Finasteride ruined my brain, my life and my career

Hello all,
I’m a new user here. I’m a 28yo guy from Italy whose life is ruined after taking finasteride.
I started to take it in the summer of 2014 because I noticed some minor hair loss on my temples. After 6 months, in January, I had to stop because it was giving me dementia like symptoms and I barely could talk anymore or understand the meaning of a simple word.
I’ve never suffered from mental problems before taking finasteride, if anything my brain worked very well. I have a master degree in finance, taken with a very high GPA, from one of the most prestigious university in Europe.
I went from learning advanced stochastic calculus concepts with relative ease to not being able to form a simple sentence in my native language, forget the meaning of simple words, not remembering what I read just a minute earlier, forget words mid sentence, complete inability to focus or concentrate in anything even for just a minute, stuttering, much slower processing of what other people told me. Basically it was like I had dementia. Indeed I got very scared and stopped finasteride cold turkey. The symptoms started around one week after I began taking propecia but initially they were mild and got worse with each passing day. Initially I couldn’t pinpoint the origin of the symptoms to Finasteride, only much later I stumbled upon an article that matched my problems to finasteride.
My symptoms stayed the same or even got worse for the first month after stopping Finasteride and I got very worried I actually had real dementia or a very bad brain injury. Of course since I couldn’t even talk or understand what other people told me (at my worst it would take me a couple of minutes to process the meaning of a simple sentence someone told me), I couldn’t get any job despite having graduated to one of the top university.
With time, the symptoms got somewhat better…for sure better than when I was at my worst. But I still had a very noticeable brain fog in the sense I’d still forget words mid sentence or couldn’t focus much.
I also started to lose hair again and get even more depressed because of that so last year in January I went to a dermatologist and he said I could take topical finasteride and he assured me that the topical version had no side effects at all.
So I started to take it (2,5%) and initially my symptoms stayed pretty much the same…the absorption of finasteride is probably lower. But now after one year and a half I can definitely say my brain fog got way worse to the point I’m almost as bad as when I used the oral version. Can’t focus on anything, sometimes I read a word and don’t understand the meaning of it, I feel very fatigued and I forget lots of words mid sentence so it’s tough to talk in a fluent way.
I’m devastated again. Of course I threw the last bottle of topical finasteride in the trash. I’m now 5 days after stopping topical finasteride and my symptoms are the same or even a bit worse.

This poison has ruined my life. I have no job, no brain, no money. I’m also very depressed. I started to look online of ways to improve my symptoms and I found a substance called 5a-DHP. I just ordered it and it should be here in 20 days.
If it doesn’t work I really don’t know what I’d do. I’m very depressed

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Hey man. Very sorry to hear about this. I can certainly relate to the cognitive symptoms you’re describing. Trouble reading and comprehending things, visual/perception problems, trouble with memory, organizing thoughts inside your head, inability to relax or remain calm. Shaking inside your brain, like you’re an addict being deprived of a drug. Absolutely horrific what this drug can do.

From what i’ve seen, the cognitive issues are the symptoms which are most likely to improve with time. At the very least, the brain has a very strong ability to cope and “normalize” situations over a long period of being exposed. You mentioned you’re out of work and broke. Are you living with family during this time? If nothing else, try to keep in mind that there are men who are struggling with the same or worse symptoms and aren’t receiving this sort of support, as unhelpful as this advice may be. I imagine the only thing worse than dealing with this nightmare, is to be forced to deal with it and have no support.

However, I’ve never met you and I am not sure what your circumstances are. Just one sufferer trying to reach out to another. Our symptoms and circumstances are likely very different, but feel free to reach out.

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Thanks, I actually forgot about the anxiety, I’m way more anxious than I used to be before taking finasteride.
My mental symptoms actually did improve after I stopped finasteride the first time but took a lot of time and anyway I wasn’t cured by any means. I still had all the symptoms just 50% milder, and by that time I started to lose hair again so hopped on topical finasteride and from there it only got worse

I’m not living with my family since I moved out at 18yo for college, but they are financially supporting me because in this state I can’t get a job
I’m actually thinking of suing my dermatologists for prescribing me this poisons without telling me about the side effects.

My only hope is that 5a-DHP, which is a precursor of allopregnanolone (the neurosteroid finasteride indirectly annihilated), will work and give my brain back. I can’t wait years until research will recognize our condition and some drugs will be developed.
I also don’t believe in doctors anymore, I refuse to talk about my condition with them…went to two and one thought I was crazy and told me to see a shrink and the other one told me it’s just stress and to take some hot baths, a vacation and doing some cardio.
They are so ignorant and oblivious it enrages me

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Absolutely man, my anxiety is just terrible. If saw some improvement in my physical symptoms, that would greatly help my anxiety and mood/motivation in general. Unfortunately, I have had no improvement. That is good to hear that you are receiving financial support. Don’t take that for granted man. You are very fortunate to have that, even more so in your condition!

