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Where are you from (country)?
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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
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What is your current age, height, weight? 22, 5ft 10, 11st 5
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Gym 3 or 4 times a week. Play soccer twice a week
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Meat eater, mainly healthy sometimes fast food
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 2 years
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 20 when started ( End of March 2011)
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 22 when quit (start of April 2013)
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold turkey
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Propecia
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1 mg/day then reduced to 1mg every other day for last 2 months
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? Wtery semen week in, mild side effects first 8 months, stronger side effects after
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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
[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
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] 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
[ ] 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
[ ] Other (please explain)
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Nothing. Started taking a gym supplement in past month which has natural testosterone booster
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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)? Have made a doctor’s appointment finally for enxt week. After admitting defeat and I’m probably not going to improve
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
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Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Started losing my hair at age 20. Had a very high sex drive, masturbating 2 or 3 times a day. I wasnt sure why I was losing so much hair in shower etc and thought it was unusal for someone at that age. Visited a trichologist (scalp and hair specialist) did a test on my scalp and told me I had male pattern baldness. Given my age and the fact I was at uni this bothered me (I was vain). Trichologist advised I take propecia… explained that 2% of people experienced sexual side effect but these disappeared when stopped taking the drug.
Started taking propecia… within first week ejaculate had become watery. After 3 months had more difficulty achieving erection whilst masturbating… put it down to watching too much porn/desensitising myself and possibly propecia but wasnt sexually active at this point so it didnt bother me too much as had stopped losing hair. After around 8 months I started seeing a girl, invited her round when I was stone cold sober and I couldn’t get it up at all. Realised it was propecia backed up by researching on the internet (didnt at this point realise side effects could be permanent still). Went off for about a week to see if the side effects would disappear but worried about the adverse effect on my hair (vain). So decided to go back on it. Told myself I would only be on the drug until i finished University then I would shave my head (new beginning etc) and so would deal with the side effects until I finished Uni. Bought viagra. Whenever I had sex always used viagra in following 14 months, without viagra I had no signs of any sexual stimulation at all not even a semi. I got no morning erections. About 6 months ago I felt I was becoming asexual with no sexual feeling atall, started doing more research, realised the labelling of propecia had changed to possible permanent side effects. Stopped taking propecia completely.
Have been off now for 6 months and my testicles have shrunk drastically (1/2 to a 1/3 size orignally), penis feels shrunken (feel embarassed to get changed in the gym) and morning erections which occasionally happen are only around 70%. Can only stimulate erections manually wachin porn and these erections feel less full (70%). Have tried to have sex 3 times without viagra and could not penetrate. Other times have used viagra but still not a full erection. Only progress has been that my ejaculate is not as watery as it was on propecia
Have been postponing taking any action to this point, hoping that with time I would improve… but I haven’t. What I am most worried about is the dramatic reduction in my testicle size they are between peanut size and grape when before they are far bigger. I’m wary of taking any further drugs ( hoping body will somehow recover) but feel like my testicles are shrinking to disappearing and may be forced to take hormone replacement/supplements to ensure my testicles still function.
I have finally made an appointment to see a doctor for next week, Although as clearly there is no treatment/cure don’t know what I think that will achieve. Basically just want to get test levels tested and be able to compare over time testosterone levels.
I have been reading this forum for the last 6 months and finally have signed up and posted. I know there will be many other people reading these forums like I have done and not engaging. But I realised for every person who reads and doesnt post… the full extent of the problem with propecia and particularly post-finasteride syndrome will still be under-estimated.