Eye Problems. Need to Know If Potentially Caused By Fin

Symptoms Physical
#1

I was on finasteride (.625mg mon-fri) for 3 1/2 years, and have been off of it for 3 1/2 months now.

starting last May (2 1/2 years after starting the drug), I began to develop a very unique (I haven’t really seen it reported here) reaction , which I can only describe as being light sensitivity, which manifests into headaches, a feeling of pressure behind my eyes, and forms into a very serious disorientation (similar to brain fog, but a bit different still). to relieve the feeling, I had to rest my eyes, turn down the lights, or take a quick nap. if i didn’t do any of these, then it becomes quite debilitating, and the feeling lasted for days.

when I first began to identify this, I noticed that it always began towards the end of the work day (3:00 or 4:00), and wasn’t very bad on the weekends. reporting this to my physician, he thought it was a very strange reaction to anxiety/stress. I insisted that it wasn’t (stress/anxiety has never been a problem for me), and one year later, I’m still quite certain that it isn’t anxiety/stress (I’ve recently went on a 3-month backpacking trip overseas, without a care in the world, and I still experienced the problem).

…all of that being said, for about a year now, I’ve been taking .5mg of xanax each day (2 x .25mg), and I would describe this as a “cure” to the problem. if i stick to a proper intake schedule of the xanax, then I don’t ever experience this. If i don’t take it timely, then i’m right back to the original feelings. (FYI, I only accidentally discovered that xanax worked because my girlfriend at the time had a script for it, and i figured i’d give it a shot to see if it was somehow from stress).

I hate being on xanax, but it’s the only thing that’s helped. I’ve recently tried to ween myself off of the drug, but I immediately fell back into the same feelings once I began to no longer take it.

…any thoughts/suggestions? I’ve seen several posts of people saying they experience anxiety and/or light-sensitivity due to the drug, but never with any reactions like what I’m experiencing, and I really don’t think the strange reaction is anxiety-driven (even though xanax helps). likewise, this didn’t start until 2 1/2 years on the drug (why would it start that long after being on the drug?) – and ever since quitting, my other side-effects (brain fog, terrible hangovers, etc.) have cleared up, but this one lingers.

#2

See here for some info:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=659

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=141&hilit=cataract

#3

I think eye issues due to dry eye and neurological damage. I dont see any guy who has cataract here.

#4

my eyes aren’t dry. nor do I have cataracts. my symptoms are unlike others i’ve seen posted on here (I did some good searches prior to posting) – and it’s very difficult to describe what I experience. I visited my eye doctor 6 months ago, and everything checked out. I’m going to see him again today, but don’t really know what to ask for (test/drug-wise)?

#5

Funduscopy, erg, mri for optic nerves and optic chaism

#6

My left eye started twitching about 1 month after I quit propecia… 8 weeks after I went and seen uro and he said testosterone was low it was still twitching… When I got on TRT and the higher my went up it finally stopped

#7

My optometrist suggested I keep my eyes lubricated. He admittedly didn’t have any great suggestions on the spot, but wanted to research a bit more. His theory was that throughout the day, my eyes become dryer and there’s therefore more strain on my eyes, which is what leads to this strange reaction. Not sure if I buy it, but I’m going to do as he says.

I just asked my pcp if he thought an MRI would be beneficial. Awaiting to hear back. I’m not familiar with funduscopy or ERGs. Will research. Thanks.

I got my T, Free-T, E, DHT, etc. levels tested a couple times in the last few months since being off of fin, and they always came back in normal ranges. Not certain that hormone levels are playing a role here.

#8

i never had any eye problems atall until i tried progesterone cream about a year and a half ago or so,a few weeks on the progesterone left we with more new sides including blurry vision and a terrible twitch in my left eye,i would be looking at something and then look at something else and it would take my eyes maybe 5 seconds or more to focus,and even then still a little blurry,painful aswell when trying to focus,its all cleared up now thankfully…

#9

I was really disorientated for a week while still on the drug. Extreme sensitivity to light and a sense of vertigo. Optician said my peripheral vision was impaired, but I never followed up the doctor’s referral so didn’t get a confirmation of what it was.

However, this subsided after a while, and I never experienced it again even after worsening of other symptoms when coming off the drug.

