Balph’s Journey

Member Stories
#1

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)? Australia

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? 29 180cm

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.)
Four 1.25mg tablets taken every other day (5mg total)

What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 1 week

Date when you started the drug? Nov 2022

Date when you quit the drug? Nov 2022

Age when you quit? 29

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

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? 1 week

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
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ x] Confusion
[ x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ x] 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
[ x] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ x] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ x] Joint Pain
[ x] 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)
Brain zaps and spasms
Sensitivity to sound
Insomnia
Muscle pain
Bone pain (including teeth)
Head pressure: feels like my brain is vibrating
Clicking joints
Nipple pain
Dry hair and skin
Songs seem to be stuck in my head for most of the day

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
I am currently on Olanzapine which is allowing me to get deep sleep

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.

Hey all,

I am a very early sufferer, only 4 weeks since I stopped fin and 3 weeks since what I feel like was my crash.

I crashed 1 week after my last dose of Finasteride (stopped because of testicular pain). Immediately I felt something was wrong. Massive anxiety, brain frog, brain pressure (with a low frequency buzz), insomnia. After not sleeping for 4 days and crazy anxiety, I had a loved one drive me to the Emergency ward where I stayed for a few days. I was put on Olanzapine which has helped calm me down and allowed me to get deep sleep.

Now, at two weeks out, I am currently dealing with the following;

  • Anxiety
  • Brain fog
  • Head pressure (currently lessened at this time but still there). Almost feels like electrical activity in my brain?
  • Random muscle twitches
  • Insomnia (medicating through Olanzapine)
  • Lack of emotions
  • Clicking joints (I had joint pain in the first week but this has mostly subsided)
  • Songs stuck in head (weird one I know)

I am still on the Olanzapine, it hasn’t made anything worse and has helped my sleep. Regardless, I’m still wary of it, but can’t see any info on this forum regarding its use. Doctor has advised me to stay on it for now.

I’m struggling to work at this point. I am an Engineer and this has hindered my ability to do my job. I will be working this weekend to make up for lost time. Luckily I can work from home.

As I am still in the early days, I am hoping I can recover.

My plan is:

  • Daily fasting (one meal a day) on a carnivore diet: I was doing this prior to all of this and will continue
  • 30 mins of hard cardio once a day
  • Full body workouts (strength training) twice a week

I will be providing continuous updates. I am not going down without a fight. Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Balph

2 Likes
We need to warn people about antipsychotics
#2

Good luck,
For sleep isue magnesium citrate and melatonin if you are looking for an alternative to use than what your currently on.
For improving mental health I’d say look in into some forms of meditation exercises, using saunas and swimming if possible.
Maybe try no pmo aswell.
Is the electricity tinnitus?

#3

Thanks Dead.

I will look into the Magnesium supps. From reading this forum, it seems most people are fine with Mag Citrate / Glycinate.

The head pressure I experience is like a vibrating sensation in my brain with a low humming noise. At times it has been debilitating, however twice now it has dropped to about 10% intensity. For example, since midday today it has become barely noticeable. When it is bad, I also have sensitivity to sounds (loud noises will make my brain “zap”). Regardless, the fact that it is changing in intensity gives me hope that it will go away. Not sure if tinnitus is involved in the humming noise, perhaps.

#4

I’m a year in and still have this. Head pressure has healed very slowly and sleep has been the main thing that helps

#5

Yep I’ve also got this noise sensitivity issue. Any unexpected sounds make me jolt. Has improved a bit since my crash. Certain it is due to lack of GABA in nervous system.

#6

Hi @Balph, and welcome to the forum!

I’m sorry this happened to you - the cognitive symptoms are really awful! Like you mentioned, it’s very early for you, and chances are good that you’ll see big improvements in the next few months.

If you haven’t already, is recommend that you read this.

IMHO, it seems pretty risky to be taking drugs like Olanzapine right away, so you might want to see what improvements can happen without the drug first.

1 Like
#7

I agree

#8

Thanks guys.

I’ll take your advice and stop the Olanzapine. Don’t want to make things any worse.

#10

That is exactly how it is for me. Glad to hear it has improved somewhat for you.

#11

Thanks for the advice. I am seeing a psychiatrist on Thursday and will request to be weaned off of the Orlanzapine. I was put on it during my panic attack in the hospital to calm me down (when I first crashed) and then told to keep taking it afterwards. Now I really wish they never put me on it in the first place. Will have to wean off of it carefully in small increments.

1 Like
#13

Thought I’d provide a 1 month post-crash update.

The positives:

  • I am off the Olanzapine and appear to have dodged any crash. Consider myself lucky. Avoiding any other medications like the plague.

  • I appear to be making progress with my anxiety and stress response. There have been times where the anxiety feels constant and unbearable, and times where it settles and I feel much more calm. Still not great but I will take any improvement.

  • Brain fog / brain vibration keeps changing in severity, sometimes it’s bad and sometimes it’s much better. I’ve had a couple windows where it seemed to go away completely or at most 10%. Overall a positive trend. I have managed to keep my work together through pushing hard during the good periods. I have noticed that exercise seems to make the brain fog worse.

