11 days on finasteride

Member Stories
#1

Side effects due to very short term propecia usage. One Mg. tabs were prescribed for my Male pattern Baldness. Only after 4 days I started noticing funny feeling in testicles. They started becoming less firm and my penis couldnt get that hard as it used to be just a week ago. I thought it might be temporary and claims that the sides subside after sometime or even stopping use. But it just kept on continuing for a few days when I noticed with my gf that even though my penis could get little hard in evening, it didnt in morning. Since then, it was serious depression and anxiety, felt a lot sleepy, but since I used to gym, that time was a treat and the gymnasium attracted me even more since it relaxed me and made me happy only for a couple of hours though. and the depression again. Sleep was not an issue. It also relaxed me a lot. and made me feel happy in morning and then as soon I would wake up, only in a fifteen minutes of may be less the nervousness and anxiety returned. On the 11th day I noticed no morning erection and that was it. I stopped using it. The doc who advised me said it is probably psychological, but I was hell bent on stopping it. then he advised not to taper off but to cold turkey the drug.
The next couple of days were worriesome, couldnt focus on my work, missed my submissions and as if all hell went lose for me. Then I decided to get with a sexologist. Got two tests done. Testicular scan (sonograph) on 12th which returned fine with normal size and supply of blood. Since then the testicles have become firm again. Today is 16th Jan and I am pretty positive about my testes. But the 2nd test is where the problem is. Blood test and Testosterone was tested, no irregularities in blood but Testosterone level as low as 1.65 ng/ml was found which the sexologist doc said are quite low for my age. I am presently not turned a bit by porn or nudity. though with my girl friend, I am getting less than normal erections and since then in the morning my erections are good but not persistent as they were before finasteride. The doc said since I was under severe anxiety and depression, it is possible to have low testosterone levels (but I question myself- this low??) I am going of to a trip with my friends (and gf) to a National Park and beach for a week to get me off the depression if it helps. I will get a recheck of the T levels by first week of Feb and continue my muscle training like past (I sometimes feel higher energy and sometimes lower than normal which i am not able to understand why) I masterbated last on a semi hard penis on 7th Jan (possibly watery ejaculate but cant be sure- didnt notice) I have good libido and would like to have sex. But not being turned on by porn is very depressing. I dont know now if its T levels I should be monitoring, my Free T levels, DHT levels (which fiansteride blocks), SHBG levels or prolactin levels. Probably I have read too much on the internet.
I am non smoker (one- two puffs a day with friends), but used to take about 180 ml twice a week of rum, now reduced to 60-100 ml twice a week.

I am really trying to be positive, the fucking drug has done something wrong to me and I want to get my erections back. I guess continuing with a better lifestyle is going to help as soon as I return from the trip.

Any tips from those who recovered, or any docs out there doing social service, would appreciate a lot. Thank You.

#2

You say you are not turned on by porn but you have libido. Can you explain this?

You are best to just wait for now. How many days has it been?

#3

You will notice here that the people who recovered are small in number as most people who recovered never came back and went on with their lives, but you can certainly have some decent advice from people who felt better.

Try to reduce or stop masturbation for some time
Dont be depressed or panic
Be patient, give it some time you took it for a very short time, even though i noticed that people who got sides during the drug have it harder than people who didnt
And try to eat well, vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts, exercise, be positive, give your penis a break for mainly the mental sides because everytime you try to have sex or masturbate you will feel depressed and also try relate any stories here to your own as people are different and so the symptoms and severity can vary as it can be very depressing to do all your research here, it is only bad news :frowning:

#4

I felt like that also, but in my case i think it is psychological as you tend to focus on your penis and how it will erect but in real life it is different, I have high libido too

#5

I experience (below average) erections when kissing my girlfriend… haven’t tried to go too far for the fear of not gettng proper erection. and even though porn doesnt get my penis hard, I am turned on by my girl friend… so kinda some what libido is there… I have only checked my T levels… I guess there lies the problem… T DHT, Estro, SHBG etc… i dunno how to put my endocrine system back in natural shape…

#6

after the cessation, its been 8 days… but m highly scared… it took 4 days to show the sides, why does it take so much to return back… I just took it for 11 days… how can a drug ruin someone so fast…!!

