Bender's story

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    Sweden

  2. How did you find this forum?
    Trawling the internet for info about ED.

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    35, 190cm, 85kg

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    I take self defence classes regularly and occasionally lift weights.

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Meat eater. I try to keep a reasonably healthy diet.

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

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    Almost a year

  8. How old were you when you started Finasteride?
    31

  9. How old were you when you quit?
    32

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

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

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

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    Don’t know. This might sound strange, but I actually didn’t connect the finasteride to my problems until long after I quit. First off, I had more pressing problems to care about in my life than ED. Secondly, I was periodically on antidepressants which definitely screwed with my libido and erection and may have masked the side-effects of the finasteride. Third, having a lot of problems and being quite depressed, I first thought my symptoms where probably mostly mental.

  14. 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
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[x] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[?] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
I am not so sure these symptoms are caused directly by the finasteride. They might very well be caused by depression from the sexual symptoms listed above.

[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[x] 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
[ ] 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
[x] 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?
    Cialis/viagra and a lot of natural supplements; arginine, ginseng, tribulus terrestris, avena sativa, eurycoma longifolia, sustain alpha, yohimbe, ZMA, ALC, DIM.

Some of these supplements do a lot for improving erection, though nothing for improving libido, penile sensitivity and ability to ejaculate. When using a sufficiently large amount of any kind of nitric oxide booster, I am able to get a decent erection, but still have a really hard time to reach ejaculation.

I’m also having troubles with frequent urination when I use supplements like these regularly for a while. This is quite surprising to me. I don’t have any such problems when off supplements and I can’t find any information about nitric oxide causing bladder/prostate problems (quite the contrary actually). Have anyone had any similar experiences? I guess I should have my prostate checked.

  1. 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)?
    My urologist only checked testosterone levels and told me they were in the normal range :-/ . Will be looking for a new urologist and trying to get more comprehensive bloodtesting.

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

  3. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

Well, was stupid enough to use this drug for almost a whole year and three years after quitting I am still having major sexual dysfunctions, i.e. erectile dysfunction, complete lack of morning wood, lack of libido and difficulties to reach ejaculation. I certainly did not expect to get side-effects that would persist long after I quit taking finasteride. Oh boy, do I wish I just would have shaved my head from the beginning when I started balding :-/ .

I’ve had some opposition in my life the last 10 years, family tragedies and a painful neck injury that took many years and lots and lots of dealing with ununderstanding and badly informed healthcare practitioners to overcome. I’ve been on and off antidepressants during periods of this time and they always caused sexual problems and decreased libido for me, but those symptoms usually recided when I quit the drugs. I was surprised to find that I was having persistent sexual problems the latest three years although being off antidepressants and actually getting rather healthy, other things concerned, the latest years.

I eventually went to a urologist to check me up, like 9 months ago or so. I noticed I had a varicocele and my left nut seemed to have shrunk in size, which made me think that might be the problem. The urologist did an ultrasound and confirmed that I had a varicocele on the left nut and also a spermatocele on the right nut. He said that they seemed healthy though and his opinion was that my sexual problems were probably mental, prescribed cialis and viagra. I tried those for a while, but though they improved erections, they did nothing for libido/penile sensitivity/ability to ejaculate. I went back, insisted that there was something physically wrong and asked for a testosterone test. I did the test and the urologist said the results where in the normal range, though maybe a tad low. He said there was no way that I would be a candidate for any kind of hormonal therapy and he recommended a sexual therapist.

I did not see the therapist, but started to try different natural supplements and looking for info on the internet. It was not until I stumbled on to your site and other info on the internet that I realized that my persistant problems quite possibly were due to my previous usage of propecia(!) I guess I should have tried to find a new and better urologist as quickly as possible at that point, but I was fed up with incompetent doctors and continued trying different natural supplements for a while. They seemed to either not do very much or to have an effect similar to that of cialis/viagra, boosting nitric oxide. Something very annoying and surprising is that when I use any such supplements regularly for a while, it seems it gives me problems with frequent urination. This is quite the contrary to what one would expect when reading about nitric oxide and prostate/bladder problems :S.

Now, I’m trying to find a new and better urologist to get more comprehensive bloodwork done and maybe check if there is something wrong with my prostate. Since I live in Sweden it’s unfortunately not possible for me to go to any of the doctors you are recommending here on the site. I just have to hope I get lucky this time. I spent several painful years going through a lot of incompetent and less than understanding doctors before I managed to get good treatment for my injured neck and I’m really worried that this will be an instant repeat of that process :frowning: . I just don’t feel I have the energy left for that, nor the years to spend. Well, I guess there’s not a lot more I can do about it right now than trying to find a better doctor and getting bloodwork done as soon as possible.

