Indian guy, on my road to recovery

Member Stories
#1

Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.

Where are you from (country)? India

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?) from a guy facing a similar situation.

What is your current age, height, weight? 28, 5"9, 80kgs

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Finasteride

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg/day

What condition was being treated with the drug? Hairloss

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 10 months

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 27

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 28,

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? 1mg/day for 9 months then tapered off to 0.5mg /day for 01 month then left.

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? 08 months( had sleeping problems, libido dropped)

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? All

Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.

Sexual
[✓ ] 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 or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

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
[ Mild] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ✓ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[mild and recovering] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[✓ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[✓] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] 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 the discontinuation of the drug? None

If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?
Post drug test for Thyroid, cortisol, prolactin vitamin D, free and total Testosterone. (All normal, except testosterone on lower side)

Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Took finasteride for 10 months continuously, stopped as faced loss of libido, Sleeping issues, persistent fatigue. Then all trademark PFS symptoms emerged one after the other. Post drug withdrawal once I masturbated for 03 times in a row to check my erections and had severe depression and loss of light sensitivity for 01 week.
Then contacted PFS Foundation website from there came to know about this forum.
Read many recovery stories, 05 recovery stories of people who recovered without drug or supplements ( had more or less similar symptoms) after abstaining from any sexual activity, exercising, low carb high protein diet.
I am on the same road as noticed improvements in symptoms and I am determined to recover completely soon as others have.
I’ll keep on updating my progress.

1 Like
#2

Hi @akreco ! Welcome to the forum – I’m sorry you’re in this situation. Are you able to keep up with studies/work?

When did you get off the drug, by the way?

Please do come back and update us on how you’re feeling. It would help others to see how you’re progressing.

In the meantime, here are a few things you can do:

1 Like
#3

Maybe Im blind guys but… Show me just one recovery story in this site. Just one.
Thats not a recovery if someone learn to live with this hellish condition.Sorry for my negativity. But the truth is the truth. False hope dosent help…

#4
#5

yes I am able to work. It’s been 05 months I have been off fin.

#6

Hello friend.

#7

There are a lot of recovery stories in this forum

#8

I am fully recovered, and so are the majority.

#9

Hi Mate,
Yes… But found same without supplements & Same denominators.
Do u know anyone recovered similarly.

#10

do you nkow of people that experienced numb penis, shrinkage etc that recovered their penis? or anyone with tissue changes that recovered? thanks

#11

There is a section with stories about recovery. Look it up at the forum.

Do you mean penile tissues or tissue loss in general? In my opinion if you loose tissue in the face or elsewhere there will be a really small chance to recover from it. My penile is shrinked too but when i am erected its the same lenght as always.

1 Like
#12

An update,
Anxiety and depression has improved, but still no sexual improvements it’s been 25 days of not ejaculating.
Also after exercising I feel fatigued and anxious next day so just started light running in evening.

2 Likes
#13

No anxiety No depression No muscle waistage.
Only thing that bothers me is Light sensitivity and Jest for life.
Can anyone help with light sensitivity issue.

#14

Dear All,
It’s been 30 days I am able to work, mentally I have improved a lot. No anxiety, No trace of depression.
Started Getting morning woods 6/7 days(still on softer side).
Light sensitivity not improving.
Brain Fog and jest for life: I started watching EPL, news , play videogames from this week.

1 Like
#15

Do you play on Xbox Friend?

#16

Just went through Apr1989 full thread.
He has given proper reason for PFS.
May be if I get cured even halfway through his protocol then I can begin my exercise regime for next half to recover.

#17

No offence, but this is hardly likely.

For over a decade people have been fasting, changing diets, supplementing and trying to exercise this away.

If this were a viable option, then we’d have a pattern emerge by now, but invariably what we have is the same substances being recommended and failing.

Most of this advice, I would guess, can be traced back to websites that promise to make men more manly, rather than any real understanding of our situation.

Sorry for this very negative reply but I’m somewhat triggered and skeptical when I see people say things like someone has “given the proper reason for pfs” it’s extremely disrespectful to those who have enough of an understanding to not make those declarative statements.

So, sincerely, I hope that you feel better - it sounds like you have improved with time too, which is great, but try not to cite unproven theories as proof or fact. This forum is extensively read and people have willingly experimented on themselves. By now we’d know if tribulus+exercise = cure. It isn’t.

5 Likes
#18

Thanks for adding this , you’ve really given us all hope…:clap:

1 Like
#19

Awesome you’re recovered, and thank you for sharing your experience, but I’ve yet to see any of the flat emotion type of PFS guys recover. You seem to be of the anxiety type. I can not even imagine feeling anxiety anymore after two years of feeling numb. Additionally, I’ve lost all feelings of emotional connection/tension/excitement/stress and my groin feels empty/non-existent.
Not to disregard any of the anxiety type sufferers, there’s definitely some of them with persistent symptoms.

I’ve kept on working full time, meeting with friends, exercising, eating super healthy, trying to stay positive… But have not experienced the slightest improvement.

Of course we should all live healthy and keep exercising/working/meeting with friends. But I think we should not underestimate the importance of donating to fundamental research as soon as possible. To get this condition widely recognized and to find ways of treatment or relief.

1 Like