17 years old and feel ruined by propecia

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)? United States

  2. How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)
    google after expirencing side effects

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    17 5 8’ 175 lbs

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    I used to exercise 5 days a week but since propecia have no energy to workout and always depressed

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? just whatevers around not the best diet

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

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    2 days

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    Just turned 17, June 21st

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    quit one day later june 22nd

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    cold turkey

  11. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 40mg daily
    5mg on day 1, 1.25mg on day 2

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    the first day

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Blurred vision, brain fog, hard time comprehending things, studdering, erectile dysfunction, impotence, depression, suicidal, terrible anxiety, lack of sleep/weird sleep patterns etc.
    Sexual
    [X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
    [X] Erectile Dysfunction
    [X] Complete Impotence
    [X] Loss of Morning Erections
    [X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
    [X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
    [X] Watery Ejaculate
    [X] Reduced Ejaculate
    [ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
    [X] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

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

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[X] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] 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?
    Nolvadex, Proviron, Hcg
  2. 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)?
    No tests yet setting up doctors appt’s tomorrow
  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    Its ruining my life.
  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    im 17 years old and am almost fully bald so i wanted to try propecia to recover my hair. I ended up buying generic finasteride called fincar 5mg. On June 20th i took a full 5mg and June 21 split the pill into 1/4s and took 1.25mg. I realized the sexual side effects right away and stopped after just those 2 days. Now its been 3 weeks since ive been off the drug and still have erectile dysfunction, impotence, brain fog, hard time comprehending things and slight studder, terrible depression and suicidal thoughts. I realized i took a full 5mg the first day but I only took the pill for 2 days. Is there a good chance eventually i will be back to normal if so how long for anyone whos only been on the drug for a few days -1 week. Ive also noticed my penis has shrunk and got skinnier I dont know what to do im only 17 and dont want my sex life and mind ruined forever. I feel like with the brain fog and depression ive been living in a dream these past 3 weeks. Can someone please help
17 years old feel ruined by propecia
#2

Welcome to the site. First thing is not to be too alarmed, many men return to normal after several weeks.

You should see an endocrinologist, and get some baseline readings, T, DHT, FSH, D3, SHBG, 3a androstanediol glucuronide. Don’t try throwing Nolvadex or HCG at the problem without knowing where things stand. Things like HCG are suppressive to the pituitary, and have rebound effects that you may not want to have happen while your body recovers from its fin induced state…

Did you use anabolic steroids prior to finasteride?

#3

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    U.S.

  2. How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?) Google Search

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    17 5 8’ 175 lbs

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    Exercised 5 times a week since finasteride have not exercised at all due to depression and lack of energy

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    sometimes healthy once in a while fast food

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

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    2 days

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    Just turned 17, June 20th 2011

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    17, June 21st 2011

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    Cold Turkey

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    Fincar (generic)

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    5mg on day 1, 1.25mg on day 2

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    First Day

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Erectile Dysfunction, Impotence, Penis Shrinkage, Watery Semen, Brain Fog, Short Term Memory Loss, Hard Time Comprehending Things, Slight Studdering, Depression through the roof, Anxiety, Blurry Vision, Possibly lower stomach fat
    Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[X] 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
[X] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

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

Misc
[sometimes] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[X] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] 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?
    Ive tried taking Nolvadex, Proviron and HCG so far but not long enough to notice if it will help me recover

  2. 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)?
    Getting checked out by doctor in a few days

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    Its poison, why would it ever be fda approved

