How do I not crash

General Discussion
#1

Hello,

I am sorry if this seems insensitive but after reading this forum I have become so scared. I am actually crying as I type this. I took proscar for about 16 days 18 if you count sundays that I skipped. I have a loss of sex drive and a bit of ed/ no morning or spontaneous erections. I also was fatigued and some what temperamental. After reading all of the stories on this website I decided to quit on Sunday (3 days ago). I have some questions as my symptoms have not gotten better and I fear I will end up permanently like this I know that it is still early.

  1. Is there anything I can do to avoid crashing like not drinking on new years/ ever or eating healthy foods/ vitamins (i just started taking all my multivitamins again after i quit.

  2. After looking around on the internet I have found very little information of people actually recovering after taking this drug. Is this true? if so how can they sell it.

  3. Is the fact that I have symptoms like fatigue (even after getting like 12 hours of sleep for 2 nights in a row) and have to urinate frequently indicative that I will suffer from this terrible condition you all do?

Again sorry if i seem paranoid (I am a huge hypochondriac) or ignorant but I am very scared and do not know where else to turn.

Thank you

#2

As you may already know most everyone who have side effects get better after cessation of the drug. No reason to panic yet. I’m assuming you’ve thrown out any Finasteride you had. If not, do so.

Most of us deal with the side effects you list (or worse) everyday and have become part of our lives now. As you alluded to, get plently of rest. Dont drink, use drugs or masturbate too much. Try to aviod stress, eat clean organic foods, supplement vit d3, get some light exercise.

Not masturating and avoiding drinking I think are very important ones. Some of us have crashed after an excess of one or the other.

#3

Boston,

Thanks for the reply. I just went to the store and got some vitamin d3 like you said. How much should I be taking and what will this do?

Also Ive been reading around and noticed the zinc has helped some people sex drives come back. I also picked up some of this. Is zinc safe to be taking right now or should I see how things are later before taking this.

This might seem dumb but would drinking water help in anyway. I have been drinking a lot will this flush out my system?

An update on my symptoms. My penis feel smaller in diameter and just different in some way. Do these more serious issues than merek lists mean i am more likely to develop a more serious condition. Should i be communicating these concerns to the doctor that prescribed this medication to me?

Thanks for you help again.

#4

The doctor who perscribed Finasteride to you will tell you Finasteride is safe as candy and will shuffle you off to a shrink. More than likey he’s of no use to you. He will probably go into “save my ass” mode and tell you a crock.

I’d say shrinkage is probably a bad sign. Sorry. Those of us who have that physcial manifestation of sexual dysfunction seem to be the worst off. But again, you have a fairly good chance to recover naturally. So dont freak out just yet.

This is alot more complicated than drinking some water to flush it out of your system. Sorry again.

I think I would go back to the doctor who perscribed it and make them note you are having hypogonadal symptoms for your medical records. When I was talking to an attorney about this that the first thing they asked if I had done. Again, he probably will tell you this cant happen. So, be prepared with some counter points - like why then did Sweden make Merck add to their sales literature the possibility of “permenant side effects”? And, you could note the BBC piece. Just a couple things for starters.

#5

The truth is no one knows how “not to crash”, thats it in a nutshell.

#6

Thats true. The only thing we can really speak of is our personal experience before we crashed. Some of us, like Tim, had bad side effects while still on the medication that have persisted.

#7

Reading that just made me throw up. I guess there really isn’t anything I can do about it at this point. It’s a shame I was so dumb to mess around with this even with my stage of hair loss. I think spending time on here is make me more upset. I am going to wait a few weeks and I will update you with progress.

Thanks for your help and god bless

#8

The guys with persistent issues from the drug (ie, those on this site and others out there etc) are in the minority of Finasteride-using men. Whatever the odds are, they are likely in your favor that things should resolve themselves.

My recommendation would be to get bloodwork as outlined in the FAQ so you have something to compare against down the road, should you have further issues or things do not improve to the point you are satisfied with.

At this stage though, I would not freak out – it can take a few weeks/months for the body to get things back on track. My advice would be to see your doc, get bloodwork, and relax. The last thing you want to do is give yourself a complex over the issue, if there even ends up being one.

If your doc refuses to believe you that you continue to have problems (should things not resolve to your satisfaction in whatever timeframe you believe they should), provide info such as Swedish TV labelling changes, BBC news story etc. I would advise not to visit this site too frequently at this stage as it will likely only fuel your anxiety.

Good luck.

#9

What Mew said. Don’t freak out, try not to focus on it, live moderately, low stress, no alcohol, stay active, walk, minor exercise daily. Sleep. Boston was right too about not masturbating heavily or drinking at all. These are two major triggers for crashes. Don’t smoke either.

If you’re crying while typing it seems that you’re already having the hormone imbalance. Don’t give in, don’t sit and cry or feel sorry for yourself. Try to just live normally, read different books, get out in the open air, stay away from the computer. Odds are that you will recover normally. All you can do is not stress and avoid triggers associated with other people who crashed.

#10

Wow, deja vu time. I landed here almost exactly the same time two years ago with similar sides. Lucky for you you at least managed to log on for advice, my registration went to spam which I never check, and then there was no contact for any site admin. I thought I would go back to normal or at least not get any worse, unfortunately within three weeks every side got twenty times worse and awful new ones appeared out of nowhere.

The bit about not drinking on NY rings a bell, I did this not long after quitting, and then more drink (and drugs) on my birthday not long after. Definitely felt very wierd next day although it was 2 more weeks before I crashed. Then I crashed the morning after drinking a few beers on a date. Definitely avoid alcohol: you may be due a crash anyway but that will definitely make it worse. It reduces testosterone and increases estrogens, which is something you might have enough of a problem with anyway.

