Dealing with side effects

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    U.S.

  2. 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

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    24, 5’10, 180

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    yes, mtn biking

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    healthy

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    Hairloss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    1 year

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    23 1/8/11

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    24 1/23/12

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

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

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

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    11 months

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Anxiety, ED
    Put an X beside all that apply:

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

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

Physical
[ x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ x] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[x ] Testicular Pain
[x ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

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

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    Androgel 2 days

  2. 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)?

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

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    I recently found out that I have a questionable hypo enhancing pituitary gland tumor 2X1mm that could be keeping my testosterone levels extremely low. 112 ng/dl Range 348-1197 Lh 3.1mIU/ml Range 1.7-8.6 FSH 0.9 mIU/ml Range 1.5-12.4 DHT is low but in range and Free T is low as well. I am experiencing many side effects after discontinuing use of Fin. I’m hoping that many of these sides are from the tumor and will be removed in the near future. I have an appointment with Dr. Goldstein in two weeks to get further evaluations.

#2

I have been having fairly severe panic attacks for the past two weeks that i’m struggling to shake and trying to find some hope in this mess is hard. I didn’t realize what was happening to me until the very end of my finasteride use, although I had anxiety for months before discontinuing the drug. Has there been anyone with a pituitary tumor and many side effects after getting off Finasteride? any advice would be much appreciated.

#3

Hi Kentucky,

welcome to the forum. Sorry you had to join us.

When did you get this diagnosis regarding your pituitary tumor? Did your doctor show you the lab xrays, so that could actually see it yourself? Also Why are using the word “Questionable”. You could not be diagnosed with a tumor if it is questionable.

I am particularly interested in your situation, since I had an MRI done to be certain there was no tumor. The test cam back negative. There were dozens of other guys on this forum that had the test done and also and their test also revealed nothing. Of course you could have a pituitary tumor, even though we did not. However, I would certainly seek out a second opinion before doing any type of surgery. Considering the location of the pituitary gland, it is quite serious.

#4

The radiologist looked at the MRI and gave the results to the Dr., the DR. did not see the results in person, nor did I, but was given a cd with all the images but could not access them on my computer. The impression states “Questionable 1-2 mm hypoenhancing lesion in the pituitary gland which could be related to a tiny microadenoma or be related to a signal/noise artifact.” I don’t know what this means, the Endocrinologist thinks I could have had low T for a long time but I know that this isn’t true as my beard was thick and grew really fast up until a month ago. I believe this could be effecting my endocrinology in some negative way by not allowing my body to respond to the low testosterone etc. but the sides i’m experiencing seem to be directly related to the finasteride. I’m going to try to get in touch with Dr. Jacobs in NY to schedule an appointment or a phone consultation since he is familiar with pfs and pituitary gland dysfunctions. I’m fighting this every way I know how but the sexual and mental sides are unbearable right now and seem to be getting worse.