I want to be me again

Member Stories
#1
  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 for propecia issues with memory
  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    25, m, 6’0
  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    On and off, weightlifting and running. Never heavily, depending on how busy I am.
  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Relatively healthy, I eat some organic items, watch my calories but eat out here and there.
  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    hair loss
  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    About 6 years.
  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    I was 19.
  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    3 days ago, I am 25
  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    Right now cold turkey, I may have some today.
  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    Propecia for 5 years, Proscar for 1.
  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1mg daily-1.25mg daily
  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    5 years.
  14. 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
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] 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
[ x] Depression / Melancholy

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
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ x] 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?

No I don’t know what to do.

  1. 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)?

Not taken yet
16) Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

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

I am scared. Over the past year I have started forgetting things. Most small like celebrity names, but recently it has been like I have ADD.

Since I switched to proscar I noticed (but did not connect to) that I was stammering. My wife is a speech therapist so I thought about it a lot. People would say, who was in that movie, and knowing and seeing the person in my head, I was unable to recall it. I feel slow and uninterested in my work and it is very difficult to stay focused. The sexual side effects were always a maybe in my mind. Sure its not quite as much as it used to be, but 19 and single-25 and married can cause that in my common sense.

My question today is, being on the drug for this long, what should I do to get off it. My doctor who prescribed it to me was reasonable. He said “I will not ever say or think you are a liar. I personally use the drug without effect, you do not. People are different and react differently to drugs. My reccomendation would be to get off the drug. Please tell me how that helps, what happens etc…” He claimed there should be no reason for a crash of your system and he would quit cold turkey. He is not concerned with making money off me, so I trust his opinion. He always has said to me, if you don’t like it get off it. I never felt like he was lying.

So what did you all do. Given my timeline (6 years) I am on day 3 without it and I don’t know if I should get off the drug cold turkey or not. I knowyou FAQ says neither is necessarily better, but I am thinking I will take a half does today, and 3 days from now, then a quarter dose, then another quarter then attempt to stop. He claimed its only in your system 6-8 hours but it does take DHT about a week to return to your body and there is no real reason for a crash.

Thank you so much,

Brian

#2

I took the stuff very close to the same number of years that you did. I quit cold turkey, unfortunately for me I never consdered weening. I wasn’t lucky enough to see posts about this subject, so I never considered it.

My crash symptoms came on over a number of months. If you think your out of the woods after a month off, you might not be. I had an incredible loss of energy, I became stiff, knees started hurt, I lost a ton of muscle, got eye floaters, ridiculus brain fog, adrenal fatigue. Soon I had a very difficult time accomplishing basic tasks. I am still fighting to get better and I can tell you all of those sides that came on when I quit were much worse than the sexual ones I had while on the drug and still have now.

Your doctor sounds ignorant. Why would you even consider not weening? Do you really think a few more weeks of taking smaller doses is going to damage your body any more than it already has. Even if it’s a small chance that it will help you avoid a crash, that would be worth it for me.

Also, your thread title is very fitting. I think I have said this to myself more than 100 times. I am not there yet, but I’m a little closer than I was 6 months ago.

#3

Can you tell me why you quit after so long as well?

Since my symptoms are slight and I have never had sexual side effects really does that make my chances of an easy recovery now?

#4

Most of my side effects happened after I quit and I weaned off. Not saying you’ll have problems but just make sure you look after yourself. If you’ve still not quit it might be an idea to have blood tests now so you have something to compare if problems do arise.

Good luck with everything.

#5

After I found this forum, I realized that some other health issues I had were caused by this drug. I had eye sensitivity to light and wind, stomach problems, memory problems, anxiety, tons of sexual issues.

Then it was an easy decision for me to quit the drug. I don’t think the fact you have experienced minimal sides has any relevance on wether you crash or not. The drug has skewed your hormones in a way that is not natural, to avoid hairloss. Now when you remove it, it’s anybody’s guess how your body will react.

Try to eat as healthy as possible, light exercise, minimize stress and get plenty of sleep. Hopefully, it won’t be an issue for you.

