10 years of finasteride

Member Stories
#1

Hi everyone, Ill be 31 the 31 th of january. I started taking the pill 10 years ago. I think that maybe i am one of the persons who have been taking finasteride for more time in the whole world. Sorry for my english (im spanish)

  1. How did you find this forum? Google

  2. What is your current age, height, weight?

Age: 31, 1.74 m, 85 kg

  1. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? 3-5 days. Jogging, cycling, gym.

  2. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? All kind of food excepting red meat. I dont like meat very much.

  3. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss

  4. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    10 years 1 mg/day

  5. How old were you when you started Finasteride? 21

  6. How old were you when you quit? I decided to quit just 3 days ago

  7. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? I just stopped taking the pills.

  8. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? My pills were made in the pharmacy by the chemist. I needed a medical prescription by my dermatologist.

  9. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg/day

  10. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    My dermatologist told me at the begining, in the 99, that finasteride may cause a loss of Libido, but i thought that it wouldnt be a problem for me as i was 21 and did not have a serious relationship. Now I have a serious relationship with a girl, and I had some problems to ejaculate. So I started reading about finasteride and posible side effects. I was so ignorant about all this that when i read here some side effects it stoned me because It was so long ago that i started taking this drug and i was so ignorant that i just thought that some of this side effects were just a part of my personality (my lack of memory, feeling passive…). Oh god…

  11. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    I quit just 3 days ago

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[x] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

No one right now

  1. If you have pre or post-Finasteride bloodtests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (pls post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?

  2. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

  3. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

As I said before, It is so long ago now that i started taking the pill that i can not think clearly about the changes that could have been produced by the pill on me. I even thought that i was just like that, that it was my body and not this pill.

About Libido and erections, i havent had serious problems. Maybe with erections in the last 2 years. I hardly can reach a “100% erection”. I must be really horny and not have ejaculated before.
Anyway I lost the spontaneous, morning erections. I just thought it was my age (31). And my sperm is watery, but i just thought it was like that.
But with my personality it is quite different. When i think about myself adn my personality it is true that i have always think that the year that i started with the drug was somehow a “turning point”. I remember that i lost motivation, i started not to pass my exams of the university. I became more “passive”.
I also have always thought that my personality was cyclical, I mean that i had periods of feeling good, and periods of feeling bad even without any reason. Maybe one week sad with no reason like now for example, and then i started feeling fine, with no reason again.

1 Like
My "evolution" (after 10 years with Finasteride)
#2

Id like to know how much does it takes to eliminate this drug to our body.

#3

Hey champ… Your story is almost exactly the same as mine. I was on propecia for 10 years and quit a few months back. I had awful anxiety throughout this time. Why dont you go check out my story under member stories?

I have some fucken excellent news for you i hope. Welcome to feeling like yourself again. After a week or so off propecia, i started feeling good again. I was always a social animal. You cannot directly measure the change in me, but there is no way in hell it is not a physiological change. I can now remember my favourite songs and dont slur my words when singing. Lets say im oooh 40% more awake, relaxed and happy.

Knowing you were on that drug for 10 years, is a bit of a nightmare. I cant fathom it to be honest. I also had hair transplants, so now i must face baldness with that added pain somehow. I haven’t actually noticed any hair loss yet though, so i am basically living in bliss for the moment :slight_smile:

All you can do is do your best from now on. Good luck!

#4

I just read your story. Thanks a lot for your encouragement. Im wishing to feel the changes, well, I hope to feel some changes at least.

Thanks!

#5

Its hard to say how your body will react to the withdrawal. I have been off for a few weeks and I started to get really lightheaded all the time and getting more anxiety. You might go through these symptoms and the days come.

#6

Please would you mind to expalin to me what is “Lightheaded”?

It has been 8 days without finasteride, and I still didnt feel any change, excepting that I feel better and that I can think more “clearly”? (I dont know if this is the correct english word). The problem is that I started taking antihistaminic for my alergy three days ago, and as you know, it causes sleepiness.

#7

Lightheaded is when you feel sort of spaced out and really weird. Kind of when you get up really quick and feel dizzy, but it feels like that constant. I stopped taking the pill about 2-3 weeks ago. All of a sudden one day it just hit me really hard. I felt really lighthead kid of like if i was high. I started to get anxiety in the next days. I knew i was going to have some type of weird reaction to the withdrawal but i never tought it was going to be this bad.
Maybe you wont have any symptoms, everybody is different.

