2 months off Propecia.Still experiencing sides.Need guidance

Hello everybody.

First I will start with the questionnaire:

  1. Where are you from (country)? CANADA

  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?
    28, 6 FOOT 2, 190 PDS

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    I WAS WHILE ON PROPECIA, NOT REALLY AFER STOPPING, STARTING AGAIN

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    HEALTHY DIET BUT PRETTY NORMAL

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

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    JUST UNDER A MONTH

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    28 YRS OLD, MAY 11TH, 2017

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    28, JUNE 7TH, 2017

  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?
    PROPECIA

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1 MG… GOT SIDES. WENT TO 0.5 MG… STILL SIDES. DECIDED TO GO BACK TO 1MG AND TRY FOR A MONTH. STILL SIDES. TRIED .125 FOR A COUPLE DAYS… STILL SIDES SO QUIT.

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    RIGHT FROM THE GET GO

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION. LOW LIBIDO. NO SPONTANEOUS ERECTIONS. RARELY GET MORNING WOOD. HARDER TO GET AN ERECTION. SMALLER TESTICLES FOR SURE. NOT AS POWERFUL EJACULATION. POOR SLEEP. NOT AS MENTALLY SHARP.
    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
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[X] 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
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X] Testicular Pain
[X] 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
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] Increased hair loss
[ ] 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?
    ACUPUNCTURE. EXERCISE AND EAT HEALTHY. NO ALCOHOL
  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 PRE BLOOD TESTS BUT HAVE HAD POST BLOOD TESTS
  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    DONT TAKE IT. IT IS NOT WORTH IT.
  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

I started taking Propecia on May 11th, 2017. I got sides effects almost immediately. Decreased erection quality, low libido, i gained weight for sure/bloated, very hard to get erections in the first place due to low libido. I could only get them through manual stimulation. Emotionally flat. Ejaculation volume was almost none existent a couple days after first pill and this kind of recovered to a watery ejaculate but not very creamy at all and still way lower volume. Genital numbness. I did not feel as sharp mentally. Orgasms were not as good.

For the most part… It is hard to measure side effects sometimes. Pretty much, I tried propecia for a month and the sides were not worth it so I quit. While on fin I was paranoid wanking like 5 times every day. I could still get off but things just werent the same. I have also masterbated a lot… at least 2-5 times daily when I am single and erections were never a problem. The propecia definitely was making things a lot worse downstairs in terms of erection and orgasm quality… as well as the ability to get turned on just by thinking about the act.

Since quitting. Like 10 days after quitting I felt quite a bit better. Got some spontaneous erections at work. Morning wood returned. Erections were really good and I wanked it one night 5 times. Then things totally went south and the next 2 weeks were really bad. Just as bad as when on the propecia.

About a month later (4 weeks) Things started to get a little better but still not even close to the same. I decided to go see a doctor and get some things checked out. I got a Urologist referral. A req to get some tests done. I also started acupuncture at this point.

Acupuncture seemed to help and after doing the first treatment I woke up with a morning erection. Not as strong as I remember but still pretty good and I was able to wank in bed without porn for the first time in a long time.

Here we are 7 weeks after stopping propecia. I was on it for one month. My erections are ok… I’d say about 80% pre fin however it is still hard to get them. Only manual stimulation works. At night and in the morning sometimes I have like a little erection… like a semi hard one. Nothing compared to pre-fin where sometimes it would wake me up and often in the mornings I could not get on with my day without taking care of my morning wood or having sex with my then girlfriend. Mentally things feel like they are improving. Ejaculate quality has improved but still not as good as pre-fin. Testicles to me still feel shrunken up and not as full and large as before. My libido is low still and I don’t have near the desire I used to have for sex.

I got my first set of tests back and these are the results.

FSH: 0.9 IU/L(Low) Range = 1.4-18.1
LH: 1.6 IU/L Range = (1.5-9.3)
TSH: 1.93 mlU/L Range = 0.35-5.00

Estradiol: 87 pmol/L Range = 0-146
Prolactin 8.9 ug/L Range = 2.6-18.1
Testosterone 10.4 nmol/L Range = 5.8 - 28
Sex Binding Globulin 19 nmol/L Range = 13-71
Free Androgen Index 54.7 Range = 14.8-94.8
Albumin 39 g/L Range = 35-50

So I have low FSH and bottom of reference range LH. My testosterone levels to me seem low but my GP says they are in the range. From what I have read a guy my age should be way higher and when you convert to ng/dL I am at 300 which is right at the bottom of the range.