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    My birthday was June 16th 2011 when I turned 17 years old. Just 4 days later on June 20th I took a 5mg generic propecia pill made by the brand fincar after being depressed over being almost fully bald at such a young age. After I took it I noticed side effects right away ED, impotence and I couldnt ejaculate or get an orgasm. So the next day i figured id cut the 5mg pill into 1/4’s and took 1.25mg. The side effects only got worse and I immediatley stopped. It has now been over 3 weeks and my depression has gotten terrible to the point ive been suicidal, i still have erectile dysfunction and impotence, however i can ejaculate and orgasm even though im half flacid. I also started getting terrible brain fog (anxiety could of contributed to that) short term memory loss, having a hard time holding a conversation with people and slight studdering. I only took the pill for 2 days and im praying that i will recover because I dont understand how I could have permanent damage off 2 pills i’m only 17 I want to have kids and a sex life and my brain back to normal. I’ve literally felt like since I took it ive been in a dream because my brains felt so cloudy and ive lost interest in everything. Please can someone help if you’ve recovered and anyone who only took it for a few days - a week how fast did you recover if you did. And also will continuing to take nolvadex, proviron and hcg help everything go back to normal? Thanks

#4

That’s insane that you got hit so hard by side effects after only a couple pills, but is still very believable. There are a few guys on this forum who were completely screwed after being on the drug for less than a month and at least one guy that only took a few mg total.

Please don’t; There is still a good chance that you will completely recover and even if you don’t, the worst of the mental side effects seem to get much better for most guys after a few months. Sexual sides often improve somewhat, although not usually to the point they were at before taking the drug.
Just please don’t fool yourself into believing you will be stuck feeling this badly for the rest of your life. You’re probably at the worst point right now, it should only get better from here.

You are definitely doing the right thing by going to see a doctor asap. He/she may not believe that finasteride could do this to you, but don’t get discouraged. Your doctor may recommend that you need to give it some time before you recover, in that case they would probably be right. No matter what, make sure you get proper blood tests soon. If your doc says your problems are all psychological, tell your parents you need to see a different doctor.

Taking supplements and hormones may not be the best idea so early into this either, but it is ultimately up to you to decide what is best. You can also get a lot of advice on this site if you just ask.

Sorry to hear you are going through this at such a young age. Hopefully you will recover completely in the next few months.
Whatever happens I wish you the best.

Welcome to the forum.

#5

Thanks for the help man i actually am feeling a little better today im prescribed to xanax so it calmed my anxiety and depression a bit and i felt a little more into reality today. Ive been taking hcg which seems to help more than anything. I regret taking a full 5mg the first day instead of splitting it into 4 to make 1.25mg like i did the second day. But it has only been 3 weeks so hopefully after a few months ill be back to normal

#6

Welcome to the forum (unfortunately). Many of us were also affected at a young age.

First steps, go to the Dr and get blood tests.

Total Testosterone
Free Testosterone
SHBG
E2 (sensitive)
Progesterone
Prolactin
DHEA
DHT

TSH
T4
T3
reverse T3

Also get a 24 hour urinary cortisol test and/or 4x saliva cortisol test. DO NOT get a blood cortisol test.

The reverse T3 and urinary/saliva cortisol are very important.

Also mention to your Dr the decreased urination and that you want screened for prostatis.

#7

just check your prostate dude

its only two pills

only the prostate got affected

THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY THAT YOU COULD HAVE DIRECT HORMONAL ALTERATIONS FROM TWO PILLS

PEOPLE USE 10x TIMES THE REGULAR CORTISOL DOSE FOR WEEKS AND RECOVER OR ANABOLICS FOR AGES

NOT EVEN THE MOST POWERFUL NARCOTIC COULD HAVE SUCH AN EFFECT ON YOU

ITS YOUR PROSTATE THAT GOT INFLAMMED and probably surrounding genital structures.

