horrible mental/emotional sides...please help.

After about 3 or 4 days on propecia I had testicular pain, pain in my prostate, however I continued taking the drug as I thought it was just par for the course. After 16 days I was having sex with my girlfriend and noticed I wasn’t nearly as hard as usual, I also prematurely ejaculated. I stopped taking the drugs immediately and after about two weeks these side effects went away and everything seemed back to normal. Unfortunately with the return of my sexual function came a heavy heavy brain fog, confusion, loss of personality, extreme fatigue, depression, and difficulty sleeping through the night. I can’t live like this it is absolutely horrible. I literally can’t focus on anything and I’m failing half of my classes. I feel stupid all day and then right before sleep I get some relief, I feel sharper and almost the way I used to feel before this drug. HELP ME PLEASE I CANNOT LIVE LIKE THIS.

In addition, I used to hit the gym 5 to 6 days a week for about and hour and half per session. I now cannot even get myself to go to the gym. I’m losing weight like crazy. I HAVE NO MOTIVATION, NO WILL TO LIVE. I am seeing a doctor tomorrow to get my levels checked, hopefully this will offer some insight in to my problem.

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goto www.stopthethyroidmadness.com and do their recommended lab tests. JN had a recovery from doing the things on that website.

i had some sides as you around the same age as you as well. i just got my reverse t3 checked, and found out i have too much reverse t3 in my body. i read that stop the thyroid madness book, it is really informative and i think it’s what is effecting us. anyway, good luck mate and don’t panic. chances are you’ll get better in the next few months… not everyone has long term sides. it just takes a long time for your cortisol production line to realign itself. in the mean time, do the tests on that site.

Hi!

Do the recommended blood tests listed on this website, that will rule out any obvious problems. Consider joining the US lawsuit too. Unfortunately your problems seem similar to mine, I was dragged into this hell only upon quitting, and in that hell I have simply remained… There is no good explanation as to why - its certainly not a thyroid problem, the symptoms are totally different :slight_smile:! I would however be interested to see the results of any CYP3A4 induction test you have done. Have a good read of the rest of the website as well as the forum.

Good Luck!

Did you test your reverse t3 or cortisol or get your temp 4x a day? Go follow JN’s thread and see how he removed all the Reverse t3 from his body and is now saying he is feeling great.

Adrenal fatigue has the same symptoms as we do my brotha. I recommend you do the tests before you rule something like this out. It is a cortisol production line issue. Check this out:

musclechatroom.com/forum/content.php?121-baldness-and-prostate-101

From the above site…

NB: all these people need to do is restore their cortisol-production-line hormones to optimum, but:
a) they don’t understand what their cortisol-production-line hormones are,
b) they’re prepared to undergo “quick fix” hormone modulation therapy using finasteride or saw palmetto, but they’re usually not prepared to undergo the much slower but much more reliable process of boosting their cortisol-production-line hormones.

Oh. My. God.

You turn up to this website looking for help and you get someone jumping all over you saying its ‘reverse t3 syndrome’ or ‘adrenal fatigue’ or even worse [i]‘cortisol production lines’/i. What a sad state of affairs…

I was just throwing it out there as an idea to get it tested. It worked for JN and its what I’m going to do since my reverse T3 is too high also lol.

Hey guys thanks for all the advice… I will ask my doctor to run every test you recommended tomorrow. I recently noticed another side effect that has really been troubling me. I have been experiencing weakness in my hands. When I hold a utensil or text on my phone or little tasks like that my hands just feel weak… Could this also be caused by a thyroid issue? Has anybody had this side from propecia? I’m especially worried because my mother died from ALS which is a neuromuscular degenerative disease and this is one of the early symptoms of ALS. help :frowning:

Take plenty of transdermal pregnenolone. That will at least guarantee that your brain fog disappears.

Unfortunately Propecia inhibits the formation of several neurosteroids such as Allopregnanolone that aid in neurogenesis - it may be important to mention this to a doctor if you have had a family history of ALS.

I have noticed all over muscle loss and weakness (including from my face and the soles of my feet) but not particularly my hands and not in a way that suggests ALS or similar. Your symptom could theoretically be a symptom of a thyroid hormone problem, it could also theoretically be symptom of any number of things.

He is NOT on propecia, so he is NOT inhibiting the formation of neurosteroids. And if you think that propecia permanently inhibited the formation of neurosteroids, let’s prove that this is wrong with the following experiment: take enough pregnenolone (transdermal), and if the neurosteroids will form it will be clear that their formation is not inhibited. The cause of his problems is of course propecia, but not in the way you describe.

@m_81 -

If brain fog was as easy to cure as using pregnenolone, then no one would have “brain fog” anymore. If you’re able to precisely explain the mechanism(s) by which propecia causes impaired mental function and then provide a valid theory as to why pregnenolone fits as a cure (not just “it boosts neurotransmitters”), then by all means, continue posting on each thread, multiple times, that pregnenolone is the cure.

If you want to start a thread about pregnenolone, fantastic, I’m more than willing to flesh out a theory on how/if pregnenolone will help. Though, it’s quite possible that somewhere in the database of posts, a pregnenolone thread already exists. Wouldn’t that be something?

