Am I only one experiencing gut issues
I started taking finasteride on January 2025. I remember taking 1mg once every 3 days considering all the sides I heard about. By March-April, I was having stomach issues, where after 7-8 hours of taking the pill i had extreme stomach pain and had diarrhea.
By July, I pinpointed it to being the drug causing it, figured it was a secondary ingredient causing this, and asked my pharmacy for a brand switch (to Sandoz). I started taking Sandoz and had 0 side effects! Everything was great taking it once a day for 8-9 months until April 2026. That’s when I started regetting the same sides as I was back with the first brand. One thing I noticed was that the April batch had changed the packaging and colour, which might have meant that they changed the inactive ingredient in the pill. After trying to take it for another few days, I had to stop taking it.
Flash forward to June, I switched brands again to PMS, but instead of getting 30 pills, tried with a sample of 7 to see if I react to it. I was able to take it once a day for 7 days, and ordered the full 30 pack. When I started taking the 30, by the 7th or 8th pill, I started to get the same side effects again, this time a bit later. I had to stop, and switched brands again. I wasn’t able to take more than 1 pill in that other brand, as I had the same sides.
Flash forward to now, I stopped taking fin for a bit and my stomach still feels weird and not completely healed. I find I am a lot more sensitive to lactose and caffeine now. Not sure how this happened, and why I was able to sustain finasteride for 9 months straight. Wondering if anyone had similar experience and what you might suggest