skin issues, including body rash, scalp rash, and increased skin sensitivity

Symptoms Physical
#1

HI Everyone,

I’m so glad I found this site, because I thought I was the only one experiencing severe physical issues with finsteride.

I’ve been using finasteride (5mg) cut into 4 and have experienced rashes/hives from the beginning (it has been 1.5 years). I started initially because I saw thinning on my hairline (every other part of my scalp as fine). Sometimes, the rashes wont be too bad and it will look like red spots on my skin, whereas other days the rash will rise. The rashes appear mostly around my stomach area, occasionally on the back, on the neck, upper part of my chest, forehead, and just recently my scalp has been itching like crazy and I feel like there are pimples all over. Seldomly I get rashes on my hands and palm, where when it occurs on the palm, and I clench my fist and release, I can see red spots all over my palm where the individual rash spots are. On my feet, I get them on my sole, and sometimes on the top of my foot and I can see the elevated red spots. The episode of rashes around my neck and chest will last alot longer than any other part of the my body (where those rashes will diappear within a few days). The rash around my neck and chest can last up to a month, where it will eventually dry up from all the scratching and diappear.

I also noticed that my skin has become really sensitive. For instance, my girlfriend likes to pull my stubbles on my chin with a tweezer, and bumps will form at the areas hairs were pulled. This has never happened before.

My new problem, recently, is with my scalp, where it feels really dry, bumpy, and itchy. I’m also on rogaine foam and i dont know if this is causing exacerbating it but I started experiencing the symptoms on my scalp before I began using rogaine so I know it has to be in part due to the finasteride. I wante dto also mention that I have had allergic reactions to rogaine, where tiny bumps would form, I would scratch them, and the skin would peel off (sometimes scab) and it disappear. I feel as if I’m losing alot more hair because I’m scratching to relieve the itch.

Honestly, I dont really feel like I’ve gained any coverage since beginning either of the remedies (finasteride and rogaine). If anything, I’ve lost more hair, not just on my hairline (where the initial and only problem was), but everywhere on the top. But, I’m afraid to stop now since I’m not sure if the drugs are slowing it down.

Regarding my libido, I’m not sure if finasteride has affected my performance…but I have noticed that my sex drive decreases on some days, but that could just be because i’m getting older and i’m not the same horn dog i used to be (I’m currently 32).

On top of this, once in awhile my knees will swell up after a jog, and one of my toes will swell as if I was stop by an insect.

I got every possible STD test done, with negative results.

Would appreciate any feedback or possible remedies…

Thanks in advance

#2

From your “other” post which you deleted:

This isn’t the forum for you. If the existence of this site and videos on youtube (search for Propecia Side Effects), and FINASTERIDE STUDIES section of this site aren’t enough to convince you of the potential issues you may face, nothing anyone can do.

If the side effects bother you enough, quit the drug and look at alternative treatments for hairloss. If you plan to continue taking it, post on hairloss sites.

This site is for men who already quit the drug and who’s side effects have yet to resolve. Nobody is interested in trying to convince you to quit, all the material on this website should be enough to convince you to do so.

Please respect what this site is about before considering posting.

Here is my further response:

What are you expecting people here to say? Everyone here is against Finasteride, we would all recommend you discontinue use to see if your issues resolve. Until you do so, it is pointless to ask for advice.

These types of posts are useless and clutter up the forum. Read this site and come to a decision – if you do not plan to quit, do not bother posting here, it is a waste of everyone’s time, including yours. And sorry to be an ass but this is the [insert # here] post like this that we get from people wondering “if they should quit” to see if their problems will improve.

Answer: YES, take a break and see if things clear up in coming weeks/months. Your hair won’t suffer much at all in that time, if that’s your overriding concern, instead of your health.

#3

What is that all about? Why is she ripping out your facial hair? I would think if my facial hair was pulled out, it would form some type of bump where the follical was. What’s the point?

#4

Is the rash mentioned in the official side effects paper coming with the drug?

#5

Yes, rash, hives and itching/pruritus and swelling are officially listed side effects of the manufactrurer. This poster doesn’t want to acknowledge the drug may be the culprit so he can hold onto his hair, yet is asking wether he “should quit or not”. Posting on this site is a waste of time in this regard.

#6

I made this account just so I could post this.

I took finasteride for almost a year. The decreased sex drive did occur when I took the medication but it was highly noticeable. The extremely noticeable side affect of propecia for me was the rash I got on my chest area.

I have 6 pack abs and taking finasteride literally made me feel uncomfortable when I took my shirt off around others.

At first the rash was very small and started below my pecs, but after a few months it spread to my pecs and all over my stomach and chest. I thought that I would have this horrible rash for life. No matter how hard I scratched, didn’t scratch or what product I used, it wouldn’t go away. It was a very very slightly raised surface and it was very discolored.

It took about an entire month after discontinuing propecia for the rash to subside.

I am so thankful that my skin will not remain this way.

This is a known side affect of taking finasteride. Just beware.