Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.
Where are you from (country)?
USA
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?)
What is your current age, height, weight?
31, 6’2, 180
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Fin
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Initially topical (Hims) for a week, then switched to 1mg ED for 2.5 weeks oral, then tapered to .5 days ED
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
1 month
Date when you started the drug?
Oct 15
Date when you quit the drug?
Nov 15
Age when you quit?
31
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Slightly tapered (to .5)
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
a few days into oral 1mg
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.
Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] 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
[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
[X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] 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
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?
Not tested
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Hi everyone. My name is Rob. Count me in as another sucker that fell for this medication.
I’m 31 years old. I took fin for about a month for minor recession. Started Oct 15, quit Nov. 15. Began with 1 week on topical, then switched to oral after not seeing any sides. About a week into oral, I noticed testicular pain and weaker erections but decided to give it some time to see if it would go away.
The next week I started encountering gastro problems (stomach growling, abdominal pain, also one or two instances of back pain?). I decided to switch to 0.5 mg fin ED and while the erectile problems appeared to dissipate, the stomach problems did not, so I decided to quit.
After quitting, I immediately noticed I had trouble concentrating while playing a first person shooter video game. Like I would get dizzy playing and close my eyes for a second. I’m pretty sure I didn’t have any noticeable mental side effects while on finasteride.
About 6 days after stopping (last Tuesday), I did two dumb things in retrospect. I ate a piece of bread (gluten) and I took a Lion’s mane supplement for brain health (which I now know to be an AR inhibitor, I believe). Anyway, a few hours later, I start feeling randomly chilly and sweaty during dinner. That night, I woke up absolutely freezing and I took my temperature and it was around 95 degrees. I also had intense abdominal pain and was having very bad night sweats. I also could not get an erection at all after watching porn (but I could get a weak one about an hour later and as of today it is back to normal). Also I noticed that my emotions have been somewhat muted (not completely, more mildly - harder to cry, for example, but I can still cheer watching a football game).
Since then my body temperature been typically around 96 degrees, but for the past couple of days it has raised somewhat to be in the high 97s. My abdominal pain has subsided but then again I have been very careful with what I eat (meat only) and have been fasting this weekend to cleanse my body.
These last two weeks have been very tough for me. I have been so preoccupied that I basically can’t get any work done and I fear I might lose my job. I hear about all of these horrible crashes and lives ruined. I’m just confused as to what is going on with my body.
So many questions -
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Is this PFS or too early to tell?
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Do crashes after stopping this drug inevitably portend PFS?