Hey Guys..

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country): Pakistan

  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?) – posters on hairlosshelp.com

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 25, 5’9, 74 Kg’s

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?: dont exercise much, too tired most of the time.

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? fast-food at the moment.

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

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? Finasteride 1mg daily for a year, then dut 0.5 mg EOD for a year.

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?: 22 when i started if I remember correctly.

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? : Dont remember exact dates but quit after 2 years of said treatment.

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

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?: generic by the name of “genesis” (finasteride) and then Avodart (generic).

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg fin everyday , stopped and switched to 0.5 mg dut every other day when it didnt help.

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? : 3 weeks.

  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
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[x] Weight Gain
[ ] 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”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)
Unrefreshing sleep. Whether I sleep 8 hours or 10 I feel as If i hardly slept a wink. very tired in the morning and fatigued.

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? : no treatments taken.

  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)?: Havent gotten any blood tests done yet.

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?: brain fog is a torture. I’m not half as sharp as I used to be. Sometimes very seldom it clears up and being my ‘normal’ self is almost like a high, I can think clearly, see everything clearly.

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    Lost muscle whilst on the drug. Friends commented on the feminine upper arms that I developed. Also developed fatty deposits around chest and abdomen. Mental side effects are the worst, constant brainfog. My eyes feel heavy from the moment I wake up till the time I sleep. Its as if theres some sort of constant pressure behind my eyes that wont ever clear up.

#2

Hi guys,
New to these forums so hello to all!.. After having no luck repetitively posting on hairloss forums I was told of propeciahelp.com where I might find others like myself and well here goes nothing. I was on 1 mg fin for a year to counter MPB, then switched to DUT 0.5 mg every other day for a year. I had terrible sides from both so I quit cold turkey. Its been over a year since I quit yet the Sides havent faded the slightest. My sleep is unrefreshing, I wake up sleepy no matter how long I sleep, 8 hours or 12 hours. I am fatigued throughout the day but the worst bit is the brainfog. I dont know whether the brainfog is a seperate side effect on its own or is caused by a different side effect. I Got tired eyes from fin, as in my eyes feel like they have some sort of pressure on them from the back, a kind of dull ache that wont go away. I feel that has contributed to my brainfog, lack of clarity and blurred vision, also the short term memory loss and absent mindedness. I also seem to have lost muscle definition from my upper arms and chest.

Anybody here have any luck countering these side effects? especially the unrefreshing sleep, heavy eyes and brainfog? Would appreciate any advice you could give me.

Thanks !

#3

the_krush,

I am in a very similar situation (although a bit younger at 23). I took propecia for ~3 years and couldn’t figure what was causing my cognitive decline. So far, I don’t have any conclusive answers as to how to treat brain fog. I’m off 4 months now, and haven’t seen any major improvement. I have visual issues as well.

I believe that the brain fog is not so much an IQ decrease, but more so related to forming new memories/learning. I’m still able to crank out a killer score on an IQ quest. However, I have the hardest time walking from one room to another and remember why I went there. I have a situation where I don’t really know what happened the day before and have difficulty sensing the flow of time.

All I can say is this - if you really want to get better, don’t sit around and wait for it. In my opinion, not enough guys go about treating their condition with a systematic, full on assault. If something is truly destroying your life, then you should be willing to give all your efforts into finding a solution. I have no intentions of living a miserable life and will go broke and die before I succumb to this crap.

If I’m able to determine something that specifically helps alleviate my brain fog (time does not count), I will let you know.

Best,

Former

#4

I’m not a hard core brain fog sufferer, but I have definitely had it. In my experience, pregnenolone cures it. Take the transdermal, not the oral, which doesn’t work. When you have brain fog, take a couple of pumps (~30 mg). The brain fog is gone within an hour.