I have just quit generic propecia after taking 1mg tablet a day for a little over two years. I’m 26yrs old now, I’ve always ignored subtle health problems but the cumulative changes in my well being finally drove me to start searching online for information on side effects other than those listed by the pharmaceutical companies. I experience almost chronic light headedness and fatigue, around my eyes has become very hollow, and most disturbing my vision has deteriorated. I am now fairly near sighted. I have always kept very clean living standards; eat healthy, don’t smoke, rarely drink, took no drugs other than the finasteride, and have always been fit. Despite the fatigue I’ve still manage to stay in decent shape. But regardless of my daily routine, amount of sleep, I feel and look tired. Then I found this site and saw that people where having the same problems and I quit immediately. I was wondering what some of you guys with similar cases faced when you quit. Did things get worse, better? Please respond. And thanks to the makers of this site and all the members for spreading information on the subject.
Read FAQ for some info:
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7
The vast majority of men recover from their side effects within a few weeks/months after quitting the drug.
But for a smaller percentage, side effects persist and they experience an endocrine system crash (as outlined in the FAQ) after the return of DHT (10-14 days after quitting), where Testosterone, LH and FSH levels drop to near hypogonadal levels. We on this forum are in that minority.
If you find your side effects do not resolve within a reasonable period of time after quitting, you should get bloodwork done to assess what the drug had been doing to your hormones. In fact, I’d recommend getting bloodwork done sooner rather than later, so you can see what kind of effect it did have, since you just quit: propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=92
In the meantime try not to worry as most likely everything will be fine… if things don’t end up getting better, then this is the forum for you.