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Finasteride for Androgenetic Alopecia User Reviews (Page 5)
Brand names: Proscar, Propecia
Reviews for Finasteride
- 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!"
- Dim...
- October 4, 2015
"After taking this product for 13 months, my hair was much stronger and thicker! However, I decided to quit as it has decreased my sex drive and libido. I don't think that hair loss is worth losing sex drive!"
Frequently asked questions
- Car...
- Taken for 6 months to 1 year
- March 15, 2019
"I took Propecia in hopes of getting my hair back. A little over 6 months after starting the drug, I was diagnosed with Peyronie's disease and have severe curvature of my penis and erectile dysfunction. I'm only 34 years old, and Viagra and Cialis won't even work for me now. Before Propecia, I was perfectly normal."
- jim...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- February 16, 2022
"I have been taking finasteride for now 2 months, and the side effects I have are low sex drive and abnormal ejaculation of semen. I did not get depression or suicidal thoughts like others have mentioned but am gonna wait till 4 months to see if I get any good results. After that, I will just quit this med."
- Bla...
- Taken for 5 to 10 years
- December 11, 2019
"Ok, I have been on finasteride for about 5 years. I have not had any side effects. Been with my partner 10 years now. I don't want sex as much as before, but think that would have happened with or without taking the pill. Can't really say if it's kept what I had or grown any more, hard to tell without time travel. Even now, reading the reviews makes me worried even without having any of the symptoms. Anyway, from my point of view, seems to work."
- Nic...
- November 25, 2019
"I took finasteride for about 5 months. One time I was having sex with my girlfriend, and after I came, the condom was basically empty. I quit after that, not having this drug affect my sex drive. Rather have hair loss."
- Mey...
- September 7, 2017
Finasteride "I have used it for 2 years, and I have a little bit less sexual activity, but it helps me to be more active in my work. My hair is much better, and I have a little dizziness when getting up fast. Totally, I am totally satisfied."
- Anonymous
- Taken for 1 to 2 years
- August 29, 2017
"Was prescribed Propecia upon seeking hair loss counseling at a hair loss clinic. My dosage was set at 1/2 mg a day (age 19-21, now 28). Positive effect: receding crown line reduced. Negatives: significant increase in irregular ejaculation, sex drive, attention, mood, anxiety. Conducted my own research into the drug and quickly ceased taking it. I then experienced further deterioration of sex drive, erection problems, and anxiety, which took approximately 1.5 years to balance back out (with regular exercise and healthy dieting). IMO, this drug is effective for men 45+ whose testosterone levels have naturally decreased, therefore experience fewer side effects. HEALTHY SOLUTION: FUT transplants coupled with blood plasma scalp injections!!"
- sce...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- May 15, 2018
"I started taking finasteride 1 mg for the hair loss 3 months ago. I wish I started taking it a long time ago. When I first learned about finasteride (aka Propecia), of course, I started researching about side effects. Impotence and ED were the most scary ones, and I did find many scary reviews over the web. So I decided not to try it out. 10 years later, when my hair was visibly thinning, I had no choice but to try it out. I absolutely have no side effects whatsoever. The research shows that less than 2% feel they have any sort of side effects, and I am not in that 2% unlucky group. As always, happy customers tell 3 people, and angry customers tell 3,000! I wish I started taking this pill 10 years ago."
- mmm...
- January 2, 2022
"I took it for a couple of years. I wish I could say it was great. Something started to happen to me that I never had experienced before. Doctors denied it at the time, but they didn't know. I became really depressed and dealt with brain fog, loss of memory, not sure about my sex drive, though. Now it's been 3 years, I am off this medication, and I think I'm feeling a bit better now. Sadly, my hair is not doing well."
- 775...
- Taken for 5 to 10 years
- February 4, 2017
"I've started taking it when I was 24. Now I'm 31, and for the first time ever, I started feeling dizziness when waking up too fast from the hammock or the couch, but not when waking up from bed. That's all. I never had any problem with libido, ejaculations, or any sexual-related issue. I have an active sexual life, and I never had any problem. I exercise a lot. I don't take any other medication. My hairdresser noticed that my hair was getting stronger. I had no hair loss after starting the intake. Hard to say what would happen if I quit it. BUT I have a recommendation for all users: NEVER EVER take more than 1mg a day. Never. In order to do this, I mark in the blister which day I started the intake, and then I use that as a reference."
- 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."
- 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."
- Ano...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- September 22, 2021
"I am a woman taking this for alopecia. From a little less than a month of medication (1 mg), I have grown some new hair. I was skeptical my first try at it a couple of years ago and quit under a month of use, but this time the results are noticeable and positive. My libido is the same, and I haven't gained any weight while using it. I haven't noticed abnormal hair growth in other places. However, something to take into account is that, previous to the treatment, I had (and have still) sparse body hair, high libido, and mild overweight. I haven't experienced any extra sensitivity nor any adverse reactions. I'm not trying to get pregnant."
- Bry...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- June 16, 2022
"I started this drug several months ago, 1 mg, 3x a week. I had read all the negative reviews and horror stories, but I took those with a grain of salt and kept an open mind because I had read the same internet horror stories about Chantix a decade ago when I wanted to stop smoking. Yet I decided to try that anyway and had no issues. It helped me stop smoking for good and stay smoke-free to this day. So I figured I’d give this medication the same fair shot. Several weeks into it, dull but persistent testicular pain, increased libido (which was nice), and otherwise fine. Three to four weeks later, I noticed difficulty with reaching orgasm, decreased and watery ejaculate, and mild ED. Six weeks in, I couldn’t have sex at all (never experienced that and I’m still in great shape at 37). Threw in the towel."
