Without going into too much detail, here’s the bottom line:
Propecia is a 5a- reductase inhibitor. 5ar is an enzyme used in your body and brain in many IMPORTANT chemical and hormonal conversions.
The basis of Propecia’s marketing is that it lowers DHT, which is one major factor responsible for male pattern baldness. It does this by blocking the action of 5ar. In a man’s body, testosterone is converted to DHT by 5ar. By blocking this enzyme, the conversion to DHT falls dramatically, thereby reducing or eliminating male pattern baldness.
All of this is true. But…
DHT is NOT just responsible for making a guy’s hair fall out. It’s responsible for everything that makes him a man.
Facial hair, deep voice, aggression, muscle hardness, libido, penis size and erection quality, etc, etc. ALL male characteristics, or androgenic characteristics, come from DHT.
Does this sound like a wise thing to deprive a male body of?
Believe me, it’s not.
But there’s more…..
5a-reductase is NOT just responsible for converting testosterone to DHT. It goes way deeper than that.
Another one of the sex hormones, Progesterone, is converted by 5ar to an extremely potent neurosteroid called Allopregnanolone. (ALP) What is ALP? To put it very simply, ALP is your brain’s own natural Xanax. ALP is responsible for keeping you level and focused. It’s also responsible for feelings of contentment, peace and Relaxation. By blocking 5ar, you’re blocking the production of ALP, thereby starving your brain of this endogenous tranquilizer.
When you don’t have enough ALP, things start to get bad. Anxiety skyrockets, insomnia sets in, you can’t relax or focus. No matter what you do you can’t become content….at all. It has to be the worst aspect of 5ar inhibition.
Thing is, some guys only get the sexual side effects, some get all neurological ones. Usually it’s a blend of both. It all depends on your genetic makeup.
Some guys take Propecia for a week and get killed with sides, some guys take it for ten years before they start to notice anything. Many of them that do get side effects will go back to normal once they stop messing with the 5ar enzyme.
Many others, like myself, did not.
The doctors are oblivious to this problem. They don’t have the answers, and they can’t help you. There are studies taking place right now (along with a class action lawsuit) to try and determine why these life changing symptoms linger for many, many years after stopping Propecia. As of yet, there are no results.
After years of suffering and the medical field coming up empty, I decided that if I wanted to have some semblance of a normal life, it was going to be up to me, and me alone to try and claw my way back to the land of the living.
This is where the journey begins….
“Health is like money….we never have a true idea of it’s value until we lose it.” -Josh Billings