Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.
Where are you from (country)? USA
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 pfs
What is your current age, height, weight? 22, 5’ 9", 153 lbs
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Finasteride and Saw Palmetto before that
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? Took it 3 times. Started at a 1mg/day dose, then waited for sides to go away, then tried a .5mg every other day, waited for sides to go away, then tried a 0.25 mg dose every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and got PFS
What condition was being treated with the drug? Alopecia
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? A total of around 3 weeks
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 22, roughly early July
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 22, late July
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold turkey each time
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? Within several doses, which is why I kept stopping then decreasing the dose
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.
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
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ X] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ X] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ X] Testicular Pain
[ X] 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
[ ] Prostate pain
[ X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ X] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[X ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ X] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Just supplements and I tried tribulus which I think messed me up way more
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)? Prolactin was elevated (normal 5-15ng, mine was 18.7)
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
So as I mentioned I took the drug multiple times despite side effects. At the time the only side effects I felt were a loss of morning wood- nothing else with my first two doses. The reason I took the drug so many times is that the whole PFS thing seems so fake, and so many people over at r/tressless on Reddit and the internet in general make it sound fake (huge shoutout to Kevin Mann). Also, in my experience my sides went away both times I took it. The third time I messed with it, I experienced shrinkage, at which point I stopped- but the sides never went away and got much much worse than just a loss of morning wood.
I’ve now been dealing with this for over 8 months. I tried different things and am scared of messing with my body any more. I’d love to hear about anything that helped you guys, but I’m also really curious about the state of research- does anyone think we’re making any actual progress? I’ve been lurking here for a long time and I know the Baylor study was supposed to be huge but seems to have essentially flopped and fallen way below expectations. I find it terrifying reading about stories of people dealing with this for decades and it not getting better. I know a ton of us are super young so many of us feel this, but man I feel like I haven’t even gotten to enjoy life yet, I’m so young to be dealing with all this. I try to keep positive but it feels like a lot of my sides are not getting any better. The shrinkage in particular is terrifying.
I haven’t had a normal bowel movement since this started. Went and got allergy tested before I found this forum and was told I now have food allergies to things I’ve had my whole life, including beans, nuts, and cow’s milk- I am completely baffled by this
Kinda losin faith here