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 - Post Finasteride Syndrome forum
What is your current age, height, weight?
33 years old
179cm
88kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride (I was also using topical tretinoin at the time, but I don’t think this caused issues as I had been using it for a while prior without issue.)
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
0.25mg one day, 0.05mg the next day, 0.04mg 2 days later. That was all.
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Male pattern balding
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
3 doses across 4 days
Date when you started the drug?
Start of October 2025
Date when you quit the drug?
Start of October 2025
Age when you quit?
33
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
It worked out as a taper, but I only started lowering the dose as I read Finasteride was meant to be effective for hair loss even at tiny doses and I decide to try this to reduce chances of side effects. However, I got side effects on the 3rd dose so quit it then.
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
3rd dose
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
All that I listed below
Sexual
[
] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[] Reduced Ejaculate
[] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[*] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[] 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
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] 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
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[*] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
No other side effects at the time of filling this out, except perhaps reduced hunger.
Note: I already had some of the listed side effects before taking finasteride. If I already had them, or they’ve not increased, then I haven’t ticked those boxes as they’re not attributed to my finasteride use.
The other symptoms I already experience are from Depersonalisation Derealisation Disorder. I also have other symptoms with it, but from the list they include:
[*] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[*] Tinnitus
The ones with a * are symptoms I had before and have now worsened with the finasteride.
With “Loss of Spontaneous Erections”, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a spontaneous/ random erections outside of sleep. I didn’t even know people had them.
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
None, it doesn’t look like there’s any reliable / universal treatments? I am just going to try and live a healthy lifestyle for now and look into if diet can have an impact.
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)?
I have old blood work from standard check ups. I will be contacting my doctors to get new blood work now this has happened. Once I have the results from that I will post them. I’ve got my old serum testosterone levels handy so will type those below. I’m not sure how relevant serum testosterone levels are to PFS?Note: the reference range listed on my results are is 9 to 29 nmol/L, so Ive always been on the high end. I’m not sure what it will be now.
- 13 years a go: 26.3 nmol/L
- 5 years a go: 27.2 nmol/L
- 1 year a go: 29.0 nmol/L
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
N/A
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Nothing to add. I took finasteride for hair loss, got side effects as listed and here I am.
I will note some of my medical history which might be relevant such as SSRI and isotretinoin (accutane) use (and other bits including idiotic choices which I should have learned from.)
- I had PTSD from 8 years old from ongoing traumatic experiences (not sexual), as well as extreme anxiety from early childhood. I was prescribed an SSRI which I took for a year or so. After a year or so this was discontinued as it seemed to have a positive effect. However I also had bed wetting and bruising which was attributed as side effects from it.
- At about age 13 or 14 (19 to 20 years a go) I had very pronounced puffy nipples and some small breast tissue around the pec area (gynecomastia). I had a surgery for this at age 15 or 16.
- Looking over my medical history I saw I was prescribed isotretinoin (Accutane) when I was a teenager for 5 months (this was after the development of the puffy nipples). I can’t remember if I used it for the full prescription duration now (I was quite anti-medicine and often didn’t take prescriptions). I remember having some dry lips early on and think I stopped it.
- About 12 years (aged 21) a go I took DNP and developed intense pins and needles in my hands and feet to the extent I couldn’t stand or walk for long periods. This healed after a year or so.
- About 10 years a go I smoked some very strong hash (cannabis) from a large bong. I had a panic attack and developed intense depersonalisation and derealisation. A few days later I experienced a traumatic event which increased my DPDR. I went to the doctors in desperation and panic. I didn’t event know what DPDR was at the time or what was happening to me. The doctor didn’t know either and prescribed Sertraline. I took this for 9 days which made it even worse and triggered HPPD, tinnitus and sexual side effects (no libido, genital numbness & coldness, inability to get erections or to orgasm). The sexual side effects started healing around 6 months, I can’t remember how long it took to fully heal, maybe a year or 2. The HPPD started healing at 9 months, and after a year and a half it fully healed. The tinnitus healed after 7 years but came back when I started vaping (nicotine) around 6 months later.
- I used Nizoral (ketoconazole) shampoo for a couple of weeks around 3 to 6 months before using finasteride. I noticed weaker erections during use, I used it for a couple more times after initially noticing this and then stopped. Symptoms ceased upon discontinuing it.
- I started taking Pregabalin (upto 50mg X3 a day) for anxiety a couple of months before I started taking finasteride. It helped with my general anxiety but I decided to taper off after stopping finasteride and getting side effects from the finasteride. I wanted all drugs out of my body, hoping it would help me recover. The taper off of Pregabalin was fine, I have used it in the past for a few months before this as well and tapered no problem with it then also.
- In my teenage years I was prescribed a range of SSRIs at different points but often wouldn’t take them as I was anti-pills basically. Since developing DPDR as an adult I was prescribed and tried other medications, such as Lamotrigine (stopped due to problems with word recall which ceased upon discontinuing), and Moclobemide (stopped due to increased feelings of dissociation which ceased upon discontinuing). The only medications which had a positive effect were Clonazepam and Pregabalin.
- So to sum up, it’s seems I’m prone to developing these things (gyno, sexual side effects from SSRIs and ketoconazole) but I stupidly thought I would be okay using Finasteride at very low doses, expecting that to reduce the chance of side effects.