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Where are you from (country)? England
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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?) Numerous times searching on google for terms like propecia and libido, ed, emotional block etc
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What is your current age, height, weight? 20, 6,1, 81KG’s
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? yes i am a member of a gym i visit 3-4 times a week, swim 1-2 times a and play football once a week.
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? pasta, rice, sausage, bread, bacon, fish, potatoes, cereal and milk are the main parts of my diet
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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)? 5 and a half month
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 20, late august 2011 can’t remember date exactly
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 20, 30/01/2012
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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? propecia
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg/day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 5 month
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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
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] Depression / Melancholy
Physical
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? none yet
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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 tests
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
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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.
Had been suffering hairloss on and off of 18 months, my older brother has been on propecia for 4 years i think, and not suffered any side effects so was confident I would not be part of the ‘2%’ who suffer side effects. First few months were great hair felt thicker and hairline had stopped receding. After 4-5 months noticed a slight reduction in sex drive but knew there are other causes for a reduced libido due to the time of the year it was very cold living in a student house in winter and stress of exams. However from 5 months onward started to feel major loss of libido to almost zero but continued with medication in hope it was just a phase. Unfortunately it reached a point where I could no longer achieve a full erection so decided to stop the medication, Within 3-4 days I felt better and could now achieve a full erection and now occasionally wake up with one. It’s now been 3 weeks since i took my last pill and I am still at the same stage as I was after 3-4 days from stopping. I have very low sex drive, no pre-cum. I have also now realized how emotionally blunt i am, I have never been great at expressing emotions but have always felt them.I no longer feel sad, happy, guilt, pleasure. I stood on the blocks at a swimming competition a week ago in front a hundreds and didn’t feel a thing wasn’t nervous or anything. I am concerned I no longer feel any connection to my family or the close group of friends I have had throughout my 2 and a half previous years of university.
A week ago, I had an appointment with my GP to talk about issues but as propecia is not prescribed by the NHS for hairloss he didn’t seem to know much. Today I had an appointment with the pharmacist who prescribed the drug but when I described my inability to feel emotions he suggest I need to talk to my GP about it. I even tried explain how my reduced libido was similar to the emotional blunting because when i see a girl who is a attractive i want to look at her and check her out but it provides no stimulation or physiological feeling. It’s the same for feeling towards loved ones, a close friend of mine was upset the other day I spoke to her about her issue but found myself unable to empathize or feel any response to who upset she was, a term i’ve seen on here is were someone’s mind is disconnected from their body and this is my exact feeling. sorry if i’m just repeating the words of other here.
I know 3 weeks isn’t long and I Have plenty of time to recovery yet but i remain very concerned and wondering if i will just be passed on by doctors etc onto other people for some time until i recover? if i recover?