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Where are you from (country)? US
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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 for Finasteride
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What is your current age, height, weight? 41 - 5’8" 155lbs
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
Always been an active person, surfing, bike riding ect… not to much into lifting weights, more into stretching, pushups ect, haven’t been consistent with it the last 10 years but overall I’d say I’m in pretty good shape for my age.
- What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
Usually eat pretty healthy, I’ve had acid reflux for the last 10-15 years so I avoid greasy/fried food, not big into Italian and really layed off the Mexican over the years, I’d say I eat more Asian food than anything. Also eat an apple and banana a day and try to eat vegetables everyday
- Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
prostatitis
- For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
Around 3 weeks worth
- How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
40
- How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
40, took a couple weeks over a month ago
- How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Quit after 2 weeks, took on and off for a week because of pelvic/prostate pain, which was because of the medication in the first place.
- What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Not sure, the blue pill
- What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Need to find out, once again it was the blue pill
- How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
Within the first couple days
- What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, pelvic/prostate pain(this has seemed to got better the last couple months)
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[x ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[x ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility - This has been better the last couple months
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] 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
[x ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems Had acid reflux before, think I have an ulcer now
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
None yet
- 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)?
None
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
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Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Ok, I’ll have to break this in a couple parts, back in October 2010 I got a tickle in my penis, kind of like an std which was strange as I practice safe sex(though not orally), went to my dr, he never tested me just start prescribing medications for stds, symptoms never went way, I was going nuts trying to figure out what it was, finally I broke down and went to the health clinic, got more medications but the dr there told me at my age I might have a problem with my prostate, went back to my dr and he told me I’d have pain in my lower pelvic area if this was the case, finally after it didn’t go away and 6-7 dr visits he sent me to an Urologist.
Go to the Urologist and after my second visit gives me a Cystoscopy, which if basically shoving a camera through your penis, after he goes - just what I thought it was, an inflamed prostate - that’s it, I tried to ask a couple questions but this idiot couldn’t be bothered to answer them, just prescribes me medication, one being the fin, and tells me we need to shrink your prostate. After 2 weeks of taking fin I just lost all libido, and erections, not to mention it made my prostate worse as I got the pain my regular dr told me I would have in the pelvic area, so essentially it made my prostate 100 times worse, I went to my regular dr and told him that, he says - yeah that medication will do that - then tries to prescribe me another medication, at this point I did some research on inflamed prostate and found out that NO medications work, just a healthy lifestyle change was all I needed, told him I was through with all medications. I cancelled my next appointment with the urologist(at $500 an appointment) since then I’ve went back to my regular dr 4-6 times and told him about not being able to maintain an erection, he tells me it’s in my head, gives me viagra.
I always knew it was the finasteride, I had almost immediate reaction to this poison, never had any kind of sexual problems and was pretty healthy beyond the inflammed prostate and some stomach issues, both common problems in men my age. Now I found out this medication is prescribed for an ENLARGED prostate, something I did not have, I’m totally disgusted I was prescribed this drug, and wasn’t giving an explanation on my condition or any alternative remedies. I’m beyond horrified that they would prescribe this for male pattern baldness, and can’t believe that the medical field is denying that this drug is ruining young men’s lives. Where’s the FDA in all of this? Are they too busy shutting down little kids lemonade stands while they let the medical corporations poison the world.
A year just past this and I’ve seemed to have some ups and downs, my libido was gone for 6-7 months, and during this time I had fatigue really bad, even I good friend I’ve know for 16 years visit me during this time and remarked he never seen me sleep so much, this has seemed to got better the last couple months, a couple months ago I was driving down the road and started thinking about sex and getting a bit aroused, I masturbated during this time, got pretty erect and even had some morning erections, also it seems the volume of semen has come back to normal, then the last month I noticed I lost a lot of sensation in my penis, which is when I finally found this site. Whatever happened, finasteride fucked something way out of wack in my system! Now reading all these medical terms and tests are pretty confusing to me, I know one thing, I’m going to a new dr and get some of these tests. I’m going to really try some lifestyle changes, eating stricter(I’m found of sweets which I’m going to cut down or out), cut way back on the drinking, and start taking vitamins. I’m hoping my body can fight through this, going to try to stay positive and work through it, I’ll be sure to post anything that helps.