#10

Yes I truly believe the eye thing for me was a symptom of low testosterone because when my t got high it went away

#11

i sent my eye doctor some reading material, and also asked about the tests mentioned here (Funduscopy, erg, mri for optic nerves and optic chaism). that said, i’m still SLIGHTLY hesitant to blame fin for this…it seems that nobody else has quite experienced the same thing as me. that said, I don’t know what else it could possibly be.

has anyone had any similar reactions to anxiety itself? as i said, the xanax is the only thing that helps, so it could be some sort of really strange reaction to higher anxiety levels (???)…mind boggling, but i’m lost here.

#12

Finasteride inhibits neurosteroids in the brain which are implicated in anxiety and depression.

Review homepage of www.propeciahelp.com, studies are posted. As well, see here:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=38

#13

You can completely blame fin for eye problems. I had eagle eye before fin. Now my eyes destroyed. I have night blidness, blurry vision, extreme light sensivity, and slow motion vision (palinopsia). And my eye nerves are reflected to my vision which freaks me out allday.

#14

That’s horrible man I will pray for u…

#15

A quick background & then I’ll explain what I did to resolve myself from the PFS/withdrawal mental sides that I began to experience upon quitting the drug:

I was on fin for 3 1/2 years. I had experienced brain fog in the past, so I know that I’m pre-disposed to potential mental sides. After 2 1/2 years on the drug, I began to develop a strange reaction to anxiety/stress, which led to high light sensitivity, headaches, and even a migraine (which I don’t have a history of). After a several months of this, I eliminated other potential causes for it, with no such luck. It was at that time which I reluctantly (I say “reluctantly”, because until this point, my sides were manageable and the pros of the drug still outweighed the cons for me) decided to blame the fin, and I took myself off of the drug. After being off the drug for 3-4 weeks, my symptoms only got worse & I fell into a 24/7 haze (slightly different than “brain fog”, but just as spacey of a feeling & still as detrimental. Shortly after, I began using the solution below, and within 2 days, I felt like myself again – it was night & day.

After this settled, I gave it a couple months and then decided to try the fin once more, since my light sensitivity & eye problems didn’t resolve when off of it (and I actually got worse, which I know now was due to a PFS crash – I didn’t know that was a thing at the time). I was on it for almost another year, when I started to experience intermittent hazes + a continuation of the stress/light-sensitivity/headaches. I decided enough was enough, and I was going to get off of the drug once more, this time potentially for good (I haven’t been back on the drug since). Again, 3-4 weeks after quitting, I experienced the same 24/7 mental haze. Doing some reading, I only then found that this was a semi-common effect of quitting. I got on my vitamin regimen again (below), and within 2 days I started feeling better. Only after a few days of being on the vitamins, I decided to quit them to test out a.) if I was cured that quickly, and b.) to verify that the vitamins were actually the reason for me feeling better. A day or two after being off of the vitamins, I began to feel like hell again. Starting the vitamins once more, I began feeling 100% again…confirmed – this was 3 times now where the vitamins proved to fix me during a PFS/withdrawal mental crash.

Without further rambling, my solution is the following:

-Butterbur (50mg, 3X daily)
–i’ve used a couple different types of this now, all with the same effectiveness. you can get it online, or some specialty vitamin shops will carry it OTC

-Niacin (500mg, “flush free”, 3X daily)
–most pharmacies will carry this, OTC

-Ginkgo Biloba (120mg, 3X daily)
–most pharmacies will carry this, OTC

…after 2 weeks, I dropped down to 2X daily, one more week and then 1X daily, then one more week and I got off the vitamins and my crash/withdrawal symptoms have been good ever since.

As an FYI, I also take the following vitamins daily (though, I’ve taken these for the last 8 years and I don’t believe them to have any effect here): biotin, complex B, fish oil.

feel free to ask any questions.

#16

Thanks for the info

#17

Did anyone night vision problems and grainy vision?

#18

My eye twitched and started twitching 8 weeks off propecia when t was low… When I got on TRT and my t went back up it stopped

#19

I had terrible night vision but that has become better. Tough it’s still summer and the real test will be the wintertime.

#20

What do u mean by night vision??