Finasteride for Androgenetic Alopecia User Reviews

• tea...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 22, 2023

"Currently noticing slight hair loss at 28 years old and decided to give this a go, but I cannot stress enough to not touch this, especially for young guys. Your body will be naturally producing high levels of test and DHT to alter these levels more than likely will cause really bad side effects. I personally had to stop after a few months. I experienced a really low, flat feeling like something was always missing and nearly went on antidepressants because I thought it was me and not the drug. It really heightened anxiety and a lot of anger and agitation at everything. I noticed I've went from 7'9" erect to 6'4" erect, and I struggle now to maintain the erection. It can disappear extremely fast and ultimately lose it all, which was never an issue before, but I also have a lot of clear, watery semen. I also pee a lot like I can't fully empty the bladder, always frequently going. Thankfully, this drastically improved after stopping, but I still don't feel 100% where I was before."

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

"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."

• Jus...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 7, 2023

"This drug moderately helped my hair loss, but it permanently damaged me. My penis has been completely numb for 16 months. I am 30 years old and I have to live with this for the rest of my life. I was perfectly healthy before. There is no cure for the sides that this causes. I don’t even have a family yet. Absolutely devastating."

• Pur...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 7, 2023

"I took this medication for over a year and had insidiously slow, gradual sexual side effects until one day my penis and testicles went completely numb. For a year, doctors thought I was crazy, and I thought I had a spinal problem because I developed pudendal neuropathy from this drug. When I started it in 2020, I did tons of research, and PFS was not even talked about. About 5% of the studies showed permanent side effects. In the time I took it, countless studies were done showing how horrendous this drug is. Judge for yourself: well over 50% of these reviews are negative, and those are only the reported ones. This drug will change you as a person and will steal your humanity from you. Conveniently, I had to learn firsthand the side effects are permanent. Say goodbye to your manhood and sex/relationship FOREVER."

• Reg...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 7, 2023

"This is not worth taking just to keep your hair. This drug literally caused my genitals to go permanently numb at 29 years old. Chemical castration in a bottle."

• Sim...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 1, 2023

"I used this for many years and didn't realize how bad the sexual effects are until I started losing women and confidence. The scandalous thing about this drug is the misreported risk of side effects originally given by Merck, who had the original patent on this med. They stated 2%, but the reality is a lot higher. I would be surprised if everyone on it isn't getting side effects, as a percentage may not even be aware of them. I experienced ball shrinkage, ED, loss of libido, and loss of confidence, and in all of this, nobody is sure if hair loss is stopped or reversed. Most people cannot tell if the hair is lost or gained because the process is slow, and unless we take photos daily in various lighting, most, if not all, of our perceptions are going to be unclear. What I'm saying here is that you can't really tell if you get your hair back unless a bald spot gets coverage, which I haven't seen."

• Asd...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 27, 2023

"I took 1 mg once daily for 4 weeks. Yes, I did notice a slight change around my hairline. However, that’s where the positive ends. I am 24 and have had a receding hairline due to stress. Slowly but surely, I began to get anxious, and I was unable to think and study for my classes. This caused me to go into a full-on downward spiral, and I went into panic mode. I had nightmares each night and would wake up in the morning with my heart racing and my breathing heavy. I’d wake up, eat, and have coffee as usual. Boom, full-blown panic attack. Then I took my prescribed Propranolol, and the racing heart would go away, but what was left was a broken, lost, depressed, suicidal shell of who I formerly was. I had to get a doctor's excuse to miss exams that week. I finally realized it was the finasteride, and I quickly stopped it per two of my doctor’s opinions. Even after stopping, I have continued to be depressed and have suicidal ideation. Getting better."

• Bob...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 26, 2022

"Side effects are probably much more underreported. I believe most people get side effects, and some just get used to them, and it becomes their new normal. Just like someone who drinks coffee every day for years might say they don’t feel anything, but once they stop for a couple of weeks, they feel different and go back to normal, then they realize its effects. Honestly, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze for me personally. As a young man, I want to feel like a young man, full of energy, drive, and high sex drive. On finasteride, I felt like a 50-year-old man trapped in a young body. Girls didn’t interest me as much, I lost sensitivity, and my boners and orgasms weren’t that great. I also felt tired all the time and had memory and cognitive issues. If you are considering using this medication, yes, it works, but the price you have to pay can be life-ruining."

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

"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"

• Zer...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 13, 2022

"It didn’t give me much positive effects on my hair and surely not on my mind, it caused me heavy depression, but not physical side effects. Yet, I am sadly still taking it, but it is not positive."