#8

-It has been 8 days without finasteride, and I still didnt feel any change, excepting that I feel better. But maybe this is just because Im happy of not taking the pill.

-I can think more “clearly”? (I dont know if this is the correct english word). The problem is that I started taking antihistaminic for my alergy three days ago, and as you know, it causes sleepiness.

-And finally I think that I dindnt have any problems slurring words (as I use to have in these last months)

I visited a different derm, and told him my story. As the urologist, the other derm and my “head doctor”, he said that there is no problem with Finasteride. I told him that he should look on the internet, that he would find maybe hundreds of stories about men with problems because of the pill, and he said that side effects disappear as you stop taking the pill. So I asked him how long would it take to my body to eliminate this drug, and he said that about 6 months.

1 Like
#9

Six months, I wish.

If you see him again, ask him this simple question.

How long did it take you to recover from the negative effects induced by Propecia.

If he replies, I’ve never taken Propecia.

Tell him, he’s just invalidated his previous comments and assertions regarding Propecia.

Preface it with, you have no idea what you’re talking about.

Don’t be concerned with being too contentious. We need to be as forceful as possible when it comes to enlightening those we engage, in regards to just how detrimental this drug can be to ones health.

If he replies, around six months.

Tell him he should consider himself lucky.

#10

33 days without finasteride.

About my recoverie:

-orgasm are much more intense (really)
-erections are “stronger” (but still is hard to keep them for long time)
-My sperm is more dense (less watery)
-Penis does not feel “disconnected” from head or body (this is what made me happier)
-Spontaneous erections again, but still no morning erections and I dont know if I will have them again as I am 31.

I went to another Urologist, and finally after 2 derms, my head doctor and an urologist, this one told me that 10 years taking the drug were more than enough, that I should stop taking it because I was too young. He order me to analyze my PSA, and it was ok.

And thats all.

Thanks.

#11

These last days Im feeling some anxiety. I eat a lot and I feel my heart beating really strong sometimes.
I dont know if this is related to givin up finasteride as I dont have any reason to be stressed because of the job or personal affairs.

#12

Anxiety is a common feeling among post-fin victims. Try some OTC anxiety-reducers to ease out your stress and get yourself out of fight or flight.

#13

AFter 4 days whith palpitations I decided to go to the hospital. I just came home now.
The electrocardiogram was right but the blood test said that I have high levels os “Creatina-cinasa” (I dont know how to translate it to english). This means that I have some kind of muscular contraction typical of sport men and people who is stressed.

#14

hmmm so your heart was okay? Did they chalk it up to anxiety?

#15

Yes.
I asked the doctor If I should do cycling tomorrow, and he said that it would be great, that I should go out, not stay at home. This means that he really thought that my problem was because of anxiety or stress because obviously im not an athlete

#16

While CK can be used to test for heart attacks, elevated levels also can signify muscle damage.

nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency … 003503.htm

Considering Finasteride has a structural affinity to corticosteroids, has been linked to muscle myopathy (muscle weakness/damage) similar to that of glucocorticoid-induced myopathy, and elevated CK levels usually go hand in hand with such things, AND considering you took the drug for 10 years… seems plausible there may be a link there.

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … t=myopathy

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … t=myopathy

The good news is: you’re no longer taking the medication, so things should improve with time. Relax, get some excercise, eat healthy, take omega 3 fish oils, and enjoy yourself as much as possible.

#17

Wow, thanks a lot for the information. Ill tell everything to the cardiologist.

I hope and guess that this is reversible…

#18

I’m back.
Because of job, I had to move to another city. I had some personal problems. I was afraid of becominb bald. So I started taking de pill again.

But now I have quit definetively. I dont care a shit about baldness any more. In fact I have already cropped my hair. It must be about 2 months without the drug.
Ill keep telling changes that i feel. Right now I’ ve felt the same changes as the last try to give up the drug and that I explained in my first message in this post. And its even better because Im not suffering from palpitations of my heart as the other time.

Hi everyone. After 11 years with the drug it was enough

#19

Why did you go back on after your experience and all you’ve read here?!

#20

Some people just don’t feel the side effects or don’t care. I think these are the older people. The teenagers taking this pill suffer the most.