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)? Canada
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?) I believe I searched Post Finasteride Syndrome and ended up finding this forum
What is your current age, height, weight? 31 years old, 6 feet tall, 155 pounds.
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg every other day
What condition was being treated with the drug? Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? A month
Date when you started the drug? October 19th 2019
Date when you quit the drug? November 16th, 2019
Age when you quit? 28 years old
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? Two weeks into usage.
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
[ x ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ x ] 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
[ x ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ x ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ x ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ x ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ x ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ x ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ x ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Vitamins and supplements such as Vitamin D, Zinc, Boron, Creatine, Ashwagandha, L-Arginine, Nitric Oxide, Omega 3, Psilocybin, Potassium, Selenium, Alcohol, Maca, Progesterone, Fasting, dairy diet, meat diets, veggie diets.
I also got prescribed Prolactin from a doctor to try for a bit, but it didn’t do much in terms of improving symptoms. The most recent has been Cialis but I’ve only tried it once without a sexual encounter.
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)? N/A
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience? It was absolute hell to start since crashing, but I’ve been getting slightly better as time goes on, however I’m still not 100% to before I took this drug. One major issue I have is with the use of magnesium that I haven’t seen much reports on. For me, if I take magnesium my memory goes to absolute zero. I struggle to recall words or events or anything, it takes a lot longer or I just have to start googling stuff. This lasts for a while when I’m on it, but there was a point where I trudged through it and regained good memory function. But when I cycle off and go back on it returns. I try to avoid magnesium, but it is a pretty essential vitamin.
I used to have suicidal ideation, but that’s gone now. My anxiety has also decreased to a mostly manageable level and I’m able to get a good night’s rest in comparison to before. I don’t always sleep amazingly well, but most nights I sleep well.
Obviously like everyone else I wish I never took this drug. My hair loss was very minimal and it largely wasn’t even due to DHT, but I’ve always had an insecurity about my hair and I kept hearing that if you don’t save it before it goes then you’ll lose it. There were so many ads promoting the use of Finasteride with most people not discussing side effects. The doctor who prescribed it to me didn’t even mention the possibility of anything going wrong. I had heard some stories of penis issues but nothing permanent. I figured it was a rare occurrence and it wouldn’t happen to me. My thought was that at the first sight of any side effect I would stop, but I ignored the first sign and gave it a second time before fully quitting.
Unfortunately, PFS came about and I fight every day to live a normal life. Some days I’m able to feel like my old self whereas others I’m so far away from human. I hope we all get the cure we deserve.
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance:
- Dosage:
- How often you took it:
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]