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How did you find this forum?
Via Google search. Terms like “post finasteride syndrome treatments” etc. -
What is your current age, height, weight?
23 years, approx. 1,92m and 98kg -
Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
I do sports almost everyday. Actually, I play football three times a week, and lift weights four times a week. Since the football season is over, I lift weights four times a week, and do a little bit of cardio one or two times a week. -
What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
Meat eater, but I remember to eat enough vegetables and fruits. Especially at the evening: high protein, low fat and low carbs. -
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Hair loss -
For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
4 Weeks -
How old were you when you started Finasteride?
23 years -
How old were you when you quit?
23 years -
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey -
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Propecia -
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1mg a day, forgot it several times -
How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
At the end of the usage -
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 - Decreased Libido
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections - less and less rigid
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] 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
[ ] 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
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X] Other (please explain)
Bad sleep (I wake up after approx. 5 hours of sleeping every night); Unable to feel orgasm/Orgasm is not satisfying; Unable to laugh or feel excitement.
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
I took Maca, Tribulus Terrestris, Arginin and Fish Oil Pills for two months. -
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)?
I only have post-Finasteride bloodtests:
Testosterone: normal-high
FSH 4.9 mIU/ml (1.5-20)
LH 12.9 mIU/ml (1.5-10) - due to Tribulus Terrestris, I guess
Estradiol 33 pg/ml (<40)
Prolactine 13.9 ng/ml (<15)
DHT 21.7 ng/dl (9.4-47.6) -
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
This drug f***ed up my life. -
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Sorry in advance for my bad english.
In January this year, my dermatologist gave me a trial package of propecia to see how it works for me (28 pills), after I told him that I suffer from hair loss. At the end of the usage (beginning of march), I noticed decreased Libido, so I decided to stop taking Finasteride. After quitting, it got worse. I started to have ED, sleep badly and stop to feel orgasm. Over the time, I recognized that I have emotional flat( I could not feel excitement or joy anymore). I went to the first urologist and told him my story. That I took Finasteride, and that I believed, that I suffer from PFS. He decided to make a testosterone-test. He said, it should be at least 2.4, but 3.5 or more is better. My value was 5.82. He said, everything is fine with me and that I’ll sure be okay soon, that it must be psychological, and that he doesn’t think, that I suffer from PFS.
I went to another urologist. He seemed like a very good doctor to me. He took his time to speak with me and listened to me very carefully. As I told him, that I probably have PFS and that I have read so much horror stories about it, he started to laugh. He said: “You see, when I laugh, it is not as bad as it seems.” He prescribed me cialis and told me, that I should take it, If I feel like I need to, but he thinks, that I’m fine and just had some stress and trouble in other departments in my life, and that the horror stories in the internet afflict me. First, I got hopeful and happy. But after a couple of weeks, when it didn’t get better, I felt like “Okay, he is taking me seriously, but not my problem”.
I went to the first urologist again, and told him that my problems didn’t solve and it didn’t get better. I asked him, why no doctor takes PFS serious (meanwhile I had spoken to my family doctor and my dermatologist, too, and neither of them didn’t even know anything about PFS). He said the following to me:
“We prescribe Finasteride for decades now, in five times the dose, and noone has ever come to me and described such problems. Now, PFS is in the media for one or two years, and since then, I see how patients come to me and describe these symptoms. I don’t want to say, there is anything like PFS, but is that not weird? And I have to tell you… Who puts this horror stories in the media? The distributors, producers and retailers of cialis. And I say that as a referee of cialis. I know, there is Finasteride-Syndrome. That is a thing. But Post-Finasteride-Syndrome… I have my doubts.”
I found that very interesting. And I believe him in a way. I have no doubt, that my worries, my panic and my anxiety don’t make the symptoms better. Even worse, for sure. But I have no doubt, that my problems are not only psychological, too. Today, I’ll visit the second urologist again. I will update this post, afterwards. And in August, I have an appointment with an Endocrinologist.
