Brain fog, chest pain - blood test results unclear

Hi,

I’m a 30 year old guy. I was on Proscar about 2 years ago for a few months. I stopped using it because it had absolutely no results.
I’ve had what you guys describe as ‘brain fog’ ever since. I also get massive chest pains, making me feel like my chest is buried under a ton of concrete. Being in a business meeting has also become a problem, because I can’t seem to think fast enough anymore, nor express myself well enough.

I had a blood test taken last week, but I have no clue how to interpret the results, so I’m hoping someone here might be able to figure them out :

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=12483

Standard questions answered below.

Any help much appreciated !

Kind regards,

Wim

  1. How did you find this forum?
    Google

  2. What is your current age, height, weight?
    30, 5"9/175cm, 140.8 pounds / 64kg

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    I used to run (long distance) a lot. I was a very good junior, on my way to world class level, but got injured 12 years ago. I haven’t been doing a lot of sports since.

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

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

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    About 4-5 months

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride?
    27,5

  8. How old were you when you quit?
    28

  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?
    Proscar

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

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    I don’t remember having side effects during use

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    I don’t remember having side effects during use

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[X] 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
[X] Weight Gain
[X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[X] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[ ] 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
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[X] Other (please explain) : chest pain, as if my chest is being compressed or hundreds of arrows are shot into it - no painkiller helps

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    None 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)?

  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 also have the chest pain problem, but for me, things are a little different. If I drink any sugary beverage (just about everything except water) I get chest pains very similar to what you are describing. It’s extremely painful and lasts for about 30 minutes and then goes away. Have you noticed any connection between what you eat and drink and the pain?

Absolutely. Sugar is not a problem, but if I drink Aquarius, there’s an 80% chance I get it within a few hours.
Also, lack of sleep doesn’t seem to help…

There must be some ingredient in that drink that is triggering the pain. I just wish I knew what it was. I thought it was high fructose corn syrup, but there are so many chemicals in some of these beverages it’s almost impossible to pinpoint the cause. If you only drink water, can you avoid this problem? That’s been what I’ve been doing and it seems to be working for me. I’m just past the one year point off finasteride and so far the chest pain seems to be happening less frequently so I haven’t been too concerned about it lately.

I seem to get it with certain sports drinks (Aquarius, Extran, AA Drink). I also get it when I don’t sleep well for a few days. So it’s either one of those two.

these sports drinks contain added electrolytes
maybe it is possible your body is having trouble balancing electrolyte levels?
common symptoms can include extra thirst , fatigue , heart palpitations
it is just another avenue to consider