Getting over Propecia

Member Stories
#1

Hello everyone,

I stopped taking Propecia 2 days ago. I was with my new girlfriend and discovered that it was way harder getting an erection (almost impossible) and getting horny. I’m 26 and was always a rather horny guy. Now I just can’t get an erection with her.

I was loosing a little hair and when I became single a few months ago, I decided to start taking propecia… What a bad mistake! This is the last time I am taking care of my appearance before my health.

I always took either 0.5 Mg or 0.25 Mg of propecia each day. I took it for 6 months.

Man, I’m quitting this horrible drug now. I only hope that the side effects won’t last and I am rather scared.

At least, I think the “parts” of my anatomy are okay because I can still have an erection and during the night, I can wake with a hard-on.

I can still get an erection and finish off but not with my girlfriend. This is really scary…

How much does it normally take to get back to normal for those of you who already quit?

Should I completely stop Propecia or should I take little doses to let it “ween off”? I’m scared of taking it back again. Since I wasn’t taking huge dosage before and that I only took it for 6 months, maybe I could go cold turkey… If needed, I will ween off but I am really scared.

Any advice would be appreciated.

At least I don’t feel tired or depressed… I just very frustrated from my condition.

I hope someone can help me… I’m calling my doctor tomorrow for sure. I should start with a hormone test, right?

I have read that a good thing to do would be to eat broccoli and exercice a lot… Man, if that is true, I am doing it right now!

At least with the Internet, I can learn things Pharmaceuticals companies won’t told me!

Thanks for your help.

I think I got over Propecia!
#2

Have you read the FAQ yet? It should help answer some of your questions.

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7

If you are destined to recover normally, most guys do within a few weeks to a couple months… sometimes for other it may take up to a year…

As noted in the FAQ, you can either quit cold turkey or ween off… most of the guys that quit did so cold turkey and we’re unsure if this is the cause of our further problems… in essence though, because the drug has a flat dose response i don’t think it really matters if you go cold turkey, because you can’t really “ween off” a drug with a flat dose response other than spacing out the days you take it… so it’s up to you.

Give yourself the next few months, don’t panic, and yes, get bloodtests done ASAP to se what’s goin on with your body.

Cheers.

#3

Thank you so much for the advices!

I think I will go cold turkey because I’m so scared of taking even a little bit of that drug again… Nevertheless, I will ask my doctor his opinion!

Just another question, what does flat dose response exactly mean for a drug?

#4

Flat dose response, see graphs here (2nd link):

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … 69451db54d

Essentially anything above 0.05mg inhibits DHT by the approximately the same amount. Hence why Sherman Frankel petitioned the FDA to reduce the required dose from 1mg down to 0.2mg, to lessen the chance of side effects.

The FDA and Merck of course cited that 1mg is the optimal dose to get the beneficial hairloss-stopping effects of the drug but many men have had sucess on lower dosages such as 0.25mg/day - again, due to the flat dose response nature of Finasteride’s effect on DHT.

#5

Hi everyone,

I’m just sending a post here to talk about how I got over Propecia, hoping that this will help others here.

I am 26 years old and I took Propecia for about 5 months. I was only taking between 0.25 and 0.5 mg each day. I had stopped loosing hair although it did not regrow. At first, I noticed I was way less horny than usually but since I was single, I said to myself it did not matter. Then, when I met a girl, I realize I was not able to get an erection. The most I could have is an erection that lasted about 30 seconds. That was horrible and that got me really scared.

After that, I immediately stopped Propecia. I was so scared of that drug, I could not take it anymore so I quitted cold turkey. I decided afterwards to go on a healthier lifestyle because I was afraid it would take long for my sex drive to come back. I started exercising more regularly (about 3 times a weeks doing bike or roller-skating) and eating more fruits and vegetable. I was still enjoying life by having beer and less healthy food once in a while. Well, it took about two to three weeks to get back to normal. I started to have sexual desire again, morning erections and all that stuff that seamed to have disappeared after Propecia.

Therefore, for all you guys here, don’t panic if this happens to you. I don’t know if having only taken smaller doses of Propecia helped me recover more quickly but I guess a 1 mg dose is too much.

My advice is that if you’re already taking the medication, quit it! (cold turkey or gradually, as you wish). Do some exercises, eat fruits and vegetables everyday and sleep well. But don’t get crazy over this. You can still eat meat and enjoy life. Being relaxed and happy will probably help too.

Well, I sincerely hope that everyone here manage to get over Propecia and can also inform others that this drug has some serious side effects for men!

#6

Aww, that is so cute! :laughing:
Congratulations on the full recovery! :smiley: