Davids Story

Member Stories
#1

Hi Everyone, Just signed up this morning.

I started taking Fincar (generic) around 5th sept last year (2006). I dont really recall how long i tool it for - although i did stop after about 5 weeks for about 2 months - then went back on it for another month or 2.

In total i only consumed 2 strips (20 5mg tablets) over the course of around… 5 months. I then switched to Saw Palmetto for a while.

I quit all around May this year.

Since then - i’ve been having trouble with my erections. They’re not as hard, and it’s a lot more difficult to get / maintain one. Times i get them easy enough - other times… no luck at all. libido aint the same either.

About 4 weeks ago, i thougth i had returned to normal and i was delighted. I had sex with a beautiful girl. shot the load then a few minutes later we had sex again and i had no trouble getting an erection. It was fantastic. i thought i was cured. (this night of passion occured on th of Oct)

On monday passed (22nd Oct) - we were emailing / texting eachother all day and agreed that i’d call to her office that night and have sex. I had masturbated about… 1 hour before this.

when we met - i couldn’t get hard…

I thougth i was cured, but after this i was totally depressed and have been since. I’m waiting to see a doc now for blood tests.

One thing though: the day after we had the brilliant sex - i got some bad news and was extremely stressed for a week or so after… could that have set me back?

Other info:

morning woody: sometimes. not always rock solid. but sometimes it’s solid enough for sex (if i had a woman beside me)

libido: not great.

ejaculate: thick and creamy. same quantity as always.

dosage: 1.25 mg / day (although i usually didn’t bother at the weekends - pointless i know that now)

since reading this forum - i have noticed a slight numbness / little bif of pain (although extremly mild pain) in my left testicle)

I’m going to the doc to get blood work done.

Wish me luck, and good luck yourselves.

Does anybody have any comments / advice / opinions they’re willing to share?

Thanks,

David

#2

Hi,

I took 1.25 mg of fin for about 3 months almost a year ago.

I didn’t seem to fully recover until about 4 weeks ago. However, last monday i’ve been absolutely terrible.

The thing that seems different about my story is this:

Last monday - during the day - i was fine. i was texting a girl and we were getting a little naughty and i was immediatly getting solid erections. i could feel it bolting down my leg.

Later that night i was scheduled to meet with her for sex, but masturbated in the shower about 40 mins before i met her. I was only doing this for increased stamina.

When i met her - i couldn’t get it up at all (we were also in unfamiliar surroundings - her office).

So i went home feeling depressed and started looking over this site. Read other peoples stories and got extremly depressed and scared.

I’ve been the same ever since. Going to the doc tomorrow.
But since that night i haven’t been getting morning wood and dont ever feel horny.

Could some of this be in my head?

At present - i’m a lot worse that i was before i thought i had recovered. It takes a lot of effort to get an erection and my penis + testicles feel really small.

Any comments are greatly appreciated,

David

#3

Already given you my opinion here: propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=936

… no need to repost your story in multiple areas of the board, it will just clutter things up.

Yes, worrying about things can cause you to have psychological impotence and the placebo effect can indeed be very real… so if you freak yourself out, you may not be able to perform, because you will have doubts about your abilities…

Perhaps you need to take a break from this site and clear your head. Get your bloodtests, and just relax. It seems to me the more you read things here, the more you get worried and are possibly imagining some symptoms (ie, smaller testes & penis… this is a physical change to your body I’m SURE you’d be aware of, not just think they MIGHT be smaller).

Certainly, telling the doc that you’ve read a website and are now scared you have the same issues as the guys on this site will only convince him everything is in your head. But if you were having issues since quitting Fin 5 months ago which have YET to resolve, before you ever found this site – that is something different entirely.

And yes – masturbating an hour before sex might have caused you to be limp… sometimes the refractory period is longer than expected, you might not have been ready to get it up yet. Don’t masturbate for a week then see how you do before sex, I guarantee you will be in a much better position. But worrying about things may override that… so try and relax.

Most of the problems guys have here didn’t flip on like a light switch one day, they came on gradually while on the drug, or shortly after quitting. For you to all of a sudden no longer feel horny since reading this site points to a psychological component, in my opinion. But the blood tests should help evaluate further.

#4

still not over the initial shock of this… So sorry for posting twice… although i’m sure you can understand my desperation at this time.

Wish me luck tomorrow.

I’m gonna avoid this site for a while. Dont think reading other peoples stories helps with my stress levels.

Thanks for the input.

