Charles story

Member Stories
#1
  1. How old were you when you started Finasteride?

21

  1. How old were you when you quit?

21

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

cold turkey

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

propecia

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

took full 1mg dose for a week and then .25 the rest

  1. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    Right away from the first couple days I noticed ED, pain in testicles, brain fog, and severe hot flashes and allergic reactions from eating hot meals. After about a week on the drug I noticed my whole sleeping ability went and I started to experience extreme fatigue and lack of quality sleep. I would wake up tired every morning and felt like total shit.

  2. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

My sex drive has come back fully I feel. Only a couple of weeks off and morning erections fully came back, and I was back to being the regular horny guy I was. The sleep and fatigue have not resolved themselves and have gotten worse. I now have a hypothyroid issue because of it all, and that was just diagnosed yesterday.

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
[ X Confusion
[ X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ X] Slurring of Speech
[ X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ X] 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
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ X] Muscle Wastage
[X ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[] Prostate pain
[X ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ X] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[X ] Lowered body temperature

[X] Other (please explain)

developed hypothyroidism my TSH level came back at 8.82 which is severely bad for a 22 year old male. I also seemed to have lost the ability to tan on my facial area, and have facial swelling and loss of collagen overall I look like a totally different person and or like I aged 20 years over the matter of months.
14) What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

none besides thyroid hormones such as armour that I just started

  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)?

I didn’t have any pre tests, but I had tests done in april right when I went off the drug from not feeling right, and I recently had a bunch of tests done because my life is in shambles right now and my physical and mental state is rapidly wasting away. My TSH was 2.7 in April of 2007 which I now have learned is high for a guy my age, but my dr. said it was normal so hypothyroid was ruled out. Fast forward to November my TSH came back 8.82 which is severely too high leading me to believe that propecia caused me to have a severe case of hypothyroidism

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

Don’t take propecia or accutane if you want a good life

  1. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    Back in August of 2007 I was a healthy, young, attractive guy who was quick witted, very sociable, and had the whole world ahead of me. The only thing that was wrong was a case of bad acne I had on my back and under the hair on my forehead that I had for quite some time. So I started accutane in august of 2007, and it worked very well. However, towards the end of treatment my hair started going all over the place (I always had had nice thick straight hair), but now it was curling up and falling out in clumps. I stopped the drug back in Feburary, but the hair loss only got worse. The main side effects I noticed while on the drug besides the usual dry lips and skin were hair loss, a puffier face that goes from the bridge of my nose to my cheeks, and possible scarring. Mentally I felt fine though, and everything else was in order. I went on propecia in april of 2007 and my life has never been the same since. The first week within the first couple days I noticed a pain in my testicles, loss of all erections morning and throughout the day, hot flashes after eating meals, bloating and poor digestion etc. I stopped taking the full dose and went down to only .25mg the following two weeks, but then things got even worse. When I would go to sleep at night it was like I really wasn’t sleeping and I would wake up like a zombie the next day. I was fatigued and bloated throughout the whole day and had braing fog. Even after stopping the drug this has continued. My sex drive came back, I still get morning erections and am horny a lot etc which is good but the other side effects have ruined my life. My face has gotten even puffier and paler and there are dark circles under my eyes. My muscle mass has wasted away, I’ve put on a ton of fat weight, and my hair texture and loss has gotten worse. I have constant bouts of fatigue throughout the day and can’t exercise or concentrate. Everyday I wake up and feel like a truck ran over me, it’s impossible to get refreshing sleep. I am not the same person I was a little over a year ago both physically and mentally. I have depression where I don’t really feel bad but I don’t feel good I’m just sort of numb. I look like I have aged 20 plus years I’m not kidding you. And now the combination of propecia and accutane made my TSH go from 2.7 in april to 8.82 currently which is a severe case of hypothyroidism. I never had any problems with my thyroid in the past and many doctors are shocked because an 8.82 is very very very high for a 22 yearold guy and it is basically going to be something that I have to deal with for the rest of my life now. Basically, my life is over at 22 my goals and dreams and everything I looked forward to are gone. I made a pact with myself that I’m going to go to some specialists and try to get better and give it a year. After that I’m killing myself, there’s no point in suffering everyday and at least I will be in peace.
Ithappens New Recovery Journal With XYREM (GHB)
#2

fyi i was only on propecia for roughly three weeks in april

#3

Join the club man! I took it for only three weeeks too. I was also very suicidal for the first six-eight months as well. But things will get better man. I promise you!

Idk, maybe because I work an outside job, and am always doing physical activity is why I’ve gotten better, faster than most I think. But things are much bettter. Its been ten months for me.
Actually just recently I’ve thought about quiting drinking for about a year just to get full health back. ANd I see it as a good thing actually. I’m 31, but also have a long life to live. Hang in there dude. You’ll bounce back! You just have to get your mind off it, and power through!

