I hate finestride

The BBQ Pit
1

For my very first pitting in all the years I’ve been a member, I pick Festride, also known as Propecia. Who is he, you ask, not recalling any doper with that handle? Not a he…not a she…(remember this at the end of the rant.

Finestride is a medication that can be used for hair loss - not a problem, as I’ve already lost mine. It is also used in BPH or benign prostatic hypertrophy, of which I am a practicing member. Basically, men take this to get hair or to make them able to urinate like they did as kids.

Once upon a time, long ago, I could write my name in printing on the sands - truly blessed, I was even able to dot the elusive “i” in my name. Admired by friends and family, little did I know what was in store. The first warning, not recognised, was that printing had fallen by the wayside, to be replaced with a rather nice cursive “hand” Of course avoiding the rain of head hair might have been the cause.

Entering my mature years, and no longer having hair to worry about, I realized that perhaps my secondary elimination functions had pretty much petered out. No longer able to whisk away the desire for a leak, I became adept at knowing the locations of all restroom facilities within running range. Modifications to my fluid intake prior to trips more than 2 miles away became the thing to do. Then I went to a Doctor.

Apparently, having been fascinated by my personality and totally unique medical problem, the cad said “Drop 'em and bend over” Well. I could see that somehow my condition had given him ideas! So, not knowing what social rules apply in this situation, I decided to forgo any banter or questions at that time, which made a lot of sense in that I wasn’t breathing.

“Ah, BPH!”, he exclaimed after far too much time…and explained that my prostate was nicely rounded (something I never expected to hear from some fellow standing behind me), and without lumps. I’m thinking…“Am I supposed to have lumps, or not?” He went on explaining as he, uh, withdrew. No lumps = good. Big - BHP.

So he gave me a prescription for Flomax. Was there ever a better name for a medication? It worked well for a number of years, and then decided that the work was too hard and the hours too long (see what I did there?), and became less effective.

So, on to a new Dr. Bend over, rinse and repeat. This young fellow decides that Fenistride (some organic poison brewed up in the depths of hell) was the one for me. Being an innocent, I took it, and for several months all went well. I fit into the regular rotation in men’s public restroom, needing only my share of time to accomplish my task at hand.

Then last week I noticed that my nipples were sore. Not paying too much attention, I figured that they had simply rubbed against my shirt as they did back in the days when I ran. Not the case. They remained sore, and then began to enlarge in the areolar area. Becoming curious, I parted the hair and examined them closely, something I’ve never done in six decades. Wow! I’m getting some growth there!

Mistakenly, I thought that I would get some sympathy if I asked some of my female members about breast stuff. After explaining my deeply disturbing condition, I was greeted with laughter, and unhelpful remarks about how now I should have more sympathy for my breastfeeding great niece (understandable) and other comments that I will not repeat from the other females, including my wife. So much for them, cruel women!

Now, Dear Reader, I like breasts. And I like areola, and I especially like puffy ones like mine…Aaarrrggghhh! On to the internet. Side effects of Finestride rarely include breast development. Gee thanks! And I didn’t even get any hair to appear on my head.

I have an emergency appointment with my Doctor tomorrow.

2

Propecia is evil. I took it for three months and was numb from the waist down. Took me several months to recover.

I suspect that Merck is severely downplaying the incidence of side effects. I wish I’d never taken it.

3

That post features no fewer than three different ways of spelling “finasteride” and incredibly, you weren’t correct on any of them.

4

Probably distracted by his boobs.

5

As proud owner of a set myself, I must correct you: it’s “moobs”.

6

As my personal “thank you” for the enjoyable read that was your OP, I hereby hope that your consultation tomorrow yields a fast, safe, and effective treatment plan.

7

Allow me to suggest you look into using Saw Palmetto instead. It may not help as much as the prescription medications, but it has very few side effects. As it’s an over the counter supplement, doctors are reluctant to suggest it. Also, purity can vary. Find a brand and dose which works and stay with it.

Do not mix Saw Palmetto with any prescription BPH medication.

8

Basically, saw palmetto is just a less potent form of finasteride. In other words, it contains phytoestrogens which have the same effect as finasteride (and probably even some additional ones). Why would he want to take an unregulated source of hormones? Indeed, at least one ‘quality’ studyshowed that saw palmetto was no better than placebo to treat BPH.

On the other hand, PC-SPES, which is another herbal product used to treat BPH, is a very potent estrogen. In my opinion, it is foolish to use such a potent hormone when it is unregulated in its production, standardization, and inter-batch estrogen content. It would be just asking for trouble.

9

Isn’t that the same stuff that will cause horrific birth defects if somehow a pregnant woman ingests it. Dangerous stuff.

10

So that explains the labyrinth motif on the box.

11

Someone named Derleth maybe shouldn’t be making off-handed allusions like that, even if they are from an orthogonal mythos…

12

Ingest? I remember it from the TV commercials saying something along the lines of “women who are or potentially may become pregnant should not handle Propecia due to risks of certain birth defects.”

13

BPH=benign prostatic hypertrophy= non cancerous overgrowth of the prostate.

To turn off the growth of the prostate, which is dependent on testosterone, you need to turn down testosterone activity.

That will have side effects- gynaecomastia (abnormal breast development) being one of them.

Still- compared to incontinence and impotence which are common complications of prostate surgery (an alternative treatment option for BPH), moobs might not be so bad…

14

The reason they say that is because it could cause trouble if the pregnant woman happened to be carrying a MALE fetus. Clearly you don’t want to block male hormones during a male fetus’s development. It doesn’t mean that the drug is particularly toxic to adults though.

15

Went to the doctor, and he agreed that I should quit taking the medicine. And my moobs should shrink back to my former cup size, thank you.

Have to say, when I could feel the mammary glandular tissue itself developing, I was concerned. Of course since it was on both sides I was pretty sure it wasn’t breast cancer - which guys do get, and we should check for, BTW.

So two days later, my nips are far less sore, and my libido is on the rise.

The doctor says that he feels that his expertise of internal medicine probably doesn’t give him the best background, so if my prostate begins to cause problems again, I will get a referral to a urologist.

Hopefully my prostate will remain its smooth self, and not grow too large too fast. I sure will miss the nights of only one trip to the bathroom if it grows.

Thanks to all for the input.

16

I prefer “mannaries”.

Anyway, sunstone, I thoroughly enjoyed your OP.
mmm