Fitness influencers are followed primarily by younger men who want to be stronger, better-performing, and in some cases more attractive. This brings up the topic of hair and hair loss. In the era of Instagram, body-hacking and online prescribers such as Hims and Keeps, young men’s worries over hair loss might be greater than ever.
Fitness influencers have been discussing finasteride for a while, and their views vary widely. Recently, several have raised alarms about the drug’s risks. They use strong terms such as ‘maiming dudes of their vitality,’ ‘chemical castration,’ ‘destroying men’s health…and fertility’ and ‘male endocrine poison’.
Here are the tweets and videos.
[Excerpts from Rogan video] I think people that take Propecia, I think you’re f***ing up your body. I think that stuff’s terrible. It caused depression in Ari… One of the side effects is severe depression. Propecia is a DHT inhibitor. The reason why it works to keep your body from losing its hair is because dihydrotestosterone, which is derivative of testosterone, is suppressed by Propecia… So you get on that stuff, it inhibits DHT so your hair stops falling out, and it grows back a little bit, but it also f***s with your body, your energy levels.
For me it wasn’t very good for my boners. I still got them but this is what happened: I stopped taking it because I ran out of it and I forgot to get a new prescription…and my dick was just like this [gestures up], and I was like what is happening with my dick, and then I realized: oh my god I’m not on the Propecia dude. Then I realized Propecia was f***ing up my boners.
Then I got off of it and the first thing I noticed is how much more energy I had. Like more energy lifting, I could lift more. I had more energy to roll. I had more energy for everything…
Excerpts from The Joe Rogan Experience – Fight Companion, Jan 26, 2019