What you want to look up is Minoxidil, 5ar and Androgen Receptor.
As for tapering off, I personally don’t know what would be best.
I’m not really across the science of things in a meaningful way. I pretty much just avoid everything that messes with my hormones now. That’s my approach and Minoxidil is on that list.
You dont need to taper minoxidil, just get off. Also search Minoxidil and ED online. You’ll find hundreds of threads talking about guys (who have never taken finasteride) who have suffered full blown ED from Minoxidil
Thank you for that. I’m not going to use it anymore.
Providing an update on my PFS experience about 4.5 months since taking the 1mg pill…
I am still struggling with pretty moderate to severe cognitive side effects. As of now, I have experienced a significant cognitive shift - a change in the way I view things in my field of vision. It is like everything in my vision “runs together”, that is, nothing stands apart. The best way to explain it is the “lost in the woods” feeling, where if you were drunk at a party in a field or the woods and were trying to find your car. When I’m in a grocery store shopping for groceries I have to concentrate extra hard on what i’m looking at, where i’m going, and what needs to happen next. Is it terrifying and very frustrating.
I also have hard eye and facial pressure pretty constantly or consistently. It is worth noting that before ever taking the drug, I had the same pressure which would get worse when I was stressed out. Now, it is that pressure but more extreme and more often. It is noticeably there constantly; when it is gone I definitely notice. It is very apparent and gets worse when I lay down to go to sleep.
I also have experienced quite oily skin, particularly on my face. As of 2-3 months ago, I started waking up in the mornings with my face extremely oily, and I started developing acne on the left side of my face. I am 24 years old and never had a problem with any sort of acne; I have always had a smooth complexion my entire life. This is persisted enough where I have sought out a dermatology office and gotten on an acne regimen : 10% benzoyl peroxide wash in the evenings, followed by a Cerave PM facial moisturizing lotion. It has helped keep some of the oil at bay, but even with this I still develop an oily face.
I also have developed significant dark bags under my eyes, where I appear exhausted all of the time. This is very disheartening, as it makes me look like I am a shell of a person, which I am starting to feel like I am. I have made great strives to combat this condition with enough sleep. I am in bed by 10:30pm each week night and get at minimum 7 hours of sleep at night. I purchased a fitbit heart rate monitor to track my sleep stages accordingly. On good nights, I average 1 hour REM and 1 hour deep sleep. I wish this would increase. My sleep is also very strange to describe. I dream a lot more now, almost every night I remember my dreams. Some nights, I have multiple dreams I remember. I don’t sleep near as deeply, and I wake up almost every night in between 3-4 am for seemingly no reason at all. I tend to fall back asleep, but I don’t fall back into deep sleep after this stage, as confirmed by my FitBit.
Overall, I have made some improvements as far as getting my thoughts together and being able to write and type out sentences, but it is still very much a problem. I have a hard time reading information, digesting it, and just don’t feel the same way. A good friend on here, Mcbbould, has described it as “not feeling at home inside my head”, which is quite disturbing but unfortunately very true. I just wanted to share an update with you all, as I have reached out to a lot of people thus far, and I still have the hope of ultimately returning to normal and feeling like myself again.
Might wanna try this and see if it helps - Pseudoephedrine works well for mental sides
I remember all my dreams now too, I’ve got used to just brushing them off though.
Have you used Pseudophedrine yourself? What has been your experience?
I haven’t used it. My mental side effects got better on their own.
How severe were your cognitive symptoms? Mine feels like there is a constant film around my brain and my eyes, though there’s nothing wrong with my eyes at all. It is like I am in almost a dream world, disconnected… I’m hoping to reach out to as many people as I can with identical or similar cognitive sides.
I had trouble remembering things for a time and would be really forgetful. Had brain jolts, extreme dizziness, but they all went away. The only thing that remained is if I shake my head it hurts which is worrying.
