Mew I just have to say that I am very grateful for you posting on hairlosstalk.com or I would have never figured out what the hell was going on… On that note.
I just need to tell someone since everyone else [doctors] think I’m crazy. I’m trying as hard as I possibly can to think positive. At the moment every ten minutes or so I try to intentionally think positive and meditate. It’s absolutely exhausting.
As for my story…
I spend about 1 year 3 months on Propecia. I experienced “mental fog”, nothing was real, it was like being in a numb/in a completely socially isolated box. I started taking this “drug” at the age of 20 and took it for 1 1/2 years. I thought I was developing schizophrenia but didn’t make the connection (better to be schizophrenic with your hair than without your hair). I switched to Dutasteride for about three months afterwards during which the mental fog turned into full blown pyschosis, like everything I’ve experienced the past two years was a horrible dream. During this time I experienced intense/constant pain in penile skin (to the point it was difficult to walk), hardening of the penis, scrotal pain/contraction, decrease in prostatic fluid, vericose veins on the penis, ED/inability to get an erection, blurry vision, confusion, extreme fatigue, etc. I didn’t do anything because I was so “out of it” that I didn’t know what the hell was going on.
I stopped taking Dutasteride on 6/21 and restarted Finasteride. Once the side effects from Dutasteride didn’t disappear I stopped taking Finasteride. It has been about five weeks. I started getting a tingling sensation on a daily basis in my scrotum (although not nearly as intense as the aching pain I got while on the drug). My penis is basically completely numb and my scrotum is very “tight”. I hardly have any semen when masturbating, if I can masturbate at all. The mental effects are starting to go away and I’ve started to get panic attacks whenever I think about it which makes the mental side effects much worse.
There is nothing that I can do except wait. I’m waiting, and waiting, one day at a time… Some days my scrotum is less painful/tight and some days it is worse. I desperately want to know if this will go away in three months, six months, somewhat or not at all.
Perhaps the worst part is having everyone think you are crazy… It is hard to get sympathy when your “problem is psychiatric”.
I’m sorry for dumping all this on the forum but I feel like the course of my life has completely changed for the rest of my life because of this stupid mistake.
I’ve developed a major alcohol/drug problem, and any amount of encouragement, advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. I’m in a very scared, depressed and in a lonely place right now…