The side-effects we have experienced from propecia have had a detrimental impact on many of our lives. Have people sought the help of a psychologist or other mental professional and, if so, what has that experience been like?
Josh
I went to a psychologist for about a year after i quit fin. It was a very good experience, it felt good to have someone to talk about these problems.
He believed me, that my side effects were not in my mind, that it is something physical, so we could focus on ways for me to deal with it.
We tried hypnosis, but it didn’t help my symptoms.
As soon as my insurance kicks in I want to start seeing someone
I need to refill my OCD medication anyway (had it long before I even touched any hairloss drugs, and I recovered a few times on fin while I was using it so i don’t think there are any negative effects for me). When I first started talking to a psychologist for my OCD, it helped me to see it was all in my head. But this PFS is not in my head and it really did kill my possibilities to have a good life.
I am having trouble thinking of anything else these days. I am also sad now that I see my friends moving forward with relationships and I feel afraid to even start one. So far there is no indication that Viagra or Cialis has ever lost any effectiveness for me, but if it ever does there goes my only magic bullet.
I am also having trouble dealing with the guilt of it all. That through my arrogance and vanity I destroyed my one chance of a normal life. I feel such shame when I see my parents, who at their old age would rather see me happy and with a family of my own instead of stressed out by this disorder.
I equate our condition to someone who for all intents and purposes had an accident where our genitals were just chopped off. How would you be able to go on living after that? How would you be able to move forward and not feel regret every single day that you made whatever decisions you made the day you were scarred?
I guess there is a chance that we will recover, either through new research or by natural means, but for now i have to accept the possibility that this is permanent.
Anyone else thinking of talking to someone about it?
Or any ideas of how you move on and live your life, especially during these really low days where you just feel guilt and shame?
I’m seeing one helps but still doesn’t help waking up in this nightmare
I will never see another mental health professional as long as I live. Since it was one of those assholes, with no understanding of our condition whatsoever, who cost me my career.
propeciashiz, i’m curious, what do they say about all of this? knowing that we did something to possibly destroy our futures and well-being?
I don’t blame all doctors. Psychologists actually aren’t even pill pushers, they can’t prescribe, they can really only counsel.
Yeah the psychiatrists are the worst.
My experience with psychiatrists are that they are not interested at all in talking to you about the problems, that is what they believe psychologists are for. It seems that they mostly want you in and out within a certain time frame.
However, when I was 18 I was hit with a pretty severe case of OCD that led me into deep depression. I’d say without the help of the psychologist I was talking to and the SSRI’s that the psychiatrist gave me, I’m not sure I would have made it through that rough time.
Again I don’t blame all docs. They are just going based on what they have learned in a text book. I’ve been frustrated to no end trying to talk to docs about my PFS and then have them cut me off at every turn and just explain that what I am saying is impossible. But I can’t be mad at them, they just have nothing to say outside of the books they studied, so they just tell us it is in our mind. Sad, but understandable.
She’s concerned…she calls me all the time. Even gives me free sessions. She believes me cause i’m honest and not rational…She can clearly seen i’ve been screwed by the system. Talking to someone helps.
How is a person able to go on living with constant discomfort and pain from a shrunken, fibrotic penis? With man boobs? Severe brain fog? Muscle wastage? Nerve damage? He continues on day to day as best he can, changing his life to accommodate these handicaps while still searching for a solution.
BP, while I sympathize with your frustration toward the mental health professional who failed to educate himself about finasteride side effects, it was the finasteride-induced side effects that cost you your career, not the judgement of a mental health professional. If you hadn’t taken finasteride and developed the side effects you wouldn’t have had an issue with the mental health professional or need to see them in the first place.