Its all good, nothing left

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.

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

What is your current age, height, weight?
25/190 lbs/ 180 cm

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

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?
Hairfall

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
8 days (1mg/day) on and off over 17 days

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
25

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
25

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
I started getting only 2-3 hours of sleep with very vivid nightmares after about 3 doses. I didn’t realize it could be because of fin. Suddenly connected the dots after the 8th dose.

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

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
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] 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
[ ] 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
[ >] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[> ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)
insomnia - only 2-3 hours of sleep with vivid nightmares

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Nothing yet

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)?

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.

Started taking fin on 1st October 2020. From about 8th October I started getting only 2-3 hours of sleep with vivid nightmares. Never had this before.

Libido was fine and infact was more aroused and excited.

took 8 doses between 1st oct and 17th oct. It all made sense on 17th.

18th October-

  • Penis shrivelled and shrunk
  • Tried to get excited but nothing.
  • Anxious and worried the entire night and day.
  • Lack of sleep because of insomnia
  • light tinnitus - extremely scared of this as i’ve had it bad before.
  • brain fog - maybe because of lack of sleep?
  • slept for a couple of hours in the evening and was able to get hard after the sleep. It took some concentration to get hard. Ejaculation was watery. color was fine. volume was reduced. Very less ‘satisfaction’

**Right now I’m just really scared and anxious. Its making it harder to get sleep. **
Any advice and help is appreciated.

2 Likes
#2

I would absolutely tell the doctor that prescribed you the finasteride. See them right away and get all the necessary labs done, and repeat them a week or so later. See a urologist right away too. Get a semen analysis done. Maybe we can capture and document the changes.

Only eat healthy foods. Really clean up your diet. Maybe go to the gym and lift heavy weights. Do everything to keep your mood upbeat. Avoid anything depressing. And have hope you’re one of the fortunate who bounce back quickly. If not, please know we have two seemingly promising options on the horizon, including hCG and Proviron. The jury is still out, but we’ve had some positive reports of success.

Just have faith you will get better. I’ve lived with this horror since 2006, and never believed as much as I do now that we will get better, together.

3 Likes
#4

I’m copying and pasting from a post someone else here had, but they are among the ones I’ve done too:

Testosterone
Free Testosterone
Bio-available Testosterone - this one was not was available in my country
Estradiol (high sensitivity test)
Prolactin (likely high)
Progesterone
SHBG (likely high)
DHEA-S
DHT
LH
FSH
Bilirubin (likely high)
Additional tests:

Androstenedione
17 - OH progesterone
3α-Androstanediol glucuronide
17-OH-Pregnenolon

While not a new condition, very few doctors recognize what we have, so don’t let that get you down. And if any recommend anti depressants or anti anxiety medication do NOT take any SSRI’s as they make make the condition worse. Wellbutrin is not a SSRI, and may be a better option, if things come to that…

1 Like
#6

@NewYorker I tried Wellbutrin. For a couple days I feel completely normal. All my symptoms went away. Unfortunately I crashed again Even while still taking WelIbutrin. It’s like we all have some kind of problems with the neurotransmitters in the brain.

#7

@NewYorker I have had great success with anxiety and insomnia While taking benzodiazepines. I have taken them for over 10 years now, and haven’t had any problems with them.

1 Like
#8

Curious which specific ones you’ve tried.

#9

You say you’re scared to tell anyone. You haven’t done anything wrong. This isn’t your fault. You will find this harder on your own. People on here are generally nice and supportive, but there is a limit to what can be done, vs an actual friend you know.

1 Like
#10

@VAV, your deletion of your original member story was reverted back.

If you’ve fully-recovered from transient side-effects of finasteride, please communicate this in a new post.

#11

Dont you build a tolerance to them ?

#12

Yes. I was only on one, I’ve been on the maximum dose, but the insomnia and anxiety are manageable

#13

Hi @Nate95, what type of Benzo are u using? Did you ever develop a tolerance? What mg are you now on? Im trying to consider putting back my benzo as it helped me function with my work.

#14

I currently take klonopin . Yes, you will develop tolerance. All I can say is they have greatly improved my life, especially in terms of anxiety. And they also helped a lot of my other post side effects from coming off of Propecia as well.

#15

Okay bro. How long have you been taking the klonopin for?

#16

What mg are you using now?

#17

@hoping_still since 2006

4 mg

#18

oh. Is it worth to use benzo? I mean were you able to get on ahead with your job and raise a family?

#19

Hi @NewYorker could u tell me what medicines helped u cope?

#20

I’ve had mild relief with Wellbutrin, and started feeling improvements after a couple of weeks. I was on it for 3 months and stopped a bit before I started the hCG protocol I’m currently on, where I’m feeling about the same, and didn’t slide into massive depression again. There is still a long way to go, but I pray it progresses.