Finasteride for Androgenetic Alopecia User Reviews (Page 5)

• Kar...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 4, 2021

"Started getting dizzy spells after about two weeks. Mild reduction in sex drive that was honestly rather peaceful, but the dizziness made it hard to focus on anything, and I sometimes found it hard to keep my balance when standing. I can't comment on hair effects as I wasn't able to take it long enough. I've stopped for almost two weeks and still get intermittent dizziness. Personally, not going to touch this drug again - the side effects I experienced negatively impacted my quality of life, and I can only hope they fully go away soon."

• afa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 3, 2020

"Did not experience side effects right away. I have been on finasteride for 4 months, and this week the side effects came on bad. I can't get hard at all (ED) and have low semen volume. I am going to get off the pill, and hopefully, things will be more normal in a few weeks. If it does turn normal, I will be done with the pill for good. I'd rather lose my hair than my manhood."

• Sam...
• December 23, 2019

"I’m 29 years old. I took finasteride for hair loss for 14 days and experienced sexual side effects like decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, loss of interest in sex. It has ruined my sex life. I immediately discontinued and am waiting for improvements."

• Cha...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 17, 2019

"Have been taking finasteride 1 mg for 16 months and have now decided to stop after concerns it was affecting my health. Recently thought that my chest is looking a bit larger and flabby looking, less hard muscle in appearance. I am bald across the top and have noticed some hair regrowth at the front and a little at the sides, but not so much that anyone who knows me would notice, still a guy with not much hair on top, and I have decided it is not worth the risk to my health, so I will just live with hair loss and stop wasting money buying it."

• Dav...
• July 22, 2017

Finasteride "Have been taking this drug for almost a year now. My hair was starting to thin a few years back, and I just decided to give this a try, as we all know nothing else works! Since I've been taking it, I haven't noticed any real side effects, so I guess I've been lucky in that sense, but to be honest, neither have I experienced any change in hair loss either. My hair is still thinning, probably even more so now than it used to. This drug has been an absolute waste of time and money. It does not work. Scientists can transplant organs from one body to another, they can clone sheep, they can grow an ear on a mouse's back, but for some reason, they can't figure out how to grow hair where hair used to grow anyway! Don't waste your money."

• Ran...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 12, 2021

"Did not have a visible effect at slowing down the progression of hair loss over and above Minoxidil + Nizoral for my particular situation. Tapered off finasteride, and libido noticeably increased. Side effects noticed while taking finasteride: - Brain fog. - Noticeable impaired judgment. - Reduced libido (though wasn't noticeable until I stopped taking it). Just gone back to Minoxidil + Nizoral combination and will probably just shave off hair once hair loss has progressed to be severe enough."

• Bar...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 27, 2021

"I used finasteride for about 2 years, and when I felt side effects, I immediately stopped using it. Normally, I can have sex daily 5-6 times, but after this medicine, half of my sex power went down. I can manage only 3 times a day at most. Secondly, difficult erection problems, little dude does not want to be hard, and I have trouble having an orgasm. Thirdly, after a few years, my balls have become smaller than before. And last, gynecomastia - a problem with my breasts."

• Rob...
• December 9, 2019

"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."

• dub...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 10, 2019

"Took the drug for a week and experienced severe headaches all week long, 'hangover' like. Still have them after stopping the drug. Not saying that this drug is poison or whatever, but honestly watch out, guys... I decided to stop because there are a bit too many testimonies against this drug to simply be 'in guys' head' in my opinion."

• Ale...
• March 11, 2018

"I'll try to keep this review as brief as possible. I'm 23 years old from the UK, and my hair has been thinning for around three years now. I used minoxidil for around two years before I decided to try finasteride (1mg). I was on the medication for 7 months before I decided to stop, so here are my main two summary points. 1) Did it work? Yes and no. Compared to no medication, the rate at which my hair fell out declined by around 70%, which was encouraging, however, in the 7 months that I was on it, I did not experience any regrowth. So it was a partial success. 2) Why did I stop? I would have liked to continue for a full 12 months, but after 2-3 months on the medication, I noticed that my sperm was becoming more and more runny and clear, and the amount I produced had declined significantly by month 7. As a young man, this is really worrying, and I didn't want to take risks with my fertility over my hairline, so I decided to stop taking it."

