32 pills - Confused about my recovery

Member Stories
#1

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)?Pakistan

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?)after crash

What is your current age, height, weight?26

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?fin

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?1mg/day

What condition was being treated with the drug?hairloss

For how long did you take the drug 32 days (weeks/months/years)?

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?26

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?26

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?cold

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?sudden

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
[. ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ .] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[. ] Loss of Morning Erections
[. ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ 6/10] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ recovered after one month] Watery Ejaculate
[ recovered] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[. ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ .] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ .] Confusion
[. ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] 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
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[very slight ] 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
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[recovered ] Frequent urination
[. ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (hard flaccid, penis is always hard in flaccid state)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Nothing

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)?

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, its been 3 months i am lurking here. Now its time to post and ask for some help.

I’m the guy who fully recovered from PFS after 5 years
#2

The things I need help is, i feel like blood isn’t going into my penis. My flaccid penis is hard and its like there is a tube inside it. 1 month ago I had a good window and I was feeling like I am improving, even last week, I had huge urge to masturbate, not sure about libido maybe its due to no fap for 10 days.
Anyways, Iast week my sexual improvement was huge and I was able to get full erection without porn just some bloodflow issue.

This week, things doesn’t feel good. My libido is lower and I have less energy overall. Still porn can turn me on. But again penis feel more numb compare to last week.

I have no issue with sperm quality and quantity and orgasms are pleasureable.

This week energy is getting low for me. But I managed to hit gym today.

Is there any hope for me? My brain is traumatised for the last 3 months. Always suicidal. Biggest mistake of my life and I will never forgive myself.

#3

One thing, I never suffered from is insomnia and orgasm pleasure and volume. Why is that?

#4

Could you be a bit more specific about the dates when you started and quit the drug? How long ago did you quit? 3 months ago?

My symptoms fluctuated quite a lot in the first few months. It’s not uncommon for people to only have a few symptoms. Not everyone has insomnia. I don’t sleep as well as I used to but I’ve only had a few nights of real insomnia, and bizarrely that happened for the first time 6 months after quitting the drug.

I don’t want to scare you but it’s weirdly normal for PFS symptoms to fluctuate and change over time even after a long time.

Then again, don’t worry about it too much. There’s a good chance you might never get those mental symptoms or insomnia, and that would be a very good thing.

We don’t really know why you get certain symptoms and not others. We theorize it might be due to tissue-specific damage.

I think you are extremely lucky to still have pleasureable orgasms because I think that is one of the #1 symptoms that pretty much every single one of us deals with.

#5

Yes. I quit 3 months ago. I was recovered within a week then slowly crashed. Now its 3 months, last week I made good recovery sexually. But now its back to square 1.

#6

Sorry to hear that. Normally the “crash” happens within 2-3 weeks of quitting.

Was it just sexual symptoms, or did everything get worse? Were you doing anything stressful or particularly unhealthy at the time?

#7

I crashed and everything went back to 100% after 3-4 days. Then I thought I am recovered and forget about it, it came back 3 weeks later. My sexual system are hard flaccid, I get a full boner with porn and its pleasureable but otherwise its difficult to get a boner. Same symptoms as hard flaccid syndrome :disappointed:. I also have brainfog and depression but its getting easier.

#8

Is there any hope for my recovery? Does everyone experience hard flaccid? And does the hf from Finestride os same as normal hard flaccid and if I recover from hf will my sexual symptoms will be recovered as well?

#9

There’s always hope. The fact that you have noticed improvements already is a good sign. But it’ll probably take a few months - possibly a year or two (because you didn’t recover within the normal time frame). Try to lower stress and adopt some healthy habits to accelerate the process.

1 Like
#10

So, as the title says, here’s my little story. I hope it makes someone’s life easier and gives hope that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. I came here, reset my password, just so I could share my story with you all.

I’m a guy from Pakistan who took finasteride for one month, starting in August, 2020, and stopping on September 24, 2020. I still remember the day I first experienced the side effects. I still remember all the pain that continued for at least three years. As of today, I’m living a decent life. My sex drive, erections, and fully functional brain are 100% back. It’s been years since I’ve even thought about PFS symptoms because they no longer bother me.

I had all the classic side effects: severe brain fog, insomnia, extreme panic attacks, vivid dreams, watery semen, severe ED, extreme numbness, and zero libido. My penis felt completely disconnected from my brain. My skin was clear, no pimples, and my head was full of hair. I had no morning or night erections. At one point, I even had pills ready to end my life. You name the symptom, I had it, and it went on for years. I stopped counting time after two years because I thought it was permanent.

This evil medicine literally changed the course of my life. Things could have been so different. But I’m thankful to Allah Almighty that I’m fully recovered now. These days, I don’t even think about how sick I once was. I’m the same man now who once had sex with my partner 10 times in a single day without any medication or performance aids.

So, what really changed? How did I fight this evil condition?

To be honest, I have no idea. Back in 2021, I tried several doctors. I did a full hormone panel test. I tried everything I could to get rid of it, exercise, cardio, quitting smoking. But nothing worked at that time.

My conclusion is that time is the only real healer. I’m a firm believer, and I prayed to God for forgiveness and the strength to fight this condition.

I strongly advise people to start doing cardio exercises. Go for a jog at least 3-4 times a week. I’m like a horse now, if I become consistent with running which is quite hard because I got other things to do. Having a positive approach towards life, and stop thinking about symptoms really worked for me.

Also, remember to keep yourself distracted. Stay away from reading about other people’s symptoms. It will only make your situation worse. You need the strength to put this at the back of your mind and move on with your life. Eventually, your body will heal itself, and you’ll stop thinking about it constantly.

From my own experience and analysis, I don’t believe science will “fix” this any time soon. Every person has their own set of issues. It’s a chemically induced disaster that no one deserves. Time and your body’s natural ability to recover are the only real solutions, in my opinion. I might be wrong, this is just my personal observation.

Also remember, 100% recovery may not be possible, but 90% is definitely achievable and that’s enough to live a comfortable life without thinking about this syndrome. I still have some numbness and about 10% of the brain fog, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I never took Viagra, it never worked for me anyway. That little numbness actually helps me last longer, and I can have sex 4–6 times without any problem. I enjoy it, I crave it, and I’m thankful for it.

To everyone who is suffering: I wish you the best of luck in life. My prayers are with you. I can assure you, it’s tough but you’ll have to be tougher. Eventually, these issues will become the least of your worries.

4 Likes
#11

Thanks for sharing

1 Like
#12

Congratulations friend. Do you had any problems with gut? If yes, how did you recover?