jeanreno's story (migraine from fin and saw palmetto)

Hello everyone, I’m Jeanreno and here is my story.

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    France

  2. 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 french health forum called doctissimo.

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    I’m 24, 188cm, 73Kg

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    I walk a lot (I go to walk in mountains almost every weeks) and make some excercices at home.

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Asian: lot of rice, miso soup, meat
    I have been living in Asia for one year now, so my regimen contains far less sugar than I was used to eat in my home country.

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    hairloss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    First I took it 2 months with very small dosage, then I took it a second time several months later at full dose during 3 weeks.

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

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

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    cold turkey the fist time, taper-off the second time.

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    Generic: Mylan and Sandoz.

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    If i make and average it would be something like 0.5mg every two days.

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    The first time I took it was almost immediately (less than one hour after take my first dose) and the second period I took it it was after something like 17 days.

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Head-aches

Put an X beside all that apply:

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 to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] 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
[ ] 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
[ ] 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?
    To fight the migraines and brain fog I am now taking lioresal (muscle relaxant) and loxonin (pain killer).

  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)?

  1. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
  1. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    The first time I took the drug I had a syncope approximately 15 minutes later. I experienced insomnia, severe fatigue, brain fog, difficulties to concentrate and speack, testicule pain and depression but at the same time I felt quite confident and gain muscle without exercicing my arms. Although I used two take a very small dose twice of three times a week it was so difficult to deal with that I stopped after two months. I quickly recovered and didn’t felt any side effects after 3 days.

Then, a few months later, I begin the treatment again. During 17 days I didn’t experience side effects but suddenly the brain fog and others symptomes (except insomnia) came back. I reduced the dose and stopped defininitively the drug after another one week of treatment. Once again I recovered very quickly.
Nevertheless, I took a saw palmetto supplement (folligain) to replace finasteride during 40 days. At first with a full-dose I had some difficulties to concentrate and talk, and also my penis did shrink a lot with some testicule pain. Then I just took half a dose and my sexual power came back. After 40 days head-aches and brain fog (same kind as finasteride) came back so I stopped the drug.

It’s been more than two months that I have stopped this supplement now and I have still permanent head-ache, with difficulties to concentrate, learn new things and work properly.