#7

Thanks for your advice… Actually the sheer number of people who have had persistent sides are making me even more nervous… and i have stopped reading stories of depression, but i have already read all the good recovery stories twice and they are too less…

I am working alone, so its diffcult to mantain a good healthy diet… but its still full of eggs and veggies along with chicken… l try to get hold of some nuts as soon as i get back from the trip… sex and masterbation are the last things on my mind now…

The forum doesnt help in gettng out of depression reading others stories who have not recovered. but its always nice to get some advice from those who did recover…

the only question in my head is how can a drug do such things in just 11 days… its ridiculous… it should be banned… I try to stay fit through my exercise schedule and diet… no smoking, less drinking… and the thing that shuts me off is a shitty drug…

I ll repost on next monday probably when I return… hoping to post better things… will get a retest of my hormones on tue or wed … lets see what comes out…

#8

The drug didnt effect me and I took it for 3.5years so we are all different as I said, Prozac also can make your life miserable so this happens, if yo go hairlosshelp.com you will see the positive testaments of the people there, we are the few unlucky ones, if you noticed you will find that this forum doesnt have lots of members and is not very active!

#9

Its been almost 4 weeks since I quit Finasteride. And I still hate this drug, as much as I did 4 weeks ago. Since my last post, I went off to a trip with my friends followed by an official trip and then another trip with my girlfriend. I have not been able to gym or exercise in any form except long walks (treks sometimes on trips or work related walks). After about 12 days of stopping finasteride, my testicles regained their firmness, and more so there was a strong pain in the testis and they had become so hard that it pained. I had pimples all over my back (I used to have them during my teens and a couple of years of initial twenties). I was getting almost 85% hard morning erections and libido was as high as ever… however I was off sex so i couldnt say much and I hadnt masterbated for more than a couple of weeks either, On the 13th day of dropping finasteride, my and my girlfriend did have something (cant term it as sex) because I did masterbate normally but after that when we decided to have sex, it was a disaster almost I couldnt control my ejaculation on the 3rd stroke (It was not even 5 seconds and I came). I am off brain fog, my erections are almost normal, but now what is this?? I am still not turned on by porn much, may be little as compared to when I had just stopped finasteride… while on my work visits, I had spontaneous erections many times… finally on my last trip with my girlfriend, we tried having sex 4 times and all of them ended with in the first 30 seconds of penetration. Getting hard with her is not much of an issue, may be little (I didnt get hard again for atleast 30 minutes after my first sex of the night, usually it was like 5 minutes)… anywyas the main issue I am dealing with right now is premature ejaculation… I will try wearing a condom the next time to decrease the stimuation… I havent gotten any tests redone, but by the looks of it (regaining of the form of testicles, and morning erections as well as spontaneous erections) I guess they are in the normal range but not exactly where they were earlier, I might wait for some more time to see how my body is doing and then redo the tests…
I still think, that the fact that my erections are not 100 % is related to my premature ejaculation… I hope that whatever I have regained stays now and I recover to the fullest quickly… I aim/hope to have it by 2 months post stopping finasteride… (almost 35 days from now) I will try to get back to gymming in the mean time…

#10

If you get away with just premature ejaculation then you can count yourself very lucky indeed.

#11

Its almost 7 weeks past Finasteride stopping. I am still a 1-2 off weeks from the usual time some say when a crash might occur. Though since I already experienced a crash the day after quitting Finasteride. I hope it wont happen again. The feeling is just too difficult to overcome- the non-erection, zero penile sensitivity, and brain fog. Today none of it is there, and premature ejaculation is also gone. But I guess some of erection issues are there to stay for long. The erection is like 80% only and only some times does it become real hard like pre-finasteride days. Though I can have sex 3-4 times a night, the next day is low libido day and thers no mood for sex.
Also in general libido is not what it used to be, i hardly get erections to porn, and sometimes during sex the penis softens up (not like after ejaculating but less hard) and then the sensation of sex decreases both in me and my girlfriend. This is a real turn off. Also I still am not sure if the erections are getting lesser by the day. Also spontaneous erections which were there at 4 week post finasteride mark are also missing. But this may be due to me having too much sex and masturbation off late. I have not been able to exercise due to work commitments for last 3-4 weeks. So this may also be an issue. If I do some blood tests today, I ll post the results in my next post. Going to a doc to get some herbs or something. I dont think I want a testosterone shot right now, though I do believe estrogen/ prolactin levels are the main cause here, but may be testosterone is also not at the level where it should be.

I do feel lucky to have atleast this much but I still maintain finasteride is a poison that should be banned.

