(my story is at the bottom)
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Where are you from (country)? Pennsylvania, United States
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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 - “pelvic pain help from propecia”
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What is your current age, height, weight? 34, 5’6" 150#
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Before the pain 3-4x weekly, now 1x weekly
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? a mix of meat eater and organic
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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)? approx. 5 years
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 28
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 34
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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? Finasteride 5mg
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25mg daily in AM, I cut the 5mg pill into 4’s
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? only when I stopped
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What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? All the side effects happened after I stopped. They started approx 6 weeks after stopping and 6 months later are still here.
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ X] Depression / Melancholy
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[X ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[X ] Muscle Weakness
[ X] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[X ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ X] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X ] Other (please explain) Pelvic Pain, Groin pain (between penis and leg), Hip Pain, Mid and Lower back pain, feels like I always have to lift my testicles away from my legs or I will sit on them and they hurt.
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Xanax, Multiple Antibiotics, Amitriptyline ,Ibuprofen, vitamins, fish oil, zinc, sits baths, massages, chiropractor, yoga.
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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)? no homrmonal tests have been done (but just got a script to get them)
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride? I also noticed changes to my skin, I was constantly itching and had dry patches and when scratched lightly I would get “rug burn” type marks and I had a weird red patch on my forearm that has not gone away. This has been terrible and any help would be much appreciated!
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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.
I started Finasteride about 5/6 years ago. I do not have the exact date. After I realized that I should just let nature take its course and figured if I am going to go bald, so be it, I stopped the medication in Oct of 2011. After about 6 weeks I was laying in bed and noticed some testicular pain on the left side. I went to bed thinking it was nothing. About 4 days later I still had the pain. I went to a urologist who dismissed it as Prostatitus, gave me no meds. I was still experiencing pain a week after that and went for a second opinion to another urologist he agreed it was prostititus and gave me a 5 day antibiotic, that did not work after completing it. The pain started emanating to my left groin area and at time was painful to walk especially when my left leg was streched while walking. I went to yet again another urologist who gave me another antibiotic and stated I either had prostatitus or epididymitus. The antibiotics did not work. I went back to my family MD and he said he was clueless. I started getting very depressed and anxious. I thought I had an STD and got ALL the blood and urine tests and nothing. I became very constipated and had a very difficult time passing stool and would not go for days. I went to a gastroenterologist who stated I was too young for a colonoscopy and said there was nothing he could do for me. Went back to the urologist and said to eat more fiber and take Metamucil. I had terrible stomach pains and would not go to the bathroom for days and then get terrible cramps and would have diarrhea. And it all repeated for weeks. I was prescribed xanax. I felt like a zombie on it and was told to cut it in half. I did and still did not feel normal so I stopped it on my own. I was then given amitriptyline for pain, again felt like a zombie and stopped after a week when I noticed I needed more and more to feel better. I noticed that yoga, heat and stretching helped so i started yoga classes. It helped in the moment but the pain would quickly come back. I started going to a great chiropractor who after about 6 weeks helped me figure out it may be from stopping the finasteride (which I never even thought about until that moment). After talking with him over several weeks of chiropractic therapy, he stated that all of my pelvic muscles were “seized, like a tight fist”. He noticed that after several weeks of massages, psoas massages, back therapy and adjustments I was loosening up but still not 100%. I would have a few days with less pain but it would come back. I also noticed that throughout this my skin reacts differently, very itchy and bruise easily. I went back to urologist with my new found discovery and he dismissed it saying there is not enough research behind the medication and no treatment that I did not already try. Here we are 6+ months after I stopped and I still have the testicle, hip and back pain. At the end of March I was able to have regular bowel movements without the help of anything and the bowel movements have been 95% normal ever since. This is making me miserable. I feel like I have less energy, don’t want to particiapte as much in life and often feel like I have something seriously wrong with me.