Be careful with Pseudoephedrine, it’s a vasoconstrictor and I’ve read reports of people having toruble with their sight later on in life because of regular vasoconstrictor use.
Thanks for the advice. I might try it. I don’t see how just a vasoconstrictor could help me with experiencing and perceiving things more clearly, and ultimately feeling more connected though.
What was your time-line of improvement? Being 4.5 months out, should I expect more improvement in symptoms with time, is there time to still develop new symptoms?
I don’t know how it will either, but that Andrea guy in that topic said it helped his.
You can see my timeline in my post history, I took 1 pill too lol, and I kept improving even after a year so don’t lose hope.
Sorry to read about your symptoms. If you haven’t already perhaps try using meditation when you awake and in the evening to steady your mind. Put more focus on yourself. Perhaps be more selective about what you read/see and remove negative things and review what gives you value and what doesn’t.
You may want to look at things that increase blood flow into the brain, and use these through different times of the day. Increasing blood flow is important and a recognized treatment for various brain conditions. I would consider incorporating foods, practices and then look to add certain supplements later on that you can tolerate e.g. gingko on a empty stomach. There are warnings on the site about Ginkgo so read these first.
Going to post an update and overview of my current symptoms for personal reference, if nothing else.
I’ve had an EEG and MRI - EEG was normal, fell in a light sleep during the test and they analyzed my brain waves through sleep. Normal as well. Still waiting on MRI results but I assume they will be normal. Tried a home sleep study - couldn’t sleep with that shit on me, trying to get an in-lab study approved.
Current Symptoms:
-Overarching, persistent cognitive shift, like I am viewing the world through a window
-Eye floaters, I often see blurry moving dots in my visual field, often times it looks as though stationary things are moving in my peripherals
-Significant trouble reading things, as if my eyes cannot focus & my brain cannot make sense of what i’m reading
Chronic head and eye pressure, gets worse when I’m stressed or lay down
-General fatigue
-General muscle weakness
-Muscle wastage, different than atrophy. Been an avid weightlifter for about 7 years now and I am watching my muscle melt away despite staying in the gym and eating well
-Dark bags under my eyes.
-Loss of deep sleep, I get very little if any deep sleep. Most of my time asleep is REM and Light
-Right foot tends to fall asleep easy, even while standing
-Appearance of decreased overall bloodflow to my face and limbs. More pale overall
-Significant depression
-Suicide ideation
-Significant loss of libido
-Narrower and more veiny penis
-Less full erections
-Watery ejaculate
-Overaching feeling of impending doom and misery
Thanks to all who have responded to my questions and given me advice. I am still fighting. Physical therapy school starts May 14th and I know I’m not ready but I will give it my best shot.
Could I get any input on those who have experienced physical changes to their penis? Mine is definitely smaller now, in terms of length and girth, but there’s also been changes to the actual tissue. It is like more elastic and “loose” now, where when I have a full erection, I can move it around very easily. Before, it would stay in place much better. It is like it bends much more easily too now, if that makes sense? I am assuming these things are irreversible.
Also,
Sleep has slightly improved
Ejaculate quality has moderately improved
Same thing happened to my penis, it has no strength at the base anymore and very flimsy the tissue has changed significantly, my flaccid feels weightless/rubbery, it shrunk quite a bit as well in width and length. I’m never going to forgive myself for this shit! I’m very sorry you too are going through this. So you progressively got worse after taking only 1 pill correct?
I also took one pill back in December 2018, I seem to be experiencing all the same sides you are having 
I do feel like I am very slowly improving.
That’s good your slowly getting better
Your still in the infancy of your crash give it a full 2yrs I wish you the best my friend!
Thanks, thats what I accepted. I am going to give it a full two years before I really start whining. I did however lose my job because of this but I can find another one once I am better!
Yes, some things have gotten worse, very few things have gotten better. My ability to cope with the situation has gotten somewhat better. I only took a single 1mg pill, had the crash that evening, probably 5-6 hours later.