Snow wondered if Propecia would help his baldness
It all started back in October 2002 but just a brief history before that.
I started losing my hair in my late teens, early twenties but it has been a slow decline rather than heavy shedding. I tried minoxidil but because my hair is long it always made it look messy. When I heard about Propecia I thought what a great idea. Take a tablet each day and that’s that. It really did look like the miracle cure us baldies had been waiting for.
I started taking Propecia in October 2002. I got it from the Internet because it wasn’t available in the UK as far as I knew. I contacted Merk in New Zealand which is were my batch came from and they confirmed it was legitimate and not a cheap counterfeit. I showed them to my doctor and although he hadn’t seen Propecia before he asked me a few questions about my general health and said I would be ok to take them if I wanted to. I read the note about the 2% of men suffering from a lowered libido but also the fact that this returned to normal on stopping Propecia and also went away in men who continued to use the drug. I wasn’t dating at the time so I really did have nothing to lose, I just figured if I met someone I would stop using the drug and hey if it meant I would masturbate less I really didn’t care. I took the tablet each day for about 5 and half months. The drug had a huge affect on my hair and it grew a lot quicker and a lot thicker. All my friends noticed including my stylist, I was very happy about the positive effects.
Then I met someone I was really excited about. I immediately stopped taking Propecia and we started dating once a week. After a couple of weeks thats when I realized things were quite the way they should be in the trouser department. I tried to masturbate but I could not get an erection even after a long time trying. Previously I had never had a problem and had always been quite a horny guy. I put it down to finasteride and thought that maybe I needed to give my body a little longer but after more time still no change. I became concerned and started searching on the Internet with Google. My worst nightmare was staring at me in black and white on the computer screen. Not one, but many cases of finasteride induced impotence. Men who had not recovered even after 3 or 4 years of finasteride I was completely distraught. I could not sleep and I could not eat, and I could not think about anything else. I cried and cried many times and the angst was almost unbearable.
I went to see my GP and told him everything, he was very understanding and made me an appointment with a doctor who was a Psychosexual specialist. I broke down in front of my girlfriend one night and told her everything and she was incredibly understanding and said she would stick by me no matter what. This was a huge relief and I was able to sleep and get back to some sense of normality. The specialist convinced me it was all in my head and he gave me some exercises to do with my partner and also Viagra to help me get over the problem. I believed him and practiced sensate focus with my partner and eventually used the Viagra. I did this over a 3 month period. Still suffering from impotence I decided after more research that the answer may lie within blood tests. I believed that Propecia had upset the hormone system and something was greatly out of balance. I went to see an endocrinologist and explained my symptoms as follows:
If you are considering Propecia exercise extreme caution and if you want my advice, stay well away. Editor’s Note:: 2012
There is mention of Testosterone therapy making the testicles cease their own production in this story. It was written at a time when it was genrally considered to be a fact. We now know better and I am happy to set the record straight.
I’ve known Snow for some time and witnessed his battles to regain his health. As he battled, so he wrote his new website about the problems using Propecia can bring. It is worth a read, whether you are bald, or not.