Hi All,
I was a long time propecia user (8 years) starting at the age of 22. Since beginning I’ve had side effects, though they were pretty mild and so I didn’t worry too much about them. For the first 5 years, I had very slight erectile issues, basically it was a softer erection and enough so that I noticed it. Though, by and large, I didn’t have any issues when I was with women. Over the last 2 years or so, it has progressively gotten worse to the point where it’s harder to achieve an erection and definitely harder to maintain it. I would go soft after 10 to 15 seconds if stimulation stopped. Some days were worse than others.
I can’t say there was a loss in libido, as I still pretty much always thought about sex when I saw an attractive woman. And there were still days when I had to, ahem, relieve myself five times a day. However, the erections were much softer and like I said don’t last long at all.
Maybe it was the propecia and maybe it was aging, I don’t know for sure. Afterall, I was 22 when I started and I’m 30 now. Though, I still don’t think it’s normal to have soft erections at 30!!
Having read about the possible links to high grade prostate cancer and the fertility issues that seem to have arisen, not to mention my sides, I decided to stop taking this stuff about a month and half ago. I tapered off by taking .5 for two weeks, .25 for two weeks, and then .25 every other day for two weeks. Considering I took it for so long, I probably should have tapered off for far longer, but I really wanted to stop taking it as soon as I could. Not to mention, I didn’t want to buy another bottle just to extend my tapering.
My hope is that the side effects reverse themselves and I have more ‘youthful’ erections. It’s been a few days since the tapering ended and I stopped taking it all together. So far, I feel a little bit better but I think it’s just a psychological boost of feeling like I’m taking a healthier approach to my lifestyle.
While I wait and hope for my symptoms to resolve themselves, I’ve been trying to find alternative therapies to slow my hairloss. Propecia never regrew hair for me, but it definitely slowed my hairloss dramatically. I’m certain that I would be nearly bald without it now. With that said, I’ve started seeing significant hairloss over the last month coinciding with my tapering and now that I’m off it entirely, I’m bracing for a major shed. Oh dear god, the thought makes me want to run back to propecia.
Do you guys have any suggestions?? I’m most interested in starting Rogaine because I’ve never tried it before and because it’s the only product with clinically proven results. Definitely, no more pills whether ‘natural’ or not. Just looking for topical therapies and not wild, unorthodox treatments. Have any of you used Rogaine after stopping Propecia? And if so, what kind of results did you get? One last thing, for those that did try Rogaine after Propecia, did you experience any sexual side effects, I imagine not because it doesn’t affect hormones and is topical, but nonetheless wanted to ask.
Thanks guys!