Hey fellas. Just wondering if any of you are experiencing muscle twitching and/or spasms/cramps. I seemed to develop these when I tried to taper my dose of propecia and they have persisted, since my discontiuation of the medication. They have somewhat decreased but still can pop up at anytime. I also noticed some weakness in my muscles and some decrease in mass after stopping. I went from about 220lbs down to 200lbs. Im now up to about 235lbs and feel like I’m gaining some strength back. Maybe a normalization of hormones? Just a weird side effect that I got along with some gynecomastia. Just looking for some reassurance that there are others with this same experience. I did not experience really any decreased libido that many of you describe. Any replies would be appreciated. Thanks.
There are other posts about the twitching, check them out… short answer is yes, some of us experienced twitching while on fin… for some it subsided months after quitting (it did for me).
How long did you take finasteride and how long has it been since you quit?
It would be helpful if you could post your story in the Personal Profiles section to give everyone some background, sounds like your estrogen levels shot up if you got some gyno… for many Estradiol/Estrogens remained high after quitting, that is something you might need to get under control.
Suggest you get a blood test to check your hormones as per the FAQ at the top of the forum… its the only way to know whats going on inside your body.
Cheers.
I was on Propecia for a total of 14 months. Started taking one every other day when I noticed the gyno starting at about month number 8. This is about when the twitching all started. Stopped completely 15 months ago. This is when I noticed a drop in weight in which I have since gained back. I do believe that my hormones got all out of whack. The twitching is not as bad and I’m not cramping as often. Good to know that there are others out there that experienced these.
I haven’t had any bloodwork done, something I might be looking into soon. Other than that I do feel fine now. I had the panic attacks that some people on here described. Anxiety would just hit me all of a sudden when I was laying down and it felt like I couldn’t get enough air so I would have to get up and walk around. This happened right after I quit taking it altogether. Almost like we put ourselves into a male version of menopause with the hormone fluctuations. Anyways if anyone else has some twitching experiences let me know about them. I appreciate it. Take care.
Yes I remember this vividly as well both towards the end of my 11 months and after I quit… apparently a symptom of low testosterone is sleep apnea… this could have been what the issue was (at least for me, since my T dropped to 388 3 months after I quit)
Same goes for getting the anxiety/gyno, they both started around month 6/7 and got progressively worse… glad you’ve still got your libido and ability to get erections hasnt been affected, count yourself lucky!!!
Yeah the breathlessness at night was a rather strange symptom. I just looked it up and did see the link betwen lower levels of testosterone and sleep apnea. I now sleep on my side at night to try and prevent that from happening again. Not sure if it would still happen if I were to lay on my back, but it was rather unpleasant so I’m avoiding it haha. I guess maybe I should look into getting my hormone levels checked. Thanks.
i had the twitching as well when i first stopped taking it. it has since gone away and not returned for the past year.
You seem to have recovered. Did you do anything to recover besides waiting?
Hey fellas,
Just checking in to see how you all are doing. I myself still get the twitches in various parts of my body and seem to be susceptible to cramps and muscle tightness. Was wondering if you guys have similar problems and what if anything seemed to help. Ive been going to the gym and tryin to eat healthy there has definitely been a reduction in these symptoms. No more panic attacks either.
Hope to hear back from a number of you just for some reassurance. Thanks guys.
I have done extensive research on the apparent correlation between finasteride and these symptoms everyone seems to be describing. As a matter a fact I was diagnosed with benign fasciculation syndrome after being
on propecia for approx. 3 months on and off. (BFS) encompasses all the symptoms most of you are describing and has some additional ones such as severe neurological pain. After looking at numerous studies it turns out that dht possesses valuable properties such as being a strong anti-convulsant, I will post the study in a future post. So obviously if one depletes dht, he or she increases their susceptibility to neurological problems. Also finasteride has been widely implicated in depression which is also associated with depleted dopamine levels which also play a crucial role in condition such as parkinsons disease, huntington disease, etc. So by the strength of association I conclude that finasteride may have a detrimental effects on the nervous system by either way of these aforementioned pathways.
After this fin-business I often wake up at night with my right arm being almost numb with the two fingers on the right cramped facing to my palm. It’s not the kind of numbness you get sleeping on your arm, it feel like there is something going on with my nerves. I have no twitches or similar problems elsewhere in my body, it’s always the same arm and same fingers and always at night (it can be so painful that I wake up). Strange.
Some info which may or may not pertain to twitches (mini-seizures?)…