- How did you find this forum?
I googled “propecia side effects,” got linked to the propeciasideeffects.com site, which linked here. I’M VERY HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND THIS SITE!
- What is your current age, height, weight?
I’m 25, 6’2, 160lbs.
- Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
I don’t excercise regularly. I really should start.
- What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
I’m a vegetarian (eat eggs and dairy).
- Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Hair loss.
- For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
Approximately 3 to 4 months.
- How old were you when you started Finasteride?
22 (April, 2005)
- How old were you when you quit?
22 (July, 2005)
- How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
I tapered off over a month.
- What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Proscar 5mg
- What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
I wasn’t very precise in my splitting of my proscar pills. I would take 1mg to 2.5mg a day. I feel really stupid about this. Also, my usage was irregular.
- How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
About 1 month
- 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 (how would I know? I’m asleep!)
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental–I definitely experienced several of the following, but they seem to have been resolved. Still, my lack of libido and ED make me quite depressed.
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] 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
[ ] 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
[X] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
In April, 2007 I tried L-Arginine. IT WORKED WONDERS! I tried it again this month, and it isn’t doing anything for me.
- 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)?
I haven’t taken blood tests. I may have a copy of a bloodtest from late 2004. I hope I can find it as this date is shortly before I started using finasteride.
- Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
I hate finasteride.
- Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I’m still a young man. I’m supposed to be in my sexual prime but Finasteride has rendered me sexually incapable in many ways. I began using in April 2005 when I was 22 years old. I recall hooking up with a female in May 2005 and being unable to attain an erection. That is when I knew I had a problem. I was masturbating/having sex at least twice a day before I started using. By summer 05, I had practucally ceased all sexual activity. That summer was very painful. I simply couldn’t attain an erection. I would try my hardest to masturbate every now and then to see if there was any new developments and would get extremely watery semen. Needless to say, I quit usage. I also became quite depressed.
By February 2006, I was noticing some minor improvements in my ejaculation, libido and erections. These improvements increased gradually, but then my ejaculation, libido and erections stayed fairly constant after a few months. These factors have remained fairly constant since early 2006. I would say I’m 30 - 50% of what I was prior to usage.
There is one glimmer of hope in my entire ordeal. In May 2007, I bought a bottle of L-Arginine from the drug store. After a couple of days, I WAS JERKING OFF LIKE A 13 YEAR OLD! SERIOUSLY! These were the best erections, ejaculations I have had since before I started using! I stopped using Arginine after my bottle was finished and noticed that I was doing ok (but not at all great) after I stopped. My libido, erections and ejaculation has obviously diminished since stopping usage. Still, this experience gave me new hope!
Unfortunately, I bought a bottle of L-Arginine a couple weeks ago, used about 3000 mg a day for a week and saw no results 
. In fact, my libido, erections, ejaculation were as bad as they’ve been in a while. Why would it not work? Has my body become tolerant after the initial success a few months back?
I started using zinc just yesterday. I hope this works.
I’m sorry this is such a long story. I’m very happy to have found this website. I really hope we can all help eachother get back to the states we were in before we used that awful drug Finasteride.