#6

Update: I decided to ween myself off. I took a half dose on march 28, half dose on March 31, April 3, April 8, and finally April 12. Basically I took a fast week approach. I no longer take anything.

Though I never had sexual side effects, I do notice a bit better performance, but it could just be in my mind. What I do notice, slowly but surely my memory is coming back.

In general I eat pretty healthy but I always kinda do, excersise 3-4 days a week for around an hour or so. I have a few beers here and there, but get plenty of sleep and minimize my stress. Since I am a social drinker (once or twice a week usually) giving it up completely would cause me stress and start making me think myself into things. I take it easy and dont party too hard, but I relax and have a few with friends.

To be honest I feel great. I saw a doctor (two actually, I got to see a resident (one who actually cares) and his I guess attending or whatever). Both said what I thought, “There isn’t really a medical reason for things to keep going or pop up immediately after, but different people react to things differently, so its possible” Both were interested, wanting me to give them updates, and were optimistic about the future. They also consulted the urologist. He also said there is no reason to ween off due to the way your body adjusts to finasteride, but said there is no harm in trying, so he prescribed me to do so. The case is being passed around the office, with most people interested and trying to find out more.

Showing them the list of blood tests, they said knowing ahead of time what my levels are wont do good because those are your levels on finasteride. They have normal levels to compare against of something were to happen.

He gave me one very good piece of advice. If I think I am going to have problems, I am going to have problems. He said he has seen people think themselves into ED before and have it last and last, and I am not about to do that.

My memory is doing much better and to tell you the truth I feel more chill, just like things bum me out less. However, these things could all be coming from the fact that I dont feel like a drug is holding me back any more. I guess with a lot of this we never we’ll know what we think ourselves into and what drugs actually do to us.

I am going back for a checkup in June. The only time I had problems is right when i started to ween off, then I realized its because I was scared. Once I ruled it out a day later I was totally normal. I know some of you have problems pop up, and believe me I believe you, but I am going to live life happily and healthfully and without fear. Thank you all for your advice thus far.

The lesson I learned from all of this, is really weigh when things are worth it to you. Losing your hair is nothing compared to something that could affect your baby someday, let alone your own health. This stuff is out of my house forever, and when my wife and I decide to have a baby, I won’t be paranoid.

Be well everyone, I will update.

#7

Yea, except those people never took a 5AR2 inhibitor that lists sexual dysfunction as a possible outcome of use.

Good luck to you and hope you do well in the future.

#8

Right I think he was more referring to the fact I have had no problems sexually and was afraid of suddenly experiencing them after quitting.

#9

Update: Still feeling good. I honestly feel my memory is getting sharper again. Either that or its the ginko. Everything is good down under the hood as well, maybe a little stronger or slightly more frequent but no major changes, which is what I was going for. My generic test for my memory is remembering celebrity names (without ever practicing, something that I dont care about or deal with on a daily basis but in general would absorb) and I do much better.

#10

Update again: Wow…its been so long, I didnt even know I was having sexual side effects before. Here we are passing the one month mark, and I have forgotten how many times a day I used to be getting erections before I took the drug. I was so young when I started. Now I get 5x more than I used to and simple distractions like putting on a condom don’t absolutely ruin me.

The only thing that is sticking around pretty majorly is brain fog but it is better, just very slowly. I still forget names of famous people frequently. Its a weird test but its one that bothers me a lot. My ADHD symptoms still linger a bit but they too are better. I expect these things to hang around. I know its only been a month and a half, but its funny I haven’t lost any more hair. Did go for a buzzed look but still…I expected something. If it goes super fast, I’ll just dive into all out shaved head. Not an issue with my self esteem any more.

The other lingering symptom is random tiredness. If I work out I will get very very tired and fall asleep on the couch.

What has gotten 100% better is erections. I feel like I had forgotten what it was like to be a guy. This stuff is terrible…terrible stuff.

My hope is to keep improving, I had no idea how much that stuff was affecting my life…I just cant believe how much in denial about it I was. I’ll report back in June.

Good luck to everyone!