Tapering off after being on for many years

General Discussion
#1

Hello All,

    I have recently stumbled upon this site (and i'm happy i have).  I have been on propecia for many years now since I was in college (now 29).  Although there hasn't been any obvious side effects I think it's time to get off the medication.  I have read other posts and the site itself on tapering off.  Since I've been on it for so long should I taper off differently.  I have started taking 1mg every other day for a couple weeks, then i'm going to do .5mg every 2 days for a couple weeks and so on and so forth.  Does this sound good to everyone?  I also have 1 more question, since I haven't had any noticeable side effects, when I get off this drug is there a high chance for me to get any effects?  Thanks so much for any help.
#2

Well i’ve been reading the site obsessively and have answered my own questions. Also looking more into the side effects I previously stated I didn’t have any but I feel now that I have. Including significant morning fatigue (which i just thought i wasn’t a morning person), urinary frequency and a lot of “dribbling” after, joint popping and aches, and some scrotal tenderness. Today is my first day off the med as i went cold turkey and decided not to taper. My one other question I have, Is it adviseable to take a natural test booster when coming off Fin before I even get any sort of blood tests so I don’t get any adverse reactions??

#3

Why not taper when you have the opportunity? Cold turkey may shock your system. Taper slowly as advised and give your body a chance yo readjust to dht again. This is the best advise I can give - as far as the t booster - I’d ask a doctor. But please taper.

#4

Just the thought of taking 1 more pill makes me sick. But I will take your advice and taper. I have been on for approx. 7-8 years do you think a 6 week taper is long enough?

#5

im not a doctor… so please take that into consideration. however… i copied this from the website FAQ.

  1. I’m currently taking the drug, experiencing side effects and want to quit. How should I quit?

Firstly, unlike other medications whereby reducing dosage would reduce the medications effect, Finasteride does not operate in this manner due to its extreme potency against the 5AR2 enzyme and resultant DHT surpression, whereby it can take up to a week or more for DHT to even begin to return to baseline after a single dose, as noted here: propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … 2187#12187

In addition, Finasteride has a near-flat dose response such that 0.05mg inhibits nearly as much DHT as 1mg, as evidenced here: physics.upenn.edu/facultyinf … index.html ).

Thus, the question is: should I quit cold turkey or ween off the drug? Obviously the sooner one can get off the drug, the better. We have no evidence that either method will make a difference in terms of “avoiding” side effects after quitting, but going by common sense, we believe it makes sense to ween off in order to help reduce shock to the endocrine system. Additionally, according to Dr. Crisler, DO ( allthingsmale.com ), weening off over several weeks is advisable.

If you are taking Propecia, we recommend gradually reducing the dosage from 1mg to 0.5mg (half a pill) to 0.25mg (quartered pill) to 0.125mg (8th of a pill), to 0.0625 (16th of a pill) over time while increasing the days between dosing (ie instead of taking it everyday, take it every every 3rd day, 5th, 7th and so on), until you are ultimately no longer taking the drug.

If you are taking Proscar, same concept – reduce from 1.25mg/day (quartered), down to 0.625mg (8th) and possibly 0.313mg (16th of a pill – if even possible to split it this much), over time.

Before you quit, it is also recommended you take bloodtests as outlined in section 6. This is so that you will have evidence of Finasteride’s effects on your hormones while on the drug, to compare against after quitting.

#6

Make sure and get the blood tests if you can, it may help later on…