Thank you for keeping this site with important information for all finasteride victims!

#2

Welcome Bender.

It’s funny you mention the prostate difficulties and supplements… I’ve generally been having the frequent urination problem for several weeks, but it’s gotten markedly worse since I started taking Sustain Alpha about 5 days ago. The last two days I almost literally can’t stop going to the bathroom. I haven’t had a drop of water for about 18 hours, and I still literally have to go every 20-30 minutes… my bladder constantly feels like it has urine in it. It’s so bad I can barely get a couple hours of sleep.

I’m not sure if it’s connected to the Sustain or not, as I don’t believe I’ve reached a stable post-fin state yet, but I’m going to stop taking it and see what happens, particularly after reading your experience. Probably going to bite the bullet and see a doctor if it’s still this bad a week from now.

#3

Thanks. I used sustain alpha for about two weeks. It improved erections for sure. I think it also made my balls firmer, so maybe it was actually helping to produce more testosterone. After a few days I started having to go to the toilet more often and after two weeks I could only sleep for a few hours before waking up and having to go to the bathroom. At that point I quit. If you can’t sleep it will just mess you up in so many ways :-/ . I haven’t read about anyone else having these problems on sustain alpha or similar supplements, so it is weird. It will be interesting to hear if you feel a difference when on and off sustain. I sure hope things will work out for you and that you will be able to sleep well again.

#4

Bender Rodriguez!

He’s one of my all time favorite characters. I hope by the time we’re 1000 years into the future people just stop chemically poisoning themselves. Futurama is one of those rare things I’m still interested in after Fin, glad they are back on the air.

#5

Yeah I’ve actually been looking on search engines for people with similar urination problems from taking Sustain for the last day or so, but have had no luck. That’s why it was the damnedest thing you happened to post when you did. This will be a real load off my mind if it was only the Sustain. By the way, were you using the oral Sustain or the skin cream?

The worst part is I’m not having that feeling of my bladder being emptied anymore… It maybe feels empty for about 5-10 minutes after I’ve urinated, but then I feel the urge to pee again. I’m the kind of person who absolutely can’t get to sleep unless his bladder is completely empty, so this makes things pretty difficult.

As for the libido boost, I have definitely noticed it. I’ve been getting consistent nocturnal erections every night since I started taking it, and my overall sex drive seems stronger, but it’s not worth it if I’m going to have these urinary problems. I think I’m just going to stop trying to mess with supplements and let time do its work.

I’ll keep you posted as to whether my problem gets better the next few days. Thanks for the reply.

#6

Man, I sure wish I lived in the future. Those future guys just don’t know how lucky they are with all their fancy technology and their far superior medical science and whatnot :slight_smile: . I’m very happy that futurama with Bending Unit 22 is back though. At least that is something positive.

I was using the oral sustain. Things went back to normal quickly after I stopped using it, like 2 days off or something like that.

Contacted a new urologist today and I have an appointment for thursday next week. I hope he will be willing to listen to the theory that propecia may be the cause of this and willing to help. I’ll print out the list of recommended bloodtests from this site and see if I can get the most important ones done. I’ll also ask him about my urination problems while on supplements and if he thinks it might indicate a problem with my prostate.

#7

Yeah I took the oral too. I was taking it twice a day, 12 hours apart like it says you can do on the label.

Good luck man. I’ve been through many tough times and been on several antidepressants too. You sound like a strong guy and I hope you can find some answers, or at least a urologist who will listen. I can’t imagine going through this hell as long as you and others on this site have, and I hope I never find out what it’s like.

#8

Thanks. Good luck to you too! I think you should stay off supplements for a little while and if your problems don’t get better, get bloodtests done before trying any new treatments. I regret that I didn’t get tests done as soon as possible. The tests may tell you what kind of supplements/treatments you should be looking in to, instead of just trying things blindly. It’s also good to to have a baseline to see how things develop, should your problems persist. Also, if any of the tests show values that are seriously out of whack, it will probably be a lot easier to get a doctor to take your problems seriously.

#9

Sounds like good advice. I just really hate dealing with doctors and I have little money, but it appears to be unavoidable now.