LOOK AT YOUR SYMPTOMS (watery ejaculation, urinary symptoms, pain in testicles,sexual symptoms etc etc)

same shit happened to another guy here, a pharmacist from cyprus, he took one pill and got sexual side effects, they are inflammatory in nature

I BET YOU ONE THOUSAND USD IF YOU GO TO A PROPER LAB THEY WILL FIND THE MOST POWERFUL BACTERIA IN YOU. JUST HAVE A TRANSRECTAL ULTRASOUND AND A STAMEY MEARS (where your prostate is massages and fluid is collected for evaluation - notice that they must poor white fluid out of your urethra, if it don’t produce then you cannot test properly)
FIND A VERY EXPERIENCED LAB and you will see what they will find in your secretions. You will be amazed. JUST THIS SHIT FINASTERIDE DECIMATED YOUR IMMUNE RESPONSE by lowering DHT

#8

If you can possibly do it. Get a prostate ultrasound as Solonjk has said.

#9

[b]This is NOT TRUE. Mercks own product literature states that 1 mg finasteride suppresses DHT by a high percentage (69% I believe) within the first 24 hours. This kid took 5 mg.

Don’t discount facts to promote your own theory. According to the science sheet that comes with the drug hormones are affected. [/b]

#10

Getting drunk one night suppresses your Testosterone levels more than that. Go have some whiskeys and measure it next morning if you don’t believe me

So does staying awake or sleeping for less than 3-4 hours per night, your T levels won’t rise more than 50% their potential next morning

does this mean that you are going to have issues? no

so if one pill decimated his sex life, then i guess Merck has found the best biological weapon to sell to the US army to extinct all terrorirsts from breeding
they can just spray it over their balding heads

stop believing everything you read on leaflets and forums

#11

Why are you so aggressive and defensive? You are now claiming that finasteride doesn’t affect hormones when we know it inhibits minimum 3 hormonal pathways, dht, dihydroallopregnalone, and cortisol and it crosses the blood brain barrier. These hormones are needed for brain function and development as well as sexual and nueral function.

Maybe I shouldn’t pay attention to you because you are just a name on a forum. Good plan.

Ps good luck with the prostate massages. I have a strong feeling that you will experience the same diminishing returns over time that I do from exercise as the initial stimulation from prostate massage dissipates as your body adjusts back to it’s post fin baseline. Give it a year.

#12

i just turned 17 myself friend. i have been feeling the way you do since last december. things fluctuate there are good days and bad days but its always ha the potential to get better. you are coming in at a time when progress and studies are really making progress. i have still managed to have many sexual relationships and flings. its tough. but you can live your life normally. its just a burden we are forced to bear. post how hcg is going please. believe me. this will be fixed soon, for all of us.

1 Like
#13

These symptoms:
-brain fog and other mental sides
-increased hair loss
-ED
-Fatigue

imply that you have the following hormonal profile:
-mid/high Free Testosterone (otherwise you could not heavily lose hair)
-low pregnenolone (which causes low neurotransmitters, which cause mental sides)
-low progesterone (this is the hormone that a healthy male should use to oppose T and DHT actions, and which would prevent hair loss if present)
-high Estradiol (since you don’t downregulate T and DHT with progesterone, your body is using Estradiol, which causes bad sexual issues)
-low cortisol (which causes fatigue)

This shows that the pathway pregnenolone -> progesterone -> cortisol has been heavily downregulated, because all 3 hormones are low.

By trying to boost your T, you are making the problem worse because when T is artificially increased, pregnenolone, progesterone, and cortisol are all automatically increased in healthy males, but not in PFS people (we don’t know why). In other words, if you increase T, these critical hormones do not increase. Your body has therefore to dump the extra T into Estradiol because T is not downregulated by enough cortisol and progesterone. And you will still have ED, no matter how high your total T gets.

I suggest you to talk to your doctor about testing pregnenolone, progesterone, and cortisol (via a saliva x4 test). Once you confirm their low level, your doctor should be willing to boost cortisol (via pregnenolone, progesterone, or HC). If your doctor is willing to, you should test your thyroid too (TSH, FT3, FT4, RT3).

#14

Nonsense. I am the living proof that few pills (4 in my case) of finasteride can disrupt hormones.

