I used to get a serious cold at least once a winter before fin. Since over 2.5 years I have very rarely been sick.
Assuming we have some problem with our androgens receptors, this information could explain this:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11084949
Has any one else experienced a stronger immune system since side effects started?
Thanks in advance for your replies and thoughts.
I’d be more inclined to say that the body’s vitality has been completely sapped from the drug, rather then it gave us a super immune system. That’s very unlikely, given the damage this stuff does.
When you get sick, it’s your body going through a cleansing cycle and “cleaning house.” Runny nose, coughs, your body is expelling waste from tne system which became backed up with gunk. A healing crisis occurs, aka, getting sick. Did you ever notice how sick you used to get when you were a kid? Your body was super healthy and would not tolerate the “abuse” which is modern day life. As we get older, we slowly beat our bodies into submission and they become less able to cleanse out the ever building toxins. Later in life these become things like cancer, heart disease, etc. The body no longer has the strength to keep cleansing and internalizes the mess with disasterous outcomes. Just another reason why all you post fin guys should fast, or cleanse anyway you can.
With all the destructive side effects of this drug, it is more likely that our bodies just can’t “get sick” the way they should…
I agree with awor. I was alergic to dustmites and mildew and after propecia i never had it again. Also, i had rinitis sometimes, and after propecia never again. Besides having all the mood swings, depression, fatigue, sleepless nights, i didn’t have one single flu episode in five years.
You actually think propecia boosted your immune system? Are you serious?
This further proves that your body’s ability to fight has been severely comprimised by the drug. The fact that you are no longer responding to allergens is a sign that your vitality has been completely wiped out.
The thought that the drug has boosted your immune capacity is ridiculous, really.
i don’t know if it boosted or not the immune system, what i know is that it definetely changed it. When somebody is allergic it means his immune system overreacts. So who knows… maybe it is weaker now, but i feel more normal in this point because i had an overreacting immune system to begin with. There is another ingredient to this discussion though: Cortisol. Cortisol is meant to protect the cells. Many here report excess cortisol. But each person had his own natural level of cortisol. For some people then, more cortisol can mean a feeling of stronger body.
Awor I think there may certainly be a link as you point out. I have only been sick twice in the last seven years and one of those times was the Norwalk virus, which I would not clasify as a traditional cold.
It’s ironic that you posted this, because I was just thinking to myself a day ago how unhealthy propecia made me; and I was wondering why I wasn’t sick more. I wasn’t really thinking that Propecia caused it directly, but I was just wondering to myself how it could be possible that I wouldn’t be sick more.
My girlfriend is sick right now and has been for 2 weeks and she is living with me. She has a nasty cough. I haven’t caught it yet.
I totally disagree,because ive been sick fot 3 weeks with a severe cold.This is actually one of the worst ive had in years.ive only been off six months and got sick twice.
I never get sick, i can’t remember how it was before propecia… but i can say that after propecia i get sick very very rarely
I never get sick. I’ve been off of Propecia for more than seven years. I don’t remember what it was like for the first few years, but for the last two or three years I have almost never gotten sick. I attributed this to washing my hands often, spending less time around other people, taking a D3 supplement, and eating better. However, I think awor makes a good point about estrogen. I have heard before that women have a higher incidence of auto-immune diseases, and that this is due to their having higher estrogen levels than men.
As far as allergies are concerned, having a better immune system would make pre-existing allergies worse if anything.
I rarely had colds on finasteride and never flu(live in a cool climate), and haven’t had a cold since stopping despite otherwise poor health . I had been thinking about this as Hertoghe asked me if I picked up infections regularly because a physical suggested low thyroid and cortisol.
hmm, this is very interesting. It would be great if we can get some more feedback about this question. A strong trend confirming enhanced immune response would indeed further establish that we are not getting androgenic action (see my original post).
At least this, for a change, would be one positive side effect.
Completely and utterly ridiculous. This health destroying drug has done just that, and nothing more. Our bodies have been beaten into submission and lack the vitality necessary to “get sick.” It can’t fight anymore. It is a common phenomanon with other diseases such as lyme disease, lupus, etc. People who have these diseases also no longer get sick due to, again, the lack of internal energy and vitality needed to do so.
If what you are saying could even be close to the truth, that would mean women would get sick less then men due to “lack of androgenic action.” This obviously is a complete false hood, as gender has nothing to do with becoming ill.
Propecia did not boost your immune system.
I think the idea that finasteride boosts immune system makes sense. Since i used finasteride i developed a permanent rhinitis and recurrent sinusitis. Now i have a huge airways mucus production. I had already thinked about the link with estrogen action (or weak androgen action). Pregnant women have higher incidence of rhinitis, it’s called "pregnant rhinitis, or “hormonal rhinitis”, and have higher mucus production. Many women in menstrual cycle have also higher mucus production.