• SAW...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 19, 2022

"So I was pretty suspicious of the side effects most people witnessed, since most individuals normally overreact. I took it for two weeks and saw hair growth, but the side effects were nasty. My right testicle felt sore, and my penis shrunk. I saw even more ED than I already had as well, specifically when I tried to masturbate. Thankfully, I caught these issues earlier, and they eventually subsided. I’m going to start using the topical version and hope for better results. It sucks because it really does work, but the side effects are way too severe. I know the percentages that they advertise, but it has to be more than that. I don’t believe most men don’t go through some serious side effects. I would recommend getting off it at the first sight of issues, even though my hair stopped falling out AND I saw hair growth in two weeks."

• Gen...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• November 8, 2019

"Finasteride had no visible effect at halting the progression of hair loss/hair thinning (let alone regrowing), and that is after 7 months of fastidiously taking 1 mg every day. May work for some, but so far, I haven’t responded to it and wondering, this far down the cycle, will it ever work? Some mild to moderate side effects experienced: mild male breast enlargement/tenderness, no effect on libido, moderate fatigue, moderate “brain fog” (general errors of judgment, mistakes, impaired decision-making on my part have gone up noticeably ever since starting on this medication). Planning to take it for another 5 months, if hair loss hasn’t halted, will taper off from this medication, accept fate, and shave off my hair. Already on a regimen of twice daily Minoxidil and once daily washing with Nizoral. Decided to add Finasteride after hair loss began to accelerate in the last two years (was on the two aforementioned products for 8 years prior with slow hair loss progression). 38-year-old male."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 11, 2025

"My experiences with Finasteride. I am a person who experienced side effects. I'm 21 and started experiencing side effects around 9 months into treatment. I was getting side effects like pain, full gyno, brain fog, depression, and dermatitis for around 6 months, and my hair loss increased on Finasteride. I have been dealing with it, and there has been no improvement. I found out what was causing all these problems, it was low progesterone and low pregnenolone levels causing these issues. It appears that Finasteride does not just block the conversion of DHT but lowers hormones like progesterone, pregnenolone, and allopregnanolone, most likely causing these side effects. But the treatment appears to be working, my side effects on Finasteride appear to be clearing up. The main reason, I think, is because I have lower levels of these hormones naturally, so what I have done is started to supplement with pregnenolone, and my side effects appear to be clearing up. I am still taking Finasteride."

• Tma...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 20, 2024

"I took this medicine for 3 years. My hair was slightly thinning, but my derm suggested 1 mg daily. My sperm volume went way down, and sometimes just a drip of watery material came out. 80% of my chest and back hair fell out along with thinning of hair along my neckline. I have been off of it for a week and feel so much better. I would suggest trying liquid Rogaine instead. The same dermatologist suggested oral minoxidil, but that sounds even worse. Don’t mess with your testosterone. I didn’t have a problem getting an erection, but orgasms were much less pleasant. I'm feeling much more like my old self again."

• a_y...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• November 26, 2021

"Took for hair loss at 25 years old, and my hair looks a bit better. I do have a slight decrease in libido, yet my physical performance is fine, and that works for me. I've been pretty careful with my dosing, and that might have helped me avoid any more obvious side effects. If you're curious, I took 2 mg on and off for a year: 5 mo on every other day, 2 mo off, 4 mo on every other day, 1 mo off. I'll probably stop now that it's been a year and let genes do its thing with the rest of my hair."

• Hia...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 25, 2020

"I was prescribed this drug for hair loss. I have been taking it for 10 weeks now and will be finishing it when the latest prescription runs out (total of 12 weeks). My experience has been that I have just started to notice hair growth, but the side effects have been penis and testicle shrinkage and depression. Hopefully, these unwanted side effects disappear when I finish in two weeks. Unfortunately, the sides outweigh the benefits for me, so I will give minoxidil a try next. Thanks."

• Jos...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 8, 2016

"I am twenty years old and started Finasteride about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I went to my dermatologist because I have thinning along my hairline, and my main goal is to prevent it from getting worse and potentially regrow some. I rated it a 5 as of now because it's still too early to tell if this medication is working. Take my rating as neutral. My main point for writing a review as of now is to note that I have no noticeable side effects. My sex drive is the same, I don't feel fatigued, and so on. I am also using Minoxidil foam 2x per day. I have been consistent with Minoxidil for about 10 days now. I will update again in a couple of months!"

