7 years of taking the poison, stop 4 days

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)?

  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?)
    Google

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    38, 176cm, 71.5kg

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of exercise?
    No

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Mainly rice

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    Hair loss

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

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    32, 9/6/2011

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    38, 11/4/2018

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

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    1/4 of Proscar

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1.25mg

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    2 weeks, can sperm watery and 5 years started with join pain

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

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[x] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] 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
[x] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[x] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] 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?
    Supplement such as Zinc and Glucosamine

  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)?
    NO

  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.

#2

Sorry for my late reply because I was in Japan for trip last whole week. Um…my English is not so good in fact and I hope all of you can understand what I am saying.

I started taking Finasteride when I was 31. I was taking 1/4 Proscar everyday for nearly 7 years. In 1.5 year before, I found that I feel strange in my right knee and got pain sometimes in walk. At that moment, I felt that the reason may be due to I walk too much rather than taking P.

Recently, I found that my right knee pain gets more serious and I stopped taking P at 11/4/2018. It’s almost 2 weeks now. I searched by google about the joint pain by taking P and found this secret forum. After I read the forum, I started to take vitamin D3 (500UI), glucosamine 1500mg and Zinc (15mg) as supplements. I was very afraid about my knee pain because I had to go to Japan for a whole week in last week. Fortunately, I can complete my trip even I had to pain and walk very slowly.

However, I found that I got more serious in my right knee pain and my left knee also get pain now. Both knees started to have joint hopping. Even though I still can walk slowly, I have to pay more and more attention on balance when I stand and walk. I knew that there are cases that the joint pain will disappear very slowly by time. However, I cannot find any story memtioned about the disappear of joint hopping. Is there any case about that? Thank you.

#3

Sorry for the late post of my story. Um…my English is not good as it is not my mother language.

I was starting taking 1/4 Proscar everyday for last 7 years. From the last 2 years (year 2016), I found that my right knee had strange feeling when I walked or stand. However, I didn’t concentrate it more because my right knee did not have pain. Last year (2017), I found that there was pain in my right knee when I walk, stand or up down stairs. Unfortunately, I didn’t consult to any doctor about my knee pain.

Until last month (4/2018), my right knees has more pain when I walked, stand or up down stairs. I also found that my left knee also had but the pain is less than my right knee. I also noticed that both legs had noticeable joint hopping when I walked. At that time, I suspected my pain is related to taking the Proscar. I started to search at google and found this secret cave and knew many guys also has the same problem in taking the drug for serveral years. Then I stopped taking this poison immediately.

Then, I consulted a Orthopedist this Saturday (5/5/2018) for my knee pain. I told to him that I was taking 1/4 of Proscar everyday in the past 7 years. He knew this drug but told me that my pain is not related to this drug. However, I do believe that my pain is related to the drug. After a brief check, he told me that my pain should related to the articular cartilage degradation. He believed the degradation is in phase 2 or 3 (4 phases of degradation) and advised me to take a X-ray check for the phase degradation. I will take the X-ray in the coming week and consult the Orthopedist again for his advice.

Besides, I started to taking Glucosamine, Zinc and Vitamin D3 everyday as supplement for my knees.

#4

Hi all, sorry for my late reply. In fact, I have posted my story through my phone, but I don’t know why it can’t be posted. Now, I am trying to use a desktop PC to tell all of you my story. Um…English is not my mother language…but I hope that you can know what I am talking about.

I have been taking 1/4 Proscar for nearly 7 years (year 2011). From the start of taking this poison, I found that I have lost morning erections, watery ejaculate and male breasts. However, I don’t have too much on the sex so I kept on taking this poison. Besides above issues, all was fine and my hairs grew more than before.

In the past 2 years (year 2016), i.e. I was taking the poison about 5 years, I felt that there was strange feeling in my right knee. I started to feel that my right knee has a little lost of support on my body. However, I didn’t feel there was pain from my right knee in fact. So, I kept on taking the poison.

In last year (year 2017), I started to feel that I got pain from my right knee occasionally. I also felt that my right knees got more lost of support on my body. However, the pain and lost of support did not limit my life and unfortunately I still kept on taking this poison.