Hopefully the treatment you’re thinking of will work. I am unsure if anyone on this forum has tried 5a-DHP and had success with it.
As for the ignorance of the medical profession and seemingly everyone else, it’s absolutely ridiculous. I don’t even know what to say about it honestly. This condition has been very eye-opening for me with regards to 1) how clueless most healthcare practictioners are of issues outside their very narrow knowledge-base, and 2) How unconcerned and even disrespectful my family has been. They believe all of this has been brought on by stress and I’ve droven myself to think I have this made-up condition. It has reached the point where I plan to no longer speak to my Aunt or father, even after I recover from this. It’s been really enlightening in some aspects, but overall a total nightmare.

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Dear VitaRovinata,

I am sorry this has happened to you. Unfortunately, topical Finasteride is not safe either. You should stay away from any Finasteride treatments and in fact all substances that have anti-androgenic properties.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you any treatment advice, because currently there simply is no reliably safe and effective treament for this condition. However, some people get better with time. Like after your first experience with Finasteride, your symptoms may get better again. If they don’t, we will be here for you. We have assembled a team that works on initiating more research and creating more awareness and could use every helping hand.

Good luck!

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Hi buddy - yes there’s nothing approved for this, nor guaranteed safe even. I tried 5aDHP and it was a real help, so hopefully it’ll do you some good too. :slight_smile:

Hang in there, we’ll get there. :slight_smile:

Guys, please help.
It’s day 16 since I stopped finasteride and my symptoms are much worse. My brain fog is killing me. Is it normal for symptoms to get this much worse after stopping? I can barely think now.
And coffee make it 10x worse
I don’t remember exactly how much it took to get better the other time. This poison is just so bad
And I have a question. Did coffee make it much worse for you? It’s crazy bad for me…especially more than one. My brain fog is so much worse when I drink it

Hi guys

where is the best place to buy 5adhp in the uk please?

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[quote=“VitaRovinata, post:7, topic:37930, full:true”]Guys, please help.
It’s day 16 since I stopped finasteride and my symptoms are much worse. My brain fog is killing me. Is it normal for symptoms to get this much worse after stopping? I can barely think now.[/quote]

Hi, yes, unfortunately it is commonplace that after crashing, that specific symptom can get much worse for a variable period of time before people report improvement or at least a change from what was near persistence to intermittence. In the period after I crashed, “brain fog” was a grossly insufficient term to describe what had happened to my cognition and clarity. I felt as though I had been struck around the back of the head with a bat or had walked out of a car crash with a severe head injury. Hold strong during this period. You can improve from what you’re experiencing now. Stay away from coffee if it’s exacerbating your brain fog.

Have you filled in the survey? It would be great if you could, the results are to be used to fully define this condition and to relay this information to the scientific community.

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Just a quick update.
I feel better today (of course I still have brain fog…lots of it), yesterday was crazy tough…I felt like I was dying and I just couldn’t even think or breathe, let alone concentrate on anything.
Finasteride definitely is causing my brain fog, but coffee makes it 10x worse. It’s crazy how bad my symptoms get when I drink more than one cup of coffee. Today I had zero and definitely feel better, much less jittery and anxious. Yesterday I was having palpitations and panic attacks.
Of course I’m not claiming everybody who suffer from PFS should ditch coffee…It’s just me that is very sensible to it…even before I started to take finasteride tbh.
Now I’m awaiting the 5a-DHP…should arrive next week, will report back

I bought it from here

So, I’m one month since stopping finasteride and I still feel like shit. My brain is like fried, I’m mentally slow, forget words mid sentence (how can I get a job if it’s impossible for me to make a speech without multiple breaks because I don’t remember the word to say?), can’t concentrate much and it takes a while to understand what I read.

I don’t think it’s getting better. It’s like finasteride changed something in my brain…

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So, it’s been roughly 6 weeks since I stopped finasteride. Things are a little better but not by much. Probably 5a-DHP helped me a bit. I’m a little better at remembering things and having a fluent speech but there is a lot to improve yet.
Will try to update once per month

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How much 5a-DHP are u taking, how does it make you feel?

Any updates?

@VitaRovinata How have you been doing?

How did it help and where did you get it?

Yes where?

Where did you get it?

This is so weird. Your describe your experience with doctors and family word for word how I do. I can’t find any specialists either in the UK that have any experience in this.