Unfortunately my urination problem hasn’t improved at all… my last dose of Sustain was Sunday at about noon, and it’s now 7AM Tuesday. Meanwhile the sexual benefit from taking it has dissipated and I had no hint of a nocturnal erection last night for the first time in days.

I’m going to make an appointment with a GP today and hopefully get a referral to a urologist. I’m not even going to mention propecia. I just want to see if this is an infection or not. Hopefully I can convince the urologist to get me the blood tests on this site.

#10

Hey Bender, just got back from the GP. They took a urine sample and found I had an infection, so I guess it wasn’t the Sustain Alpha.

#11

Thanks for telling me. That sounds like good news. The infection should be easily treatable. If you get rid of the infection and able to sleep properly, maybe your other symptoms will get better as well :slight_smile: .

#12

Yeah, I wish everything would just get better. It’s been a week on antibiotics and I haven’t improved at all. Still peeing like crazy. I think this is either a separate issue from the fin-related problem, either that or my prostate is flaring up even more. Fairly certain at this point that it wasn’t Sustain related.

#13

Sorry to hear that. I guess you will be talking antibiotics (cipro?) for another week or two. Maybe it will just take some more time to get results. At least you have tests showing that there is something wrong. That’s better than tests showing normal results while you’re ill. Keep your hopes up!

#14

No not taking Cipro. That drug scares the hell out of me… in fact there’s a similar site to this one on the internet for Cipro victims. Doctor gave my doxycycline, which hasn’t helped at all. I think it’s possible the dipstick test they used on my urine gave a false positive, so I’m going back today to get a urine culture.

Anyway, sorry to hijack your thread with my problems. :laughing:

#15

Hehe, no problem. I don’t have very much to say about my condition until I get to see the urologist on thursday. I hate waiting :angry: . If I convince him to get some bloodtests done I’ll have to do some more waiting for those results. Can’t try any new supplements before I get tests done, because I don’t want to risk the values being fudged by supplements. Ordered some icariin (horney goat weed) yesterday though. Haven’t tried that yet. Might try it after I get my bloodtests, unless the doc comes up with some other brilliant plan. It will probably just do the same as the other sups though :-/ .

#16

Went to see the new urologist yesterday and it was a disappointingly unproductive meeting :frowning: . I told him about my history of problems and that I suspected my use of propecia was the cause. He told me that there should be no such persistant sideeffects of propecia and that I should not believe things I read in support groups on internet. Since I had tested T within normal range, as far as he was concerned, my problems were psychological.

He also told me that they were not even capable of perfoming most of the bloodtests I wanted, so I would have to find an endo if I insisted on getting those tests. I don’t think there even is an endo in my town that I can pay out of my own pocket to see. I would have to go through the crappy public healthcare system and wait several months to get an appointment and then it is pretty likely that the endo would show just as little understanding as the urologist…

He did find it strange that I had frequent urination problems when regularly taking pills such as arginine/cialis. I asked him if I could test my prostate and bladder to see if there was something wrong there and he told me I had to get a new appointment for that. So, I got a new appointment in two weeks to check that.

I guess the tactic will be to use some arginine or try the icariin I bought for the next two weeks so that I actually have some urination problems when they are going to check me. In the meantime, I’m going to look around the country for endos/andrologists that have any experience with problems from propecia. Going to another doctor at random would probably be a waste of time and money. There should be someone in Sweden and it would be worth travelling a few hours for an appointment with someone that is ready to listen. I read about a doctor at the center of andrology in Stockholm commenting on persistent sideeffects from propecia, so I think I’ll contact them and ask if they treat patients with such problems.

In honesty, I really feel like just giving up though. My sides are mostly sexual, so I guess I have it easier than all of you with bad sleeping problems and brain fog. Still, I find it really difficult to get on with my life. My problems prevent me from pursuing the things I should focus on in life right now; getting into a new relationship and starting a family. I’m getting older and the understanding that it will probably take a lot more time to sort out my problems just sucks all energy and motivation out of me :frowning: .

#17

Merck has gotten to all these doctors, cause i got the exact same response from two doctors.
The drug reps go round to all the surgeries and talk bs and offer “incentives”.
How could any doctor with half an education think its a good idea to block a vital hormone to male well being?

#18

Your doctor is a joke. He should have his license revoked and take a course on “medical ethics”.

#19

Mew,

We also should make a thread “Wall of Shame”. A list of doctors who do not listen to their patients and deny the horrible side effects of finasteride.

#20

Be my guest, you can start a thread if you like.