B~

1 Like
#4

I had that collagen issue also! I look like a skeleton/AIDS-patient now. I’m getting a bit better mentally, but am severly depressed because of these physical issues! Someone said that the collagen-issue might relate to high cortisol?
I still can’t believe this situation, going from being fit, handsome and social to suicidal in a period of six months due to fin. I noticed the lack of collagen mainly on my eye and cheek-area. It’s like I don’t have any definition or form in my face and look like a completely different person. I also noticed the inability to tan (lack of T and the production of melanin is T-regulated or something).

1 Like
#5

interesting u say that cause yea i also have lacked the ability to tan as well, however i had no clue why. Is that also related to T and cortisol? in terms of the facial issues i wouldn’t be surprised if it is related to high cortisol however does anyone know if this condition is permanent? I would think it is as i don’t see how i could revert back fully to the guy i used to look like. and i don’t see things getting better anytime soon my situation has gotten worse and worse and now i am severly hypothyroid and putting on weight like it’s my job. life is truely over.

#6

I read that somewhere, although I’m not a doctor and could be wrong. I too am afraid that the physical changes are permanent. You need to get your hormones checked. I had low T, high cortisol and high prolactin - no wonder I feel shitty

Check this out
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … ight=#2908

PM me your MSN and we can exchange thoughts on this one

#7

Does hypothyroidism run in your family? Either way, you should be lucky that you at least have a solid diagnosis that explain our underlying symptoms…and more important know the treatment options. You have labs to explain your condition when almost everyone on here is within normal ranges for all hormones drawn by certified labs and MDs who take normal insurance and not internet mail in urine/saliva tests that are BS in my opinion.

Also, I’m pretty sure Accutane fucked with you a lot more than the propecia. Propecia doesn’t make cause hypothyroidism…it’s likely the peanut butter and jelly sandwich you ate had as much a chance to lead u to hypothyroidsm as Finasteride did.

Good luck with the treatment. My mom has hypothyroidism and is treated with Synthroid. there’s a website out there for you to get on…stopthethyroidmadness.com or something like that…just google it and u’ll find it. lot’s of good info…and lots of bitching about Drs not titrating their doses cuz the labs take too long to adjust from previous dosage changes. Are you working with an MD? i always thought the DOs and black market was the way Armour was distributed.
I look fwd to your response.
Jack

#8

Hypothyroidism doesn’t really run in my family all that much as I can’t think of a single person who really has it. The thing is though I don’t feel the accutane fucked with me nearly as much as the propecia did. I mean the accutane did indeed induce my hair loss and a somewhat puffier face, but that was about it. Mentally on and off the drug I felt fine and I was perfectly happy and goal driven with my life. I didn’t start to have any of the other underlying problems until I tried propecia for only three weeks. The thing with the hypothyroidism is that since my level is so high drs. are very focused on more so figuring out if there is some underlying cause causing it. Trust me pre/post accutane was nothing compared to the hell the propecia has caused me. My whole wake/sleep cycle has been disturbed and I look like I aged 10+ years over the past 6 months.

#9

Any progress in your case?

#10

I’m pretty sure Accutane fucked with you more than you know.
rxlist.com/cgi/generic/isotret_ad.htm

Remember the kid who flew a plane into a Tampa FL blding shortly after 9/11 attacks…it was talked about how he was on Accutane. The shit fucks with your head.

#11

I’m pretty sure Accutane fucked with you more than you know.
rxlist.com/cgi/generic/isotret_ad.htm

Remember the kid who flew a plane into a Tampa FL blding shortly after 9/11 attacks…it was talked about how he was on Accutane. The shit fucks with your head.

also:
Eruptive Xanthomas

Eruptive xanthomas are yellow-orange-to-red-brown papules that are often surrounded by an erythematous halo. They appear in crops on the buttocks, extensor surfaces of the extremities, and flexural creases. Acutely, variable amounts of pruritus and pain occur. A Koebner reaction may be present. Lesions usually resolve spontaneously over weeks and may result in hypertrophic scars. Histologically, foamy macrophages are present in the dermis with an inflammatory infiltrate of lymphocytes and neutrophils.

