Heavy sides after very short term use (help)

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    Belgium

  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?)
    Other forum (haarweb.nl/forum/showthread.php?t=31341), member suggested this forum

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    20y/1m90/66kg

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    No

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Meat eater, normal diet I would say

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

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

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    20y/03-01-18

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    20y/05-01-18

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

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    Proscar 5mg

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1.25 mg/day

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    few hours later

  14. 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
[ 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
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ x] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ x] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ x] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ x] Frequent urination
[ x] 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?
    None

  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)?
    /

  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.

Hi guys, just signed up on this forum to share my experiences

Please do take in mind that wathever I say really happens, is serious and not imagined.

20 years old, living in Belgium (small European country, pls take in mind English is not my native language and ‘Google translate’ is pure shit) and experiencing severe sides to Finasteride (Proscar 5mg). It all started when I went to my GP a few weeks ago for male pattern baldness (was starting to thin out a little). Got Proscar 5mg prescribed and felt like I was finally dealing with my problem (now I surely realise how happy I was) at the time. So I took my first dose of 2,5mg (instead of 1,25mg, because my pharmacist told me it was fine to only split the pill), few hours later had a severe headache (wich is uncommon for me) so the next day I took only a quarter of the pill (1,25 mg). That day I started to experience ED, low libido, ‘brain fog’, numb genitals and no appetite. I decided to inform my GP and got off the medicine. Few days after that phonecall everything started to clear up, mentally and physically. For about a week I completely felt like my old self. Since yesterday it all came back, I can not function, think well… constant depressed feeling, suicidal thoughts and no concentration. I feel like a vegetable. I am aware that the hormonal receptors can be desensitizised at long term use of the drug.

What I have discovered the past few days is that caffeine helps with the lack of concentration. For a short time I kind of feel like my old self, I know it really sounds strange, but it helps for me. The downside to caffeine however is that it slows down the repair of my hormonal disbalans.

I am shocked that only around 4mg of finasteride can cause all of this to my body. Hoping my hormones will go to its old balance and my mind will clear up. The sexual/physical sides are one thing, I could honestly live with that, but the mental problems are devastating. Hence I only took the drug for 2 days, my hopes are high.

If anybody experiences the same situation, please do let me know, I need to talk to others. It would mean a lot.
Thanks in advance.

Kind regards
Joegg

1 Like

You felt better because DHT came back to your body, read more about it here under the timeline section - propeciahelp.com/overview

Did you visit Professor Vanderschueren in Leuven?