absolutely ruined. Take this and mess with your hormones at your peril. Do NOT trust money grabbing dermatologists or pharmaceutical companies. I was not provided with the facts/risks."

Propecia (finasteride) "Don't take this drug. I used it for a few months and it killed my libido. I did get some noticeable hair re-growth during that time, so at least that worked. It became very hard to get an erection and I became completely disinterested in sex. I've read accounts that some people never regained their libido, and suffered lasting erectile dysfunction. This is not natural. Your libido is part of who you are, and so is hair loss. Be a man and accept the loss of your hair as part of who you were meant to be."

"53 years old, been on 'Finestride' 2.5 years, shocked/concerned at the realisation of going bald, mainly on 'crown' area, Doctor recomnended Finestride, worked out much "cheaper". Hair stopped falling after a month, noticed 'hair growth' after 3 month, and 2.5 crown area filled in, no side effects, Finestride taken in the morning without breakfast, highly recomnended !!!"

Propecia (finasteride) "I have been using this medication for just over a year now. Hair has re-grown over my crown but the top and temple areas are still quite thin, have not re-grown and not responded in the same way. I guess these areas have not gotten any worse either. Certainly I don%u2019t notice hair in the shower or in my hair brush as much. On the sexual function side of things I have noticed a decrease performance wise, I guess there was always going to be a tradeoff. The main thing I think to watch out for is the effect the medication has on PSA levels and if you are already being monitored for this prior to starting Propecia it is worth bearing in mind and reminding your physician about the PSA lowering effect of Propecia."

"At the age of 23 I started losing my hair. I used Genesis (Finasteride) 1 mg for 4 month, as recommended by Physician. I get 80% of my hairs back. The side effects of the Drug were Temporary. Within few Weeks all the Side Effects were gone, and never came back."

"For me personally, it has worked great with little to no known side effects. Have used it for about 18 years. Noticeably more hair and thicker over entire head. Receding hairline loss completely stopped. It has worked so well on me for so long that I'm afraid to stop using it. Have been told that this small amount to help your hair, also might have a positive benefit to your aging Prostate. Who knows? I use a Proscar pill and cut it into 1/4s to make up the proper dosage for hair loss"

"I’m Nigerian & propecia down here is unbelievably expensive. So what I did do was purchase finasteride instead which is less than a fraction of the cost of propecia. Since 2018 June up until this very moment I have been on 5mg of finasteride [Yep you read that correctly it is the dose they use for prostate problems] & I can tell you the results are more than amazing, people always laughed at my frontal hair because it was an eyesore tbh but now everyone wants to know “why my hair is so full & thick” I’ve not experienced any of these conventional side effects that are so popularized on the internet even though I’ve been taking 5mg of this alleged dangerous medication for over a year now. nope! none whatsoever, if anything, asides doing its job, it also increased my libido like crazy and erection is normal as has always been. The only noticeable difference is general body weight gain which could be caused by the fact that I take a whole 5mg finasteride daily, other than that everything’s perfect."