#5

just came across this:

taken from adam.about.com/reports/000031_2.htm

i think i can successfully diagnose myself as having a wonky penis due to severe stress.

I still have problems caused by fin, but they’ve never been this bad.

#6

Update: after reading what i quoted above - i was able to relaqx a lot last night and this mornign i woke up with my woody in my pants.

He wasn’t solid as a rock, but more than solid enough for sex. it stayed for a while too.

An hour ago, i spoke with a nurse who had never heard of finasteride before, but has over 17 years experience in dealing with erectile dysfunction.

he claims that once you have any worry about ED in the back of your mind you’re just going to make things more difficult for yourself.

When i’m drunk, i usually dont have much trouble getting an erection, when i’m sober - it’s sometimes ok, but i think i have more chance of worry when sober.

Since my first experience with fin where i couldn’t get it hard (even though i was still on the drug) i’ve always been warey of not being able to perform.

So i think it possible that for this individual it may be a psychological block.

Getting blood tests today and gonna start going to the gym today.

I shall report back in a few weeks time.

good luck everyone!

#7

I don’t believe any of that crap about diet, gym… whatever.

Years ago, I smoked, drank, ate junk food all the time. Still got honry and still fucked girls. Stress and worry about the issue componds the issue. But its not the cause when you have been nailing girls for a few years.

IF your cock doesn’t respond, yeah your going to get stressed about it. Because your cock has always responded before. Take Viagra, Cilais, or whatever you need. It would certinly take the ‘worrying’ away.

if your still jerking it, and still ocassionly fucking. Your are doing OK… Honestly do you even like this girl? A big factor that I didn’t notice until later was that I was just tired of the girl I was nailing… And when your barely scraping by with a soft erection and no interest in sex… nailing a girl you don’t really like anymore… well pretty rough…

#8

well, this girl’s absolutely gorgeous :slight_smile:

Stunning body… and she knows to do stuff :slight_smile:

I think this may have all been in my head. After convincing myself that it was all stress related i started getting morning woodys once again. And last night i experomented with some pornography :slight_smile: …up like a champion!!

haven’t tried anything with a girl yet, but we’ll see how it goes this weekend.

feeling so much happier and more relaxed once again. t’was a stressful week or so!!

as for your comment about exercise - i know i was goin great before hand, but had fin reduced my bodys test levels - some exercise might have boosted them back up again…

cheers fro the input guys!

#9

r u a virgin? why such stress on performing?

#10

hell no!

just after a few ‘stumbles’ (no wood) i got a bit nervous incase it happened again…

#11

Hi guys,

I joined here a few weeks ago. But i’m back to normal now. I had been experiencing sides for a while, but in my case - i think a lot of it was all in my head.

Had i not read that stess can cause temporary erectily dysfuntion and spoken to a nurse who had 17 years dealing with ER (he convinced me it’s in my head) - it’s possible i’d still be suffereing.

I dont doubt that for some users on this forum, have suffered some physical change that’s causing their problems, but out of the 400 or so members on this forum, i doubt that 100% of these have suffered physical damage.

So my advice is this - just do whatever it takes to completely relax and forget about all your troubles. dont read this forum, dont test yourself to see if u can get an erection… just relax.

after a few days of relaxation, stress levels may go down and you might just wake up with mr woody smilin up at ye :slight_smile:

Just thought i’d share this with ye’s. Any new members who’re shitting themselves right now might find comforn in reading this post.

good luck my friends!

David

#12

Good thought man. I’ve thought that before too. But unfort for me, thats not the case. Its hard to explain pain and discomfort as psychological.

#13

The problem is when you try and apply the general to the individual, be it “all is well” or “all is ills” etc.

A significant number of men who have posted pathology here do have hormonal imbalances that are evidenced by not only the symptoms but by the blood results. Also men have experienced certain symptoms that categorically cannot be explained away by psycholgical factors such as gynecomastia and a lack of morning erections.

Also the waters get a little muddied when talking about psychological factors because finasteride has an impact on psychological well-being in many men by lowering androgen status.

It is a known fact that men with lowered androgen status often suffer from anxiety and or depression due to hormonal factors beyond their control.

Now are there also some guys here with minimal problems who are hypocondriacts…possibly.

Are there men here who have stressed themselves out so much with worry that they have made themselves ill, yes I am sure that is true for a few guys.

Are all the guys here ill?

No.

Are all the guys here well?

No.

Should sweeping generalisations be made on this subject wherby we diagnose men as a whole, as a job lot?

No.

