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)? 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 search
What is your current age, height, weight? 46, 186 cm, 105 kg
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.)? 1mg/day
What condition was being treated with the drug? Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 18 days
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 46
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 46
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? 10 days
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
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[x] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x] Confusion
[x] 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
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[x] Testicular Pain
[x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[x] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] 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? Vitamin D
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)?
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.
Hi all. I took finasteride for 18 days starting from Christmas time back in 2019 and shortly after noticed some strange twitching in my toes and my sperm became waterlike. Then few days later I experienced a pain in my testicles and decided to stop taking finasteride as I already found some videos on Youtube where people were complaining about impotence.
Few days after I stopped taking finasteride I started to feel very tired and then one day I woke up with severe brain fog, tinnitus and severe panic attack. I even called 111 to tell them how I felt, but they just said I needed to book a non urgent appointment with my doctor. The second day was pretty scary too. I experienced my first episode of depression or whatever it’s called when I had extremely painful emotional experience. I remember I walked out from the house and was scared to go inside. I went to buy cigarettes even though I stopped smoking many years ago. I called my friends and was telling them about my panic attack. Eventually I got home and managed to sleep, but had horrible nightmares.
I went to work the next day and felt that I was in some sort fog. I could not do basic things and even simple tasks were very challenging. One of my customers started to question some numbers and I had a panic attack again. I called my boss and told him about my experience, but continued working.
Since then I live in a constant brain fog, have emotional bluntness and annoying tinnitus.
Since then I have daily depressive periods, especially in the morning, when I lose the will to live and have extreme sadness. When I do not feel sad, I am just emotionally dead person, feels like as if I have been lobotomised.
Sexually I cant perform as I did before taking finasteride. The pain in my testicles comes and goes and they have decreased in size. I personally do not care about my sexual life anymore. I just want my mind and my emotions back. I stopped my studies as I lost any ability to concentrate. I used to take blood pressure medication, such as Amlodipine and Losartan, but noticed that they negatively affect my depression, so I stopped taking them. I do not know if it’s because I stopped taking them, or because of PFS, but I quite often feel the pain in my heart and also tingling sensations in my fingers.
I went though a lot of information on this forum, but the posts are rather disheartening than encouraging. I saw my doctor, she would not have have a clue. I change her for another GP, and he was a bit more understanding. He sent me for a blood test and then they found out that my Vitamin D levels were lower than minimum, so prescribed strong Vitamin D doses, 20000 units per day. Testosterone levels were low as well. I also asked him to send me to a specialist who I am going to see in May.
Let’s see…