Good news is, yet another supportive doctor, this one based in Sao Paolo, Brazil:
Arthur Tykocinski
Dermatologist
Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein
São Paulo, Brasil
arthur@cabelo.med.br
-Cited here: alagoas24horas.com.br/910841 … diz-jovem/
ANTI-FINASTERIDE: “According to dermatologist Arthur Tykocinski, the Albert Einstein Hospital, among others, and member associations such as the American Society of Hair Restoration, the risk of side effects of finasteride is real and, in some cases involving patients older than 40 years, these They may have an incidence of over 20%.”
Bad news is, in the same media report, this fellow Brazilian says finasteride is “very safe”:
Carlos Alberto Ricetto Sacomani
Urologist
Faculty of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo
drsacomani@urocare.com.br
-Cited here: alagoas24horas.com.br/910841 … diz-jovem/
NOT CONVINCED OF PFS:
“The decrease of the genitals does not. This is a myth. Fortunately the vast majority of cases are resolved after discontinuing the medication. There is only one study that says that about 15% of cases do not return to normal, but this was a study and there are questions if there are no other factors together that lead to this situation. Finasteride is a very safe drug.”
Here’s the news report in question (roughly translated from Portuguese of English). More good news is that it’s largely anti-finasteride, and includes a mention of the PFS Foundation:
Alagoas 24 Horas
alagoas24horas.com.br/910841 … diz-jovem/
July 30, 2015
After remedy for baldness, sexual organ became smaller when I was a kid, says young
Doctors now admit that finasteride is a substance that can cause syndrome after use
At 25, the young Carlos J. (his real name) was a little hair thinning on the sides of the head. Suspected, although not feel in a typical situation, with entrances and other details, it was the beginning of baldness, a condition that has always been a nuisance for men.
After consulting with a dermatologist, came the diagnosis: baldness, whose scientific name is androgenic alopecia. The doctor prescribed him medicine minoxidil and finasteride composed, more substance used to hold hair loss.
The young ingested the drug finasteride for about one hundred days in total - between April and June of 2014 and December of that year. When stopped, however, Carlos J. account that lived a drama that has plagued a significant number of people, according to many exposed complaints, mostly anonymously through social networks. In a report to the R7, it states that had impotence, decreased libido, loss of sensation and retraction of the genitals, and irritability.
- During use, I almost did not notice anything. I remember once, in the first period of drug use, I came to look at my erect penis and think that he was a little less full. But I thought it was all in my head, after all I was not high on the sexual arousal. What I did not realize was that the very fact of not achieving this much excitement had to do with finasteride, as it cuts the libido. In the second period of use, in December, I had extreme irritability.
As he says, everything seemed normal when suddenly, the problems began to appear last April, more than four months after he ceased to ingest the substance. After a normal day, Carlos J. began to have strange sensations.
- I went to sleep not knowing what the hell was happening to me. It was such a “post-finasteride crash”. In the morning I had come to masturbate me, of late my penis had lost sensitivity (was not erogenous) and shrunk. Thus, blunt.
Sensations such as burning plant of the feet and the pubis, which also tingled, started to become a torment for him, keeping it in a real waking nightmare.
- Insomnia was horrible, I slept very little at night and sleep was bad. It was like I was tortured because I barely fell asleep, woke up abruptly as if someone had punched me in the chest or thrown a bucket of water. I felt the need to urinate all the time, both day and night, and urine transparent went out like water. And my testicles shrunk rapidly. I felt some pain in the right testicle. After the crash it is that I finally suspected of finasteride.
In search of recovery
There were three weeks of suffering a high degree. Then the framework of “crash” began to ease, but he still sees sequelae.
- Sexually I am still well destroyed. Touch my genitals gives me little or no pleasure. The libido sometimes gives the guys, but most of the time she is “out.”
And, after a sperm, Carlos J. say that, in practice, become infertile.
- Unfortunately (become infertile). My testicles are shrunk; the report of an ultrasound of the scrotum pointed “bilateral testicular atrophy.” The “crash” my penis seemed almost not receive blood. Instead of the normal purple, it was white. It was smaller than when I was a kid. Only a few days later that I saw a red stain spreading.
Although there are no studies that indicate the exact path, and not to explain the effects of finasteride even after it is no longer used, Carlos J. believes in his recovery.
- I reckon it is with the regenerative capacity of my body. I’ve seen the Internet stories of people who recovered spontaneously, including shrinkage, only giving time to the body. My own cock is still as it was before the crash, but is no longer with that “without erection hardness” and recovered a little long.
The four doctors consulted by him had different opinions. The endocrinologist said he has heard of post-finasteride syndrome, but there are few studies about it. A urologist was skeptical and another said Carlos J. was “encucado”. Only a urologist admitted that the cause would be even finasteride.
Carlos J. is a warning to those who suffer from the drama.
- For those who are already in trouble, I recommend patience. Nothing to talk about killing himself. Some people improve spontaneously, then the business is to stay alive, seek to maintain good health and hope for the best. The first step is to divide the problem with friends and family. Handle everything alone is unbearable. Each time I took courage and revealed to a friend or relative, most felt relief and got more support.
And for doctors, he asks a little more understanding in relation to patients with diseases with unknown causes.
- I ask that (doctors) respect over their patients. It is very annoying when you feel you are only allowed to feel the symptoms of the diseases they know. If you present another picture, then they think or you’re lying, or is crazy - is the reasoning behind the explanation “is all psychological.”
Syndrome and questioned recognized
Much of the medical community, however, is still not convinced that these symptoms have extra time after discontinuation of the drug. According to Carlos Sacomani AR, doctor of urology at the Faculty of Medicine, USP, during use can be erectile dysfunction, decreased libido and some cases of infertility.
- The decrease of the genitals does not. This is a myth. Fortunately the vast majority of cases are resolved after discontinuing the medication. There is only one study that says that about 15% of cases do not return to normal, but this was a study and there are questions if there are no other factors together that lead to this situation. Finasteride is a very safe drug.
The existence of post-finasteride syndrome has been recognized by some doctors, but studies have yet to identify the cause. ANVISA (National Health Surveillance Agency) does not prohibit the substance.
In the US, there is the Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foudation (Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation), which in May reported that the National Institutes of Health added the syndrome on your list at the information center for rare and genetic diseases, stressing that studies are underway to understand the level of safety and adverse effects of the use of finasteride, which is also used in the treatment of prostate cancer.
According to dermatologist Arthur Tykocinski, the Albert Einstein Hospital, among others, and member associations such as the American Society of Hair Restoration, the risk of side effects of finasteride is real and, in some cases involving patients older than 40 years, these They may have an incidence of over 20%.
- No one knows for sure the cause (the syndrome). It remains poorly studied, poorly defined, misunderstood. The theory behind this is that the discontinuation of finasteride cause a crash in the male hormonal system regulation and this would cause decreased testosterone.
In patients with about 18 years Tykocinski says the number of those who have these symptoms is very low, even lower than the 2% indicated in leaflets. So Tycocinski prefer not set finasteride as a “villain”. The physician notes that it should be prescribed with criteria, and transparency taking into account the age and degree of hair loss of the patient.
- In my opinion, I think that finasteride has a very important role, but one has to weigh the benefit it will bring is smaller and the chance that the patient has side effects is greater. For young people, it is very important in many cases. For example, a young man, with initial baldness, family history (baldness), have much hair to lose and very little chance of having side effects. Such a case is worth (finasteride). Already a patient over 40 years (having already lost enough hair), I think should think that it can be dispensable.
