hello everyone.
long time occasional lurker. finally took the plunge as i feel we all must if we are ever going to get the help we need.
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Where are you from (country)? - Australia
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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?) - Honestly I can’t remember. i’ve been lurking for ages. been in denial that any of this was happening to me. the word ‘irreversible’ haunts me. scares the hell out of me.
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What is your current age, height, weight? 42. 171cm (used to be 174cm). 72kgs
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Do you excercise regularly? - yes, pretty much, not excessively. If so, what type of excercise? - walking, weight training.
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? - organic healthy, though not the ‘healthy’ we are taught. more a paleo diet where saturated animal fat is good, and grains, sugar, refined vegetable oils are bad. have cut all sugar and most vegetable oil and cereals out of my life and look and feel so much better for it. lots of good grass fed meat, fish, fresh vegetables, raw milk, natural yogurt, sauerkraut etc. been on this for about a year now.
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? - vanity. was starting to get a receding hairline so thought i would try it before i lost too much, see if it would help.
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? i honestly can’t remember, it was quite a few years ago. i’d say a few months, maybe 6.
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? i honestly can’t remember for sure. i think i was around 34. in and around 2004.
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? about 6 months later or so. i guess, 34, 35.
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? - Propecia broken into 4. i know it was supposed to be 5 pieces but that was too difficult. halving a pill then halving a pill again seemed much easier. didn’t reckon taking a bit extra could do much harm.
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25 mg a day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? a few weeks i guess. from what i remember it was very gradual.
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What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? - loss of libido is the main one.
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[X ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X ] Erectile Dysfunction - a little. i can still usually get it up when i have to. though viagra is a life saver at times. as long as i can get in the mood.
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ X] Loss of Morning Erections
[ X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] 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
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X ] 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
[ ] Prostate pain
[ X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X ] Other (please explain) - i did gain a lot of fat around my middle section which i have mostly lost since stopping.
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? diet, exercise, dhea, various supplements, ghb. a very healthy diet, gave up all caffeine and alcohol for a year
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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)? no post ones yet.
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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.
it’s been so long now since i quit, it’s hard to remember exactly what was going on. i took the drug proscar around 2004 for around 6 months, i think. breaking it into quarters as it worked out cheaper that propecia. i really can’t be sure when i started or how long i took it for. my hairline was starting to recede, i’d heard about finasteride, read up about it and the ‘possible’ side effects, which were meant to be temporary and disappear once you stopped using, so i thought ‘what the hell, what have i got to lose?’ (everything it seems) ordered it online, never went to the doctor for a script. i no longer have any records of ordering or paying for it, so it’s hard to know exactly when. one of the main reasons i quit was actually the accumulation of fat around my middle, which looked horrible and dimply, like the dreaded cellulite that women hate. i lost my natural six pack which i’ve always had under a layer of very unsightly fat.
there was low sex drive too and a general feeling of not being right. but at the time i put a lot of that down to being in a relationship that was making me unhappy. i thought once i got out of the relationship everything would improve but looking back now what was happening was not just a symptom of being in a wrong relationship.
i got myself out of a ten year relationship where the last couple of years were not very good and i thought i’d got my life back on track but my health kept getting worse until i ended up with severe chronic and adrenal fatigue (or a nervous breakdown in the old lingo), insomnia, horrible brain fog and a host of other ailments all seemingly unrelated at the time. over the last 3 years especially my health just got worse and worse until finally in January of 2010 i finally admitted to myself something was seriously wrong.
i feel a bit stupid now for not having realised before just how bad everything had got but it was a very slow gradual process over many years. what finally sent me to the doctor was erectile dysfunction, no libido, no interest in sex. it was only while talking to the doctor and answering questions i realised how sick i was in all areas and it twigged i’d stopped having night time erections, morning wood, i was just not interested in sex.
