Finasteride Crash vs. PFS

General Discussion
#1

I’ve read countless articles and forums on Finasteride and PFS, but I had kind of a basic level question I’ve been curious about: what is the difference in a Finasteride-induced crash and having PFS?

What is the line that designates the difference between the two? Seems like a lot of guys come on this site and others complaining of an endocrine/neuroendocrine system crash that wrecks their bodies and minds. Is that something that this medication (and others) can just push a human body to do…“crash” and then recalibrate/recover? Does every guy who crashes have PFS and some of those recover and some don’t? Or does everyone crash and then some heal and some progress to long-standing PFS?

Has the foundation defined a timeline or time period that separates crashing from full-blown PFS?

Again, I know it’s probably somewhat of a dumb question but I’ve just really been wondering based on reading through so many stories.

#2

Hey @Darn,

How long have you been off?

#3

Just finished 3 weeks off Finasteride after 10 years of use.

#4

Ok, well, someone can correct me if I have it wrong but it’s possible to crash and then recover without lasting side effects.

We say that after 3 months you can consider symptoms persistent. Recovery is still possible at that stage, certainly improvement of symptoms too.

You might find that this info is helpful.

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#5

Any combination is possible: No crash with PFS, crash with lasting symptoms and others who crash but then improve, at various rates. As we know, the spectrum of possible outcomes is huge. At the mild end, there are probably many people out there who have a mild form of “PFS”, from various substances, and don’t even know it.

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#6

For those with PFS who used Finasteride for a long period of time (years+), do you ever look back now and wonder if you were actually experiencing changes in your sex life, physical appearance and mental state slowly over time and just didn’t have enough concern to name it as PFS?

Until you experience a crash or sudden loss of normal function, you probably aren’t aware of PFS and everything that comes with it. Or at least I did not. But I definitely can say that over the past 10 years of Finasteride use my body and mental state changed, and I always just kind of shrugged it off as ‘well that sucks but I guess I’m getting older and more stressed?’. Just curious if other long-term users also feel this way in looking back?

On the other side of that, does anyone feel like learning about PFS makes you ‘hyper-aware’ of your body/mind? I am in no way at all saying or suggesting that PFS is ‘in your head’! This is very real and very brutal to live with. But do you ever wonder like what would PFS be like if I was still ignorant to what it was? A personal example, my health is shit right now and I’m in constant pain, mental fog, etc. but I never had concerns about my skin or an hourglass shape to my penis before learning about PFS in depth. Now…I am constantly looking at my skin like ‘oh no, is my skin turning dry and rubbery now?!’ or ‘crap, my penis shape is changing now!’. Those were two things in my life I can honestly say I never looked at or paid attention to before this. And now, it’s almost all consuming (especially on ‘bad days’). So I’m just curious if any others out there feel that way at all?

Maybe I’m crazy…but if I am, I blame Finasteride :slight_smile:

#7

I think the crash is likely part of PFS. There would be no crash if there were no finasteride.

But the severity of the crash, and the severity of PFS, is different for each person.

We will someday find out why!