Each person and case should be considered in turn, both in terms of symptoms and pathology.

On which note David, looking at your situation.

Can I ask you did you always have morning erections on finasteride and post finasteride use?

Do you still have morning erections in the way you did prior to taking finasteride?

Have you developed any extra flabby/breat tissue around the chest?

Have you had hormonal pathology and if so what were your exact results?

#14

Don’t get him thinking about this. Go on and be well David. I wouldn’t even get into it. Its muddy waters like you say Hypo.

#15

i’ve never been super thin, but i haven’t noticed any weight gain in the chest area.

morning erections… amm, woke up without one this morning but as i was getting up and getting dresses i got one…

No, i’m not the same as i was pre-fin, but i have gone way down hill since i started reading about other peoples stories on here - such as… people being ill for up to 4 years. It’s been scaring the shit out to me to be honnest. And i think that fear has worsened my symptoms.

i am suffereing depression / anxiety at the moment, but i dont think it’s a result of fin, i’m pretty certain it’s a result of the fear / intense worry as a result of reading other peoples stories. dont get me wrong - i appreciate the site, but it does add a lot of fear.

I haven’t got any blood tests yet as my doc is gonan forward me on to an endocrinologist (who may or may not accept my case).

Ao all i can do now is wait. which is driving me insane. and definitely not helping the problem.

my morning erections are usually a lot better when i’m not stressed out. Last week (when i wasn’t quite so stressed) i was watching porn and gettin rock solid woodys without physical contact.

At the minute, i’m stressed again… I tried to masturbate earlier and it took ages to get an erection.

3 weeks ago i thought i was flying. had sex twice within an hour or so, no problem getting it up. I thougth i was cured.

I really hope this endocrinologist will see me!!!

rant over :slight_smile:

#16

Dude, two questions… or one question, and one bit of advice.

First the bit of advice. If you are worried beyond belief, dont be denied medical care (Do you have insurance), go to any endocrinologist, you do not have to go to one your doctor knows. Call around, find someone that seems reasonable, that you might feel comfortable with, and make an appointment. Also doctors are often in the practice of scheduling “out” the schedule they call it, and this means booking i.e. two weeks away to sometimes act like they are pretty busy, but also to space things out in general. If you call back enough, and tell the secretary convincingly enough, enough times, you can get into almost any doctors office within one-two weeks, or often in under a week if you try and are good. You have to tell them “anytime”. (Of course unless its Dr. Shippen.!!)

Anyway, go find a doctor who will help you, without waiting.

The question:
DO you feel any “mechanical” problems whatsoever, i.e. like a lot of what people report on here such as prostate shit, dick pain, lower abdomen, urinary symptoms, tingling or blockage somewhere, or loss of sensation???

A lot of people feel a mechanical blockage, such as myself.
I dont doubt it could be hormone induced, but I guess all I’m saying is I can feel a failure or “clogged pipes” so to speak!

ANyway, just checkin with you.

B

#17

Still dont feel the libido quite as much. esp durin the day.

when i try get a woody during the day sometimes it takes a while and doesn’t always get proper solid… (usually does a few seconds before i ejaculate)

one of the reasons it dont work is this - i try thinking of dirty thoughts, but i my mind keeps wandering… sometimes i start worrying that my pecker isn’t as hard as it should be… other times my mind wanders to completely unrelated stuff like work etc… just lose interest basically…

I’ve been taking a load of natural suppliments but i dont know if they’re doing any good (ginseng, gingko, zinc, l-arginine, and i’m 7 days into the broccoli treatment)

I had been advised to take viagra for a while to help me forget my problems and i think it may have helped me a little. I dont worry as much and i’ve been a lot more relaxed :slight_smile: It’s also given me some new hope that i’ll get past this terrible stage in my life!!

but the fact that i’m getting a woody almost every morning - does that suggest that things are all psychological?

#18

If they’re nice and hard!! Maybe.

Also, try goinf to fuck somebody. Have utmost confidence. Get into the moment. See if things work fine. Some of it can be psychological.

Good luck!

#19

i’ve done it recently with viagra and it (obviously) was fine

thing is, if i tried now without, i’d be under so much pressure that i think i’d fail. i’d nearly go so far as to sa i’d be afraid to get down and dirty with a girl without viagra.

even if i try on my own, if i’m not hard right away i get worried and stop thinking about the things that usually get me hard.

Hard to get into the moment when you’re too busy concentrating on “please please please get up!!!” :slight_smile:

i’ll try pretending i’m on viagra

#20

Yes!