Eruptive xanthomas can occur in the setting of chylomicronemia and hypertriglyceridemia. (Hypertriglyceridemia is a frequent side effect of Accutane.) This may be due to a primary hyperlipoproteinemia resulting from a genetic deficiency of lipoprotein lipase (Type 1 hyperlipoproteinemia) or familial hyperlipoproteinemia (Type V). Eruptive xanthomas often also occur secondarily in individuals unresponsive to insulin. Insulin is required for the normal triglyceride clearing function of lipoprotein lipase. Whenever insulin deficiency is present, an acquired lipoprotein lipase deficiency exists, which results in impaired clearance of chylomicrons and very-low-density lipoproteins causing the resultant hypertriglyceridemia. Rarely, eruptive xanthomas have been reported with hypothyroidism, nephrotic syndrome, and von Gierke’s glycogen storage disease. They have been noted also after ingestion of alcohol, glucocorticoids, estrogens, and retinoids.

Other features of hyperlipidemia often noted in patients with eruptive xanthomas include lipemia retinalis, hepatosplenomegaly, and abdominal pain. The abdominal pain may be secondary to intestinal ischemia from increased blood viscosity, stretching of organ

#12

listen rockin you can give me all the stats you want about accutane, but I know how I felt before and after the drug and I know how I felt before and after propecia. I’m sure accutane did something to me because of the hair loss I’m not dening that, however i felt fine on and off the drug. When it came to propecia whoa man thats when all my problems started.

#13

so you mean the depression from being a zitty baldy kicked in?

#14

Adios Jack.

Congrats on being the first person I’ve had to ban from this site for being an antagonistic ass to other members.

Too bad – you did bring some insights and reality checks but if you can’t keep it professional, you’re not welcome here.

Gave you plenty of warnings via private msg, I don’t find making light of people’s situations when you aren’t even suffering from Finasteride side effects humorous.

This isn’t a joke for us, it’s a living nightmare… so enjoy your stay in ban land.

Mew.

#15

Mew thanks for the response. I honestly don’t really care if the guy belittles me or not at this point I don’t really feel anything anymore. I’ve talked to omni today and both of us are experiencing very similar symptopms post propecia. The only thing that was different between us was he seems to have more libido and ed issues while I have very few if any. The more I research it all the more I came to the conclusion that it is all some sort of adrenal faliure issue which would eventually contribute to my hypothyroidism. the thing i’ve been thinking recently though is that perhaps since the propecia screwed with our DHT, T, and Estrogen levels maybe it all isnt related solely to the adrenals. It seems most people trying to treat solely their adrenals and others trying to treat solely their sex hormones rarely have any success. perhaps the two treatments need to be combined maybe who knows. I talked to a doctor last week who put me on a vitamin protocol where he promised me I would be better in a matter of weeks. sounds way too good to be true but we’ll see i guess.

#16

hey just wanted to update the situation here. Not much improvement although my energy is slightly better. I went to my friend’s house tonight, a girl who I am interested in and all, and the whole situation just sort of kills me right now. I try to keep my head up and be the same person I used to be but im so passive anymore it’s tough. Im begining to think that propecia has caused my body to permanetly become hypopituitary. I have hypoadrenal and hypothyroid problems and my LH on my labs came back low normal range at like 3.2 plus my T is kinda low normal and probably low for a 22 yearold. This whole thing is killing me as i’ve heard from certain articles this could very well be permanent. I just dont know anymore. all of my muscle has wasted away, I’ve gained weight in the hips and chest area as my body type has changed. also i look like i’ve aged 10 plus years in a matter of months. I dont have the long term sexual sides most people have on here as in I dont have probelms getting an erection and I dont have problems ejaculating etc but I just have so many other mental and physical effects from the stuff. perhaps that im so young is the reason why i havent lost my libido yet as my sex drive is lower than it used to be but i still somewhat have it. I jsut have no sense of well being and I dont know where to go from here. If this is permanent im ending my life i cant go on like this.

#17

I’m looking over my most recent blood work and jsut realized my LH came back very low at 3.5 and my FSH came back at a rok bottom 1.5 and I’m only 22 years old so this very low. This indicates secondary hypogondasim which i guess many of you guys on here have. I guess since im so young i still have enough T left to produce erections etc but how long will this last i dont know. This seems irreversible as im researching it im crying as i write this i dont know what to do anymore.

#18

Hi,

Don’t get too down about things, it is still early days yet, you may find you improve over time and you have yet to see a specialist in this area, like Dr. Shippen.

Can you post ALL of your bloodwork, by date and including ranges, in a new post in the Hormones & Bloodtests section?

You mention your Thyroid came back at 8.82, that is definitely worthy of treatment and if treated, you should begin to feel much better!!

LH of 3.2 is not bad. If it was like 0.5 that would be a sign your pituitary was not sending out any signals, but you may in fact have decent T levels (and thus there is no reason for it to send out more LH, since there is adequate T in the blood). A very high LH indicates primary hypogonadism (testes aren’t responding), so you can rule that out.

