Hello, New sufferer 33 male

Member Stories
#1

Where are you from (country)?

Portugal

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?)

Reddit,

What is your current age, height, weight?

33,170cm, 67KG

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

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

1mg

What condition was being treated with the drug?

Patern baldness

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?

2 days

Date when you started the drug?
Late august/ early september 2024

Date when you quit the drug?
On the third day after takingthe first pill

Age when you quit?
33

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

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?

Immediate sides

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Libido,intnerest in sex, watery semen, no sperm or very low

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
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections (Rare)
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ x] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm ( i rarely have urges to masturbate, but it had happened)
[x ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[x ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating(i ve had it before)
[ ] Confusion
[x ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness(i ve had it before)
[x ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought (i ve had it before)
[ x] Slurring of Speech (i ve had it before)
[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(Had it,went away)
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease ( came back mildly, im on a crash)
[x ] Weight Gain ( not much)
[ x] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x ] Muscle Weakness
[x ] 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) (i had it before)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ x] Lowered body temperature i ve been cold twice since this desease got me, and had no fever which is strange,i guess PFS effects

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Nada, got adivsed to wait 3 months, standartized time for diagnosis due to the drugs time to leave your system. Will act soon, ordered some bloodwork on my hormones, endo almost laughed in my face when i talked about getting pfs from 2 pills of fin, and i think he didnt prescribe test for all sex hormones like estrogen,EG

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)?
No tests, was healthy before PFS.

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

In a nutshell, my problem is lack of libido/sex drive, and low quality ejactulation. This last week the tought of this being irreversible hit me like a train, and had massive depression/suicidal ideation, even wrote a suicide letter.

Worst Christmas of my life.

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

Hello,

I´m a new patient, from portugal (if any fellow country man is arround feel free to DM to change experiences).

i went to a “tricologist” that negligently, prescribed me fin and boasted about its safety, I ve basically only taken 2 pills of fin that ruined my life.

After the second pill a subset of sides hit me: insomnia,shrunk dick, no libido,penile numbness, testicular pain.
Had great improvements over time,basic sexual function restored,some rare days of normal libido, etc, but no morning wood and low quality sperm.

Had a crash recently but that basic function kept going, i can masturbate very regularly, but its quality is always bad.

Never had suicidal ideation until, after some reasearch,i found that this condition is close to being irreversible, this tough hit me like a freight train in the face.

i dont know how much longer ill be able to cope with this, only the toughts of bringing my dad/grandma
with me to te grave with my suicide have prevented me from going trough.

Best regards and best of luck to all.

3 Likes
#2

Fucking “tricologist”, good grief. There’ll never be a shortage of predatory quacks, that’s for sure.

1 Like
#3

I’m so sorry you landed here, even just 1 pill in the most unlucky with this poison is enough to tank some people. Sounds like a slightly less extreme version of what happened to me, those symptoms you first got hit with were mine too. besides the insomnia which hit a little later followed by a night of horrific brain zaps and then everything went downhill from there. I first noticed the sexual dysfunction, shrunken dick, and subtle anhedonia. The shrunken dick thing was what scared me the most at first the night I noticed I couldn’t function down there much at all. If I played with it, it would actually often shrink even more which had me looking at the thing like I just been experimented on by a sadistic mad scientist. No sexual thoughts would trigger anything sensation wise down there, fetishes did nothing. After like almost a pathetic half an hour of getting going once super early on I had the most pathetic almost dry orgasm of my life and then it just stopped functioning period for a while.

After that I got hit with these random bouts of head heaviness and dizziness with the slurred speech all the time and the numbness really set in after a night of brain zaps or at least weird neurological storms all over my body I never felt anything like before (and I have migraines, not chronic but even they never felt anything like this before). After that most of my skin including my dick felt like I was touching someone elses and that was scary. I would go outside in freezing or blazing inferno hot weather and feel NOTHING. That’s also when the I shit you not forced suicidal ideation and depression began, I never felt like that in my life and would never willingly think such things but it was like my brain chemistry or total lack of it was forcing it. Completely out of character and I’d have never followed through with it knowing that it was just some hellish neuro-chemical screw up but that was also one of the most scary things I experienced. Thankfully that was one of the first things to leave though past the worst of my first crash where I could barely even get up off a chair but boy was it one of the longest months of my life.

The fact you’re that far already though is actually a really good sign even though it doesn’t seem it. It was many months down the road before I was even at where you are right now. My morning wood actually returned pretty early but it was extremely weak every day and it wasn’t until much later where I’d have normal auto-fantasizing in bed and especially right before I wake which is typical for me. Some symptoms with recovery with this seem to be like how they are induced total wild cards whatever goes on in the body when this happens. No one seems to get the EXACT same onset, like yours was very similar to mine but some things weren’t there and others were out of order.

#4

I should add ahnedonia,apathy, and dry lips and mouth. As i think i had a crash, due to drinking a natural drink.
I must state that i ve been very depressive with no interest in things, and with a cold that been causing severe coughing and close to sleep deprivation, dont know for certain if thats totally pinnable to fin as these conditions are susceptible of causing these new symptoms.

#5

Yeah I had the dry mouth and lips too, in the beginning at some point for a brief time I even lost all hunger and thirst but that thankfully didn’t last long itself.