doctors were just as baffled as i was, and referred me to several specialists and endocrinologists who were even more baffled. no one could help me and i was offered antidepressants a few times as they thought this was what was wrong. blood tests revealed little. i eventually found one doctor who seemed to know what was going on and he got me on a regime of supplements like co enzyme Q10, carnitine, and some others. this all helped and he told me to just go and take it easy and not worry or think about it too much, leave everything in his capable hands, go for long walks in the park. relax. but i couldn’t. i was not convinced we’d found the root of the problem. so i started researching on the internet looking for something. a reason i became so sick. which led me to go see holistic dentists as i thought i might have mercury toxicity from old fillings.
as it turned out there was other stuff going on to contribute to my ill health. other dental issues, root canal teeth, (i’d actually like to mention that root canalled teeth are a major potential health threat to anyone especially as they get older and their immune systems become weak or compromised. - i did so much research over the last year and am amazed and outraged at what i have dug up. (sorry for digressing but this may actually be important to some members on here)
i went to 4, yes 4 different holistic dentists as my trust of anyone was shattered by this stage, they all advised i have 2 root candled teeth extracted and all the metal in my mouth, (mostly stainless steel retainers from previous orthodontic work and metal in the crowns over the root canals) removed.
this was a big thing to me, so i took 3 weeks and did my own research and came to the conclusion i should have the root canals removed. i had one removed one day and begged to have the other removed the next day, the holistic dentist wanted to leave a gap of a week between each. the day after the second extraction, my brain fog disappeared. before that i had become sensitive to gluten and dairy. i would feel pretty clear headed first thing in the morning but brain fog would always develop about half an hour after eating. the longer i stayed hungry in the morning the longer i had a clear head. this all stopped the day after extraction and i could now eat what i wanted again with no brain fog. it felt miraculous.
- a dentist called Weston Price tried to warn the world back near the start of last century that root canals are dangerous. you can google his name and root canal dangers and lots of info will come up. his research was first applauded by the medical and dental fields, then blasted and buried, only to be brought to the fore again around 1997 by Dr. George E. Meinig, an endodontist who was one of the pioneers in developing and improving modern root canal therapy. he discovered the work of Weston Price and did a 180 on everything he believed and wrote the book ‘root canal cover-up exposed’)
amazon.com/Root-Canal-Cover-Up-George-Meinig/dp/0945196199
I also have tmj problems from orthodontic work and found out i’m sensitive to nickel(stainless steel) which i’ve had in my mouth along with other metals for the last 8 or 9 years up until around june last year. all this contributed to completely losing my health, low bone density, demineralisation of teeth, having to give up work. i actually did the ghb thing to try and get sleep as i went 3 months from Jan 2010 getting only 1 hour a night. i almost went insane. I had to buy a litre of the stuff on the black market. i’ve practically used it all and i believe it saved my life. it is great stuff and technically not a drug, but a supplement as our body makes and needs it in small quantities. body builders used it in the 70s and 80s as it promotes the body to produce HGH. it was available up until around the mid 80s in most health food stores.
during my research mission to try and find out what was wrong with me, i came across this website. the information on this website scared the hell out of me (and still does) and i have tried to run away from facing up to the fact finasteride has more than likely caused me permanent, irreversible damage. all the measures i have taken have helped lead me back to better health, much better health, but there is still a low energy problem, no zest for life, and no libido. i find it real hard to visit this website as it usually sends me spiralling into depression. i’ve tried to put this website to the back of my mind and hoping against hope, the dental issues were my sole problem, but alas it looks like finasteride is. my sex drive and all my energy has still not returned. it’s improved but i can’t say it has returned.
i also discovered weston price’s research on the modern diet and how it is lacking in some basic nutrition for many. so i have been following a paleo diet, completely cutting out sugar, most cereals, caffeine, eating organic unprocessed food, organic pastured meat, fish, eggs, avoiding refined oils. discovering saturated fats, animals fats are not the demons they have been made out to be, but refined vegetable oils are. hydrogenated oil, margarine, modern soy. all poison. this is all simplified but is the gist of it.
