22 yr old male with sexual side effects… been on propecia for 1 yr approx. i dont think i can recall when they first started as they were minor when first appearing and i ignored them. i recall that in the summer (may/june/july 07) i still had awesome sex with my girlfriend with no problem… but i didn’t realize I might have had the morning erection problem until reading it on the internet after feeling like my erections were softer, less ejaculate volume, and some slight penile pain. Now that I think back I don’t think I’ve had one in a long time. i recently switched from propecia 1mg to proscar 5mg (cut into 4’s with an exacto the best I can) due to cost, and and started cutting them like 1 month ago. maybe that’s exacerbating the problem? i realize its hard for me to get stiff if im watching porn… i have to manually stimulate myself and I feel like my penis doesn’t stay as big for as long. Pain in penis after masturbation… I have been on this a long time… but didn’t notice the symptoms (much) or see them to be significant till recently. im scared that this shit won’t go away. I can’t figure out how many people on this site have resolution to their problems after discontinuation, after having taken propecia for such an extended period of time as me (It seems as if most people 1 yr + of usage have a harder time than those on it for less for regaining function for pretty serious sexual problems). Please post advice. I get very anxious and panicky when I think about this being something that may never resolve. What do I do if I wanna quit? Should I still be having sex? Masterbating? How much and what is this going to do to my hormones… I kept looking at material here but there’s so much I’m confused and I am cramming for exams in medschool so time isn’t something I can take for granted.
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How did you find this forum? Googling propecia side effects a while ago saw this site
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What is your current age, height, weight? 22, 5ft5in, 136
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Not much
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Normal diet
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Had receding hair line at crown beginning of senior year of college 06’ (aug/sept?). Mom pointed it out and I started rogaine. Still continued to lose hair so started propecia over break (dec 07 jan 08 saw doc I believe)
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? I am thinking its been like 13 months?
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How old were you when you started Finasteride? 21
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How old were you when you quit? I quit march 19th 2008.
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? I am quitting cold turkey (if you think tapering off is better please tell me I’m fucking scared)
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Used brand name propecia
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg a day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? I don’t really know… its hard to remember I still have sex and its fine when having sex its hard as a rock but when I’m solo masterbating its much harder… no morning wood/ hiding boner when walking around as much … takes a lot of manual stim to get hard. Seems to have gotten a little shrinkage. but Its just hard to remember I’m kind of panicking now so that’s prob a side effect?
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What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Going to discontinue now
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
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy
Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[X] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain) maybe decreased mood… drive to succeed. I wanted to start studying for my boards this year but I have yet to do that or at least get on top of my class… in fact when I started propecia last year I had a more difficult time doing work (maybe senioritis).
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? None yet, please advise me.
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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’m going to try to take a blood test in early april, is that too late?
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride? I feel it did help me to retain hair but recently the loss has increased more than before… maybe that’s also part of the negative symptoms that im just starting to see (maybe because they’re becoming more noticeable?)
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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. My muscles have shrank but that may be due to less exercise… I used to lift weights a lil’ in college