Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.
Where are you from (country)?
Canadian, living in Europe
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?)
I heard about it years before I ever took Finasteride - first time would have been back in 2010.
What is your current age, height, weight?
37, 6 feet, around 61 kgs
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Two years ago I had a stint with oral / topical Finasteride, and topical Dutasteride. Both gave me horrendous cognitive sides, so I shopped around. Tried virtually everything until I settled on a seemingly harmless weak regimen of Alfatradiol, pumpkinseed oil 500mg, keto shampoo 2%
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Nightly Alfatradiol. Pumpkinseed oil mg 500mg nightly. Keto shampoo 2% every other day.
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hairloss.
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
2 years
Date when you started the drug?
2022
Date when you quit the drug?
A couple weeks ago
Age when you quit?
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Taper off
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
I began to suspect sexual side effects from my regimen realized I’d spent an entire year having weak erections and sexual anhedonia that was a cut above what I was used to (not the most sexual person).
In January I took the PSO during the day, which is when I realized it was also giving me brainfog
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
BRAINFOG. HOLY CRAP.
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.
Sexual
[X ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[X ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
X[ ] Confusion
[ X] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[X ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[X ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[X ] 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
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] 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 as of yet. I’m clean from drugs and have worked a program of recovery for 4 years, so I’m worried about experimenting too much (though ironically not worried enough when hairloss was a concern!)
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?
N/A
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
It’s been 3 weeks of this now, and I have to admit I’m in a panic…my head feels like it’s in a fish bowl and I didn’t participate in my recovery after meeting because I feel so self conscious about my attention span. I wish I could cry.
So let’s go back to 2022. I shaved my head and became a recluse. My self talk became atrocious. Hairloss severely impacted my self esteem and life from the first moment I knew what was happening. A careless comment about my new appearance from a family member left me feeling so skinned alive, that I decided it was finally time to fight my MPB instead of accepting it. My decision was to save for a hair transplant and get on preventative treatment.
On YouTube I found everyone’s favourite charismatic maniac, Kevin Mann - he had specifically written that PFS was a myth, comparing it in his thumbnail to a Qanon conspiracy theorist. I laughed, and felt safe to pursue treatment.
I don’t know the answer to this. But everything I tried - the whole familiar carousel of 5AR inhibitors and Androgen Blockers - gave me some horrid cognitive issue, insomnia, or heart palpitation. It felt truly ridiculous. I must have spent 1500€ in a year, just trying to find SOMETHING I could handle. 99% failed.
I live in Germany, and Alfatradiol is easy to come by. It didn’t give me any weird effect. Pumpkinseed tablets were recommended to me for a different issue, which was frequent urination. I only found out later that it had some potential benefits for hairloss.
So fast forward - confidence is returning and I get in a relationship for the first time in a couple years.
This may sound crass - but it looked like someone had photoshopped someone else’s penis onto my body. It was either unable to stay hard, or when it did, it appeared inches shorter than I remember. I came to dread sex - if we ever engaged, I was too afraid to look between my legs. It didn’t even look like mine.
Fast forward to late March. I ordered some CosmeRNA and Stemoxydine, tried those briefly. That may be unrelated. That week, I got sick and stayed home from work.
However - an unmistakable pressure began to build in my head - one I knew from previous stints of hairloss drug related brainfog. What the hell could this be??? I hadn’t changed my intake of Alfatradiol OR PSO.
it hasn’t left. It comes and goes. It’s now been 3 weeks since I used PSO, and one week since I stopped Alfatradiol and keto shampoo.
This…I mean this just seems ridiculous, right? My regiment was basically homeopathic nonsense. Has anyone felt this effected by treatments so light?
Anyway. I’m scrambling and scared and would desperately love an understanding word. Thank you for reading.
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance:
- Dosage:
- How often you took it:
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]