My big regret was not weening off very slowly, which was downplayed here at that time. This shouldn’t matter if you only took it for two weeks though. I’d def advise taking the zinc at 50mg a day, it will act as a mild aromatase inhibitor and as it blocks 5AR2 activity may also stop problems arising from a flood of DHT coming back. Good luck, you should be fine.

#11

Update.

I managed to not drink last night for new years which was hard.

Most of my sexual stuff has cleared up. I get morning erections and I can have sex no problem. My penis is back to normal. Id say my limbo is still a little down. How much sex is it ok for me to have while trying to avoid a crash. Im trying to not over do it like you guys said. What is the time frame I am on now. Should I be expecting a crash soon now that this is resolving it has been 6 days since I quit cold turkey.

One problem I am having now that I didnt have on the drug is fatigue. I am extremely tired and I have a hard time sleeping. Is this normal for coming off? Will it resolve itself and is there anything I can do to make it better? I go to bed early and wake up ever 4 or so hours feeling like i just closed my eyes.

#12

Fatigue is a pretty common issue among most long term sufferers. Glad to hear you’re feeling better in general. I’d guess if most of your other PFS symptoms are improving fatigue should resolve too. As we said above, most everyone gets better after cessation of the drug. So, in all likelihood you’re going to be just fine.

Most crashes seem to happen 4-8 weeks after last dose. I think it might be wise to make permenant changes toward a healthier lifestyle to be on the safe side. There is too much we don’t understand yet here to temp fate IMO.

ps- I hope your “limbo” improves. :slight_smile:

#13

Update. It has been 2 weeks since I quit and I would say other than libido (not my limbo) I have pretty much back to normal. My erections are fine and Ive been getting them like normal. It actually turns out that my fatigue is being caused by the fact I have mono now which im assuming is unrelated.

Am doing my best to avoid crashing. Im not drinking at all which is easy now thanks to the mono. But ive been having sex recently. Ive tried to keep it easy but my girl friend is all about it now that I can keep it up again. I hope that once or twice every two days isnt going to crash. Any opinions?

I also stopped taking any vitamins since I feel better when I dont take them. Is this unadvisable?

#14

I think avoiding the vitamins is good if you aren’t getting benefit from them. Just try to eat healthy. I think sex is ok too as long as you are not masturbating. Save it for when you’re with your girlfriend. My experiences and sides are much better after having an orgasm during intercourse than masturbating. Do it together whenever you can, just don’t do it alone, keep her happy.

Keep avoiding the alcohol at all costs too. Glad to hear you’re feeling better, I hope to get there someday…

#15

Another update

I think I crashed. I was feeling about 99% better on Jan 9th about two weeks after quitting. On the 15th I had some crappy food and my testicules began to ache. Not that bad and it went away after I took a poop. Today I am experiencing the same thing again after an unhealthy meal. My erections in the mornings are not as strong and during sex they aren’t 100% anymore. I also took some cyclobrnzaprine to help me sleep which has also become a problem again as of late with waking up and no dreaming. this all happened on Friday about 5 days after I started feeling ok.

So is this a crash or do you think it is related to my mono?

#16

Could be either. EAT HEALTHY! You’ve twice experienced this trigger, don’t let it be a third time.

#17

As I said in earlier post, its best to make permenant changes in diet, exercise, etc. IMO. Way too much we don’t understand about this. I didnt eat too much junk before Fin or after but if I eat any junk food it bloats me and I feel like I put 30 pds on in one sitting. Something weird has happened with the way I digest food since Fin. Best you go raw, healthy foods as much as you can.

#18

hey man, just realize you are not alone. i am also 22 and there are a few other young people on here too. i get scared a lot and i have had panic attacks from being on this website before. i have not been to a doctor for this and i have been off the drug for 2 and a half years and i have also only taken it for less than a month.

lots of people have had good recoveries and it sounds like you did also. we were only on it for a very short amount of time and i take many vitamins everyday. here is the list for you which made me feel closer to normal,

mens daily health formula from equate
cod liver oil
zinc
b complex
c & e
b12
emergen-c drinks

thats what i take everyday and my drive comes back after a few days of not masterbating. i know that when i do not take the vitamins, i have a very hard time feeling sexual desire. so if you are not taking anything, try all those and it may be all you need.

good luck man. i also may not be on this forum for a little bit because i freak out a lot, i will be back if people reply to the thread i make… please pm if you want to talk because i will get an email message of it and i will respond.

#19

Thanks for all of your replies guys.

I just though I would say that I am about 90% recovered right now. The only issues I am still having are libido and no morning erections although I do get spontaneous erections and sex is no longer an issue. Just though some of you people that are lurking on here that have just quit the drug would like to see something positive.

Here is a list of symptoms I had after quitting the drug I was on even for just 17 days.

Frequent urination
Couldnt fall asleep and stay asleep
Erection issues (difficulty getting hard and it wasnt a full as normal)
Loss of libido
Mood swings and irritability
Slight brain fog (probably due to the lack of sleep)
Penis shrinkage

Again for the most part i have recovered from all of this. I had a day where I thought I crashed and my penis did not gain size(return to normal) after getting out of the ocean. The next few days I got better and right now I say that I feel normal.

All I did while coming off the drug was take a multivitamins, omega 3, zinc and vitamin d. I also worked out everyday and lifted every other day. Getting sun was also beneficial and I took a vacation so I could get some (I live in chicago so going outside isnt an option).

Id assume that this is was a natural recover which took about a month and half after quitting. Im keeping up a healthy life style from now on. I still have not tried drinking yet but I plan on trying after I have felt better for a few more weeks.

#20

You’re going to be fine. As long as you keep up the healthy lifestyle. Do exercise (don’t over do it either), eat well and get plenty of sun. Relax most people recover by 6 month mark.