Gynecomastia - what to do?

Symptoms Physical
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    USA

  2. How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)
    anabolicminds.com forum

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    33 5’9 160lbs

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    lifting weights

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    fast food

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    hair loss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    4 years

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    29, April 2008

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    33, April 2012

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    cold turkey

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    proscar cut into 4 pieces

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1.25mg

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    3 years

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Gynecomastia

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    none

  2. If you have pre or post-Finasteride bloodtests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (pls post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    I only recently stopped finasteride but I hope you will be considerate of my situation. I took finasteride for the first three years and had very slight gynecomastia, so I didn’t worry about it. However, I started Lyrica, which compounded the problem and made the gynecomastia much worse.

Has anyone had gynecomastia resolve completely just by stopped finasteride? I am under the impression that it doesn’t just go away.

What is the most successful treatment for this type of situation?

Thank you.

#2

My understanding is that the only real solution for gynecomastia is to have the tissue surgically removed. As far as I know, there are no other treatments that will be able to eliminate or even reduce the size of the gynecomastia. Personally, I have been thinking about pursuing this option lately as it is very embarrassing and it is more affordable to me.

#3

yes no treatment but surgery.

#4

Tamoxifen may help if the gyno is not too bad.

Tamoxifen for flutamide/finasteride-induced gynecomastia.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9426725

#5

Yes the gynecomastia is recent (less than a year) and not that bad. I think medication should help.

ALSO, I was with a hot 21 year old today and failed to get it up. Does this sexual side effect go away when you stop fin? I was on it for four years.

#6

For the vast majority of users, the sides go away within a few weeks. In other cases it can take a few months.

Have you considered Andractim gel for your gyno?

#7

I have not heard of it before but I just looked it up. Thank you for informing me.

I have a couple of questions:

If I switch to dutasteride, will I still get the same side effects like gyno?
If I decide I want to be on finasteride, what can I do to eliminate side effects? I know some people take a little bit of estrogen blocker and it seems to prevent the gyno.

Thank you.

Please be considerate in your reply and understand that while finasteride side effects are horrible, hair loss is even more so.

#8

Nobody here will recommend you take 5AR inhibitors. If that is your intention, pls post on hair loss websites.

Taking an aromatase inhibitor may or may not help to counter the estrogenic side effects, however such drugs also have their own side effects. As well, as Finasteride does far more than just inhibit DHT (ie, neurosteroid inhibition), there are other ramifications from its use beyond just “saving hair”.

You came to this forum under the guise of suffering from gynecomastia only to now state you are looking for ways to keep your hair despite potential health risks or side effects which you are concerned about. That is a bit underhanded, quite frankly. Regardless, hair loss is not the end of the world and everyone here will tell you they wish they could go back in time and stop themselves from taking Finasteride.

Again, if you plan to take Dutasteride or Finasteride for your hair, do not bother posting here.

#9

I signed up here after reading the rules and I am not breaking them. I used finasteride and I stopped using it.

I am looking to eliminate its side effects, and if it can safely be taken again, I want to know about it. If there are alternatives like Dutasteride that are safer, I’d like to know. Just because finasteride is a drug with many side effects, doesn’t mean everyone should just give up on their hair. It’s an unnecessary overreaction.

If the only purpose of this site is to drum up hate against finasteride with strongly biased opinions and forbid any conversation that doesn’t bash finasteride, it does not interest me. I am looking for objective discussion.

I think I’ll just go elsewhere. Best of luck to you.

#10

I don’t think anyone with persistent side effects, especially people who are aware of the severe persistent side effects it’s possible to incur after just a few pills, would consider it possible to safely take a 5AR2 inhibitor EVER. Regardless if membership in this forum represents the vast minority or not, spinning the finasteride persistent side-effect roulette wheel is simply not worth risk for hair. Hair means little when put into the perspective of losing sensation of the penis, sense of feeling, anorgasma, cognitive function, developing gyno, or the host of other things finasteride can do to you.

Objectively, suffering persistent side-effects as severe as those mentioned above and on this site precludes membership from caring about their hair because, quite frankly, doing so while your dick doesn’t work or you need a bra means you have the wrong priorities.

#11

I completely understand your point. Know though that some people have chosen to get surgery for gynecomastia and rely on viagra for erections. Not something I would do, but they are free to decide they own priorities. I don’t decide that for them.

As for myself, I’d like to fix the damage caused by finasteride and at the same time find a way to keep my hair. If you necessarily require members to give up on their hair, or give up on ALL DHT blockers, I may indeed be an unwanted guest.

#12

@location

go fuck yourself somewhere else, thanks

#13

finasteride has affected most of those on this forum so deeply and tragically that we are no longer concerned about hair loss - quite a few find such trivial worries insulting considering the extent that their lives have been destroyed by this drug.

Are you really surprised at the response?

#14

Yes, I am, however, it is understandable.

I am one of those who were affected as badly as most, yet I take a level-headed approach to my affliction. I am angry and distraught and haven’t had one lasting erection in a long while. Does this mean I should take revenge on my hair?

Instead I seek objective information on how I can treat the devastating effects of finasteride, while at the same time trying to find alternatives to treat hair loss.

Letting hair fall out because it was the hair’s fault that I got on finasteride is not just an emotional knee-jerk reaction, it’s a form of self-pity. And if we know anything about self-pity, it’s that it’s a very addictive drug.

I wish the best to all finasteride sufferers. Most of all I wish an antidote drug is released that could reverse finasteride’s damage so we can all go back to living our lives.

#15

Whatever his motives are, whether it’s his own nonsense or if there is something more sinister, this guy is definately is not a PFS sufferer. No one dealing with PFS would even mention their hair for obvious reasons.

#16

If this was true you would have stated so in your template. Your only reason and concern for posting here originally was to find a solution to gyno which proves this statement false.

You have been provided with objective information already. By taking finasteride you are risking serious, persistent side effects and tamoxifen is a possible way to address gyno, discuss this with your doctor. This board is concerned with the serious, persistent side effects, not hair loss, which is why you can find information about treating gyno but not hair loss.

You misunderstand or purposefully attempt to twist words. The purpose is not to let hair faill out in spite of hair itself, we simply have greater concerns than hair now. Apathy for hair loss after developing persistent side effects from finasteride is not spite or self pity, the concern for hair loss is just dwarfed by the serious, persistent side effects. Apathy means it doesn’t matter or we simply don’t care. There are plenty of places, included major ones sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry that are more than willing to help you combat hair loss, however they may not be as objective or forthcoming about the risks your taking.

#17

I had mild Gynecomastia and managed to keep it under control by going to the gym. I think if you work hard enough in the gym you can get rid of any excess fat on the body.