- Nac...
- June 10, 2019
"I'm using it together with minoxidil and a ketoconazole shampoo. I started the treatment about 6 months ago, and my hair has already grown back to what it used to be 3-4 years ago. If I had started before, I would be the happiest person ever. Before starting the treatment, I was a Norwood 6 (on the Norwood hair loss scale), and it was killing my self-esteem. I had a low libido before starting the treatment. The first month on finasteride, I actually experienced a boost, then receded back to normality. I have a loving relationship with my partner, and he hasn't noticed any change. Personally, I feel that boosting my self-esteem has actually improved my sexual performance. Many people say that one pill ruined their life. That is complete paranoia and scientific nonsense. I also avoided the drug for too long because of people spreading fear and totally regret it. My advice is to start taking the drug as soon as you notice your hair is thinning. This drug mainly stops hair loss. You don't want to start too late."
- Wil...
- Taken for 2 to 5 years
- December 25, 2020
"Truly not worth it if you value your life and health. Facts: The way that finasteride works is by changing our sex hormones (DHT), and even though we tend to think of our sex hormones as something that happens to us or like something that causes puberty and hair growth/loss in places that we don’t really want, our sex hormones are actually a key part of the signaling machinery that our brain uses to create the experience of being the person that we are. And so when we change our sex hormones, we’re actually changing the version of our brain that we are creating. You might not even realize and believe you 'have zero side effects whatsoever,' but that's just your ego and you trying to convince yourself everything is fine. Don't make the same mistake as many others, just don't do it."
- CJa...
- July 29, 2021
"I am surprised by the ratings for this medication. I am 25 and have been on 1 mg of finasteride for about 5 years now. Simply put, the medication works. As far as the whole worry about sexual side effects, I have absolutely no idea if that is being stated by the manufacturer for liability reasons, etc. Tbh, I do suffer from several mental illnesses, and I am being treated. To say this was triggered by finasteride, I would not believe it. Actually, when I was losing my hair, the issue was making it worse. I use minoxidil too. I also use dutasteride off-label for 3 years now."
- Joh...
- Taken for 1 to 2 years
- November 6, 2019
"I’ve seen a lot of negative posts, so I figured I’d write my experience. I haven’t really had issues with finasteride. I did have clear semen the first month or so. But it’s returned to normal consistency and volume. I have no issues getting hard and still have the same libido I had. My only issue is that I think I’m still thinning at the corners, or the corners are still not thick enough to my satisfaction. Great drug. I recommend taking it if your hair bothers you! No scientific proof that you’ll get permanent side effects by taking the drug."
- Owe...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- August 14, 2019
"Please listen, I would honestly avoid this drug. I took it for hair growth as my hair was thinning (runs in the family). It wasn’t for a month or two in that I started feeling super depressed (never previously had any form of depression) and had such horrible sad thoughts! This drug plays around with your hormones and testosterone in order to grow your hair, which it did well. However, no amount of hair can ever make me take this drug again. I would happily shave my head for the rest of my life rather than feeling the way I felt on this drug. After all, it’s a drug. Do you really want to be taking drugs every day for the rest of your life? Highly recommend avoiding."
- Leo...
- Taken for 2 to 5 years
- September 17, 2018
"This drug is fantastic. To all my fellow hair loss brothers out there, please don’t hesitate and just get on this med ASAP. Like you, I delayed a year or two because of all the paranoia I read online, but after being on this medication for 5 years now, I can honestly say that I haven’t had a single side effect. After three years, I noticed that I wasn’t growing hair anymore, so I decided to alternate 2.5 mg of finasteride with 0.5 mg dutasteride every other day. Thankfully this has provided me with tremendous regrowth over the last two years. Hop on finasteride and don’t think about the side effects!"
- Do...
- June 21, 2019
"Took 1 mg finasteride/Propecia for about 9 months. While on the drug, I had no side effects until about 7 months in. Reduced dosage, and sexual side effects continued. Discontinued, and that's when problems got worse... no libido and complete impotence. This is 5 weeks having come off the drug. Do not use!"
- Dwc...
- Taken for 1 to 2 years
- April 8, 2019
"Finasteride literally saved my hair. I've been on it about a year and a half, my dermatologist was super supportive, and in all her years of prescribing it, she has never had a patient suffer any of the side effects. I'm still functioning just fine and still lifting more weight than I did in my 20s, for those of you worried about testosterone levels. The choice is yours, you can accept your baldness or save what you have and even get some back, whatever works for you!!!"
- SS1...
- November 8, 2015
"Taking it for three months now. Hair loss stopped about 90%. Yes, there are some side effects. Morning wood is a story of the past. But can get erections, not as quick as before, but can get easily. May be a little loss of libido. One thing I noticed is the amount of ejaculation has gone down rapidly. My doctor said it will be back to normal if I leave it for 3 months. Fingers crossed for that. Hopefully, it helps."
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"I have been taking this for over 8 years with zero side effects. Never had any issues with my sex life and no issues having a family (I had protected sex once my partner was pregnant, as this drug should not be given to pregnant women). I now take one tablet every two to three days, rather than daily. I have an identical twin brother with the same DNA, so I was able to follow his hair loss while my hair stopped falling out from the day I first took the drug. Everyone was amazed by the results and many friends now think I have had a transplant. The one point I would like to add is that I have always been a happy-go-lucky person and never suffered from any anxiety, depression, or low sex moods. So I was never really concerned about the negative reviews and went into this with a very positive mind. If you suffer from any of the above, then maybe you need to be more careful with your choices, as there are clearly some issues out there, however there are risks with everything."