Pregnant women and women in menstrual cycle have higher estrogen production. Pregnant women often have dark circles under the eyes, as several guys in this forum, including myself. Also skin issues, as redness in the face.
So I think this weaker androgen action-more estrogen effect-stronger immune system idea makes sense.
I was really surprised by this thread. I am much more sick and more often too. When I do get sick I take a long time to recover. Everyone in my family always comments on how sick I am all the time.
No offense, but this sounds like pseudoscience to me. What credible sources do you have to back up this claim?
And propecia, with all of it’s devastatiing side efffects, in which your own screen name represents, is responsible for boosting the immune system? Are you serious, really? That is the only psuedo-science claim being made on this site.
Look at the home page of this site. Scroll down and look at ALL of the side effects this drug has caused. Read the members stories. Read the studies listed under the stickies section. Look at your own avatar. If you need scientific proof that this drug didn’t boost the immune system, the drug probably effected you more neurologically then you think.
If you want proof, google around, it’s all there for everyone to read. I would not even waste my time with such a ridiclous statement.
Do you feel healthier since taking this drug? Because I know I sure as hell don’t. Boosted immune system means a healthier body.
Come on. This shit is pure poison. Don’t forget to use your common sense. Poison does not make you healthy.
Cdnuts,
It’s not at all illogical that a drug could have both positive and negative effects. Case in point: Propecia worked extremely well in helping me to maintain my hair and even lead to significant regrowth. Yet at the same time Propecia caused me long-term sexual problems and possibly other problems as well (cognitive, physical, etc.). Another example: daily aspirin intake can reduce the incidence of heart attacks and strokes among those with cardiovascular disease. However, as good as aspirin might be for circulation, it is not so good for the kidneys and liver.
There are three possibilities: Propecia has no effect on an individual’s immune system, Propecia adversely affects an individual’s immune system, or Propecia boosts an individual’s immune system by way of elevated estrogen levels. If Propecia weakened someone’s immune system, then this would make one MORE susceptible to disease and the symptoms of disease. Let’s consider AIDS. AIDS patients are constantly sick BECAUSE they have a compromised immune system. In addition to this, take a look at the elderly. It is generally more dangerous when an elderly person gets sick, particularly when it’s the flu. I haven’t had the flu in years. If I have at some point been exposed to the flu virus (which is likely), I’d imagine that this would have had a pretty serious effect on me.
Now I think it’s possible that having a weakened immune system might result in a reduction of certain symptoms, like coughing, sneezing, runny nose, etc., since these are the result of the body fighting the infection. However, the infection itself would cause certain symptoms such as fatigue. While I do get fatigue, this is more of a constant, year-round thing. I do not believe that this would be the result of constantly having an infection.
I am not definitively stating that Propecia is boosting my immune system by way of estrogenic effects. But this is not out of the realm of possibility and is worth considering.
Incidentally, after having thought about it, I do not think your suggestion is pseudoscientific, and I certainly meant no insult. If you are correct, what symptoms do you think we would notice from having to deal with the onslaught of constant infections?
I have to disagree about Finasteride “boosting” the immune system – if anything, it’s likely the opposite.
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … =2150#2150
Based on the above, sex hormones modulate immune response. DHT is a sex hormone – take it away, it’s likely you’d lose it’s ability to modulate immune response.
Furthermore, and this is just anecdotal evidence, but when I was on Finasteride, I accidentally cut myself with my own sharp fingernail one night (had long nails that needed to be cut). What should have healed over the next few days instead turned into an open wound, became extremely painful over the course of a week, and when I went to see the doc, turned out I had developed an abscess. I was given antibiotics to treat the infection – only the antibiotics did not do their job at the recommended dose/schedule. In the end I needed to take 3x the course of antibiotics than was normal, before the infection cleared up.
This was not normal and even the docs were surprised by this experience, as they didn’t know why the antibiotics were not having the desired effect at standard dosage/scheduling. Looking back, when I put 2 + 2 together, I remembered I was taking Finasteride at the time and was feeling extremely fatigued, run down in general, and experiencing all the other major physical, sexual and mental side effects at that time. Furthermore, Finasteride has been associated with Thrombocytopenia (not enough red platelets): propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … ocytopenia
So if anything, I’d say based on my personal experience, reducing DHT has a NEGATIVE effect on the body’s immune response. I’m not sure why Awor started this topic but I have to completely disagree with the concept that Finasteride, through androgen deprivation, has somehow made us more “immune” to disease in the long run, or post-Fin.
There is no way to really prove this “concept” anyway, it is just opinions and anecdotal evidence. But based on the above materials and my own experinces, my vote is not in favor of this concept.
I honestly can’t believe people actually would believe propecia boosts your immune system.This is so freakin ridiculous,there are tons of guys on here getting sick all the time,me included.
Please close this thread. A waste of time