Crashed after Finasteride and Saw Palmetto

Member Stories
#1

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)?

America

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?

21 5’11, 185

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?

Finasteride & Saw Palmetto Extract

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

I started taking Doctor’s Best Saw Palmetto Extract for 3 weeks. My doses would reach a maximum of 960mg at times. But even then, I didn’t feel really any side effects. Maybe slight brain fog. Then, I decided to try finasteride and split a 1mg pill and took 0.25 mg once.

What condition was being treated with the drug?

Male Pattern Baldness

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?

Saw Palmetto Extract Three Weeks. Finasteride once.

Date when you started the drug?

Saw Palmetto April 9th

Finasteride May 1st

Date when you quit the drug?

Saw Palmetto May 1st

Finasteride May 1st

Age when you quit?

21

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

Cold Turkey

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?

I noticed some side effects during taking finasteride. I took the drug once. Felt better the day after. Then the day following that I felt something was off.

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
[ 1] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[1 ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ 1] Loss of Morning Erections
[ 1] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ 1] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ 1] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ 1] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[1 ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ 1] Confusion
[1 ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ 1] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[1 ] Slurring of Speech
[1 ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ 1] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[1 ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ 1] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] 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
[1 ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[1 ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ 1] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

I’m doing a protocol to clean out my gut to what I hypothesize to be a candida overgrowth. I am taking magnesium l threonate and l theanine and melatonin to help me sleep. I am trying to get much sun as possible. Going on walks. And going to the gym.

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)?

I will get blood work for this soon.

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

N/A

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

I was concerned with Male Pattern Baldness. It runs in my family and I wanted to do something about it. I started by taking Doctor’s Best Saw Palmetto, up to 960mg of it for 3 weeks. Then I decided to try finasteride. Because of the side effects I’ve heard of, I cut the pill in 4ths and took 1/4th of it. I crashed the second day after taking it. I can’t laugh like I used to nor do I get excited by life anymore. Those are the symptoms that really scare the shit out of me. Is this permanent? Or will I recover because I only took 1/4th a finasteride pill once? I know I took quite a bit saw palmetto extract, but I didn’t think that was nearly as potent as the finasteride.

Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY

  1. Name of the therapy/substance:
    • Dosage:
    • How often you took it:
  2. Status
    • Still using [ ]
    • Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
    • Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
  3. Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
  4. Response when you started:
    • Greatly improved [ ]
    • Slightly improved [ ]
    • Stayed the same [ ]
    • Slightly worsened [ ]
    • Greatly worsened [ ]
  5. 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 [ ]
  6. 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 [ ]
#2

Hey, I am sorry for your position. Looking at your side effects it is quite possible to recover, but I cannot tell you the timeline. Unfortunately 1/4 of pill is almost as potent as 5mg, so titrating finasteride is not possible really. Also those substances can hit you after some time and quitting them is dangerous, I don’t know about switching to a stronger antiandrogen. 3 weeks was probably too soon to expect any changes in hair growth, but unfortunately can be enough for side effects. Saw palmetto is very well know here to cause PFS.

You are doing good thing that you are keeping a good lifestyle. Just don’t do too much supplements and always check on this site if supplement is PFS safe before using. I don’t know about candida, but finasteride is known to produce gut dysbiosis, so you can start out with healthy diet and probiotics. (Unfortunately why finasteride causes that is unknown as I understand. You can read the study, but I don’t remember any hypothesis about the cause).

Remember to report your side effects to relevant agencies. And obviously avoid any antiandrogenic substances (like minox, hairloss shampoos, weird oils and topical research chemicals). No topical fin for you as well. Oh, don’t use any aromatase inhibitors to counteract your side effects, and don’t mess with your hormones anymore.

If you have any more private questions you can always shoot me a message, I will try to help.

1 Like
#3

Hello! The two supplements I’m taking for my gut are the CBO Protocol:

And Citricidal as an antifungal:

Are these okay supplements to take? I’ve been having gut problems before taking finasteride, but since taking it its been near impossible for me to have a bowel movement without taking a bunch of magnesium. I’m hoping this can help correct a disbyiosis I may have.

#4

To me they look safe, perhaps someone else can chime in if they think they could be some dangerous. Also if you were taking them for some time and did not crash or worsen the you are probably good.
For now I personally take only probiotic Vivomix 450 and water soluble tablets of vitamin d 4000ui. All I can tell you that this probiotic definitely helps my mood. I stopped taking it some time ago thinking I am fine without it and devolved into having no energy whatsoever. In 2 days of taking this probiotic things are much better. I wonder if fmt would help me

#5

So you have anhedonia and it makes you feel happier, the probiotic?

#6

Well I don’t know if I was getting anhedonic, but very emotionally blunted, depressed and almost feeling like dying. This probiotic improved all that. Actually it improved almost all my symptoms in some way apart from the dry mouth unfortunately.

#7

This probiotic make my stools softer and relieves constipation, so perhaps that is why it does something for the rest of symptoms.

#8

Ok, update after taking the probiotic for a few days. Energy levels are better and I don’t feel like dying, but normal emotions didn’t come back. Still have close to 0 will to do anything. The only thing that brought me anywhere close to normal couple of time must be the generic multivitamine. Or maybe that was asparagus. Or perhaps I got too depressed and then was normal for couple of hours as a rebound. Hard to say with this condition