7 years PFS. 40 days on Finasteride

Where are you from (country)?
UK

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 serach

What is your current age, height, weight?
34, 180 cm, 82

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.)?
.25mg/day

What condition was being treated with the drug?
hairloss

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

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
27

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
27

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

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
2nd day

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

Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] 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
[ ] 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
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[x] 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
[x] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Vitamins and stomach food 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)?

Vitamin D deficiency, high bilirubin, upper level Estradiol & Prolactin - recent tests

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.

I started suffering hair loss when I was 25. This just destroyed me, I was in very early stage and I said I need to take actions on it. I did my research and was aware of the side effects but from the many positive reviews I thought no way it will be that bad. I bough the drug, split the pill into 4 and started taking it at night time. first day I woke up with normal hard morning wood. I was really happy as I said this is a good sign. second day I had no morning wood. I tried to masturbate and I couldn’t get it up andI panicked. I said I will give it some time until my body adapt. after 40 days with no improvements I decided to quit.

the second/third day I quit. I started having really hard erection in the middle of the day with very high libido. I felt like normal again. I masturbated and I crashed on the same day. no libido, no erection and watery semen.

after that within 18 months. I had mental sides, anxiety and panic attacks during the day.

1 day suddenly I woke up with morning wood. that was a new weird feeling. but still struggled to hold an erection. I got into a relationship at that time and started using cialis 20mg/weekly. it helped in holding erections at the beginning then it wasnt working all the time. I didnt tell my partner that time about PFS and I just said that condom is boner killer for me. with Cialis I managed for couple of months but it was really stressful and I ended the relationship. then I spent couple of years without dating or sex life. I had some good days where I have morning wood and enjoyable orgasms. and other days I couldnt get an erection at all. during that time, my semen went back to normal, think and white. I got into other relationship and sex was bad for the first year. I told my partner about PFS and she was understanding. during my 3 years relationships, I had a good couple of months where I went back to almost 80% normal, was having sex everyday, could hold the erection and I had high libido.

I am now single again and avoid sex and relationships due to my condition. I have no mental issues but my main sides now are:

  • penis numbness - it is really rare I feel full sensation there
  • morning woods comes and go - in average 2 weeks a months I have morning wood
  • Libido fluctuate - sometimes I am really horny and sometimes I feel really cold
  • no random erections
  • it takes time for me to get hard - I get hard at the end but I cannot hold it

Usually I feel better when I eat clean and exercise. Fasting helps in general. and I feel the more I have masturbate the higher libido I get.

I started seeking medical help now as I lost hope of my body fixing itself. I might take Tribulus. and not sure if I should start TRT or others but am afraid to get into another dilemma of crash and go back.

anyone has similar issues after these years? what to do about the high bilirubin, upper level Estradiol & Prolactin?

I replied to your other post to educate you a bit on hormones. Bottom line: you are not alone, many of us used to experience the same things. Many who side effects got better and they are obv not on this forum. We have people that come and go from here–maybe they recovered or had improvement and some symptons went away. Others, a subset, maybe not.

do you recover?