Until last month (4/2018), I got stiff pain from my right knee when I walked and stood up. I also noticed that my left knee also have has little lost of support on my body. I started to lose balance when I stood up and I had to walk very slowly like a old man to avoid getting pain from walk. However, it did not help too much. I was very afraid and started to suspect this pain and loss on support of my body is coming from taking Proscar. I started to search “joint pain propecia” from Google and found this secret cave. After I read some Member stories, I knew that there are many people has the same issue after taking Propecia and then I stopped this drug cold turkey. After stopping the poison, I felt that my knees have joint hopping when walk also.

From now, nearly 1 month of stopping taking Proscar, I don’t feel better at all. So, I consulted a Orthopedist last Saturday (5/5/2018). After a brief check, he suspected that my pain is from “Degenerative Joint Disease”. My right knee’s articular cartilage has damaged. He think that it is in Phase II to III (total of 4 phases), and so he advised me to take a X ray check in the coming week. He also suggested me to take Glucosamine everyday to keep my articular cartilage not to be damaged so fast. He told me that one of effective cure is to inject hyaluronic acid to my right knee to reduce the pain. But this acid only can keep for 9 months inside my knee and costs me a lot of money. I am thinking about this curing…

I regret of taking this poison. However, I think positive after referring to the member stories. I will keep on update my status and let all of you as a reference.

#5

Hi all, it is 4 months after stopping the poison. I’ve consulted a Orthopedist in May and took some X ray photos on my right knee. The photos showed that my right knee’s articular cartilage has a little bit degraded, but not too serious. However, I accepted the doctors suggestion and inject hyaluronic acid in my right knee. After injection, I felt better on my right knee. However, I obviously felt that my left knee became more worst…

I am very worry about the joint pain because it troubled me a lot. My life was active before. I feel my legs are very weak…Can they be recovered after stopping the poison? I saw some stories from the members in this forum that the problem still exist…even for many many years…

#6

This is the sixth months after stopping the poison. Below is my updated status:

  1. Joint pain - Really NO improvement, I still have acute pain like osteoarthritis on both knees. I can only walk very slow because of the pain. It limits my ability to walk. I have to take a rest when I walk around 5-10mins, like a old man. When I kick, I feel my lower leg is gone away! This is the main problem for me. I am considering to take X Ray again to check the knees’ condition.

  2. Insomnia & Fatigue - I have insomnia of 2-3 nights a week and feel 24 hours exhaust in the next day. Even-through I have enough sleep of 8 hours in other nights, I also feel exhaust in the morning , especially when I just back to office in the morning, feel very sleepy. I can’t concentrate on my work (but no brain fog).

  3. Muscle - I feel my legs muscle is losing, also losing the power and tension to hold the knees. I have to concentrate on controlling the leg muscle when I walk. Gynecomastia symptom is still exist.

I started to take 1500mg of Glucosamine & MSM, 15mg of Zinc, Magnesium and Calcium Capsules. I hope there is improvement on the joint pain, but the result is still negative at this moment. I consulted a doctor last week and he agreed a blood test for me to check my body status. It will be conducted this Friday.

#7

Hi 88.

Have you tried strengthening exercises? Did your doctor advise anything to help strengthen your legs?

#8

Yes. He advised me to do more exercises to strengthen the quadriceps. You can search these type of exercises from YouTube. I don’t know why I felt more pain from the knees after these type of exercises. So, I gave up about 1 more month.

However, I started to do these exercises yesterday again.

#9

Stop messing with your hormones further with zinc lol

#10

Perhaps look for alternative versions that don’t stress the knee so much.

If you can afford it, maybe see a physiotherapist/sports specialist and see what they advise.

#11

Hi I also suffered hurt in the joints when I was in Finasteride, over time this recovered naturally. felt like the knees crushed the cartilages, but this is recovered 100%.

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#12

Yes. I DO feel my knees crash the cartilages! How long did you take to recover?