Also, remember that a bloodtest is simply a snapshot in time and that hormones are released in “pulses” according to GnRH release (sent from the hypothalamus to the pituitary, which then releases LH/FSH), so that may be a factor as to your results. For more accuracy, a 24hr urine panel would be preferable, to get the big picture over time.

Try to keep your head up and stay positive, I know it’s a lot on your mind and I too am battling with this daily… all of us are. But I am determined to get treatment and generate awareness about this condition, so that it may be investigated further so that hopefully we will have some answers. I would encourage you to do the same. Of course, throwing a lawsuit at Merck for some answers would definitely be helpful… maybe speak to some lawyers in your area and see what they have to say about it.

PS: If you ever want to talk voice you can msg me on Yahoo Messenger, my contact info is below. Cheers,

Mew.

#19

i have my sleep study scheduled this upcoming thursday and i’m really hoping something comes out of it. Based upon a lot of research I’ve been doing I’ve come to some new conclusions basically re-establishing what I’ve said before but slightly changing it etc. As I’ve been saying before the symptoms we have and deal with are very similar to those dealing with adrenal/thyroid problems metnal dullness, fatigue, detachment, poor unrefreshing sleep, sexual sides etc etc list goes on. However, with everything I’ve been coming across it is slightly a different animal than a typical adrenal fatigue profile. Anyway I’ll spare the long post except I just want to state a couple factors. I feel that the problem is neuro one as well as a hormonal one. Basically as the neurologist said to me before when I first met with him from what i told him, he said it was possible that due to fin my brain had forgotten how to sleep. This would make sense being as reducing 5AR affects your brain’s GABA receptors, which are a primary role in pleasure and sleep it would in my case anyway explain that while perhaps since my sexual problems aren’t wquite as bad as most guys on here my sleep and hormonal problems are worse. If the brain can forget how to sleep because of it I’m sure over a period of time of having DHT blocked it can forget how to stimulate the penis for erections etc etc. However, as I’ve said before I’ve noticed I dont sleep the same way since taking the medication, and it’s not just the insomnia or unrefreshing sleep. The bottom line is I know how I used to sleep before the drug and I know how I do after and they are completely different. Interesting observation since this whole ordeal started when I finally do go to sleep I never slowly sort of peacefuly drift off into deep sleep as I used to sine propecia it’s as if eventually my body just crashes and im out but i dont feel myself entering deep sleep and my body shutting down at all from right before sleeping to waking up etc. However about two weeks ago something random happened at around 6 at night I felt an incredible urge of being tired and that i had to lay down in my bed. Upon laying down i felt the same feelings I used to feel upon going to bed at night. I felt the calmness sweep over me and I felt my body starting to shut down and enter deep sleep as it use to. It was as if all this was going on I knew my brain was doing something different and getting back to how it used to operate for sleep. However it was as if it couldnt get through, like my brain was trying to do the process but it couldn’t quite turn off all the way. eventually i stopped and found myself awake again but it was something that I found interesting. Another thing to note is that while the whole episode was going on i felt extremely horny. As I was drifting off into sleep I felt very aroused and was very much hard and had that almost euphoric sense within myself. i have no doubt that sleep is connected to this problem. as i’ve said before my sleep was the begining of all my problems and is a problem for many members on here. fix the sleep where one gets deep refreshing sleep again fix a lot of the other problems as well.

#20

I think sleep is important, I myself had an awkward schedule so I didn’t really sleep as much as I should have and I usually do go to bed pretty late. If you’re fighting adrenal fatigue it is important to try to have as normal of a day as possible, which means waking up in the morning and having 3 meals and going to sleep before 11pm. The body runs on a circadian rythm and testosterone levels are highly correlated with it (this is why morning wood happens). Also, I’m sure a lot of people already have noticed this, but the body will start to get a bit drowsy in the evening, but if you force yourself to stay awake the drowsiness/tiredness will go away as your adrenals kick in to give you a second wind of energy, so pulling all-nighters is definitely not the way to go since it can exhaust your adrenals. I often take melatonin, as well as this stuff I picked up from GNC called natra sleep which contains ingredients such as valerian root (claimed to increase hgh output while sleeping) and l-theanine (amino acid precursor to GABA). I’m sure if you look around on the net you can find something that’s probably cheaper and more effective than the stuff GNC sells though. They’ve also got specific adrenal fatigue formulas, the one I’ve used is Reset AD which contains pregnenolone and bovine adrenal extract. There’s another formula that contains choline in it which is supposed to be important for your brain and neurotransmitters and crap like that.

Also, a candida infection is supposedly able to cause you adrenal fatigue, but I’m not totally sure about how legitimate that possibility is, since there’s a really big number of people out there who have a yeast infection and I’m pretty sure crap doesn’t happen to them like it has happened to us.