• joh...
• March 21, 2016

"I have taken finasteride for 20 months, and Rogaine 9 months (last 9 months). I lost hair initially during the shedding phase, which I never got back. Now I have not lost any more hair, but I did not experience any regrowth. No effect on erection. On another note, I reduced my alcohol intake by 80% (now have 3-5 drinks per week in total) and have increased libido."

• Why...
• February 10, 2016

"I am 23 and started noticing a bit of hairline recession at about 21. My hair was slightly thinning around the temples, but never in the front. I am 1 month into 1 mg of Propecia daily, and I do not think it has affected the temples areas, but the front of my hair has started thinning in the last couple of weeks. In bright lighting, I can see pretty far back onto my scalp when looking from the front (it looks like my temples did about a year ago), and it's scary. I don't think I am noticeably shedding any more than I used to, but I can't run my fingers through my hair without getting at least a couple of hairs. Overall, I have definitely lost more hair at an accelerated rate. Hopefully, this is just an initial shed."

• ttr...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 12, 2015

"I am a female and was just prescribed finasteride as I am losing all of my hair due to alopecia, which was just diagnosed after a biopsy of my scalp. My doctor said this will help me keep the hair I do have. Being a woman, this is so hard on my self-esteem... I have the med but am scared to take it, as I have reactions to so many medications, as well as bad side effects. Can anyone share if they've had any side effects besides the sexual dysfunction part of it? Thank you in advance. I am 41, by the way."

• chi...
• April 10, 2012

"I keep losing hair density. I have not maintained or gained hair. In my case, I think it only slows the alopecia process. I have used it for about 1 year and a half. Side effects: aqueous semen."

• Jus...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 14, 2025

"I have been on finasteride for 2 months now. My dermatologist prescribed it as I am a postmenopausal 69-year-old woman and no danger from using the drug (pregnancy/fetal dangers). I would be interested to hear other women's experiences using the drug. I now may be just starting the fin shed, and it is distressing! I will stick it out as nothing else has helped! I have not experienced any side effects yet (ED won't be a problem... lol). I take 1.25 mg every morning (dividing the 5 mg pill into 4 parts). Can we hear from the women out there?"

• Dan...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 5, 2020

"Hard to know if finasteride made much difference on hair, as you can't compare with not taking it. After 2 years, I have had some of the symptoms expected: difficulty getting an erection now and considerably smaller testicles."

• Dyl...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 3, 2020

Finasteride "I have been on Propecia for almost 6 months now. My experience with it is as below: 1) Shedding was worst during the second to third month, as expected. Slowed down, but I still notice medium to bad hair loss every now and then. Hopefully, it will stabilize and come to a halt. 2) I notice some baby hair along the hairline. (Although I had been using minoxidil 6 months prior to Propecia, I didn't notice any hair growth until I was on Propecia. I am on both Propecia and minoxidil now, by the way.) Not much improvement on the crown. Overall hair volume and quality seem to have improved. Nonetheless, it's still too early to tell, I guess. 3) No side effects so far. I will give another update after a year. I do hope that the hair loss stops for good."

• LOL...
• April 29, 2020

"I noticed my hair starting to thin at the age of 18. Heard about the drug, but I left it for a year, where I noticed constant hair loss (in the shower, on the pillow, etc.). I finally decided to do something about it 19 months ago. I'd say I didn't see the effects up until about 5 months ago. I shaved my head completely just to be sure, and I'm quite certain that it's thicker than before. I wouldn't think so, but looking at photos from a year ago, I reckon it's safe to say (I was on the ropes lol, grew my hair out long to compensate). My hair still falls out in the shower, but at a lower rate. I think I must be one of those middle-of-the-road guys, haven't seen too many reviews like that though! Libido still like a stallion, if anything, I reckon it makes me last longer in bed. Long term though, I think I might visit a doctor to see if there's any way to slow it down completely by upping the dose or otherwise and to check fertility. For now, I'm just happy to finish college without looking like an egg."