Another propecia victim

Member Stories
#1

  1. How did you find this forum? Searching the internet

  2. What is your current age, height, weight? 48, 6’3”, 220

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Yes, lift weights 3x week, recumbent bike 4x week

  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Meat eater

  5. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 5 years

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride? 40

  8. How old were you when you quit? 45

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

  10. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Propecia and proscar

  11. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1 mg everyday

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? At end of fifth year

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Watery semen, ED

Put an X beside all that apply:

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 to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[X ] 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
[X ] 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”
[X ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain) Never had problem with my calf muscles. Played college basketball and could run all day. A few years back just light jogging tore calf muscle and have never been the same since.

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Every herb you can think of

  2. 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)?

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    I decided to try propecia after trying rogaine to fill in my bald spot. Saw it advertised on TV for hairloss. Dr. gave me a script and started to use it. For the first 4 years I was on it I had occasional testicular ache and watery semen. I really had a high libido too. Around the middle of the 5th year I noticed I didn’t have the drive and occasionally couldn’t maintain an erection. Started to taper off from the drug at the end of 5th year. Then overnight I had a crash. My testicles almost overnight disappeared inside me and my penis shriveled up to close to nothing. Scared the shit out of me so I went to see my family doctor. He ran some tests and said my testosterone was middle range and gave me some Viagra and levitra. To make a long story short, I have changed doctors 3 times (one wanted me to go back on propecia) until I found one who would half way listen to me. The last Dr. did a few more blood tests and said I was all in range. I know my body and I am not alright. Every morning my balls are tight and almost disappear inside me. My penis is small and tight. I have a wonderful wife and when I load up on cialis and levitra I can somewhat perfom once every 3-4 weeks. I really don’t have a libido I’m really just trying it for her. After 7pm or so my testes and scrotum turn to mush so much that I can not masterbate at night. My balls are very soft and penis is numb. Don’t understand how it changes from morning to night. Everyone here knows that this drug is poison and I wish I could go back in time and shave my head bald and say f*** it. I have posted my blood test in the blood test section. Please feel free to suggest anything. I’m desperate.

#2

After 7pm or so my testes and scrotum turn to mush so much that I can not masterbate at night.

same thing happens to me. What I think LH is not firing properly. at the end of the day it fires little or not at all so when balls do not recieve signals they become small. u should start Vit D3 it will keep the balls from going to sleep we all are low in Vit D any way.

#3

steve033,

welcome to the forum. My advice for you is to find a different doctor. Your doctor should be paying attention to your symptoms, not telling your fine. Don’t just to pick one arbitrarily. There are three doctors listed on this website, doctor’s Shippen, Jacobs & Chrisler all have seen a good number of propecia sufferers. They acknowlegde the damage this drug causes and have treated men with some success. These doctors are located on the Northern East coast area of the country, so you would need to travel.

Otherwise, I would recommend trying to find one of the best endocrinoligists in the southern part of the country.

You need as extensive a blood panel as possible. Unfortunately this drug effects dozens of different hormones in the body. Also, be sure to include thyroid hormones on your next test. We have begun to see a good percentage of us have low functioning thyroid.

A very simple test you can do at home is take your temp with an oral thermometer. Take it as soon as you get out of bed, then take it again about 3-4 times every 4 hours or so throughout the day. Add the temps and divide them by number of times. Your temp should be above 98.6. If it is below this, you been given a strong indication you may have a thyroid problem.

Total Testosterone
Free Testosterone
Bioavailable Testosterone
Androstenedione
Androstenediol
DHT (not accurate compared to Adiol-G)
3alpha-diol G (Androstanediol glucuronide-- “Adiol-G” for short): metabolite of DHT, measures 5AR-II activity Androsterone glucuronide (another metabolite of DHT that measures 5AR activity)
Estradiol (E2) Ultrasensitive Estrone (E1)
Total Estrogens
LH
FSH
DHEA-S
Vitamin D
Cortisol (24-hour urine sample)
Cortisone Corticosterone
Aldosterone
Deoxycorticosterone
SHBG
Prolactin
Progesterone
Pregnenolone
17-OH Progesterone
17-OH Pregnenolone
Albumin
ACTH
PSA
TSH
Free T3
Free T4
IGF-1
IGF-BP3

I would also suggest buying some Vitamin D3. Try to find a high dosage. This is very important to us, most all of us have very low vit D levels. I got mine at Sam’s club, 5000 Iu pills. I take 5 of these a day.

#4

Thanks guys for the replies. I’m going to have my thyroid and vitamin D levels checked next week through a blood test my job sponsors. I’ll call my doctor who had my last blood work done and see if he would prescribe more on the list you sent. My last one was done in April. I’ll post them when I get them done.

#5

I also have the shrunken penis issue. I went from slightly above average size to below average. Even though I have alot of the other sides people describe this is definately the worst aspect of this for me.

I get the tingling numb feeling down there too.

I have wondered if anyone who has lost their size has ever gotten it back. I dont know of anyone to be honest.

EDIT - I think you might wanna consider something different for exercise instead of the bike. I’d guess anything that restricts blood flow down there cant be good. Weights and walking/running maybe.