That’s a ground breaking article!
I was 15 when I was losing hair and Finasteride was shoved in my face. I wasn’t even on the drug long enough to achieve any hair loss results. Instead, after 1mg/day for 6 weeks, I became increasingly aware of the sexual side effects I was experiencing. After a quick bit of research on what I was putting in my body and the hell it was putting people through. Naturally I threw my meds out right then and there, but this new insight caused stress to reach unbearable levels and I fell into an instant state of depression. After a couple weeks, the sexual side effects vanished, as did the depression. More than anything, I was only paranoid that I had interfered with puberty and had, subsequently, stunted my development.
ADHD runs in my mom’s side of the family and I’ve always exhibited the symptoms to some extent, but they were completely manageable as a child and raised no alarms. Due to the nature of the “brain fog” I’ve read so much about here, I wasn’t even immediately aware that I essentially became a different person overnight. When the feelings of depressions faded, it left behind an utter lack of cognitive awareness, REM sleep became an extremely rare occurrence and, in addition to my mind’s disconnection from my senses, my fully functioning penis is unable to receive signals from my brain.
My unrelenting absence from the reality I’m physically surrounded with has made it impossible to form any bond with another human being. I was a virgin before taking this drug and I will never experience sex on any mental or emotional level. My libido is perfectly normal and my T levels have always been in range as far as I know, but I don’t have turn-ons or turn-offs, nothing arouses me, and I don’t know if I even have any sort of sexual preference at all. My penis is deaf, blind, and dumb; responsive only to touch. Because I’m so easily distracted from the physical sensation, there is very little middle ground between flaccid and ejaculation (holding back a climax tends to eliminate my erection with little chance of recovery).
At 15, I could never have comprehended the Finasteride’s mechanism of action and the risks I was taking. A dermatologist said this drug was my best bet at stopping hair loss and sent me on my way, no mention of any side effects. I received no warnings, and he was not the slightest bit concerned about the “18 years or older” suggestion on the label. Because this all occurred during puberty, my behavioral changes never held any significance to an outside perspective. I’ve never brought up this topic to any family member or professional because it would solidify the idea that I’ve caused damage that will forever restrict my ability to thrive as an adult male. After 7 years, I have not experienced any bit of improvement or remission in my mental anguish. It’s as if my mind is being held captive by the least remarkable personality on the planet.
^ wow that is heartbreaking… man I wish we could just build a time machine or something. This should not have happened to all of us.
I should also have added that my hair loss came to a halt almost immediately after the “side” effects were in full swing. Not that my hair was of any concern by this point, but I never achieved regrowth and my surviving hair completely changed texture (significantly translucent and thin like cat hair). However, after 7 years off Finasteride, my hair remains exactly the same. It’s possible my hair loss was only temporary to begin with and it would have resolved itself naturally. Nonetheless, whatever my body was up to at the time, the war against my hair follicles has been postponed indefinitely. Could it be that the later stage of my adolescent development is stuck on “pause,” leaving me in some sort of neurological purgatory? (as in, I never actually completed puberty and now I’m Peter ****ing Pan)
^ I can’t really answer that question but I honestly wouldn’t get your hopes up about anything. This drug is toxic. Also I know exactly what you mean by translucent/thin hair. My hair changed in the exact same way. It’s super noticeable in the temples.
I used PROPECIA for over 10 years consistently and I cannot begin to tell you how many problems i have had after stopping in 2012. `Around beginning 2015 i started having speech issues and to date i am having serious issues communicating. I am the managing director of a retail pharmacy chain and let me tell you. RX companies care nothing about you if they did they would not sell you this drug.
Hi sorry to hear your news I had hoped that you where getting better from your previous posts. Do you still get those ‘neurological twitches’ you posted about? Are there any other changes since 2014. Thanks
Really appreciate this. I only took the pill for three days and stopped. I have been experiencing horrible brain fog since the day I stopped here is a log:
Day 1: took the drug
Day 2: skipped
Day 3: took the drug
Day 4: woke up feeling like I was in a bubble or under water. Stopped the drug.
Day 5: felt same as before
Day 6: felt the same
Day 7: still feel the same today.
I’m really hoping this goes away, but it feels to intense to just magically go away.
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How long did you take it for? Any relief? I feel the same way
Very interesting thread.
we should read this correctly
Well I took Propecia for 2 years and stopped because of obvious sexual side effects and now, 6 years later, had Transverse Myelitis. Something that happens in 2-4 ppl out of a million.
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My neurologist was convinced that I had this a couple of months ago as my nervous system was going haywire that is until my spinal scan came back clear. As far as I know 5alpha reductase is important for the glial cells to function properly. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis man
Could you please post a member story about your experience with fin?
It would be appreciated.
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Did you have a spinal tap?
Yes I did and the doctor hit my nerve going in sending my leg into a spasm definitely a very uncomfortable situation.
Can you describe your symptoms in relation to the diagnosis?
Has anyone here had a SPECT scan done it’s been recommend to me by a friend. MRI’s can only check for structural damage whereas this can look deep into the brain for any signs of damage.
My neurologist said that it is not recommended. The change or damage is on a biochemical level, even less than cellular. No scanning is able to capture which chemicals or substances are active or inactive in the brain. And unlike experiments done on mice, scientists do not put a tube directly into living brains of living humans and inject something through it or look through it. Ethics in research, and potential for damage on top of it. In vogue right now are all the uses of new scans, including FDG (radioactive glucose that is uptaken more or less of a degree in different brain regions). But each brain region is connected to the other regions by millions of neurons and connections, so this kind of scan too does not give us the true picture of what is happening with our condition.
The reason I talked about a SPECT scan is that a friend who I have become close with got one after MRI’s weren’t able to identify damage. He took Lexapro or whatever it’s called once and using this scan was able to identify brain damage as parts of his brain weren’t lighting up properly anymore and thus was able to get on disability.