I am 38 yrs old now and I think one of the reason for the joint pain is the decreasing of muscle strength along with the age, especially after age of 35, even through not taking the poison. If taking that poison, the muscle lost will be getting more and more serious and finally cause the joint pain. So, I think I have to strengthen my legs muscle, especially on the quadriceps.

#13

It happened me when I was consuming daily 4ml minoxidil and 1mg of finasteride. It took me some months to recover, noy many. I was 25 years old and food is more important than sport, I believe. A lot of micronutrients and better macronutrients

#14

Are you still using minoxidil now? I quit from Fin but I am still using minoxidil. Because I don’t think that minoxidil is the root cause of my joint pain.

#15

Minoxidil can be a cause, there are studies which show it inhibits the production of collagen and testosterone, and more… Minoxidil and Finasteride form a diabolical synergy, caution with this, in another post I wrote about what Minoxidil can aggravate and prolong PFS.

I abandoned Minoxidil exactly 1 year ago.

#16

Hi all, let me report my health status after stopping propecia for 9 months.

  1. Joint pain - only little bit better. However, I can walk faster but still have acute pain.

  2. Insomnia & Fatigue - I still have insomnia of 2-3 nights a week and feel 24 hours exhaust in the next day. I got serious dizziness in these two weeks, even JUST stand up. Is it the SECOND crash??

  3. Muscle - I feel my legs muscle are getting stronger. However, Gynecomastia symptom is still exist.

I got the blood test result in the mid of October. The blood test is positive. No any negative result. I can’t complain to the result because I am not professional in medical. I can’t think what I can do i this stage and I am very depressed now.

#17

When you say the blood test is positive, do you mean that there is no obvious problem? If so, that is quite common. Could you post the details of the blood test?

As for your joint pain, you can recover. I have had some joint pain (mainly my hips) but happily it has cleared now. Insomnia is a regular problem here but also most seem to improve.

It is a depressing position to be in, I know but you have to pick yourself up and focus on the improvements or the potential for them. You say that your joint pain is better and with time it could continue to get better.

Are you avoiding 5ar inhibiting foods? I would suggest that if you feel you may have crashed a second time that you should be careful with your diet.

#18

Hi Greek,

In fact, I don’t know what actually had been examined by the blood test. But I do think that these items are related to basic health check and joint pain. The doctor did not give the detailed report, because I conducted the test in government clinic, not private clinic.

  1. Anti-nuclear antibody
  2. CK
  3. Lipid profile testing (CH, TG, HDL, LDL)
  4. RFT
  5. TF01
  6. CBC
  7. Calcium
  8. LFT
  9. Phosphate
  10. Rheumatoid factor
  11. Urate

The doctor told me that there is no obvious problem in the above tests.

Are you avoiding 5ar inhibiting foods? -> what are the 5ar inhibiting foods? I usually take milk, beef, rice, vegetables and fish everyday.

#19

There are lots of 5ar inhibiting foods.

We’re going to publish a list soon of those foods that could cause us problems.

A good place to start is here (first thing that came up on Google):

#20

Hi all, this is almost 1 year after stopping propecia. Here below is the progress of recovery:

  1. Joint pain - This is the main problem which does not improve much. I still have acute pain in both knees, especially in standing. I cannot stand firm. However, the flu symptom around the knees has been disappeared. I now can walk more faster although the pain still exist. When I pressed the edge and toward inside of the patellas, I can feel the acute pain. The pain is as same as the first day when I suffered the joint pain. I think that the pain is caused by the muscle cannot hold the petalla well.

  2. Insomnia and fatigue - I did not have insomnia recently and slept well. The fatigue also had been improved, only 1 day per week now.

  3. Muscle - Same as three months ago, I feel my legs muscle are getting stronger. However, Gynecomastia symptom is still exist. I noticed that there was muscle twitching around the knees, but not happened frequently.

  4. Hairs - My friends and colleagues noticed that my hair volume has decrease noticeably. I think it is a good sign in the recovery. Besides, I keep on using minoxidil every morning.

I conducted an Orthopedist from government clinic last month. He told me that my status was strange and I am young to have this level of the joint pain. He suspected there are spurs in the petalla and arranged X-ray check for me in the next consulting in mid of June.

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