22yr old guys story - 1 month after quitting, only issue are weak erections

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    spain

  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?)
    hairlosstalk forums

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    22, 70kg, 1,85m

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    yes, lift weights 4 days a week

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    protein rich, fiber rich, complex carbs only, zero junk

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    hair loss and because i am a fucking idiot

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    1 month

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    22, april 2011

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    22, may 2011

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    reduced the dose from 1mg (taken the first two weeks) to 0.5mg (taken the last two weeks) then quit

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    finapil

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    first two weeks of treamtment 1mg/day, following two weeks of treatment 0.5mg/day

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    about 1 week into the treatment

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

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] 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
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] 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)

  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)?

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

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

nothing worth mentioning here, except for maybe the fact that i experienced what i believe was a temporary overabundance of testosterone or dht. about 5 days into starting finasteride i hade a period of extreme hornyness, that lasted for about 2-3 days. after quitting finasteride i experienced this again, about 1 week after having quit, for the duration of 3-4 days. this is definitely relevant, however my understanding of anatomy and human biochemistry is too limited to allow for speculations.

hi everyone, im freaking out over here…

im a healthy guy in my twenties, work out regularly eat very healthy and have no history of any illnes or condition. i took finasteride for 1 month: first 2 weeks 1mg/day , then 0.5mg/day for two weeks. then i quit.

during the fin treatment i experienced some ball ache for the first couple of days, then a couple of days of extreme hornyness, then about 1 week into the treatment i had a strong loss of libido and my erections became weak and short lived. reducing the dose brought me back to almost normal.

since quitting this is what happened

1 week of persistant sides (weak erections, reduced libido)
then i was normal for about 2 weeks
then i had 2-3 more days of extreme hornyness
and then, the ball ache came back, and brought the severly reduced libido and very weak erections. and thats where i am now, and have been for 3 days.

i have started taking 60mg of Zinc every night, and its probably too early to give a definite awnser,

but PLZ tell me guys… should i be afraid? i didnt take any precautions before going on fin, my dr said it wasnt necessary.
please tell me if these fluctuations are normal in the process of recovery, and if so how long until i should be safe?

im really worried i might have done a big mistake. and from what i have read here this syndrome is not treatable, only to some extent its symptoms…

plz let me know what you think.

have a great day

can someone PLEASE comment on this im really really afraid this is freaking me out really badly

It is early days yet for you, so I would not freak out. You have to realize those with longterm issues are in the minority of users who took Finasteride, and obviously not everyone gets these issues. So, odds are probably in your favor you won’t fall into this camp.

We can’t give you a “definitive” answer as to “how long until you are safe” but generally speaking, things can yo-yo up and down after quitting for some guys, as the body readjusts to coming off the drug. So, take it as a sign your body is trying to get things back on track.

If you haven’t had any bloodwork done, I would advise to get blood tests so you can see what is going on hormonally (there’s a shortlist in there a few posts in): viewtopic.php?f=4&t=92

As mentioned it is important not to freak out… it’s very early days for you so hopefully your situation will improve over coming weeks/months. Also, try not to obsess about things, or stress yourself out… you might consider taking a break from this site, concentrating on other things etc, as reading here may only fuel your anxiety in the meantime.

Stay positive!

thank you very much for your reply,

the reason i am so freaked out is because i did experience a “crash”, after my sides were completely resolved. this crashing experience is not part of a normal recovery, or is it? from what i know it certainly is not…

is there anything i can do to improve my situation, in hopes of aiding the recovery process?
i am taking zinc and argynine and will start doing that spinach diet,

im in absolute terror

the chances are you will be fine.

I took the drug and had a couple of wierd increased sexual desire sessions. I wonder what caused this?? Do you think it could have been really high testosterone? I cant understand how decreasing DHT would increase libido.

Just wait it out. You only took it for 2 weeks.