Im sorry i may come off as a total dick here, but we have NOT found the exact cause of the problems and you are lucky that things are resolving for you. I personally am annoyed that you continued to post on this site with multiple guides saying that only people off finasteride should even be posting, their were instructions on how to ween off the drug on the FAQ located on the front of this page. Seeing stories like yours where you improve after just a few weeks or months is normal, and they only frustrate people (or at least myself) who have had side effects for years - especially when they have only taken a few pills.
Hi Golf,
Thanks for the reply, but I never said I was cured.
The sides still persist, so I am far from cured, but I am feeling better.
I was simply updating you guys on my progress and offering some good news, which should hopefully offer hope to some of the guys. I understand that each person will have there own unique recovery period, but I wanted to offer what my experience has been so far.
I took finasteride for 8 years, which is a long time, so who knew what would happen to me once I stopped and how the recovery will progress. This is my story so far and I am just glad that I found this site and guys like you that helped me realize that finasteride was in fact a poison in our bodies.
Take care and I hope you eventually feel better.
Gino
i do not state anywhere in my previous post that you are “cured” - however your previous post says you are improving sexually and mentally (and on the normal recovery timeline)
Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to update you regarding my short lived partial recovery.
A few days after I posted my last update, things started to go downhill again. About 2.5 weeks after I quit, I experienced my symptoms come back with a vengeance.
I guess this is the crash that most people talk about. After I quit, the symptoms were slowly getting better, but now it feels like I am back to feeling bad again. The brain fog has hit hard and my anxiety has raised up again, also I feel lifeless again. Basically, I feel like I have been for the last 8 months when the symptoms started.
I am now just past week 3 after quitting finasteride, so I know that it will take a while still to get some real relief, but right now…I just feel awful!
I am going to wait another few weeks before I go back to the doctor, as he told me to wait till at least 6 weeks before coming back.
Any thoughts on this guys?
I guess this a pretty typical response after quitting…
Thanks,
Gino
Hey Everyone,
I wanted to come back and provide you all with an update.
I have now been off of finasteride for about 2 months and things are better, but still not very good.
After I quit, things improved slowly, until about 2 weeks after quitting when I experienced a small crash. Nothing too major, just a feeling of some of the symptoms creeping back. After a few days, things starting improving again and till about 3 days ago, were pretty much on the upswing. Last Sunday, I had sex with my wife and felt good afterwards, decided to have sex again the next day and after that, I crashed again. This time around it was a hard crash and the symptoms came back full force.
Up until the second crash, my mind was clear, memory improved, anxiety almost gone, headaches gone, penis larger while flaccid, bigger erections, more semen while ejaculating, balls were much fuller, felt hornier. I was almost feeling like my old self again!
So, I guess that my system is still very much fragile and with the 2 straight days of sex, I caused something to change. Now, I have heavy brain fog again, a headache, anxiety is creeping back up, my penis shrunk, balls shrunk and are much smaller, balls feel tender and some minor pain, fatigue has set in and even after 7 hours of sleep, still fell tired.
It sounds like my hormones are still going up and down and frequent sex caused one of them to drop, most likely testosterone.
Let me know your thoughts guys as I was hoping I was out of the woods when the symptoms were about 80% gone and now back to almost 100% feeling bad again.
Thanks,
Gino
BTW - Still no sign of hair falling out, I guess the DHT has not full come back yet. After using the propecia for 8 years, it will probably take extra time for DHT to return.
Hey Everyone,
Just thought I would provide you guys with an update on how things are going.\
I am now about 3 months off of Finasteride and things are slowly improving, very slowly. I am noticing that my mental/cognitive sides are getting better, but my sexual sides still linger.
I had some bloodwork done, which does show some abnormalities, so it looks like my system was affected, but I still do not have it all. I have an appointment to an endo in early February, so we will go through a full hormone panel and get a full result.
So far her is what I have:
Bioavailable Testosterone - 7.2 nmol/l (range 3.5 - 16)
TSH - 1.17 mu/l (range .3-5.6)
T4 FREE - 12.8 pmol/l (range 7.2 - 21)
Cortisol Serum - 299 nmol/l (range 185-624)
ALT - 18 U/L (range 4-43)
Glucose Fasting - 5.7 mmol/l (range 3.3-6)
Creatinine - 91 umol/l (range 60-127)
eGFR - 84 ml/min (no range)
The CBC looked fine, so I guess things are in range, but some may be a little low.
As mentioned, when I visit the endo, I will get the rest of the recommended tests done and get back to you.
Let me know your thoughts.
Gino
Gino,
I have used finasterid for three months when I was 23 and my side effects started immediately. I am 31 now and I am still suffering from the severe side effects (ED, no libido, strongly decreased ejaculate).
I think you need to stay calm and live a healthy life. You might recover naturally.
Bluejaysfan - what happened to you? You say you were a long-term user (8 years) and quit? How long were you off before starting back (and why did you quit in the first place)? What happened when you started back the 2nd time?
Yeah, I think I have records from 2005… But, sure i may have been on it before that.
I would sometimes take 5 a week… Maybe quit for a month here and there. Then a longer period of several months… Never any sides that I was aware of. When I restarted the last time I had sides.
Quit… Rough six months or so. The last 2 yrs to now have been up and down. Improved sleep, brain function and penis size have stayed constant.
I would quit the drug due to cost and the real bitch of it all being my hair wasn’t and still isn’t that bad.
Guys have to be careful they don’t get too caught up in the idea that improvement steadily increases. I really don’t think it’s like that at all. Ups and downs for me, anyways.