• Adv...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 12, 2022

"Post-finasteride syndrome (PFS) Symptoms: genital shrinkage, genital numbness, ED, zero libido, increased penile curvature/fibrosis, ejaculation disorder, low semen quality/volume, changes in color & texture of skin (yellow/brown), tight, red scrotum every morning, dark prominent veins on scrotum, varicocele left testicle, spontaneous weight gain, moon face, emotional blunting/anhedonia, anxious 'crash', persistent anxiety/fight or flight response, shaking hands, depression, muscle atrophy, blurred vision, red/yellow eyes, night sweats, insomnia, nightmares, general fatigue/malaise, brain fog/cognitive impairment, digestive issues, body hair loss, tinnitus, chills, high blood pressure, random rashes torso/forehead, back/neck pain, muscle/eye twitches, sensitive skin, swollen lymph nodes, shallow breathing, scooped fingernails, heart arrhythmia, tingling/numbness in hands/feet, weakness in hands/arms, thinning eyebrows, receding gums."

• Sky...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 11, 2022

"Finasteride has ruined my life sexually and mentally. I wish I never took this poison and hope there will be a cure and/or it will improve over time. It’s almost been a year and a half since I stopped. I only took it for 3 months, it’s horrid living this way."

• 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."

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

"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."

• Anonymous
• April 15, 2022

"Do NOT take this medication, it can ruin your life. (PFS) Post-finasteride syndrome is real and affects millions of people worldwide. There is no cure or treatment. It is a terrible syndrome that can take you from being a perfectly healthy individual to a shadow of your own self, living 24/7 in a torture chamber, physically and mentally. Please spread awareness, and this drug should NOT be sold, as it is ruining lives!"

• thi...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 29, 2022

"I've been trying finasteride + minoxidil topical spray for the last few months, but I don't think it has any effect on my hair. It still keeps falling, and I'm becoming even balder, I think."

• DO...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 18, 2022

"There is no way the '1.2% of men experience side effects' is accurate. Almost everyone I talk to has serious side effects. This drug has ruined my life. I can't get an erection anymore. My sex life is nonexistent, I have no feeling down there and no drive to have sex. It has been 2 years, and no cure! I wish I could figure out a way to sue this company for misleading information. That's how bad my life has become because of this drug. It changes you forever."

• 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."

• fen...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 15, 2022

"Totally crashed my sex drive... my libido was down to 0!!! I even had issues masturbating, I was useless in bed!! My marriage is also a question, 'cause I clearly don't get aroused on the best of days!! The medicine has had a very bad impact on me...!! :( It's been 4 years since I STOPPED!! But it literally got rid of my self-confidence, it has got rid of sexual urges... IT DESTROYED ME!!! I took this because a doctor prescribed it for me for my hair loss!! I would rather be bald THAN have a tool that doesn't work!! I don't know who is reading this... but my advice - 'AVOID'"

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 11, 2022

Finasteride "Severe headache, short breath, heart attack, dizziness, pass out."

• Ton...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 17, 2022

Finasteride "Do not use it! This is a very dangerous product. After 4 weeks of using it, I had a total loss of libido and almost became impotent. I have now stopped for three weeks and am still not back to normal. This product is a chemical castration! I don't understand how this product is available on the market. Use other alternatives such as Regaine. Do not use, do not use, do not use!!!!! Giving a 1 rating is overrated."

• 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."

• Ale...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 17, 2021

"Wow! I never believed the people who got PFS. Now I do, I took just half a pill a week ago. The night I took it, my penis had shrunk a bit, got an intense brain fog (which I still have today), couldn’t get hard (I was basically impotent), and semen was watery. The next day, I lost interest in sex, motivation hit rock bottom, joint pain in legs, and I had extreme anxiety and lots more symptoms. I quit immediately. So... this stuff is dangerous/poisonous for a few! If you want to risk chemical castration, then go for it. After half a pill a week ago, I still have fatigue, brain fog, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, small joint pain, and a lowered sexual interest. Which has gotten better each day after HALF A PILL, A WEEK AGO."

• Jam...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 12, 2021

"Stopped hair from falling out in the shower, thickened up a bit. Quite delightful, that'll be great with the women. Oh wait, my cock doesn't work anymore, I get shocking testicular pain, my sperm is water, when I drive my car a thought flashes through my mind that one day I will reflexively drive off the road into a tree. My short-term memory is decimated. I jump when people recognize me in the street because I'm too slow to talk. These effects came through slowly, I forgot it was even likely to be the drug until I looked again at the side effects. I was in excellent health otherwise, bar the odd depressive spell, never the type to be the 20% who suffer side effects. I find it hard to believe it's only 20%, and the effects are far more severe than I could have imagined. I've been an absolute shell, I could have easily done some serious damage to myself, thank Christ I stopped it, hopefully in time."

• eph...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 3, 2021

"I've applied 0.2 mg topically to my scalp daily, and after a week, I started to experience decreased penile sensation, decreased libido, and a weird pain in my testicles. No erectile dysfunction or mood swings, but I thought I'm sensitive to it and the sides would get worse if I continued. So I stopped, and everything went back to normal in like 2 days. I actually kinda liked the decreased libido effect, you see the world in a different way."