like i say i still don’t have much energy and tire easily. even eating too much in one sitting is still enough to just make me want to crawl beneath the covers for a few hours. my energy and standard of living has improved greatly. my sleep is also greatly improved. but the lack of sex drive is the biggest thing. I can get everything to work and have quite a good time in bed occasionally, but it’s not the same as it once was, i lack the motivation and drive. there is not the same excitement. most things that used to turn me on no longer do, and thinking about sex doesn’t turn me on. i can go ages without feeling a need to get off. it’s like i’m looking and feeling the world through a layer of glass, or just a layer of cellophane even. i try and masturbate every day, but have gone a week now without doing anything to see if i might get an urge but so far nothing. i can remember what my life once was, and the feelings and desires i once had. i want my life back. i find this website tough going, as i just seem to go round and round in circles and am afraid to try a lot of the advice in case i lose what little desire and ability i have regained. and compared to where i was a year ago i have regained a lot, but have still a long way to go. and dealing with the deep seated fear that finasteride is the root cause of all my problems and has probably ruined my life, but then i read the content on here and realise many are a lot worse off than me.
this has finally prompted me to register and make myself known. i have been coming on here occasionally for quite a while now, when i feel brave enough, trying to absorb everything and hoping against hope a miracle will have happened and a cure is on the way. but it depresses me too much and i stay away because of that. how many more are there like me who come here to lurk but never make themselves known? just how big a problem is this? we all need to make ourselves known and have a voice so that we will eventually be heard.
a few weeks ago i decided to try freeing up some testosterone to see if that would help things along. i started taking Zeus which contains testofen among other ingredients, along with chrysin, nettle root, and peperine. this has made me worse. and made my heart pound at times, for the wrong reasons. what little sex drive i had regained seems to have slipped away and i have again become depressed. so now i have stopped all that and am back on here looking for more answers, but being on here, trying to wade through the mountain of conflicting information, both on here and on google in general, exhausts and drains me. i can’t remain focused for long. most of the time it’s easier to bury my head in the sand and pretend none of this is happening.
i haven’t actually read many member stories so not sure if i’m completely off the mark here with how i’ve written mine. i’ve tended to spend more time in the recoveries section hoping something there will prove to be what i need to do. it’s all very desperate and sad really.
i’m sure we all feel pretty much the same and this bit is more to anyone who might read this who does not have this problem and is struggling to understand what we are going through.
i still have some hope. i gotta have, otherwise i’m left wondering what’s the point of going on. this really has had that big an impact on me and my life and the person i am and the person i want to be again. it’s increasingly looking like i will never ever get to be that person again. something seems to have died and i fear it is never coming back, not unless we get help and get the right help.
so even though i can’t say with 100% certainty finasteride is my problem, it very much looks that way. i have never talked to anyone about this, except a doctor or 2 a year and a half ago who both brushed it aside. i’m embarrassed by the whole thing, and mortified that this seems to be all self inflicted, brought about by vanity, my fear of losing my hair. i find it very difficult to talk about, especially with friends and people i know. and i realise that may all sound self pitying, because it is. it’s a bitter pill to swallow and all part of what we all have to deal with, most of you it seems are much braver and stronger than me.
i still have some hope, especially as i have made some improvements and once again occasionally get morning wood, and even the very occasional spontaneous erection, but the fire for the most part is gone. i was about 34 when i took finasteride. i’m now 42. apparently i look great, healthy, i look quite muscular and lean and have lost most of the fat from my middle. i attribute a lot of that to the HGH brought on by the GHB, and my healthy diet and loads of rest. i get told often i’m handsome, sexy, i have no problem picking up if i want to, trouble is i lack the drive and the motivation, and it depresses me, makes me feel like such a fraud at times. and i wonder how many there are out there like me. and when will this madness end and we get the help we so desperately need.