I Just Created This account to share my battle

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    USA

  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?)
    Google Search

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    25, 5’11’’, 170’

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    I do gymnastics, martial arts, weight lifting, bicycling, backpacking, swing dancing, almost everything. At this point I don’t call it exercise, It is a lifestyle.

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Organic Healthy, lots of chicken, eggs, and tons of vegetables, I make concessions to try new foods, or to pig out from time to time.

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    Hair Loss, I started loosing it around 16-17, and it is in slow decline.

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    11 months

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    I was 20 when I started taking it and took it from April 2008 to March 2009

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    I quit March 2009

  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?
    Propecia

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    I took 1mg a day

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    I noticed increase in libido fairly soon after taking. I started noticing difficult erections and loss of libido around 9 months after taking. and quit cold turkey after failing to achieve an erection.

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Loss of libido, difficult erections, almost a cramping sensation in my bulbocavernosus muscle.

Put an X beside all that apply:

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

Mental
[x] 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
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[x] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    Vitamins, herbs for libido, other supplements, Diets, Exercise Routines, No Masturbation, Excessive masturbation.

  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)?
    After discontinuing for several months, morning T-levels were at the very bottom of normal, 250 or so if I recall. at peak of dieting and weight lifting they were around 800.

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

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

I quit after experiencing sexual problems, even a complete lack of erection, and loss in libido. After quitting side effects got worse, then recovered over the course of a year where the recovery leveled off. At this point, I still wanted to have sex from time to time, but the drive felt almost vestigial, I wanted to have sex, but I was never horny. I tried everything from strict dieting to complete lack of dieting, different supplements and vitamins, some allowed me to feel horney again and have great sex instead of struggling to achieve orgasm. The problem would be that I adjusted to them after only a couple weeks and they would not work any more. after struggling for several years and trying everything I would say I am back to 80-90 percent and I would like to share what worked for me.