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How did you find this forum?
Googling symptoms, I am not entirely sure if my symptoms lead to PFS, i need help sorting all this crap out -
What is your current age, height, weight?
27, 5,11, 140lbs -
Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
exercise during summer months, weight lifting, -
What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
ive always been a healthy eater, no fast food, mediterranean diet, meat eater -
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
hair loss -
For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
approx 4 months -
How old were you when you started Finasteride?
26 -
How old were you when you quit?
26 -
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
slowly tapered off, one pill every other day, then quit -
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
propecia -
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1mg -
How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
i noticed i had to go to the bathroom more often during the night, slight difficulty with libido during usage -
What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
i did not notice any major side effects while on the drug besides using the bathroom more during the night and slight decrease in libido
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive (i can still masturbate however it takes a lot of work to keep it up)
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[x ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections (i no longer look at a girl and get aroused like i used to)
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat (this is intermittent and varies in degree)
[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(i cannot enjoy things i used to love doing, like playing guitar or video games)
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] 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
[x] Muscle Weakness(working out at the gym is abnormally difficult)
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets” (ive always dealt with chronic constipation)
[x ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness (my vision has decreased and ive been noticing eye floaters)
[ ] 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 major other than taking multivitamins for fatigue, trying to eat healthier -
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)?
i had a thyroid test done in the past month, my TSH was 1.26 -
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
see below -
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
It all began about two months ago(around the end of september, 2013) i was recovering from a nasty sinus infection and was on amoxicillin for a week. After i had gotten over the infection, i started noticing my body wasnt acting normal. I was experiencing an odd brain fog, being forgetfull, slurring my words, fatigued and just feeling overall like shit. I didnt think much of it, i figured it was from lack of sleep and stress so i brushed it off and thought it would clear up. Forward to now and i am still struggling with brain fog and lack of sharpness. I used to be very sharp, quick, prompt, punctual, and detail oriented!! I was attracted to almost any female that passed by my eyes, i was a complete horn dog who was aroused even by something as simple as cleavage on TV. Thats all gone now. Ive been to several doctors and they all diagnosed me with depression. This is very hard for me to believe because i could not have gone from being a reliable worker to being exhausted and dull in a matter of weeks!
I am not sure what is wrong with my body. Ive come to this forum to seek answers and possibly get some advice on which path to go down. Doctors have been nothing but unhelpful and stumped. I just have a few questions for the community.
Does PFS cause complete anhedonia(lack of emotion)?
I experienced a very weird episode where i was completely emotionally blocked for two days. I was also very constipated during it. Heres the weird thing. When i got home later that evening, i had a bowel movement and i felt so much better. I actually had two bowel movements right on top of each other. My parents noticed that my mood was much better and were like “what the hell happened”? I was speechless. I was constipated from the two days prior because the doctors asked me to start taking zoloft and when i started taking it, it reacted negatively and highered my Blood pressure. i couldnt eat or sleep for two days. On the third day, i had the bowel movement and i was literally full of energy. I am no longer on the zoloft. Could it be that i have PFS and i was just having an isolated incident of constipation?
I
Could my symptoms be stemming from something other than PFS? I have an appt to see a gastro tmrw so that i may get some answers hopefully.
I have days where i am not really depressed, however i definitely feel the brain fog. Its terrible, it feels like my head is empty. I dont know how else to describe it. I am still able to enjoy myself sometimes, i still crack a laugh when i watch funny movies or my friends do something silly. I dont understand how i can be suffering from depression and feel so shitty in a matter of weeks. I have a good life, a great family, a decent job, a really nice car, good friends, fun hobbies. I am always busy. Now i can barely keep up with my friends when they wanna hang out and play video games or go places. I dont care if i cant get my libido up that much, i just want my normal functioning brain back. Fuck.
For the last two months, i started watching my diet. Not too much sugar. Plenty of greens, fruit. I take a multivitamin everyday. Plenty of water. But i cant seem to shake this. I need closure.
Thank you for this community, i hope we all find what were looking for.
P.S. i was taking rogaine foam for about 4 months this past summer(2013)