My 21 year old son began experiencing hair loss on the crown of his head about 18 months ago while he was in college. 6 months ago, against my wishes, he visited a dermatologist while at school and was prescribed Propecia. No testing was done, just a brief family history.
For the last two months, my son has been unbearable to deal with. He has sudden mood swings and displays almost violent outbursts at the most trivial things. He has also been complainting of fatigue, sleep distrubances, memory problems, rashes and has developed pain in his abdomen.
At my request, he visited our family physician on Monday for blood, urine and thyriod workups. We received word from the doctor yesterday that everything checked out fine except his blood pressure was somewhat low (90/60) and blood sugar was high (170). The doctors opinion was, and I quote “Bottom line-if this stuff continues, let me know and we’ll do some more checking.”
My son did not mention to the doctor that he was taking this drug, due to the fact the original prescribing physician indicated to him that there were very few side effects to Propecia. He is also is very self conscience of loosing his hair at such an early age and really believes that this drug is going to be some kind of “miracle cure”.
My son has always been extremely active in sports and fitness, played tennis at the college level, coaches, works out in the gym daily, particular about his diet, and has never had any health problems up to this point.
My question is, do these symptoms and behaviors sound similar to any that others here may have experienced with the use of Propecia?
Any opinions, advise or direction to more information will be appreciated.
Dria, these are all symptoms we can relate to as many of us experienced these while we were on the drug. I personally can attest to the mood swings, fatigue, sleep distrubances and memory problems (brain fog).
The drug is wreaking havoc on your son’s endocrine system. By inhibiting the 5AR-II enzyme with Finasteride, he is not only blocking conversion of Testosterone to DHT but also other important hormone conversions and neurochemical/neurosteroid reactions which are necessary for proper body and central nervous system (brain) function.
My advice to you would be to point him in the direction of this forum and have him read over some of our posts, as well as look in the Finasteride Studies to see what the drug is potentially doing to his body. Then show him this site: askapatient.com/viewrating.a … e=PROPECIA . I’m sure both you AND he will relate to what many of the men there have posted about. Hopefully all of this together will be the impetus for him to quit.
FYI… like him, I decided to take the drug at age 25 against the wishes of my family because I wanted to keep my hair at all costs. I continued swallowing those pills for 11 months before the side effects became unbearable and I could no longer function as a normal human being. I came to realize that no, hair is not the most important thing in the world. I quit… unfortunately like those here, many of the side effects I experienced while on the drug did not resolve after I discontinued. This is contrary to Merck’s (drug manufacturer) statements that they would.
So, I advise you to have him quit by weening off over the course of a month (ie, every second day, then every 3rd, 5th, 7th day while reducing the dosage), to help give his body time to adjust. Most likely after quitting he won’t have any issues, only a small percentage of men have side effects on the drug, and fewer still have them continue after quitting.
If you REALLY wanted to have some evidence of what is going on in his body… I would get blood tests done as outlined here: propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=92 … both while he is ON the drug, and a month or two after he has quit.
On the other hand – if he wants to continue taking the drug after reading here and the other link I posted… then he is welcome to dig his own grave. Sorry to be blunt…
No apology needed, we are here to help as we have experience in dealing with this since we have been through it ourselves. If we can prevent people from getting themselves into this mess in the first place, then we have served a purpose beyond just a self-help group.
PS: Be aware that Merck is the same pharmaceutical company engaged in the Vioxx class action lawsuits (deaths from that drug), and is also currently lobbying to have their new HPV Vaccine (Gardasil) as a mandatory injection for young girls! And surprise, surprise – reports of serious side effects are already cropping up: ecanadanow.com/science/healt … treatment/
“GARDASIL safety appears to have been studied in fewer than 2,000 girls aged 9 to 15 years pre-licensure clinical trials and it is unclear how long they were followed up. VAERS is now receiving reports of loss of consciousness, seizures, arthritis and other neurological problems in young girls who have received the shot,” said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher.”
“These young girls are experiencing severe headaches, dizziness, temporary loss of vision, slurred speech, fainting, involuntary contraction of limbs (seizures), muscle weakness, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet and joint pain. Some of the girls have lost consciousness during what appears to be seizures.” Debold added “The manufacturer product insert should include mention of syncopal episodes, seizures and Guillain-Barre Syndrome so doctors and parents are aware these vaccine adverse responses have been associated with the vaccine.”
… All of this – deaths from Vioxx, side effects from Gardasil, and of course what we have experienced with Propecia/Proscar – and we are to believe MERCK and the FDA’s claims their drugs are safe? Please.
This company is nothing short of a lying scumbag big pharma with no regard for human life, looking to line its pockets . They are motivated by one thing, and one thing only – greed. You, me, your son, members of this forum – we are all expendable to them, never forget that.
