Glimpses of Hope After Taking Arimidex (10 months PFS)

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)?
US

What is your current age, height, weight?
20, 5’10", 130

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride, Dutasteride

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1mg finasteride ED, 0.5mg Dutasteride EOD

What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
Finasteride: 1.5 years, Dutasteride: few months on and off

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
Finasteride: 18, Dutasteride: 19

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
19

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

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
1.5 years of Finasteride, shortly after taking Dutasteride

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Currently none

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
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[X] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[X] 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
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[X] Weight (Loss due to depression/lack of appetite)
[X] 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
[X] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[X] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[X] Other (please explain)
Felt chemically castrated

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Tried multiple supplements such as zinc and vitamin D. Healthy lifestyle and diet. Arimidex.

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)?
Unfortunately, I did not get any pre-Finasteride blood tests, however a blood test about four months into PFS showed my total testosterone at 390 (260-1100). Two months later another test revealed a total testosterone level of 606 (260-1100), much higher than the previous result. The second test included estrogen level as well, which was perfectly balanced (don’t remember exact value, but it was right under the middle of the range). It also included prolactin which was borderline high (in range), although the doctor did not seem concerned and ignored it.

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

Hi, I am going to post a quick story about my experience with finasteride and dutasteride. As you can see I had a lot of PFS symptoms. I am not going to get into any arguments as to why the symptoms persisted for 10 months for me, but they did.

My symptoms were very persistent over the full length of time I had PFS. I remember one time where I noticed a slight improvement about 6 months into it. This improvement lasted about a week before disappearing and was hardly comparable to my pre-finasteride state. I tried zinc and vitamin D which did absolutely nothing for me. Shortly after, I ordered some arimidex at about the 8 month mark and took 3 .25mg pills over the course of two weeks. Took about two days to feel the effects. I could tell a difference in the form of a slight improvement but it was hardly noticeable most of the time. A few days after the 3rd dose I remember I felt almost completely normal for about 24 hours. This gave me a small glimmer of hope that my situation could improve over the long term. I dropped arimidex and the effects went away; I was back to my PFS state. A few weeks went by and I decided to try arimidex again. This time I took 4 .25mg pills over the course of 8 days. I felt marginally better but over all it did not seem to make much of a difference this time around. It’s been maybe three weeks since I took the last dose and all of the sudden I feel completely normal again. Not sure if it is attributed to arimidex or not, but nothing else in my life changed other than that. It could have been a natural recovery or coincidence so I cannot endorse arimidex as the cure for sure. I have only been “recovered” for about a week but the difference is so profound I immediately noticed.

During my experience with PFS, I had the only two panic attacks I have had in my life. I am pretty certain it was PFS that contributed to their onset. I was also struck with tremendous brain fog, depression, general anxiety, and a loss of words, more so than before finasteride, as well as sexual sides I have never experienced and given my age, should not be experiencing at all. I suddenly gained back my confidence, became less anxious, and generally feel like a man again recently. I promised myself that if I overcame this awful tragedy, I would post my recovery story to encourage others to be hopeful. I did not have a slow recovery, it was immediate and without warning when I least expected it. I hope it lasts.

Edit: Shortly after discontinuation of Arimidex I crashed again. However, it worked twice in a row so I will be retrying and continuing for as long as it works.

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Hi!

I am happy to hear that you have improved and hope that the improvements last (1 week may not be enough to be sure).

Just as a word of caution for those who read this story and intend to try Arimidex themselves. We had several users get significantly worse on Arimidex including people who later commited suicide as their situation became unbearable.

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Actually the recovery which u are having right now, i had it in Oct last year with the help of proviron. It lasted only a week, but i just took 1 tab of proviron anyway.

Stay safe mate…plz avoid arimidex and aromasin, these two are one of the worst drugs on this planet along with fin/dut, ssri and accutane. Maybe u should opt for proviron at low dose as it is the safest compared to the drug u are taking.

If u are free then plz do the survey.

Please update us.

I stopped taking Arimidex and crashed again after a few days. I am retrying for a longer period of time and will update with the results. It worked twice in a row so if it works a third time I will stay on it as long as I can. If this doesn’t work I am inclined to try Cabergoline. Anyone familiar with the drug?

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Not trying to scare off anyone but I think aromasin has permanently lowered my E2. Took it on and off in 2017 and 2018 and E2 never went back to its former level after then. It’s known as suicidal inhibitor for aromatase. I briefly experimented with low dose arimidex back on trt days but never solo. AIs are no better than finest. so practice caution

Where are u bro? Are u ok? Plz update… experiments with arimidex has proven to be deadly.

I did my third trial of arimidex and felt absolutely awful so I quit prematurely. No positive effects this time.

However I did go on to cabergoline as well as tribulus and maca and had the best recovery yet. I felt amazing for about a week, even better than after arimidex. All sexual sides went away for the duration. I’m talking solid libido and no numbness. Unfortunately I crashed again last week which is highly depressing. I will write about my experience in detail once I get more information. I may try again at different doses.

My next experiment will be St. John’s wort with maca or tribulus. If that doesn’t work I’ll move on to Clomid with low dose arimidex and/or low dose cabergoline, as those have both proven to work for me. I’m determined to beat this. I’ve been fully recovered twice before crashing repeatedly, just got to hold on to the gains. Now that I have every supplement and med under the sun, and blood tests to show my base levels, it’s time to experiment.

I’m interested to hear if anyone here has tried Clomid with arimidex before? Also does a testosterone level of 391 sound low to you for a 19 year old?

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When you had a temporary recovery from proviron, how long did it take after you started proviron to see effects?

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St John’s wort is an antidepressent and an anti androgen, i don’t know much about it.

Hundreds of people have tried clomid and arimidex, the results were disappointing. And arimidex is not for us healthy men, it is a breast cancer drug for women and will give u severe osteoporosis.

Ya the levels of 391 are very low for a 19 year old. If u feel better by increasing androgens in ur body, u should consider trt. Try clomid before that.

On Oct 2020, just took a tab and forgot it, didn’t feel anything for 3 weeks, then on 4th week i was superman for a week.

I’m wondering if that’s what happened to me. The day that I started taking cabergoline I tested out proviron as well. I only took 50mg for two days but it gave me bad acne so I stopped and didn’t really attribute any success to it. I need to start being more consistent :confused:

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Yea my 391 testosterone level is why I’m considering Clomid. Even if I have to do trt and hcg forever it’s better than this horrible experience. I’m optimistic even after almost a year of pfs. I’ll keep you guys updated on whatever happens.

Also I noticed that there seems to be a lot of different issues on here. People with low testosterone levels by other causes or prolactinoma who may have had issues regardless of propecia are attributing their issues to the drug, which may be polluting the forum with problems that aren’t true pfs. I guess we will never know what’s what until further research comes out.

My issues are undoubtedly related to dutasteride and finasteride.

You dont have to do TRT forever. Dont worry. Your body will fix the receptors or whatever our problem is. You will just do a PCT like bodybuilders do and you will be fine.