#12

I dont know what to say. I still am not able to get any automatic erections that are hard as pre fin days. The mornign and nocturnal erections are also not the same. The libido is too less, but with my girl friend erections are automatic and reach about 70-80%. Without her even with manual stimulation some times it is hard to get it that erect ( this is a new thing since I was able to do it 3-4 days back till I had a great night with my girl friend where we had it for 4-5 times). Got my basic blood work done yesterday.

Testosterone - 3.9 (range 2.5-10.0) This is up from 1.65 from the day of crash.
Prolactin - 5 (range 4-45) Seems normal even though I had multiple ejaculations day before
E2 Estradiol - 55 (<57 ) I guess this is where the problem is.

These are morning 8 AM tests. So I am sure these must cross the ranges. Now I am not sure how to proceed. I couldnt get DHT, SHBG or other tests done but mostly considering the above results they must also be at the alarming but normal range (just a speculation though). The only thing on my mind is to get the normal erection which can happen by looking at porn. I have now decided to give a break of 15 days to my sex organs as well as porn to assess how much by body recovers automatically on starvation.

The doc says the problem most of the times can be mental and in my case it is 80% mental and 20% physical. He also said I dont need any hormonal treatment (which he said will take atleast 3 months). He then asked me to have either Allopathic (Viagra) which is just a bandaid solution, or to have an Ayurvedic (Indian Herbal Abstract ) Treatment, which he says is more of a long term effective traeatment. Obviously I preferred Ayurvedic treament, the medicine costs about USD 60 per month, other medicine he had with similar function costed about 600USD per month but the doc said they dont have any better result but just that they are based on gold base. Anyways I have just taken it yesterday night. And the doc has assured me better results would start showing in 5 days and will be far better by 30 days. Though I dont buy the assurances, I did buy the medicine and looking at the fact that the T levels increased from 1.65 to 3.9 over last 6-7 weeks, I believe it should improve further automatically. I wish I could work out again at the gym but have to travel for the next 15 -20 days so not possible. I still believe small things here and there and time importantly will heal this problem for some of us. I ll get a blood work done again after 3 months post finasteride to see if anything is happening on the T front.

By the way the doc is really hell bent on telling my that ED is very much curable. And I believe if this medicine of his does work in pumping blood to my penis automatically (unlike viagra), then libido will also come automatically. Will let you know if it helps. BTW the medicine I am taking requires normal kindney and liver function.

#13

With high estrogen like that and low testosterone. Your free testosterone is probably very low. Much below the range.

I think low free testosterone and high estrogen explain most of your problems.

You need to get free testosterone up in to range and estrogen down mid range.

#14

Abstract
The main component of classical contraceptives, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), has high estrogenic activity even at environmentally relevant concentrations. Although estrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds are assumed to contribute to the worldwide decline of amphibian populations by adverse effects on sexual differentiation, evidence for EE2 affecting amphibian mating behaviour is lacking. In this study, we demonstrate that EE2 exposure at five different concentrations (0.296 ng/L, 2.96 ng/L, 29.64 ng/L, 2.96 µg/L and 296.4 µg/L) can disrupt the mating behavior of adult male Xenopus laevis. EE2 exposure at all concentrations lowered male sexual arousal, indicated by decreased proportions of advertisement calls and increased proportions of the call type rasping, which characterizes a sexually unaroused state of a male. Additionally, EE2 at all tested concentrations affected temporal and spectral parameters of the advertisement calls, respectively. The classical and highly sensitive biomarker vitellogenin, on the other hand, was only induced at concentrations equal or higher than 2.96 µg/L. If kept under control conditions after a 96 h EE2 exposure (2.96 µg/L), alterations of male advertisement calls vanish gradually within 6 weeks and result in a lower sexual attractiveness of EE2 exposed males toward females as demonstrated by female choice experiments. These findings indicate that exposure to environmentally relevant EE2 concentrations can directly disrupt male mate calling behavior of X. laevis and can indirectly affect the mating behavior of females. The results suggest the possibility that EE2 exposure could reduce the reproductive success of EE2 exposed animals and these effects might contribute to the global problem of amphibian decline.

Animal study but take it for what its worth. You will find that it is hard for most people to have good libido with high estrogen.

