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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?) Forum.
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What is your current age, height, weight? 27, 182cm, 83kg
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? weight training.
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? healthy
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
5-7months combined 2-3months 2006, 2-3months 2007, 1month 2009 -
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 23, 24, 26
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 26
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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
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 0.25-1mg/day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
brainfog within few days, others later. -
What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] 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
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[X] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] Increased hair loss
[X] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X] Other (please explain)
muscle twitches, feeling of mild electric shocks inside your head, snaps.
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
tried lots of different herbs…
cdp choline and phosphatidylserine made me feel alot worse, my heart beat was irregular and i was afraid that my heart would stop, I felt very ill. both of these lower your cortisol. I also think that atleast phosphatidyl serine affects your immune system some way… I read about it from somewhere and i also got sick very next day i took PS.
No help/barely noticeable help
rehmannia, choline-bitrate, dmae-bitrateyohimbine, maca, gaba, ginseng, relora, l-dopa, gingo biloba, thyroid glandular, ashwagandha, 7-keto DHEA, reishi, licorise, citrulline-malate, piracetam, cortisol (just made my heart pound)
some help/moderate help
rhodiola rosea, adrenal glandulad, horny goat weed, serra peptase, lion’s mane mushroom, cordyceps, vitamins&minerals, probiotics&enzymes, l-tyrosine, pregnenolone + dhea?
- 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 hormonal tests taken.
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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.
When i first took finasteride i did feel some brain fog right from the start, i also had very dry mouth.
Can’t really remember if i had any other symptoms. I took the drug for 2-3 months and then decided to stop, after 10months i felt almost normal. Then i decided to try finasteride again and took some pills along to combat the sides, small dose of 6-oxo, arginine + some others. This time i didn’t feel as brainfogged than the previous time, but i had constantly “snaps” inside my head like small electric shocks or something, my memory got very poor and my digestion didn’t work… stool was yellow and seemed undigested. I also became intolerant to stimulants like coffeine. In the beginning i could drink some coffee and it made me feel better/more normal for a while, but later when i drank coffee i got very heavy brain fog wich lasted several days. Also my food allergies worsened.
Then after 2-3month of usage i decided to stop and this time my sides worsened and were at worst about 10months later after. I was really out there somewhere and was afraid for my mental health. nothing seemed real, no emotions at all, maybe somekind of terror about my situation, but i could not cry even if i wanted to. I really was a zombie. I think i could not have been able to handle that condition if it had continued. I started eating healthier, and avoided all stimulants and alcohol… just a multivitamin/day and imroved moderately over the next 10months, from the bottom to maybe 50%.
Then when i was a little better i decided to try finasteride once again because i got depressed over my hairloss and convinced my self that maybe finasteride didn’t cause my problems after all, and that it was just in my head as the doctor had said. (I met a doctor in 2008, but he basicly said it’s all in my head) This time i noticed within few days how my ability to think and reason got worse and i got muscle twitches and muscle under my left eye ticked constantly during the one month time i continued to use.
last summer, one year after i stopped taking finasteride for good i already felt maybe 70% what i used to, but then had really stressing period in my life wich brought me back to maybe 50%. Now during these last months i’ve been trying different herbs/pills to make me feel normal again.
I think adrenals are a big part of my problem, cause i can’t tolerate stimulants and stress worsens my symptoms.
Other symptoms: I don’t get high from alcohol like i used to… I get mostly stressed feeling, not the dopamine boost i used to. If i drink alot i feel a bit more normal in the morning, maybe due to higher allopregnanolone ?
I do remember that creatine monohydrate made me feel a bit better when i tried it in 2008.
it raises DHT and NO levels if i remember correctly. I don’t use it anymore though cause it makes me bloated (4-5kg water) and takes my self-confidence away.
Serrapeptase really has helped my prostate, made my flow back to more normal again and i’ve had some increase in my libido and erections also, maybe due to healthier prostate.
The first time i tried serrapeptase it made my brainfog way worse, but this was probably due to toxins release and phossible ulcers i had… now when i first had used digestive enzymes, probiotics, msm and l-glutamine to heal my intestines serrapeptase didn’t cause so much worsening in the brainfog… a bit though. Maybe it eats some damaged tissue/myelin scarring in the brain? I use lion’s mane powder to heal the phossibly damaged myelin stealths and it seems to make some difference, at least i think i can remember distant memories better, and some old things have popped into my mind wich i haven’t remembered for a long time. Too early to tell though, cause i’ve only used it for a week.
A Thing that also points to adrenal problem is that my body can’t take hign amounts of potassium.
If i use maca or eat alot of babanas/potatoes (high in potassium) my body gets very dry and my throat starts to ache. This indicates that my adrenals doesn’t produce enough aldosterone to keep
my sodium/potassium levels in balance.
I did try 7-keto DHEA 100mg for a week and it made my prostate more irritated. Not much else…
I did also try pregnenolone 15mg+ regular DHEA 10mg for 2 days some time before that and I think it helped alot, after those pills i had dreams (i don’t usually dream after finasteride) and libido was up for a day or two. I’m not sure if was pregnenolone+DHEA that made the difference, but i’m planning on trying those again after my prostate feels better again, maybe with mild natural aromatase inhibitor.
I also think that there’s something going on with my liver cause i can’t tolerate much fats and the yellow stool i had… I’m going to try schisandra and other liver health product with milk thistle and see if my condition improves.