18 year old, took 9 Propecia pills... It's killing me

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    Estonia.

  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?)
    I started looking for finasteride’s side effects and found this place.

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    I’m 18, 180 cm and weigh 60 kg.

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    I don’t exercise, but I plan to.

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?Everything.

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

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

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?

  1. I started on the 9th of July.
  1. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
  1. I took my last pill on the 17th of July.
  1. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    I just quit.
  2. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    Propecia.
  3. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1mg/day
  4. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    4 days.
  5. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Penis shrinkage, mental fog, impotence.
    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
[ ] 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
[ ] 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)
[ x] Muscle Wastage
[ x] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ x] 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?
    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)? No bloodtests.

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    My penis is rapidly shrinking. It’s horrible! And I’m losing my ability of speech.

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    When I took my first pill, I got horny fast. It lasted 4 days: on the 14th of July (started finasteride on the 9th) I had my last real erection.
    What scares the shit out of me atm, is that I can see my penis shrink. It’s going smaller so rapidly. I can swear it was a lot bigger yesterday.
    And the panic attack I got at night, was so horrible. It drove me crazy!
    And atm I’m very weak at socialising too. I can’t put sentences and words together. I can’t even find the right words. It’s impossible to speak with people. I don’t want to speak with people. On the 16th of July I went to a party and was a total outsider, because I couldn’t speak. What’s happening?
    Do I still have hope, if I react to all of this quickly?
    Can you help me please?
    What vitamins should I start taking to recover?
    Should I waste my time at the doctor?
    Should I take bloodtests?

Thank you!

#2

You’ve only been off for a few days so you should start to improve soon.

Here is MY best advice:

Stop any other hairloss solutions. Start exercising/running everyday. Eat healthy (whole grains, fruits, veggies, protein). Get lots of sleep. Think positive and start living your life as normal as possible. Stay away from this site.

Do that for a few weeks/month and see how things get. If you don’t recover, then come back to the site and see what tests you should have taken.

Good luck. Anyone feel free to disagree with my advice.

#3

Thanks, I’ll do that. But the main vitamins suggested are zinc and iodine, right? I see them get a lot of attention here.

#4

Dear Labrea,

I am very sorry to hear of your experience on propecia. I am also having great, great difficulty in sleeping and I wake up all the time, no sleep appears to be refreshing - I always appear to be much worse at night time also.

May I ask - are you still experiencing sexual side effects or have these gone away now? How would you describe your sexual function compared to pre-Fin?

Best regards

#5

My sexual function is almost okay again and my penis isn’t that shrinked anymore. It’s just the thinking and socialising problems and the comments I have got to my black bags under my eyes on the last days.

#6

Would it be okay, if I posted some pictures of my face for before-after comparison?

#7

Is it worth telling my dermatologist about my brain fog and maybe even facial bloating? Would she understand and be able to help me as a dermatologist? She already got my blood test results and said everything was normal and seemed kind of angry in phone. How do I know, if hormone levels were even checked in the test?

#8

Unlikely considering the bolded red text in this article (yes, I know it’s about gyno, the point is about overlooked side effects/derms not willing to discuss them):
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … 3749#13749

Looks like same situation as in the article (getting “angry” about you asking questions).

Ask for copies of your bloodwork. You could be at the cutoff range for low Testosterone levels and she could still call that “normal”. In my country, it’s your right as a patient to request a copy of your results.

If she seemed angry (of course she would, she’s a dermatologist who prescribes this shit for a living and doesn’t want to hear anything negative about her moneymaker), go to an ENDOCRINOLOGIST or NEUROLOGIST, or better yet… NEUROENDOCRINOLOGIST.

#9

So you think they included hormone levels in the blood test? Maybe they just checked my blood sugar and said everything was okay.
Alright, I have to think everything through first before calling her and insist on something.
Thanks a lot, Mew! I wish I f*cking wasn’t brought over to believing Propecia’s wonderful powers again after having actually believed you and taken your posts in HLT seriously.

#10

Uhm I don’t know, what blood tests did you ask to be tested for?

You should see an endocrinologist and provide them with the list of tests you want to get, as listed here: propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=92

Live and learn, sorry you had to find out the hard way.

This site stands as a warning to all those considering Finasteride for hairloss, about what can happen if things go terribly wrong from altering your hormonal profile with 5AR inhibitors.

#11

I didn’t ask for any particular test. They just sent me to one and afterwards said everything was okay.

#12

Alright, I called my dermatologist. Nothing new: she told me that 9 pills of Propecia can change nothing in the hormones and that I should just stop worring and relax. She also told me to go to the endocrinoligist, if I still wanted to check the hormones, so I think I’m doing that.
Should I be checking everything from the list, if I’m mostly only worried about penile growth and mental disorders? Can they be done as just one test or does every indicator mean more money and procedures? Btw, where’s allopregnanole?

Thanks!

#13

If you can get everything done then by all means go for it. Otherwise there is a shortened list in the thread you took the list from.

I don’t know, ask the lab or doc.

Allopregnanolone testing is not available in commercial labs, only research labs (ie, universities).

#14

If I get the tests done, who will be the man to say me what medications should I start? My GP?

#15

Is there a possibility that the tests don’t reflect my situation? I have read of people on this board who have all their hormones in balance, but still have mental side effects. What’s the point of testing my blood then?
Thanks!

#16

Watch and listen to Dr Crisler’s words closely – “all too often, men have normal levels… even after quitting, symptoms remain… we don’t know why…”

youtube.com/watch?v=B8e7HERXA3s

It is impoprtant to test your hormones to see if Finasteride caused an imbalance which can be corrected. But there’s so many things one can test for, and so many ratios and levels, that its almost impossible to know where to look… especially considering 99% of guys never get baseline tests done to compare against. Without a research scientist/study done on us, we won’t have any concrete answers.

If you haven’t, read the sticky threads at top of Mental Side Effects section about how Fin decreases Allopregnanolone levels and thus affects GABA-A receptor function and likely myelination of neurons in the brain.

See an Endocrinologist.

#17

I spent a night reading this forum now. Lots of good information here.
I have come to a conclusion that, if I get my doctor to test the type II 5AR activity, I get to the bottom of it all, am I right? After all, that’s what finasteride affects in our bodies. Why test all the other hormones?
Thanks!

#18

Wow, my GP was very friendly: she asked no questions and just wrote me the note for endocrinologist.

#19

I have erections through-out the night now and sometimes even in the mornings. That IS recovery!

#20

Looks like a sudden burst of happiness, because I don’t remember myself saying that. Atm I’m having no morning woods :/.