I am not a propecia user, rather I’m reaching out to anyone to see if my brother can get helped. I hope this is okay.
- How did you find this forum?
My brother mentioned it to me.
- What is your current age, height, weight?
He is 37 yrs old; 5’11’, approx. 170 lbs
- Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
He would normally exercise very regularly but since his symptoms have come up, he doesn’t excersise much at all. He would go to the gym 4-5 days a week.
- What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
Healthy diet, mostly organic foods.
- Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Hair loss
- For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
10 years
- How old were you when you started Finasteride?
27 years old.
- How old were you when you quit?
37 years old.
- How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Taper off, then ended up quitting cold turkey
- What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Propeica
- What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Not sure of the dose. I think .5 every day
- How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
No real side effects when he started
- 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
[x ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x ] Loss of Morning Erections
[x ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ x] Depression / Melancholy
Physical
[x ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[x ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[x ] Testicular Pain
[x ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[x ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[x ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
None yet
- 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)?
Testosterone levels checked in Sept. 2007 and they were normal.
-
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
-
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
His story as best I can tell it is this:
He started taking Propecia about 10 years ago. He didn’t have any real big side effects for quite a long time. Back in March or April of 2007, he was experiencing some hairloss while on the pill. He ended up getting on Avodart for about 1 month and that brought on some uncomfortable side effects. (He was not on Propecia at the time he took Avodart) After stopping the Avodart, he went back on Propecia but again experienced side effects. He ended up stopping Propecia about 2 months ago and is now experiencing all the side effects listed above. I should also mention that he has battled Depression for about 17 years. I have a feeling that much of what he is feeling is the depression. He claims that “everything is shrinking” but every time he shows his genitals to me, they seem completely fine. He seems to think that he should have stayed on the Propecia even though the Avodart is still trying to flush its way out of his system. I keep telling him not to beat himself up over it but this is why he is so upset. He feels like he had a window of opportunity to not let this happen and now he is completely lost.
Another thing I will mention is that he has been diagnosed with Prostatitis but hasn’t really been treated for it. He had a procedure done where the doctor inserted something in his urethra and he feels like that is causing some of this damage also.
All I can say is that he is absolutely devastated, severely depressed, despondent, etc. I am so worried about him and I don’t know where else to turn. He is going to see an Endocrinologist tomorrow but he is so fearful that she is going to tell him the worst possible news.
I am writing to this forum to see if I can get any kind of help so that I can encourage him that things will get better. I have read many positive stories in these posts and I wish to God that he will be one of those positive stories.
Can anybody help me? I’m desperate.