  • Anhedonia: Once again, this seems to fluctuate. I have periods where I feel nothing, and periods where I seem to come good. Right now I am feeling pretty good, but it’s so up and down I expect it to drop again. Still, a good sign that I am having recovery periods. Very happy about that as this one really scares me.

  • Libido has started to come back slowly. Downstairs still works, but with everything else going on I haven’t paid much attention to this area.

The negatives:

  • I consistently get only about 3-4 hours sleep a night. It also takes me at least 4 hours to fall asleep. I seem to have a problem where, as soon as I’m about to doze off, my body/brain spasms and keeps me awake. I also get really a burning sensation and headache in my brain whenever this happens. Feels like lack of oxygen to the brain? Apnea? The only positive is that I was originally getting 0 hours sleep a night for the first week, but I’ve stagnated on 3-4 hours for a couple weeks now.

  • I still have sore and clicking joints all over my body. This gets much worse after both cardio and weight training, so I’ve had to take a break from those. Severity hasn’t lessened but hasn’t gotten worse.

  • Still get muscle spasms and strange sensations allow over my body. Once again, this is more prevalent after cardio and weight training.

  • Still have incessant music looping over and over in my head. Usually the same songs. Reading and thinking stops it. This one is a pain but I will take it over the Anhedonia. It may have subsided a tiny bit, but hard to tell.

  • My skin seems to go red and dry after I pinch it, scratch it, or rest it on something. The marks fade within 30 minutes or so. My skin never use to do this. Don’t like this one at all.

  • Frequent urination is really bad. Have to constantly pee.

Overall I would say that my progress is extremely up and down. The recovery windows I have seen for multiple symptoms have given me hope, but I am still terrified over this whole ordeal. Please note I haven’t followed any protocol during this time. My eating habits and exercise have been all over the place.

Finally, I’ve decided that whether I recover or not, I am going to stick around and help however I can. The injustice of this whole situation makes me sick and I feel obligated to do something.

All the best,
Balph

3 Likes
#14

If this persists I would consider having a sleep study done. I also developed issues sustaining sleep while still on finasteride - they got better with time but I still struggle with it at times, especially when stressed.

4 hours of sleep a night is not nearly enough and could exacerbate all of your other symptoms. If you’re committed to staying off prescription drugs, at least consider taking melatonin before bed every night to help you fall asleep.

#16

I will add, I have had five separate events now where it feels like a switch is activated in my brain and everything goes back to normal. Lasts for a few hours. Makes me feel like whatever this is is reversible. A software problem as opposed to a hardware problem.

3 Likes
#17

I had two of those in the first month, really underscores the chemistry involved. Interesting thought about software, maybe in the future we’ll be able to set restore points like Windows.

1 Like
#18

I had similar experiences during my first year. Also I had two brief mini-crashes while I was on the drug. Those lasted around a week and I was able to fully recover from them. Unfortunately, I haven’t felt like normal for almost a whole year already.

1 Like
#19

I think I may have crashed from the Olanzapine. Been experiencing new sides of sore tight muscles, muscle spasms, bone pains, clicking joints are worse, dry lips, worsened ED, worsened mental sides. These are all signs of dopamine deficiency so I hope I haven’t damaged my dopamine receptors too.

#21

I had a second crash a few weeks after my first caused by high dose methyl donors. Total insomnia, 24/7 anxiety and palpitations, complete anhedonia, etc. This lasted about a week before I recovered to my current baseline.

Hang in there. This likely isn’t permanent. As an aside, did it happen suddenly or slowly over your tapering?

#22

Hey Inf,

Thanks for your reply.

It happened suddenly three days ago which was about 2 weeks after I finished my last dose of Olanzapine. Started getting sore tight muscles all over my body, clicking joints, itchy skin and dry lips — also accompanied with brutal insomnia, anxiety and Anhedonia. Honestly I feel like a 90 year old man atm.

The most bizarre thing is that my face and hair are suddenly producing oil again. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or not as apparently low dopamine can cause this.

The only other explanation is that this was all due to exercise, but the emergence of new symptoms makes me think I crashed from the Olanzapine.

#23

Yeah, that could definitely have been precipitated by the Olanzapine. Could also just be your body riding a hormonal rollercoaster as you’re only a few weeks off. Have you managed to sleep at all?

Also, I wouldn’t normally recommend another pharmaceutical but at the height of my crash beta blockers were a life saver in terms of dealing with the physical anxiety.

1 Like
#24

My lips are insanely dry and shrivelled. I’m also getting sores that aren’t healing. Photo below.

Has anyone experienced this?

I really think I might have dopamine receptor silencing. My sudden return of oil to skin and hair, the tight muscles, clicking joints, muscle/joint/bone pains. Antipsychotics work by blocking dopamine and I think I have overexpressed my dopamine receptors in a similar way that the initial PFS crash did androgen receptors. I also cannot get an erection anymore at all. Apparently dopamine is important for erections too. If anyone has any thoughts / advice please let me know.