I need advice

Member Stories
#1

sorry if this is a repost, but I am really scared. I’ve been taking propecia for 9 yrs, and just read an artcle last week that made me want to go off it. i wanted to go off cold turkey, but read about endocrine system crashes that occur, so I started taking it every 3rd day. i ttok it 7/20/12, and then started 7/23 with the third day. well, i started feeling funny down there on 7/23, and by like wed or thurs of last week, my genitals were sensitive and felt sort of discomfort- my right genital mostly. i wanted to test to see if i can still get an erection on tues, wed thurs fri and sat- seemed like i could. then, when i “tested” it out saturday , 7/28, my penis and balls felt uncomfortable. i couldnt sit w/out adjusting every now and then. on 7/29, i couldnt get an erection, even though i have feelings on penis and genitals. i decided to take my next dose of propecia after that. on mnday, i got an erection, but didnt feel rock hard. i tried later on that night, and it took about 6-7 min to get an erection- again, not rock hard.
i rememebr missing days while i was taking propecia, and nothing happened, i would miss a day, and sometimes 2 days, but then tried to do it evey day again, mostly bc i was busy and forgot. although i never did it for this extended time, why is this happening? should i stop now? should i continue to graduallly go off?
this never happened duting my 9 yrs on this thing. why now??
im scared if i continue i will damage what i have left, but im also scared if i stop that it would get worse.
any advice or tips would greatly be appreciated.
fyi- im seeing a urologist in nyc this wed and endocrinologist this fri.

) How did you find this forum? google search

  1. What is your current age, height, weight? 35, 5’8, 185

  2. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? yes, cardio & weights

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

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

  5. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 9 yrs

  6. How old were you when you started Finasteride? 26

  7. How old were you when you quit? trying to quit

  8. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? trying to taper

  9. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? propecia

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

  11. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? just recently

  12. 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
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate (i think i may have had this for years _never really checked)
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility -i might have had this while on it

Mental - i am depressed bc i dont know what is going to happen. today, i felt naseous bc either i am stressed out about it.
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] 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) - sometimes it looks like its suffering from cold weather. i guess i notice more now bc of whats happening.
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] 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? nothing

  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)? n/a

  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.

#2

My advice would be to stop taking the drug sooner rather than later.

Check the FAQ section on this site which can be found here:
propeciahelp.com/faq
Scroll down to Section 5 which provides details on how to taper off the drug.

Also, over the course of the next few months:

  • Follow the advice of your doctor/s
  • Avoid alcohol completely
  • Avoid excessive masturbation - every 3 or 4 days should be ok.
  • Avoid rigoruous/intensive exercise, e.g. no running or sprinting for prolonged periods. Moderate exercise only.
  • Pay close attention to your diet. Google paleo diet.
  • Try not to worry and stay calm at all times.
#3

I was on propecia for 10 years and had no side effects. I then read the stories on this forum and went off the drug cold turkey. My body crashed after I went off the drug and I have had the sexual side effects for 3 and a half years now with no resolution. From what I have read, I don’t think it matters whether you go off cold turkey or gradually taper off. You just have to go off it and hope your body does not crash.

#4

The dose reponse is nearly the same regardless of dosage…

physics.upenn.edu/people/frankel/medres/propcrap3.htm

#5

hi guys,

roughly a mo ago (7/23) i cut dosage from every day to every third day of 1 mg. I was fine w propecia for 9 yrs, but after reading some bad news about it, I decided to quit.

so, I’m not sure what happened during a wk after taking it every 3rd day- I tended to masturbate evry day while on the reducing, which prob messed me up and couldnt obtain erection.

a week later, i was fine again- so i decided to stay on 1mg every 3rd day for a mo since was scared the dropoff messed me up. I still got erections and all, but ejaculated sooner when I was intimate w wife. then i got all these other sides, like muscle twitching, muscle soreness, sharp quick pains near butthole, some odd feelings.

so I then cut it to .75mg every 3rd day --i did that 2x- last time I did it was this past sat. I felt some very minor pain that didnt last long (like 30 sec to a min)-more of a discomfort on tip of penis. i still had morning wood- and cld get erections- sunday night however, i jacked off since havent been intimate w wife for a week (she’s away visiting relatives), and erection was soft.

which brings me to my question- i know i shldn’t have stayed on it for a mo at 1 mg, but was scared when i lost erection in middle of it.

how do I go about tapering now? the recommended tapering is confusing to me.

“If you are taking Propecia, we recommend gradually reducing the dosage from 1mg to 0.5mg (half a pill) to 0.25mg (quartered pill) to 0.125mg (8th of a pill), to 0.0625 (16th of a pill) over time while increasing the days between dosing (ie instead of taking it everyday, take it every every 3rd day, 5th, 7th and so on), until you are ultimately no longer taking the drug”

so i would then take it a 5th day for one time, then a 7th day for one time, then a 9th day for one time, until what day??

#6

where this tapering quote is from?