I’ve been a daily drinker for years and could drink 12-13 beers and be extremly wasted. Once the propecia side effects(mainly the insomnia) began to manifest themselves I can easily drink 20-24 beers and only be mildly buzzed. Anyone else experience this?
Yes, this is a known occurence due to Finasteride’s inhibition of Neurosteroids, ie Allopregnanlone. Check frontpage of Propeciahelp.com for news on this very subject.
Mentalnorman…
I could and have written the exact same thing as you!!!
When I crashed I got real bad insomnia and didn’t sleep for 4 days and instead of taking sleeping tablets, I tried to drink myself to sleep with 2 bottles of wine, which before propecia would have made me feel extremely drunk and knock me out like a light and I would sleep soundly, but after my insomnia, I found I didn’t even get a little drunk and was fully aware and sober despite having large amounts of alcohol and with no buzz to it at all.
See the thread I posted of my own on this topic here…
Very Odd it took over 5 years for this symptom to manifest itself. If Propecia inhibits allopregnanlone shouldn’t this symptom have been apparent shortly after starting the drug? Tigershull, I wonder if the sleep deprivation/insomnia might be causing the increased alcohol tolerance somehow? It’s interesting that there was no changes in my reactions to alcohol until the insomnia/poor sleep began, same with you.
Same thing here, I just stopped drinking because the drink was no longer any effect on me more, however, I notice that every 15 days I feel improvement in symptoms of SPF, at first I was infinitely worse and with shrinkage (which I no longer have),in my case the effects seem to be long and not permanent, as if they were permanent, I would have had no improvement.
I was almost fine apart from a few irrational thoughts when I quit the drug but then a few days later with the onset of insomnia came all my problems, shrinkage, no reaction to alcohol and the full blown affects of PFS
I use to regularly drink alcohol in moderate amounts daily and now I drink nothing. Don’t Even have the desire for a beer!!! Definitely not me
And they say this drug does not change you or rewire us !!
It does completely
i rarely drink myself anymore either,but i do find if im feeling a litte happy and relaxed which is very rare aswell these days i can have one drink and feel buzzed like it used to feel,yet when im going through periods of insomnia and the pfs is bad -anxiety etc- i can polish off a full bottle of wine and feel nothing,before pfs a full bottle of wine would make me dizzy as a bat…
It’s funny since all these propecia effects began I’ve been drinking much more then normal. Basically about 18-24 beers a day now. Mostly because I feel anxious all the time,can’t sleep,cant concentrate and alcohol still gives me a little relief although very minimal. I just don’t feel drunk or heavily buzzed like I used too and I don’t pass out despite drinking much more then I normally would. All of this seemed to stem from not being able to sleep.
Wow, 15 days. I was gonna post something about this. I just read where the body cycles progesterone and every 14 days it hits the peak of production. This is very very very interesting. I also notice a cycle roughly every two weeks or 14 days
My case is peculiar , my side effects start with increases dosage finasteride 5 mg, previuous i used 1 mg for 2 years and 1 month with no side effects, with 3 months of Fin 5 mg my skin dried, testiclies and penis shrinkage( with total impotence) with all SPF symtoms. Another interesting thing is: finasteride ( even 5 mg) never stop my hairloss, even with the sexual organs disabled my difuse nw6 continued progressing, until I decided to try minoxidil, and got results, stopped hair loss and had hairgrow, and I’m still using minoxidil and worry about baldness, even with SPF. I had always been rejected by all women because of baldness(they said to my face that hated balds). What bothers me most, is the persistent pain in the testicles I have. However now I can have some erection with stimulation, at the beginning I had no aboslutly no erection or ejaculation.
Thats why I think the we are affected neurologically, It is my opnion that the suppression of DHT has absolutely nothing to do with our condition, that the Progesterone-Allopregenalone pathway has been compromised
Finastruth. So your saying ctrlv’s testicle pain and erection problems are a neurological issue?
I have testicular pains and eretction problemas today, and i think this is not neurological is hormonal. Anothers side effects from PFS already disappear like: depression and insomnia this is a neurological, after stop finasteride the first symptoms were those that disappear could be neurologic. And i dont want TRT, because I will be condemned forever exogenous testosterone at age 23, and because these side out gradually slow but leave.
Yes neurological, finasteride messes with certain levels of neurosteroids in the brain and CNS. Read the Italian studies
Neurologic problemas causes testicular pains? 
I can’t get drunk anymore. Last week, I drank a bottle of vodka (70 cc) and I couldn’t feel drunk; just a bit of dizziness, that’s all. Normally I would be tipsy as hell just with 35 cc. In fact my normal dose is 35 cc + 2 or 3 beers and I’d be off to the bed. Few nights before that, I drank 4 bottles of red wine (75 cc x4), still maybe 30% of the drunkenness that I would’ve gotten normally. I could hold normal conversations. My normal dose with the wine is 2 bottles. This is getting ridiculous as for the money and as well as my liver, LOL.
I’m dealing with this shit since Nov '14, there were no problems at first with the drunkenness. Then during the winter of '15, I started feeling this side effect. Then it started coming and going; one time I could get drunk with the normal amount but the other time I could not, no mather how much I would drink. But for the last few weeks it’s been stable. I can’t get drunk. Never ever once in my life there has been a time that I could not get smashed to the floor with a WHOLE bottle of vodka. This terrifies me. Not just the impact made on the brain but the fact that alcohol really has been my only escape. Now I can’t get it anymore.
I know the mechanism behind this. Read that giving Fin to alcoholics was considered as a solution. So I’m not asking for explanations.
What can I do to overcome this side effect? Please, help me.
Ok this hell of a drug…
FUCK PROPECIA. FUCK MERCK. FUCK GREEDY PHARMACEUTICAL AND STUPID DOCTORS.
Yes for me it was around 5 years since the start to have a simillar buzz from alcohol damm it!
It seems like 5 years waster with my life!!
Fortunatly as I said. I was near cryinge 2 months ago because alcohol finally made me buzzy so things are improving. Unfortunatly I have to be sure that my tetosterone levels dont drop too much so I can.not drink a lot.
The last 2 summers I will go out… drink and I was totally sober! Still drunk somehow but different effect on my mind mostly.
I didn’t really notice this as much. My “relationship” with alcohol is quite different though… I’m less enthusiastic about alcohol (wine in particular), drink less, and could go a very long time without drinking (which was not the case before). I kind of have to force myself to drink once in a while (as a treat).
I’ll try to notice if I don’t get drunk as much when I drink alot.
You weren’t able to get drunk for 5 YEARS? Fuck. What was the situation on the drug? Were you able to get drunk?
What if you blow in a breathalizer? Does it still show you with high alcohol blood levels ?