Freaked Out New Member

Member Stories
#1

Reposting the questionaire:

  1. Where are you from (country)? USA

  2. 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?) Google Search

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 41, 5’10", 155lbs

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? moderate exercise

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? healthy, fish, limited fast food

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Finasteride

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 3 weeks

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 41

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 41

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Proscar

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25 mg / day +/- (cut 5 mg into 4 pieces)

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 2 weeks

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Currently discomfort just above penis, erectile dysfunction

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[x ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x ] 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
[ ] Confusion
[x ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ x] 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
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Just starting to figure out what to do as proactively as possible

  2. 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)? Ordering blood tests ASAP

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    I took a beach trip with a friend. I was having trouble getting an erection. I thought it was a mental problem. I began to wonder on the return trip if the new drug I was taking might be playing a part. I Googled it and am freaking out after reading the scary stuff on this website and blog. If any read this and are able to help me get as much info prior to my MD visit please do. What tests to order, health tips, something I can try and do now. I will request a consultation with Dr. John Crisler as he mentioned he was able to “jump start” on occasion. UPDATE: Just after posting this initially, the pain increased in prostate area and testicles. I couldn’t sleep. The entire next day was painful and I became more foggy. I finally went to the doctor. He had me run a bunch of blood tests and ordered an abdominal CT. They were negative. I showed him this site and the recommended tests while at the visit and he ordered the Testosterone tests. I slept better the next night and awoke feeling somewhat better. I took the testosterone tests this am, worked until I was tired, went home, tried to rest. Still have pain in testicles and numbness in legs and foggy brain, etc.

#2

Updated: Have early am appointment tomorrow and hope to get labs done. Have very painful prostate area pain, tingling in testicles and legs. Emotional distress and can’t sleep or relax. Very messed up. Will post Dr visit and hopefully lab results.

#3

How long has it been? You were only on it a short while. There is a good chance you will recover naturally.

#4

24 Days. Just went through a painful experience. Felt like I was being lobotomized. I am praying I do recover. Thanks.

#5

Yes, the vast majority get better in the weeks following cessation.

BUT I think it is CRITICAL you take very good care of yourself in the coming weeks/months. Eat raw healthy foods, get some light exercise, take a good multi vit , take vit d3 at least 5000 iu’s daily, get plenty of sun, get plenty of sleep, try to avoid stress, dont drink or use drugs, masturbate as little as possible, etc. I think alot of us wouldnt be in this mess if we had heeded this advice ourselves.

#6

Thank you sir. Will do.

#7

Or if merck printed this on the package insert. Lol

#8

I second this. Take it easy, eat healthy, get moderate exercise, nothing to excess. If you recover I would live like this for a few years given so many people have crashes much later down the line…

#9

Mmartin is probably right about changing behavior “permenantly”.

Do not shrug off the dangers of too much masturbation. An orgasm is very taxing on your body. Chemicals are released, electrical charge goes off in your brain, etc. All these things take some time for your body to recover particularly in an androgen-deprived body. Alot of stuff going on so maybe more dangers of something happening. I’m almost certain this is what caused me to crash. I masturbated three times one day (which was very rare thing for me) and the very next day I crashed.

#10

Thank you. I’m taking this very seriously. How long does the initial crash last? I am messed up.

#11

I crashed while on the drug and never got better. It is all mute imo, you have either been damaged or you havent.

#12

Damaged = not responding normally to stimulus and nourishment. Activity and nourishment play a role in energy and exhaustion. Many people notice a difference when they change their diet to paleo orientation, begin moderate exercise, sleep more and reduce stress and stimulants. Some get benefits with supplemental hormones.

The initial crash varies. I was feeling awful after stopping for a couple months, had a rebound and a 2 week erection, then crashed again. I’ve had probably 15 up cycles in over two years. Unfortunately there’s no set time for anyone, we all seem to be different.

#13

Sorry i meant crashing the first time. I know improvement and recovery is possible post crash.
But when people say dont do this, dont do that, i laugh a little because i crashed big time on the drug, so i never had a chance not to do this and that and the other thing.

#14

OK then. Not good news for me but thanks also as I have also crashed big time. I just hope the pain and insomnia and goes away soon and that I get some semblance of an appetite back.

#15

Those things will come back, you are most likely in a state of shock at the moment.
Believe me this is not perminant, on two occassions my body has shown that it can return to its normal self, as brief as they were.

#16

Thanks for reassuring words. I am feeling better today and the fog is slowly lifting and some emotions coming back and pain lessening. I fasted for a day then raw foods diet today with a lot of bananas. Hoping to get some sleep tonight.

#17

Fantastic advice. Disabling fog started to lift yesterday while I was out and taking time to soak up sun about an hour after eating a banana and apple. Fog changing from numbing frontal lobe to headache on right temple. Pain in groin down to a 1-2. The raw foods diet will be challenging but some people in my church are starting a raw foods small group - coincidence? - so I’ll have support there. The biggest factor here will be my ability to manage stress. My kids were fighting last night and I let it stress me. I felt my body reacting negatively almost instantly with pain in my frontal lobe returning. I put the kids in their room and went and laid down for an hour to relax. I will have to learn see stress coming and learn to relax - become like a saint or zen master or monastic monk, lots or prayer and meditation. I finished out the day eating raw foods salad with fruit and D3 supplement and fell asleep for 5-6 hours. While feeling better, I am cautiously optimistic and understand from reading the posts that this will be a lifelong condition to monitor and there aren’t any guarantees.

#18

Update:
Finally a full night’s sleep and no fuzzy head or fog so far this morning. Performed some pushups and situps in full sun with shirt off which seemed to have an instant effect on reducing my headache and returning of emotions. Bought a ton of bananas and am almost out. I wondered why japanther ate so many in his diet. However, bananas are the only thing that come close to filling you up when you cut out processed foods.

When I exercise there comes a point where pressure begins to build in my frontal lobe at the same exact point where the brain fog seemed to originate in the lower forehead between the eyes. I stop or reduce the muscle strain at that point but am curious what would happen if I pushed it further. I think I’ll wait to push it until I’m further away from the crash. I’m not a doctor but think there is a correlation between testosterone and that area of the brain.

I am by no means recovered. I crashed pretty hard and am beginning to feel better. Still Zero libido. However, for now I’m ok with it as the unbearable brain fog itself is still fresh in my mind and prefer being a unic (sp?) to being lobotomized.

Thanks to everyone on this site who posts their stories and experiences both good and bad.

#19

No more brain fog…you lucky son of a b :smiley:

#20

Not sure I’m totally out of the woods just yet. Just drove 5 hours with kids and very exhausted. Stress causing slight headache to return and feeling the frontal lobe beginning to throb. Eating a banana and climbing in bed and not moving til sunrise.