Things seem to be getting a little bit better but nothing close to pre-fin state. I am almost 2 months off the drug now. Looking for some answers at this point.

I am awaiting a penile ultrasound and my first appointment with the urologist. Can anyone provide some insight. Thanks.

Alright so here is an update.

Date today is 1st Oct, 2017. 4 months since quitting the poison that has destroyed so many young and healthy men’s lives.

I have made a conscientious effort in a lot of areas to improve my life which has provided some successes. I have seriously limited my alcohol intake to practically nothing except for maybe 1 - 5 drinks total over the past 4 months. I have 100% eliminated coffee. I have been eating healthy and been trying to make it to the gym as much as I can. Admittedly my mood has been pretty low so I haven’t been keeping up very well with the gym however this week has been quite good. My sleep is the biggest thing I have made strides in and I feel like this has contributed to big strides in my well being however it hasn’t made the hormanal tests appear any better. The numbers still haven’t budged and I am still hypogonadal in my opinion. I have been taking the usual supplement recommended on this forum, (vitamin D, Maca, a test booster and AI supplement, zinc, magnesium, fish oil, and a vitamin pill).

I have continued to masterbate a lot. PRE-FIN I was in a long term relationship (4 years) and the sex was great. It was a highly sexual relationship and there was never any problems. However, when that ended it was a extremely stressful and sad time. I was also extremely stressed with my job as well. The 2 months following the break up I had sex with a couple other women and things were fine sexually. I have always been a frequent masturbater (couple times a day) when I am not in a relationship. I kept this up both while on finasteride and after quitting. I am not sure if this has been good or bad for my recovery or if it contributed to the crash. However, due to the frequent masterbation I have noticed that I have started getting some pelvic pain and it feels like my veins and arteries are very unhealthy in my penis. I have decided to give the guy a break and will be trying to abstain from masterbation for 90 days. I am hoping this will help things heal down their and maybe let any tissue changes or inflammation subside.

My urologist performed a penile ultrasound and said the flow was all good down there. He confirmed I have a vericocele which I most definitely did not have pre-fin and only noticed it after some severe testicular pain about a week or two after starting finasteride. Finasteride definitely caused the vericocele. I actually ended up in the ER after the injection to give myself an erection because the erection didn’t go away for 4 hours. Not sure if this is a good things meaning I have good flow or at least no venous leakage??? Not sure.

I can still get erections but they are not strong at all compared to pre-fin. Libido is very low. Very hard to lose weight compared to pre-fin. I have memory and thought process issues still however this has gotten better with improved sleep. Mood is ok given the circumstances but definitely not even close to as happy as I was months ago with the terrible breakup followed by a life changing Post finasteride syndrome.

Orgasms still feel ok when I have them. Ejaculate is far reduced compared to pre-fin, like maybe 1/10th the amount. Sensitivity is still poor.

Overall, things seem to still be slowing improving or maybe its just me learning to deal with the symptoms better. The urologist suggested combination therapy of HCG, Clomid, and arimidex. I have a phone appointment with him on the 19th to discuss options.

This week I have an appointment with an endocrinologist. I am going to bring in all my labs and discuss the chance that propecia made me hypogonadal. I am hoping that the added stress had my system compromised and propecia was the straw that broke the camels back. I was only on it for a month so I just can’t see how it could have had such a strong reaction in me without some other systems being compromised.

We all know that this situation sucks big time. So I have decided to attack this syndrome with everything I got. I am starting a 28 day fast tommorow to totally cleanse my body. I am starting a no masterbation routine tomorrow as well for 90 days (hopefully) to eliminate any chance that the ED is due to over masterbation and over consumption of porn. Followed by the 28 day cleanse/fast. I will be starting the WHOLE 30, which is pretty much a paleo diet for 30 days. This is around the time I will also be starting my PCT treatment of HCG, clomid, tamoxifen, toremifene, aromasin, arimidex, etc.

I am hoping all that will be enough to kick my bodies ass into healing up.

If this first PCT doesn’t work, then I have read that you start TRT plus HCG for a bit of time to get the body back at good testosterone levels again and awake some of the cells, then you do another PCT right after. This should hopefully get the balls remembering what to do again.

I will keep updating my thread boys. Hopefully, people can learn from me as to what works and what doesn’t work and we can beat this shit.

I made a nice little excel spreadsheet with all my lab results and reference ranges are on the side. If anyone would like to take a look and provide insight that would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

Hey! How are feeling these days?

Sounds like you really hit this thing with every ounce you got; have you gotten better? Let us know!