Propecia and erection problems

[D_Themistacles Wombbroom]

Has anyone here ever taken propecia for a long period of time? Has any yone found that it affected their erection?

 

[Ric1]

finasteride can cause erection prolems but in most people it doesn't at 1mg and more are affected at 5mg. Please read the patient infomation leaflet.

 

[Peanut]

I have been taking it for about 8 years. no problems!

 

[basharbd]

I took it for two years and did not have any erectile problems. I was in my early 20s at the time.

 

[thebuck]

I took it for years from my mid 30's to mid 40's. It did decrease my sexual appetite but since I have a huge sexual drive it meant bringing it to a "normal" level for the average man. Good luck.

 

[B_Bonky]

Taken it for about 3 years.. at first my libido seesawed like crazy. One week I was horny as hell, next week wanted nothing to do with sex.

These days I still "cycle." Go a couple months not all that horny, then a couple months super horny. The girls I date all think I'm weird in that regard, but I don't tell them about it.

Not sure if it effects the "erection" per se, but if you're not as turned on, obviously you won't be as hard.

Also, after the 1st year I got lazy and I'm not too good about taking 1 pill per day. So if I find that I missed a couple of days I take all the ones I missed :O Not sure if you're supposed to but.. eh.. whatever. The result of this is my body hasn't accustomed itself to the drug. Sometimes a few days will go by with no drug in my system, other times there will be a large influx. I think this is good, just like in bodybuilding: you have to mix up your routine so your body doesn't "plateau" and get used to the workout and develop resistance to the same thing day after day.

But I'm not a doctor so this is just speculation on my part.

 

[Ric1]

you are just taking advance of one the side effects of finasteride witch it does by its mode of action witch blocks the conversion of testosterone into DHT (witch is thought to shrink hair follices.) Just watch out as you may grow boobs too. As DHT is antagonist (it suppress the effect) of estrogen in the male body. taking it in an iregular manner will cause blood plasma levels of the drug to spike and falls witch means you will not get the full benfit of the drug.

 

[B_Bonky]

why wouldn't I get the full benefit of the drug if it's spiking and falling? Seems like that would prevent the body from changing the body's chemistry to counter the effects of the drug.

I know when bodybuilders use steroids they have to "cycle" (change dosages at intervals) the 'roids because otherwise the body gets used to them and starts to counter their effects. Wouldn't this be doing the same thing?

 

[FuzzyKen]

Finasteride acts differently in different people. If you have a very high testosterone level and take finasteride it will have little to no effect on erection quality. If you are not at the higher ends of the scale finasteride will have a negative impact. I am personally against anything that has a negative impact on DHT. Finasteride is a good drug if used for prostatic hypertrophy. It is a lousy drug when used to prevent male pattern baldness. DHT is a hormone that is very much needed and shutting down the production of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase in the liver is not a good idea unless it has a very major medical reason.

 

[B_Bonky]

Well, it's "lousy" because in your opinion the side effects aren't worth the baldness retardation, right? But its effectiveness isn't lousy -- it's clinically proven to work.

 

[Ric1]

why wouldn't I get the full benefit of the drug if it's spiking and falling? Seems like that would prevent the body from changing the body's chemistry to counter the effects of the drug.

I know when bodybuilders use steroids they have to "cycle" (change dosages at intervals) the 'roids because otherwise the body gets used to them and starts to counter their effects. Wouldn't this be doing the same thing?

that is due to blood plamsa conteration and its pharmological half life(the time needed to break down the drug and excreate it) for most benfit it is advisable to maintain the blood plasma concreation of the drug to ensure that its effects are maintain without disprustion. Toleracne is only a concern with some drugs

 

[B_Bonky]

interesting....