I think it just happened to me

  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
  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    65 years, 5’ 8", 161 lbs
  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    elliptical, hiking, weight lifting
  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    normal fare, meat, vegetables etc, so far
  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    BPH
  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    16 months
  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    64, 9/2013
  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    65, 1/29/2015
  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?
    generic
  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    5mg/day sometimes forgetting
  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    6 to 9 months
  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    lack of libido, difficult erections, difficult ejaculations, anxiety, depression,
    Put an X beside all that apply:

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

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[x ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x ] 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
[x ] 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?
    None yet contemplating TRT

  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)?
    had two blood draws 5 days apart first TT was 556 5 days later it had dropped to 245, FT was 44.1

  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 have only been off the drug this time for 12 days. I had been feeling somewhat anxious earlier in the week, on Thursday morning 6 AM I took a 20 mg Cialis which did not sit well with me…was anxious all day and heart worked overtime. The next day I felt ok in the morning and worked out relatively hard. Later at the office I had a major panic attack. The following morning I went into ER to get checked out everything was ok no heart attack was a panic attack. A few days later everything seemed ok. I took a 5mg Cialis just to see and it gave me some similar sensations but not as bad and they went away in 3 days. Masturbation seemed relatively normal but also seemed like it took longer and had to concentrate harder. Saw my girlfriend over the weekend and had spontaneous erections but we did not have sex. Masturbation yesterday was difficult, did it twice but very difficult and very little ejaculation. Tried masturbating last night with no success and no success in the morning either. Now anxiety level is high and I don’t even want to try. I may be having some subtle pain in my testes which have shriveled up. I had my annual physical today. We went over the blood tests. I had had two draws the first blood sample resulted in a TT of 556 the second draw five days later resulted in TT of 245 and FT of 44.1. My primary MD wants to put me on TRT immediately, I have read conflicting results from Testosterone Replacement Therapy, but may take this one shot.

I had several panic attacks in the month after quitting propecia. I visited ER a couple of times so I know how stressful and upsetting it can be.

I found drinking tea regularly throughout the day helped my anxiety
and a natural herb ‘Valerian’ in small doses to help calm nerves and sleep better.

If you are taking TRT, you will need a good doctor who can give you Arimidex and/or Aromasin in the right doses to control estrogen.
Increasing testosterone will increase estrogen due to aromatisation (Test->Estrogen conversion).

TRT will also largely shutdown your own natural testosterone production by around 90% and will shrink your testicles.
I would discuss with your doctor on taking HCG alongside TRT, to keep your balls working and to minimise testicular shrinkage.

Further info on HCG can be found here:
defymedical.com/resources/he … ne-therapy

I doubt your T levels will come back up on there own. I am allot younger then you and mine dropped below 200 before a doctor would offer TRT. Your body will waste away quickly if you don’t do anything. Just don’t expect TRT to reverse all your symptoms.