2 days before the first pill of fin:
T = 550, SHBG = 27, Free T = 115

30 days after the poison:
T = 160

2 years after
T = 460, SHBG = 43, Free T = 70

#15

Wow! Why does everyone feel the need to wage their battles all over this kid’s member story? I thought there were already several active threads where we are arguing out our personal opinions.

#16

going to the doctors monday. Havent seen really any improvment. Did any of you guys notice any extra stomach fat from taking propecia? Maybe im just paranoid but i used to have a flat stomach with 2 visible abs now I have way more lower stomach fat than I ever did and my top 2 abs i had are barely visible. It makes sense considering how much it lowers your Test production

#17

I dont know what your trying to say but i have alot of other problems besides being bald so if your saying I need to stop complaining cause i have it easy like some middle class white kid your wrong. Ive been on probation for the last 2 years been to jail and battled drug problems. I have depression and anxiety hereditary passed down from my mom so I would never consider my life easy and ive tried to kill myself before i started taking this drug and trust me taking this drug didnt help with my suicidal thoughts. Anyway getting everything checked out monday pretty much have no hope but praying the doctor can at least help in some way to getting my dht levels back to normal. Its funny how much you take being able to get an erection and being able to talk to people without studdering and brain fog for granite until something like this happens. Id do anything to go back to the day I took that poison

#18

lol i feel for you there

#19

because i cannot possibly believe that one pill can cause such hormonal manifestations

i never said fin doesn’t affect the endocrine system. you said that
it does affect it and that’s why many have so diverse issues

but one or two pills??? GIVE ME A BREAK,

and why has it got to be an effect on the hormonal system stronger than an effect on the immune system?
do we have any real research on the immune parameters it affects ?? NO

when we start getting deeper into the effects of DHT on cytokine profile then you will start understanding what sort of damage this pill is doing

if you count down the people with messed up inflammatory and immune responses in here you will see that it is a very important percentage. YEt everyone concentrates on why T levels drop 10 or 20%. You can still function with Testosterone at 300mg/dl you can have all the sex in the world and lift weights. But if you have an inflammation lingering you cannot because it depresses so many parameters which are non-trackable and immeasurable.

How are you going to assess what effect a lingering inflammation has on your neurotransmitter levels in your genital areas and your brain? You can’t.
We don’t even bother talking about all that, because we have thought of hormones as a cure all till today.
Well its not

P.S. I have been the hormone route, every single one hormone available on the planet. It did nothing to me. The antibiotic and prostate drenching did though. It recovered me to a substantial point. Well i don’t hope for miracles 8 years after stopping finasteride. Not at least so easy. But sexually and androgenically i am better.

I am not trying to be anything in here.

Just from all i ve seen i want to advice people to look into more than just the standard “useless” parameters which get self fixed in 90% of the times. Your T levels will rise with time but this is not what matters. Nor your e2 levels. Its other things that you cannot trace.

The ultrasound picture though of an inflammed organ means a lot, even for someone who don’t understand yet. It means that ok, your immune responses are broken, and you are on the way to developing serious issues, possibly cancer in the future. This is not supposed to be neglected. Why do you think i waste my time in here trying to make everyone aware of it?? To send them for prostate massages??
Wrong. To make some people and the medical/pharmaceutical community to understand
that what they did to us is not hocus-pocus small hormonal deviations or psychological issues. They have caused us major immune damage and inflammation in important organs.
Get this straightened. We are in a very bad position and we need all the data to help us understand what is going on.

Massages + antibiotics just happen to be the only treatment that is up to date to heal the prostate as much as possible. If it fails then you are on for removal. Or just wait to see it turn into something more malignant.

along with the 3-adiol-g testing prostate ultrasound for me is a required testing of any PFSufferer.

#20

Again: [Size=4]Wow! Why does everyone feel the need to wage their battles all over this kid’s member story? I thought there were already several active threads where we are arguing out our personal opinions.[/size]
Is it really beneficial for any of these new members to have 4 or 5 guys constantly barking at each other from every direction?