I was at the height of my sex life

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)? U.S.

  2. How did you find this forum Google search

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 29 6" 230 lbs

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? yes, walking, jogging, weight lifting (when I have energy)

  5. What type of diet do you eat meat eater, raw,organic healthy

  6. Why did you take Finasteride? hair loss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride 4 years

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 23

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 27

  10. How did you quit. cold turkey

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia

  12. What dose did you take? 1 mg/day

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? a few weeks 13) 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
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[x ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x ] Watery Ejaculate
[x ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[x ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[x ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x ] Confusion
[x ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[x ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[x ] 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)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[x ] Weight Gain
[x ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x ] 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? only natural diet and excercise

  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)? awaiting results for post finasteride bloodtest

  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.

starting taking finasteride at the height of my sex life. I figured the added hair growth would only add to my popularity w/women. It did add to my popularity alright, but not in the way I expected. Before I knew it, I couldn’t perform w/women anymore, they always thought it was their fault and I let them think that. My sex drive went down to zero & my upbeat attitude and motivation went down the drain. Amazingly, I never thought it was the drug that was causing this. I figured it was a normal part of growing up and daily stresses in my life and I would eventually go back to normal. At the time there wasn’t much info on the side effects, the studies at the time made the product look like some sort of miracle supplement, and less than 2% of men taking it experienced neg sides and even those went back to normal after cont’d use. Wow what a lot of BULL****. Like an idiot I cont’d to take it, suffering the effects I could’nt understand what was happening to me. At one point I thought someone put a spell on me. As soon as stories started popping up all over the internet about the devestating sides, everything finally started to make sense. I feel like I sold my soul to the devil. I’ve been robbed of all my vitality & emotions. Nothing excites me anymore & I even quit my job due to lack of motivation to do anything. About the only thing that would excite me is the thought of having the makers of this terrible poison(Finasteride) to suffer the same fate as I did, but have their dicks chopped off & shoved in their mouth, and for the drug company to be completely shut down, & all profits made to be evenly distributed to the victims and to research a ‘real’ natural cure for this debilitating condition. Not another drug w/another list of sides. Needless to say I immediatley quit the drug & for several months after did nothing but sleep all day, I didn’t have the strenght or motivation to do anything. Over the past 2 years I’ve had some improvement, but I’m hopefull that as time goes by, my body will eventually bounce right back to pre-finasteride state. I’m a firm believer that the body can heal itself of anything no matter how bad the damage.

#2

Hey, my story is similar to yours (was at the height of my sex life, with an upbeat, passionate personality with many passions and interests, besides the sexual sides the personlity change and mental effect have been the hardest) and I just want to tell you that, although I cant tell you with certainty that you will be cured, you can and will get better and definitely shouldnt let yourself go further down mentally. Force yourself to go out, do the things that you used to like doing, and seek company of your friends as much as you can, if they are good friends tell them that your personality changes are due to this drug, they should show some understanding and cheer you up.

Personally I have found the following supplements to be helpful in getting some motivation/drive (even sometimes libido) back.(these are cheap and safe):
L-tyrosine : take 500 to 1000mg on an empty stomach first thing AM (with some B6 if you can), and before hanging out, a concert, playing music, meeting a girl… Can clear brain fog, lift your mood and more
ALCAR : 500 to 1500mg : read about this!
fish oil omega 3 : they can help alleviate depression and everybody should take these anyway
Also a good multi with good B-complex
I personally think that you should get started with these ASAP as it cannot hurt you and can only make you feel better, or at least support your health.

You could also read about selegiline (deprenyl), which is a dopaminergic drug that even “life extensionists” take regularly because of its neuroprotective properties! Ive been taking 2.5mg EOD for 2 years and it has helped me getting some drive/motivation back. The generics are EXTREMELY cheap too (good quality indian generic can be found at 1.36$ for 10 x 5mg tabs!)
The newer, better version of this drug is called rasagiline and is much more expensive although an indian generic can be found for quite cheap.

None of these are a cure but they will help you getting some positivity back.

#3

venceremos, thnx for the advice. glad to finally communicate w/others regarding this condition… its been very difficult to deal with, especially since being the kinda guy who was so passionate about my dreams & aspirations. Funny how none of that seems important anymore w/low sex drive/motivation.

It would be too embarrassing to tell my friends (especially since a lot of my friends are females & I’ve slept w/many of them prior to finast.) As far as my male friends all we do is talk about pussy. I’m sure they would understand but at the same time dont want any pity from anyone.

I agree we have to keep a positive outlook regardless of the situation. I will do some reading on those supplements. I’ve personally tried the fish oil omega 3, and b-complex vitamins, I’m curious about the ALCAR as well. I’m working w/a holistic doctor that specializes in bio-identical hormones. I will complete a full list of tests by this Friday. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks again friend

#4

Allstar29,

Welcome to the forum. I took the drug just a little longer than you, but I have been off of it very close to the same time. So our situations are similar in that regard.

I also experienced the “Crash”. I was a very focused, motivated, over achieving type of person. Physically I was decimated. I went from being in amazing shape, good muscle to scrawny. Mentally, I was close to retarded. Serious brain fog, horrible memory, no ability to focus, no ambition. Sexually, well lets just say I might have well been a corpse.

I have tried tons of supplements and a handful of hormones. So far the things I have found that have helped me the most are HC & Vit D. I also found VIt C supps helped me ward off colds more once I started the HC treatment.

I can say I have great improvement with my ability to work and function like a normal person mentally. I am focused and motivated to work now. I have even energy throughout the day. My memory is still not as sharp as was prior. The HC also helped with flexibility as did the Vit D. The sex life is still very bad though and I’m not physically in the same shape yet.

Maybe you can see if your bloodwork mirrors mine or others that have had some improvements. I hope you can stick around on the forum. I truely believe also that we will beat this. I also believe the more of us that come forward and stay on the forum, the better our chances of getting more research. It also could further damage Merck, which would make me very happy.

Good luck.

#5

bostonusa2009

thnx for ur post. sorry to hear we’re in the same boat, but at least we’re in good company. had plenty of muscle loss myself, finast almost turned me into a woman, its pretty much a sex change pill. So u felt close to retarted? LOL, tell me about it… I use to do presentations for a company & was at a complete loss of words right in the middle of em… Also, had several opp’s to hook up w/beautiful women and had to let em all go, my lil man wasn’t up for it… that sucks! what do u do when a girl wants to get initmate?

what exactly is HC? I’d like to get to the point where I can at least work again. I’ll def stick around this forum and post my results. I’ve had bloodwork/saliva/urine test done & awaiting results. I’m certain we will overcome this terrible condition and have our youthful vitality once again, only this time we will have a greater appreciation for it. Good luck in recovery, keep me posted.

#6

HC is Hydrocortisone. You need to test your adrenal glands and determine if they are producing enough cortisol. I had both ACTH test and 24hr saliva test done. Bad results on both.

It’s certainly not a cure all from the wrath that the poison caused. It did help me recover my basic adrenal energy to get through my day. Do you feel tired and run down? Having a lot of trouble completing things that were easier prio? If so, you may want to add this one to your blood test.

I also have a sense of optimism that we will beat this. I just hope we don’t have to wait 10 years for that to happen.