another story

Member Stories
#1

  1. How did you find this forum?
    After experiencing symptoms and doing research online

  2. What is your current age, height, weight?- 26, 5’8’’, 160

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?- 30 minutes cardio everyday (elliptical machine)

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

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

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 10 months

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride? 26

  8. How old were you when you quit? 26

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

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

  11. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1 on propecia and 2 on generic

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 10 months

  13. 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
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

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
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? nothing so far

  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)? not yet

  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 started taking after noticing a slightly receding hairline in June or July of 2010. I started on Propecia and had no problems until december of that year. For the first time ever I lost an erection during sex. I thought it was because I had been drinking but I was concerned as that had never happened before.

Fast forward to June 2011 and the problems began. I lost interest in sex and i was unable to maintain an erection for longer than a minute and it was very weak. I found this board and decided to wait for 4 weeks to see if I got better. My libeo returned but I was still unable to obtain and/or maintain an erection. After four weeks I became concerned but then at 5 weeks. At 5 weeks I was back. My erections seemed stronger than ever and I had sex with my girlfriend 3 times that day.

I thought everything was better around July 15 or so. But fast forward again to the beginning of November and i could easily get erections but they were weak again and now November 25, it is very hard to get them again and if I do they only last for a minute.

Of course, I am devastated. I am thinking about going to see Dr Crisler in December. I know I should get blood tests but I am not really sure of my next options. I know that there is not much knowledge on this but have people experienced a full recovery and then 3 months later have everything fall apart again?

#2

So a day after posting my initial story I have developed cognitive issues- what people here call “brain fog.” This is terrifying. I am in my second year of law school with exams coming up and I cannot study. If this continues I cannot become a lawyer. Jesus Christ- this may ruin my life.

#3

You should read it first - propeciahelp.com - front-to-back before beginning on the forum. Other people have reported improvements after stopping finasteride only to have the symptoms reoccur later, so you’re not alone in this regard.

Get the recommended blood tests found here, either the short list or the longer list if possible:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=92

Some things I and others on this forum have found that help improve long-term sides from finasteride are:

eating a paleo diet (a raw food diet and fasting have also been reported to give benefits to PFS sufferers)
eliminating sugars, caffeine, alcohol, and bread
getting enough rest - listen to your body here
not overdoing sexual activity or masturbation especially if you’re in a fragile recovery period - maybe once every three days

After you’ve gotten blood work then would be a good time to consider hormone treatments or other more serious options. Anything you choose to do is ultimately your responsibility and affects you only, so please do extensive research before making any serious treatment options.

#4

So, i wanted to update my condition since its been over a year since I have posted. Overall, I feel a ton better. Taking Carlson’s fish oil and 10,000 IU’s of Vit D every day have improved all of my cognitive symptoms. Sexually, I have my ups and downs but the progress has been steadily up. My year-long relationship just ended (for reasons other than propecia) but I was always able to have (good) sex during the relationship. While I can sometimes gain an erection on my own (I almost always have to use porn) I never had a problem with her. So that is positive. I only rarely wake up with an erection and still I can’t think my way to one. Overall, my progress has been really good and I can live a normal life like this.

Also, my biggest problem besides not being able to get erections in the morning or with mental stimulation, my ejaculation is all over the place. Sometimes it will go far, sometimes it won’t. SOmetimes it is yellow and sometimes white.

I take Cialis (5) once every 2 weeks or so just to make sure there is blood flow. I may do it more regularly now since I am single.

The stress of the breakup (was very sad about it, thought we would get married) set me back a few days, but since calming down I have been better.

#5

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I am going to try a 7 day fast. It’s Spring Break in law school and now that I am single I have the time. I am eating fruits and veggies for a few days and then attempting to do a short water fast. I may go longer in the future but I want to try it out first after reading that people have responded positively to them.

#6

So, another thing I forgot to mention. I believe that weight lifting and cardio were really beneficial to my improvement in sexual sides. I went from one relationship not being able to have a sustained erection and low libido to starting a weight lifting regimen and slowly my libido grew and the “connection” came back. Still now, after I lift, I feel a higher libido than the hour prior to working out. I will continue to lift weights to help improve these sides. I have also recently started to eat a more healthy diet- taking out many sugers and grains.

#7

Thanks for coming back and posting. It’s always helpful to read recoveries or even partial recoveries to stay optimistic.

#8

I just wanted to update a bit more. My semen seems to have returned to a normal color and consistency. Overall, I am doing a lot better. I never did do the fast but I have cut out sugars (e.g. candy and sweets), I don’t each many carbs, and my diet is really clean and healthy.

Along with working out, I have started doing bikram yoga 3 times a week. Along with lifting, this has improved my overall well-being. Not sure if it’s related to my improvements with semen or not but Bikram pushes blood to different areas of the body. I love it and I will continue to do it for the foreseeable future.

For anyone interested my diet usually includes a green smoothie in the morning (two huge handfuls of greens, carrot juice, blueberries, orange juice, and a banana + other fruit sometimes), nuts, hard-boiled eggs, fish, veggies, and fruit. I still take fish oil but no other supplements.

I am not saying I am cured. I am not but I am a lot better than what I was but also worried that posting this will jinx me.

#9

So, I graduated from law school and I would like to join the Army JAG corp. BUt after filling out my application, I realized that because of my blood results that show abnormal thyroid and adrenal problems, I will most likely be disqualified. Thanks, Merck!

#10

Regardless how the JAG opportunity works out, you should take a lot of pride in completing Law school while fighting through this condition. Law school is a big enough challenge for even the healthiest of people.

Congrats & glad you’re feeling better.

#11

Thanks. I am doing better but I’m still not there. My libido is I think fully back. I want to mastutbate all the time. But the problem is I can’t. If I mastutbate too frequently, my erections become weak. I’ve mastutabted about 10 times in the last seven days and its harder to get and maintain one. But I doing it now without porn and just thoughts and stumulation.

I guess I won’t know until I date someone again where I am at with sex.

I had stopped vitamin d and fish oil but may start fish oil up as I keep reading its really beneficial.