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)? UK
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
What is your current age, height, weight? 36, 6 foot, 75kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Finasteride, Minoxidil, Lions Mane, 5-htp, Ashawanga, Cortisteroid Cream
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 0.5mg Fin
What condition was being treated with the drug? Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? Fin 2 weeks, Minox 2.5 years
Date when you started the drug? Both August 2022
Date when you quit the drug? Fin August 2022, Minox December 2024
Age when you quit? 36
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold Turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? Lost a little erection quality on fin, lost libido quickly on 5-htp.
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
[ ] 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
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X] Testicular Pain
[X]Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[X] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[X] Joint Pain
[X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[X] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[X] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X] Other (please explain)
Thin, dry, stretchy skin. Dry eyes and mouth.
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? I have not really tried any direct treatments for PFS because I was unaware it existed until 6 weeks ago. I tried treatments for digestive issues most of which ended in tears/ crash.
**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)? **Ongoing. Test has dropped w bit on most recent blood test.
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Been lurking for 6 weeks or so and wasn’t going to bother registering here but I am basically standing on the edge of the abyss now anyway after my latest crash so feel like I might as well document it. Pains me to even write all this out because it was all so avoidable if I had just known about the potential dangers.
I noticed some moderate thinning on the crown around 3 years ago. Obviously looked online about options and learned about finasteride and minoxidil. Did see some warnings that fin could affect libido but obviously I did not dig deeply enough to find the full catalogue of affects or the fact they can be permanent. Ordered oral fin and topical minox. Used a pill splitter to half the fin thinking that should minimise any sides. Used for 2 weeks and didn’t notice anything crazy. On the Friday 2 weeks in a woman came round to my house, she ended up being pretty annoying snd I wasn’t sexually attracted to her but she put it on me so I just went ahead with it anyway; my erection was really bad quality and I struggled to even have sex with her. I wasn’t sure if it was because I wasn’t into her or because of the fin, but it felt wise to discontinue to be safe. Unfortunately i had no idea minox could also be dangerous and carried on applying a little of that once every evening.
I think I lost a little erection quality from that point but there was no serious crash and my libido was still very high. Over the next year I dealt with increasing fatigue but still lived normally. Had some dental problems and ended up using NSAIDs for a month which wrecked my gut. Was put on PPIs for 6 months. During this time started using Lions Mane for a week which made me relaxed but gave me bad gastric pain so stopped. Couple months later got covid again. After this I started having problems digesting food so supplemented with HCL. Listened to idiots online and took like 10 capsules with each meal for a couple days and had a pretty bad crash. Digestion got worse, positive emotions somewhat blunted, lost some more erection quality.
I slowly improved over the next 8 months or so but still not feeling good. Went on holiday and drank heavily for a week, had quite bad anhedonia at times but thought it was all the gut. Started trying to work more on this and ended up using a digestive supplement that had 5-htp in it. Lost libido almost immediately but it helped my digestion loads… nutrionist told me to stop after 3 weeks. Libido came back a bit but I now realise I was also less emotional from then on.
I started working with a different nutrionist that had me taking antimicrobrials for 3 months which I now realise was damaging microbiome. Also reused the supplement with 5-htp and ended up with almost no libido. Looking online about libido I finally saw minox could be dangerous and ceased it immediately. I had been training in the gym all this time and was in decent shape although I remember within days of stopping minox I got noticeably stronger. Like suddenly could easily do 4-5 extra pull ups in a set for example. I also had a nice window where music felt euphoric and stuff again.
I started anti-microbials again in January and one morning got really dizzy and started having face flushing. This was around 2 weeks after stopping min so I now realise it could have contributed to a crash. Was also using a high dose b-complex from November to March. Also started to get some mild neuropathy in fingers.
So things were starting to suck but I was still training, working etc. Was able to relax and feel ok most evenings.
In March yet another nutrionist got me to use antimicrobials again (this whole time i am oblivious to PFS/PSSD). I was using cialas to have sex with a girl at work and ended up having a week where libido and erection quality were good again. Upped the dosage and had felt horrendous for a couple days. Nutrionist decided no more antimicrobrials and switched to polyphenols… got me to take a supplement that included Ashawanga. First day I used it I got an brain zap that felt like it was in my ear and I developed tinnitus that hasn’t stopped since. Used it for a week and felt depressed so stopped. Around now I started to learn about PFS but everything I read seemed way more severe than I was so I convinced myself I had b6 toxicity instead.
I basically got signed off work/ stopped all supplementing and lived like a monk for 2 months and slowly was improving. The tinnitus settled a bit and I stopped obsessing over it. Had some fatigue and low libido but was going long walks and felt comfortable a lot of time. Would get some morning wood and decent erections. My digestion magically improved after 2 years of it being a nightmare; I now suspect minox was affecting bile flow.
Went back to work and worked crazy long days for a couple week and felt like crap. Got covid again and it worsened fatigue and dried out my hands. Doctor gave me a steroid cream for this which I used for 10 days. Started to get testicular pain, insomnia and a rash. What’s especially painful is this was around the time I started to realise I had PFS and had to be so careful with meds. If i had been a couple weeks ahead I never would have used the cream.
5 weeks ago I discontinued the cream and 2 nights later had horrific crash in bed into full blown PFS.
Overnight, I developed jaw and teeth pain, dry mouth and eyes, sunken eyes, joint pain and clicking, complete anhedonia, cognition affected, full blown insomnia, loose dry skin, testicles got smaller, scrotum sagged. Severe suicidal ideation. Couldn’t watch tv or listen to music for a couple days, family and friends phoned the psyche hospital and sat with me constantly because I genuinely thought I was going to kill myself. Hospital offered no real help because I obviously was refusing to take meds by this point.
I was in complete anhedonia for a week or 2. I remember being at a mental health appointment and literally felt like I had dementia, couldn’t remember stuff from a week before it was extremely scary. As time has gone on the anhedonia has luckily lessened and my cognition has improved but then the reality of the damage the crash has done has started to sink in. In the 3 years since I used fin my health had got worse but I was never in complete crisis with little hope until now.
I’ve never had real mental health problems or been at all suicidal before now, but if I am being honest I already have one foot out the door now which I guess is why I’ve registered. My family and friends are extremely supportive and I’m all too aware the devastation it would cause, which is a strong incentive not to go through with that but I just feel like I’m kind of cooked after my latest crash?
Is there any hope of even stabilising/ not deteriorating further and getting back to a level where I could at least be comfortable again even if it wasn’t the life I had/ wanted before? I feel i was reasonably mild before the steroid cream and am now quite severe. Since I crashed cognition has improved again but feels like physical keeps getting worse, presumably due to some sort of connective tissue damage based on my symptom presentation.
It’s just so frustrating because if I’d known what was happening sooner I wouldn’t have been so wreckless with further supplements/ meds.