#15

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21849522

RESULTS:
Total and free T, but not E2 or DHT, was associated with overall sexual function in middle-aged and older men. E2 was the only hormone associated with sexual function-related distress such that higher levels were related to greater distress. Free T levels were associated with masturbation frequency and erectile dysfunction in the fully adjusted models, such that higher T was associated with less dysfunction and greater frequency. Moreover, there was a T threshold for the relationship between total T, sexual function, and erectile dysfunction. At T concentrations of 8 nmol/liter or less, T was associated with worse sexual functioning, whereas at T levels over 8 nmol/liter, the relationship

#16

@above

do you mean that greater frequency of masturbation increases Free T levels or makes it worse (causing dysfunction)?

BTW the day I made multiple ejaculations (masturbation and sex) a few days ago, since then the libido has crashed, and so is the ability to get erect penis. I am on an official tour for a couple of weeks and wont be able to see my girlfriend, but my doc has assured that by the time I come back the erections will be far better (due to the ayurvedic medicine). I am already feeling good nocturnal and morning wood (best since the crash may be) but even manual stimulation is not causing it to get erect (may be coz I am stressed about it). But since the day of multiple ejaculations, I have this constant hangover state. Though not exactly brainfog definition but something close.

Any one can tell me how to increase the T levels naturally (no TRT and Allopathic medicines). I see that people who recovered actually had a similar T , E2 levels as mine post crash and a good (6-7 ng/ml T and 25-30 pg/ml E2) post recovery. So I believe not putting too much stress here and there, I should focus on getting T up which should also push the body to lower the E2. BTW I usually get low body temperatures very often. I used to get them less often before Finasteride.

I am waiting for the 15 day mark of starting the medicine (though doc said 5-7 days will start showing effect - I do notice better nocturnal erections - cant say if it can be attributed to the medicine or the natural recovery post crash- also I have been sleeping too much lately - kinda forced sleep - wake up then sleep again - for about 10-12 hours per night). The doc has asked me to continue the medicine for 3 months to see real effects and saying that the age is on my side, I should recover well. I will also most probably join the gym back as I am back from the tour. Even if the medicine doesnt get the erections but no libido, the issue will still remain and I might have to look for other options (there are a lot in Ayurveda - some for just libido).

Also I would like to suggest everyone starting Ayurvedic treatments too to possibly see good results. Someone posted about “safed musli” I am sure they are not there for no reason.

#17

I think the study means higher free testosterone corelated to more masterbation. I do not think masterbation has much if any effect on your testosterone levels.

No one has had long term success with herbs that raise testosterone. I have tried them all. Nothing helped except for Arimidex, testosterone, cortisol.

#18

u say testosterone?? means trt ?? isnt it lifelong??

#19

no not really. You can take small doses of HCG to keep your balls from shrinking but for me HCG increases estrogen more and makes me feel bad.

I am on testosterone now and have had some nice improvements. You can check my thread. Libido has not came back. I think my body is creating too much estrogen. I recovered on arimidex before.

#20

by libido do we mean erection on arousal, or the desire for sex… I have pretty much high desire for sex most of times and when i look at some girls, there is high desire, but my erections are not there… either by physical stimulation I get some erection or by kissing i get the erections… but not by looking at porn… so what does this indicate… low libido of course… but can it be called zero libido too??

when you said arimidex helped you with libido… did it mean automatic erections on arousal… or desire for sex with difficulty in erections?? and how was the T, E2 etc during that time??

When I underwent a crash, with in 3-4 days , my libido had come back and I was with my new girlffriend and we got involved in fore play and I had too much arousal… but erection was not great… nevertheless it was our first few times… so we were not having sex that time… after the usual 2 week post stopping finasteride , i had a recovery of sort where my balls(which were soft gello like) became hard again and so hard that i thot they might blast… it was painful… I got hold of a peg of bacardi which instantly lowered the pain… since then the pain was there for another month (till 6 weeks post fina) now there is no pain… but when I masterbate/ have sex the balls go soft again… and sometimes with in 20 mins will be fine, other times… a couple of days to be fine… I dont know what to make of it… may be a fragile recovery period which is very susceptible to ejaculation…

After my small recovery I was constantly masturbating every day/ every other day with normal libido and almost 80% erections… now I lost it again completely when I had multiple ejaculations (5-6) in a single day (may be a mini crash or something)… I have recovered again somewhat, but erections are not even 50-60% now…

I will keep on taking this ayurvedic herbs extract for 3 months total to see where my T , E2 levels go…
the recoveries here do point out that ultimately the recovered people have >700 T and < 35 E2 … That is my aim now… lets see how I get to that point…

@vincent - a personal q though… how often do u masturbate??