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)?
Switzerland
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
What is your current age, height, weight?
mid30s, 185m, 71kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
first 3 years 1mg/d, then 2years every other day, then once per week,kind of tapering without intention
What condition was being treated with the drug?
MPB
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
6 years with breaks and episodes of not regular intake (like once in two weeks…its hard to track)
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
19
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
25
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
first quit cold turkey. after taking it again i rather tapered it off without a fix scheme i just more and more forgot about hairloss and taking it
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
1 month (pale skin), more sleep needed
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
insomnia, depression, anxiety, low drive to achieve goals in live
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x] 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
[x] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[x] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[x] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] 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
[x] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[x] Other (please explain)
insomnia.
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
various antidepressants, benzodiazepines, Testogel, Andractim, supplements
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)?
pre fin:none
2ys in: Testosterone 6ng , TSH 2
6ys in: testosteron 5,5ng, TSH 2,4
1year off: Testosterone 4,8ng, TSH 1,7
3years off, living a “T-bosting lifestyle”: Testosterone 7,5ng, TSH 1,4
DHT was measured twice in low normalrange ((500 (250-1000))
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
i have older brothers: they are fully bald, taller, darker skin (kaukasian), much more facial&bodyhair, more muscles, no signs of anxiety or depression and successful in live.
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
to be fair: before i started fin i already had mental probelms most of my life due to traumatic childhood events: with social anxiety, epidsodes of anorexia and being somehow wierd and rather a loner. but still i had friends and hobbies. when i started finasteride, it very soon worsened my social anxiety to a point where i almost dropped out of school and got paranoid. my teint became pale, my spatial thinking (grades in math plummeted,i was gifted before) worsened and my physical performance lowered and much more rest was needed. i also needed more sleep and my circadian rythm changed from a 23 to 8 schedule to 2 to 11. also i lost my drive for life goals, i was ambitious before and wanted to become a dad and a scientist. but somehow finasteride made me a lay back chilled guy…in hindsight,i didnt really notice it happening.
i first quit the 1mg daily finasteride after 5 years cold turkey as my hair was thinning anyway. i noticed an increase in nervousness, first slight insomnia and intolerance to small noises preventing me to fall asleep. also i noticed an inrease in physical strenght and i started to make plans again and beeing ambitious. one month off finasteride i was quit fine.
the real hell started 4 months off. i changed my appartment to a noisy place and i just couldnt fall asleep. i changed apartment several times but my nervousness about sleep persisted even in the quiet of a wood. this terrified my for one year until a psych prescriped my trimipramine and told me i was depressed. this almost suddenly improved my abilitiy to fall asleep. but it lost effectiveness and i didnt want to icrease the dosage due to my concerns about cardial sideeffects. so i changed to mirtazapine 15mg. this was very sedating and i needed 10+ hs of sleep but it was not refreshing and i was fatigued,fat and depressed. in late 2012 until mid 2013 i started again a low dose finasteride to see if it improves my mood and sleep but it didnt. now im 5 years off finasteride.
i needed the mirtazapine to sleep but in the day i felt too groggy. in 2015 i first started testosterone-gel. it gave me a boost in drive and i started doing some sport again. but i never committed to a daily use as i had normal T-levels and i was afraid to lower endogene synthesis for goode. I also tried anractim (DHT cream) and this had a huge affect on mood,drive,libido went through the roof, aggression and ambition returned suddenly. but also andractim i didnt really try it longterm because i had normal levels and was scared by shutting down my own production and being dependent on this steroid.
in 2016 i lowered mirtazapine dose and a new psych added agomelatine. this was working quiete well and i felt a bit more active and alive with almost normal sleep-schedule. plus i discovered the method of “nofap”, not or fewer masturbation. i found out is best for me evrvy 3 days. in 2016 i almost had a live,met girls,had sex,had jobs, was outside and also had a healthy testosterone level. but i was puffy from the mirtazapine and i taperd it slowly. without mirtazapine i just couldnt sleep. and in 2017 i took benzodiazepines instead. once a week,then twice a week(diazepam). in january 2018 i noticed me being jittery ,super anxious,poor sleep again and it became clear i had benzodiazepine-withdrawls. my psych was angry with me and switched me to zopiclone (a benzo in disguise?) i m taking it daily since april and most days i m experiencing interdose withdrawls. i have zero life, no friends,no job,im lethargic, forgetful and suicidal too.
i felt pretty ok before i idiotically changed the mirtazapine for the benzos just for esthetic reasons :(…
i want to come off zopiclone but this is so tough.I will have to take mirtazapine again and another antidepressant to push me in the morning(Bupropion,no SSRI for sure!!) says my shrink.
But i want to solve my root problem, which i think is PFS. But a rather mental one.
So what do you guys think reading my story? where should i tackle the problem? focus on the depression and forget PFS until theres more knowledge? Go on TRT ?is my case a “real” PFS one? from my expereince: if a manage to sleep well, i have very few symptoms of PFS.
long story short: i ve always been a socially wierd/awkward guy, but physically strong,ambitious and mentaly funcional. the real crash (insomnia first and depression as a consequence) happend 4 month after quitting fin cold turky.
any advise is very much apprecatiated. please ardon my poor english,
kind regards, Jakob
). but i never cimmited to exogenous T for more than 3 days.