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Where are you from (country)?
Spain -
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 -
What is your current age, height, weight?
21;1.80 cm; 79kg -
Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
Yes, gym 2-3/week, some running and other sports (I exercise hard, but try to avoid “chronic cardio” or too strenuous exercise, usually alternating 1-2 days of rest) -
What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)
Ketogenic paleo die -
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Hair loss -
For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
During a period of 2 years and seven months, but during 3 or 4 months I discontinued the treatment -
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
18 years old, april-may of 2012 -
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
20years old, january 2015 -
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey -
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Other generic (named “alocare” in Spain) -
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
I began 1 mg every other day, but after a while, and for the most of the time, 1 mg/day -
How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
Difficult to say, it was something gradual. I did notice some less sexual desire, but thought it was ok at that time (I was a “horny adolescent”, so I thought I was becoming more human and less animal).
Maybe a year after or so, I noticed a down in my libido and erections, so I stopped taking it for 3-4 months. After that I sadly returned. -
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
[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 to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X ] Confusion
[ X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[X ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[X] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[X ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] 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?
The urologist gave me “prelox”, just a supplement for ED made from L-arginine, taurine and pycnogenol (too expensive and that only adresses the problem in a very specific way: putting my penis temporarily hard)
I believe that the treatment of PFS must be polifacetic, I´ll detail later what I am doing and how I am improving.
- 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)?
I only have them from 7 and 9 months after quiting. They are not very complete, because that would be really expensive. They were not very dramatic, maybe I´ll post them other day, but I swear my symptoms WERE dramatic.
Almost all was “normal” for the doctor. I had 1.09 ng/mg of progesterone, wich was way more than the usual, if anyone could explain me this I would be grateful
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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.
Ok, here it is, maybe a bit long, so I´ll try to cut some parts, if you have any doubts or suggestions please tell me.
May 2012- I was concerned about the hair loss at my young age of 18, so I visit the doctor and she suggest me to take finasteride 1 mg. She told me it was the best for stopping hair loss, and even reversing it. She also mentioned that it could, very improbably, lower my erections. She mentioned not permanent side effects, only temporary, so I began with it.
Few months later- I noticed some less sexual desire and number of erections/day, but I just felt ok, I was more “relaxed”
A year or so after (I haven´t taken a journal, so this is all aproximately)- I became a bit concerned about having less spontaneus erections and libido, so I decided to quit for a few months
3 months later- After this time of “rest”, in wich I had felt much more sexual, I came back (wow, my ego prefered a head full of hair than a good sexual life), and continue taking this until january 2015. I stopped taking it not really because of feeling really bad, I don´t remember well, but I think I just wanted to stop temporary and come back again.
January 2015- I stop taking finas. As I said, I have nor kept any record or journal, but I think it was 3 weeks after or so when it came the crash. I was studing in the library and literally had to go home because I felt I needed to cry, for no reason really (I was a bit stressed during exams, but that´s not for crying and feel like shit). After that day and for maybe 2-3 weeks I was fucking weird, with all the symptoms I mentioned above. Some of them were:
-I felt emotionally like shit, crying for no reason (difficult to understand if you don´t feel it)
-I had “social anxiety”, I was f… terrified about going out with friends and even say hello to people
-I had fearfull racing thoughts (I thought I had became crazy, I swear)
-I was depressed
-Binge eating
-In the sexual symptoms I don´t really feel much change at that time, but I think is because the others are overwhelming
After I finished exams, I got slightly better. I thought it all had been because of a period of high stress (now I know the stress could contribute, but was definitely not the root cause). It hadn´t. Even though I felt a bit better, I didn´t want to be with people around, so they could see how sad and “strange” I was.
May/june 2015: I discover the PFS in google. I see symptom by symptom that most of them match with my state at that moment. I see a light, possibilities. I discover this website. I discover other websites and the path of my recovery begins.
RECOVERY
I began to search. The first website that I found very interesting was this mrfreet.com/blogs/treating-e … inasteride (I don´t remember if I can post links here, apologize to the admins if not… but I think this is really interesting)
As I said, I agree with the people that think that this condition is possible to overcome, although it´s needed a lot of consistency and perseverance, and also a bit of hope. I don´t believe in quick and easy fixes. I believe in a holistic approach. It´s what I´m doing and wich is giving me good results (right now I feel really good, not cured 100 percent because I still rely in some natural supplements, but I really feel I am in my way).
I´m not a doctor so you should not believe me (even if I was haha), investigate for yourself and try things carefully, what works for me may not for you, but I think the general approach should be similar.
My path towards healing is has different areas:
1-Positive attitude
2-Food
3-Supplements
4-Relaxing and mental techniques
5-Exercise
6-Other lifestyle changes
Basically now I follow a ketogenic paleolitic diet, and take three kinds of supplements (some aminoacids, vitamins and minerals, and adaptogens, as rhodiola or ashwagandha)
I practice exercise 3-4 times a week, and go walking the resting days. I do this because I´m feeling good now, before I did much less
I try to follow the circadiam rythms (go to bed early, not using electronic devices late in the afternoon), so this helps the production of melatonin.
I did (I´ve just stopped, because I don´t feel so anxious,) relaxing breathing, from a program of Andrew Weil (I was also skeptical, but it works)
I practice everyday mindfulness meditation, 20´(great for people like me, with anxiety, but also good for everyone)
I really recommend the short book “Rethinking fatigue”, by Nora Gedgaudas. I believe this condition is referred to the HPA axis and all hormonal system. Also could have with the gut, so I think good nutrition is essential.
Again, I´m not any kind of expert or anything, and I´m here to learn from your experiences. Also I´ll be happy if I can help anyone with their recovery with the information I am learning and applying in my own healing journey.