Please stop recommending dosing with pregnenolone (which is a master hormone, not just a vitamin C tab) until you can provide a solid understanding for people as to why it’s helpful.

Until then - stfu.

@OP - Sorry for hijacking!

Take care,

Former

That’s like saying a guy’s no longer on propecia so he shouldn’t be having ED, or that it shouldn’t be getting worse after he quits.

I have had side effects like chronic insomnia but more worryingly, body convulsions (thankfully gone) and twitches AFTER I quit. Given what I’ve read about neurosteroids and their influence on this, it seems some neurological damage of some sort got worse after stopping.

False. I think that many of our members never browse other forums. I was one of these people, too. I am an avid internet user and use google all the time, but I simply thought that this website contained the most up-to-date and complete information on our symptoms, and therefore that I didn’t need to read other stuff online (because it would be posted here if pertinent).

Then, I started browsing other forums and realized that brain fog is something that many males experience when they age (and they have never taken propecia). All of them, apparently, can treat brain fog with pregnenolone. Then, I realized that my brain fog can be treated with pregnenolone too, and, unlike treatments for sexual problems, this treatment does not stop working. It seems that propecia caused us something that sent us to the “aged male” state.

Sure. One should take pregnenolone under the supervision of a doctor. If you feel that it is a risky treatment, you should not do it. I post this suggestion everywhere because I’m trying to find one case where enough pregnenolone does not treat brain fog. When I find it, we will have the evidence that pregnenolone doesn’t necessarily work for brain fog.

Dear Former, I am NOT able to scientifically explain the mechanism by which pregnenolone works, sorry. But, as I said, from what you can gather online, it seems that all men who take enough pregnenolone do not have brain fog. This is a scientific fact because everybody can verify it. I hope that we agree that this is worth more than a scientific paper. Obviously, if you find one counter example, then I would change opinion.

If I claimed that, for example, clomid fixed me and therefore clomid is the cure for everybody, then you would be right saying “stfu”, as in: “dude, there are lots of people that took clomid and were not cured, so stfu”. Since there are no counterexamples for what I’m claiming, you should not tell me that.
In general, there is no need to be rude. If you are bothered by my posts, don’t read them.

Ah-ha, your comparison is flawed. Your comparison would be a good one if I claimed “We are no longer on propecia, so we cannot have brain fog”. I’m not claiming that – I know that brain fog has been triggered by the past use of propecia. I’m just claiming that it can be treated.

I’m claiming that brain fog is treated by pregnenolone.
I’m NOT claiming that insomnia is treated by pregnenolone, because it can be caused by other things than neurotransmitters (eg, too high or too low cortisol overnight)

I used the Propecia topical 3 times in November 2010.

Till Jan 2011, I was totally normal. Now I started having brain fog which happens mostly during the day times. I cannot handle stress anymore as I was able to do before. I also have weakness in hand and lost around 8 pounds in 15 days.

Doctors ordered for a MRI which came back normal. He ordered for an EEG to see if I had any seizure.
I am also finding it difficult to read. I miss reading many words in a sentence which makes me scary.

Could someone please let me know what tests will help me diagnose.

Thanks,
Sam

How would you describe the weakness in your hand? Is it both hands? Are you experiencing muscle spasms? How long have your specific symptoms been going on and have you had any relief from them whatsoever?

I have weakness specifically in the fingers on both hands that too after I wake up in the morning. I lost around 8 pounds, I feel like I lost all my muscles. I have been having this for about 3 weeks and still its the same.

Let me know if it gets better for you…Will keep you updated

Sam

Hey guys, I too had the muscle spasms and twitching. I felt weak and lost weight. The brain fog is actually still there even though I have been off “the poison” for seven months. I was on it for about six months. My life has never been the same since I started this drug. I hope that you guys get better. On a lighter note, the muscle weakness and twitching did go away after some time and I did gain my weight back.

Hey Wierdfeeling!

How long did it take to gain your weight back and for the muscle twitches to stop? I am no more having the finger pain in the mornings. But when they draw blood for test, then I start having the brain fog. Else its getting better slowly…

Thanks,
Sam

hey everyone just thought i would update you on my progress now. the brainfog has calmed down a whole lot. recently ive been feeling almost back to a prefin state however sometimes i experience a bit of vertigo. i am having muscle spasms all over my body though at random times throughout the day and also endurance problems in my arms and legs. i cant work out the way i used to. i was in peak shape- ripped 8 pack, huge arms, chest and legs. I am still muscular i just dont have any energy at the gym. however my energy levels seem to be increasing and my depression is going away. one thing that still really sucks is my urine flow is way weaker, and peeing isnt very relieving. i excrete about half the urine i used to and its just so weak… my ejaculate also doesnt shoot out like it used to and doesnt feel as good. i do get rock hard though so no complaints there. i got blood tests and everything came back normal… the weakness in my hands is still there but is definitely better however i feel clumsy. I used to be very nimble and EXTREMELY athletic but now my hand eye coordination seems to be a bit off and i feel almost sluggish. this all started right after fin its so weird… so thats where im at now. the brainfog starting to go away is a HUGE DEAL i feel like i can almost function like a nomral person again…almost. best of luck to you all.

Hi Tooyoung. Have you been doing anything in particular to get rid of the brain fog? As in diet or anything like that?