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)?
USA
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 search
What is your current age, height, weight?
33, 5’10, 180lbs
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 per day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
1 year
Date when you started the drug?
5/1/2023
Date when you quit the drug?
5/12/2024
Age when you quit?
33
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
3-4 months
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
experienced brief crash and since have retracted flaccid penis, testicle tension/retraction, and variable orgasm sensitivity
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
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ X] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] 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
[ X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] 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
[ ] 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?
nothing so far. Will try to eat clean and do cardio regularly
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)?
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I want to preface this experience by saying I’ve had erectile dysfunction since 2019, and would just take Viagra to have sex.
So I was experiencing hairloss, got a hair transplant, and was recommended to take finnasteride and minoxidil. I did take a combo pill of 1mg fin/1.25mg minox/2000mg vit d, but was experiencing uncomfortable sides from the minox such as shortness of breath and bloating. I stopped the combo pill for 2ish weeks and started taking 1mg of finasteride by itself. After several weeks of 1mg, I decided to cut the dose further to .25mg.
3 days ago I suddenly experienced the sensation that an evil entity had taken over my brain for about an hour. I was in a full blown panic, disoriented, and my penis shrunk. I was eventually able to sleep and when I woke up I had intense brain fog for about 2 days.
Everything has subsided except for my penis being in a retracted state while flaccid, a tightness in my prostate, and tightness, retractedness of my testicles.
My libido is still very high, and I’ve masturbated 7 times since the crash. 3 of the orgasms were full-bodied and satisfying, but the others felt like the plumbing was stopped up, like my prostrate was interfering, and my erections were not robust
I’ve briefly browsed this forum, and I feel somewhat relieved at the mild nature of my crash and symptoms, but it still sucks. Seeing my penis shriveled up is very disheartening and uncomfortable
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 [ ]