I really appreciate the replies and the links to the other information. I do believe that most, if not all, of these symptoms are related to the Propecia useage.
My son will be returning home later this evening at which time I will be handing him a stack of material I have printed out regarding side effects and the mechanics of what this stuff is doing to his body. I am also showing this material to his older brother that works in the medical field. He too, has experienced hair loss at an early age (is now 23), but chose NOT to take the drugs. Maybe between the two of us we can get the younger son to see between the lines and convience him to wean off of the Propecia.
I will also be joining him at another meeting with the family physician to DEMAND the further testing listed above.
It really ticks me off how the medical/pharmaceutical communities play around with peoples health and lives…all for that almighty dollar!It’s hell that we have to dx ourselves and family members these days, but thank goodness for the internet and the voices of those like you that are not afraid to put the word out from a patient’s standpoint.
I wish you much luck and better health to you all. I will post later with developments.
This is a relatively new forum, but our old support group (health.groups.yahoo.com/group/fi … e_effects/) had more than a thousand memebers from all over the world who suffered what your son is now suffering.
Outrageous at it seems, what Mew wrote is true, Merck does not care for the health of the people, all they want is money and we are all expendable for that purpose.
Go to the user profiles/experience section and read my story. I started propecia when I was 22. It was terrible and my experience may help him relate to what he’s going through right now.
I just finished reading your profile and it is printing out as I type. Thank you!!
I’m sorry to hear of all you have been through. It sounds like you have been to hell and back a few times.
Your story, like so many other’s I have read here, scares me to death. It’s very frightening to hear about the negative effects this drug has had on so many men that are in the prime of their lives, and after only a short period of useage.
You mentioned a symptom (the twitching) that my son also has. His twitching seems to be primarily in his neck/head. It comes and goes and he has felt that it worstens after working out or playing a strenuous tennis match. He also sweats profusely, even while in a rested state. The general aches and pains are also a familiar symptom. It seems like there’s a new complaint every other day or so. He has actually commented to me that he thinks he has worn his body out training so hard over the last 10 years.
We will have a number of questions for the physician at our return visit. Others above had mentioned diabetes and the hypotension. Those seem to be the most obvious concerns at this point, but I have to wonder if this drug is the underlying cause for all of the weird symptoms. My son had eaten prior to his initial bloodwork and has recently developed the terrible habit of chugging down one of those new “energy drinks” for a pick-up in the mornings. This may have been the culprit behind the high glucose level.
Hopefully, we will know more soon. I’ll post an update.
In the meantime, take care of yourself and I hope you will be back to 100% very soon!
be careful, many doctors will deny the symptoms because Merck has already “published” their own studies and have “proven” that the sides aren’t that serious.
One of the main reasons why this board was created was because so many doctors were unable to diagnose/treat our problems correctly.
It is VERY important for your son to stop taking this drug. Is he currently in school or working? It’ll screw him up for a bit. Hopefully he has a vacation coming up.
Make sure he stays away from stress. This includes a loving mother constantly “begging” his son to stop taking the drug. He should ween off the caffeine (if he’s going through his brainfog stage right now and needs it to make cohesive thought) and stay away from alcohol.
He’s more than welcome to contact me. My email address is pnb07670@yahoo.com
As mentioned, I started when I was 22. This thing ruined my life. I’m glad I stopped early vs. taking it for a few years.
If you dig deeper through this website and the yahoo group (that one has way more postings, but a lot less organized), you will begin to see a pattern.
Most people seem to believe that propecia screws up the hormones and endocrine system first and then as a secondary side effect (but much more worse than the first onset of hormonal imbalances), we end up with an aging body of an old man.
Seems like this drug has done a lot of damage to your son already and it is very very important for him to realize its the drug that’s doing it.
I was in denial for quite sometime before I realized it was this drug. Now I feel like my age again (23, minus the prostate issues).
I really appreciate you offering to communicate with my son. I have forwarded your email to him.
We discussed the results of his blood tests last night and then I handed him a copy of your profile. He was VERY alarmed by this and said that he had suspected that the drug was causing some of his problems.
We have an appointment Tuesday morning with the doctor at which time we are going to discuss all of this and request the hormone testing.
He has taken his last pill, although it was physically hard for him to do! He was telling me today that he felt like he was craving that pill! He said all he could do was think about taking it. Are you aware of the drug having addictive qualities?
He says that he has not experienced any of the sexual side effects yet. Is this something that could begin showing up after stopping the drug?
Can you tell me how to get to the yahoo group…Thanks again!
As for sexual sides showing up after he quits, most likely not… though it is possible. The hormone tests will help see where things are at.
As for the drug being addictive… it does a number on your mind, it is more the scariness of quitting and concern over hair that plays a role there… but as with any drug, the body may get used to it and go into withdrawal if it is discontinued… hence my advice to ween off it rather than quit abruptly.
