18 Days Off Finasteride

  1. How did you find this forum?
    Google

  2. What is your current age, height, weight?
    26
    5’11
    217lbs

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    Yes, weight training 4 times per week. Isolation workouts. Cardio 20-30 mins

  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Most all foods. I stay away from fast food, sodas, desserts.

  5. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    Dermatologist prescribed and recommended Finasteride to cure hair loss.

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    6 Days

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride?
    26

  8. How old were you when you quit?
    26

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

  10. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    Proscar @ 1.25mg doses

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

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    Noticed side effects on 2nd day

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[X] 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
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[X] 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
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] 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
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[X] Other (please explain) - Loss of Sleep. Can’t sleep as long as I used to

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    None

  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)?
    I have not yet taken blood tests

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    Up to the 4th and 5th day off Finasteride, my side effects reduced. This lasted several days and then at day 9-10 side effects came back full force.

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

I have taken Finasteride for about 6 days as per the direction of my Dermatologist. I trusted him enough to not think about researching online about the drug’s side effects and potential harm. He claimed the side effects would go away immediately after stopping the drug. I have a major loss of libido, ED, Brain Fog, having trouble sleeping past 3-4 hours. It is now the 18th day after stopping and side effects have not improved after the “crash”. I have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Alan Jacobs two weeks from now. I will keep everyone updated.

What a bad dermatologist…

However it is too soon to panic. Stay healthy and optimistic next weeks/pair of months and it is very probable you will get fine again. Come here only if you see no improvements after a considerable time.

Good luck!

At 41 days and maybe 5% improvement in symptoms. Blood results are in:

FSH 3.6
LH 3.5

Testosterone, Total 544 Ref Range 250-1100
Testosterone Free 124 Ref Range 46-224
Test Bioavailable 266.2 Ref Range 110-575
SHBG 16 Ref Range 10-50

Estradiol, LC/MS/MS 25 Ref Range <29

Beginning a treatment prescribed by the doctor to reduce Estradiol, and increase Bioavailable Test as it appears low for my age. Will advise of results in a few weeks. Please do not ask me what was prescribed because I do not advocate self diagnosis and medicating.

Reporting in at day 84 off Finasteride. Here is my blood work after 4 weeks of the below protocol:

LH 16 mIU/ML (1.5 - 9.3)
FSH 11 mIU/ML (1.6 - 8.0)
Bioavailable Test 608 Ng/dL (110-575)
Estradiol 20 pg/mL (<29)

I was put on a Clomid 25/mg/d and 1mg/d protocol. After the second week of the protocol, many side effects cleared up. I am now on week 5 of this protocol.

The only side effects left are:
-Little to no Libido
-Low glans sensitivity
-Little/No Spontaneous Erections
-Little/No pleasure from Sex/orgasm

I am going to continue for another month on this protocol and will report back.

Youre on clomid and what else? You didnt mention it.

Anastrozole.

I am now also taking Mirapex .75mg 3xday. It is helping significantly with orgasm/pleasure.

Thank you!

Did it improve this? “Low glans sensitivity ; Little/No Spontaneous Erections” ?

I have ropinirole here to try but i am scared it will make my sleep worse. did mirapex help your sleep or worsen it?

nowaydas i am too scared to take medication…but i know some of it should help, i just havent found the right ones yet