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Where are you from (country)? UK
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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
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What is your current age, height, weight? 30, 170cm, 60kg
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? gym only, and not regularly
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? local thai food… lots of fruit, rice, curries, meats, fish etc
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 2 months
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 29, around April 2015
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 29
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? short taper off - started taking it every other day, then every few days, etc
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? thai generic
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25mg/day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? lost erections and libido pretty quickly
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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
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X] 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)
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? dabbling with progesterone
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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)?
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
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Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I took the pill for a couple of months. At first I wasn’t too bothered by the lack of libido as I was too promiscuous for my own good previously, and was more productive as a result of the pill. Eventually though I realised I felt less human by a lack of libido. I did some googling about tapering off but didn’t see much useful info, so I just cut down my dosage frequency. When I finally stopped, within a day or two (I forget now), migraines took hold. I’d never had a migraine before (I rarely even had headaches), so at the time I didn’t know what was going on. I only realised it after trying in vain to google my symptoms. It felt like my brain was pushing up against my skull, lots of pressure. It lasted for days then eventually subsided.
Ever since then I’ve had pretty much permanent brain fog. I remember one day I woke up feeling perfect, better than before the pill, but it was a one off. My libdio sort of returned (still weak), as did my erections. They’re not great but it’s better than nothing. I get depressive days if I don’t eat regularly. I have trouble peeing sitting down sometimes, it feels like it won’t all come out properly.
Around the time I came off the pill I was trying to mend my adrenals and thyroid, as my body temp was low and my pupil test was alarming. I took HC and NDT for a few weeks, and my body temperature stabilised. I think taking either B vitamins or selenium has kept it at a healthy level but I’m not sure which one, so I’m currently testing that out by excluding one or the other.
I’m currently taking the following:
- 5000IU of Vitamin D3 (with K2) when I wake up
- 2.5mg/day of Selegiline
- B-Right vitamin B complex by Jarrow - for MTHFR mutation. I haven’t actually checked my genes yet, it was more of a hunch based on pre-Finasteride symptoms. I feel much more awake when I take this. Without it I get yawny for a lot of the day
- 200mg Selenium - currently on hold
- 60mg zinc before bed
I tried 50mg of pregnenolone but it seemed to make my head worse. I was testing out 5mg of transdermal progesterone and I feel like my head feels slightly better when taking it (if I start to feel migrainy), but 10mg makes my testicles ache. I tried maca but didn’t really notice any change. I also have vitamin E but I haven’t been consistently taking it.
My results on 03/10/2015 were as follows:
Free T3 2.95 pg/mL (1.71-3.71)
Free T4 1.09 ng% (0.70-1.48)
Estraidol/E2 23 pg/mL (11.0-44.0)
Progesterone 0.28 ng/mL
Prolactin 10.29 ng/mL (3.46-19.40)
Total Testosterone 8.484 ng/mL (1.424-9.231)
DHEA 173.1 ug/dL (80-560)
FSH 1.3 mIU/mL (0.95-11.95)
LH 2.8 mIU/mL (1.14-8.75)So low LH, FSH, and DHEA. Total testosterone was high but I think that might have been because I was using progesterone that week and stopped a day or two before the tests - my libido was unusually high that day. I’m going to get the tests done again to see if there are any changes.
If T goes low and FSH/LH stay low, I will try letrozole, 2.5mg/week as I have seen people have a lot of success on it. I want to avoid trying SERMs like clomid unless I have to, as I’m scared of getting floaters