Just 3 pills and I cant sleep

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)?
Croatia / Live in Germany

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?
36, 193 cm, 116 kg

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.)?
1 mg/day

What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair Loss

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

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
36

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
36

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

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
a day or two

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
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[x] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility (don’t know)

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

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[x] Testicular Pain
[x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ x] Frequent urination (passed mostly)
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

Insomnia, problems sleeping

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)?
Will do soon

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.

A few months ago I noticed some thining on the temples, and after watching a few videos on youtube I decided to try Finasteride. I was partly aware of the side effects but after seeing a video from two hair loss doctors from Australia (The Hair Loss Show) I brushed them aside as something that can’t happen to me. A dermatologist that I went to informed me as a matter of factly that the permanent side effects do happen but did not press the issue too much. She did make me sign a form that she informed me of them ( god I should have stopped then). After only 3 consecutive doses (Wen-Thr-Fry) I experienced horrible sides that have not left since. It has been 17 days since my last dose and I still suffer from horrible Insomnia but thankfully I have regained feeling in my genitalia. Insomnia and brain fog have completely robbed me of my livelihood and I fear that I won’t be able to continue my profession (Software engineer). I exercise every day (which is a bit difficult because of covid) and lost a bit of weight but no significant change yet with my sleep. God, what have done to myself?

1 Like
#2

Hi there and welcome to the pleasure dome friend !

In all seriousness this is grim …I know exactly what it’s like . It’s horrible and it feels never ending and very repetitive. Hang in there - your first miilestone is a month of discontinuation and then after that 3 months .

What kind of hours sleep are you getting per night ?

No one in the medical industry seems to have any concrete answers as to why this stuff disrupts a humans sleep function but to be honest I think it’s totally fucked up and one of the worst symptoms out there.
Most sufferers on here tend to agree that it’s something to do with the GABA levels that Finasteride fucks with behind the scenes (and no one seems to print this on the finasteride packet of course!)

To my mind that’s fucking devious that these pricks are making people sign waivers regarding the side effects , that’s a big red flag there about things getting serious with this drug and I for one had no idea it was going on. I think this is a point for the foundation to look into further actually…
Your best bet in my opinion is to get to the 3 months mark and reassess how you’re doing then and in the meantime a Benzodiazepine or Z drugs (Zopiclone , Ambien, Sonata etc) are your best but to get some sleep . (Just be careful on the tolerance / dependence do 2 weeks to get the sleep cycles back and then start cutting the pills in half and weening down etc)
The only trouble is doctors will try and give you Trazodone first line insomnia treatment try and avoid that if possible ,

Best of luck

#3

Thank you, for the info. My sleep is bad, but I can still kind of function. I wake up a lot and I feel tired, but I still have not lost my mind. So I guess that is something. I did a blood test and my Vitamin D levels were crazy low. I started to supplement it with 2400 UI a day and at this point, that is the only supplement I take. My biggest concern is, how will I be able to go back to work (programming). I would still like to avoid taking the sleeping drugs. I will wait and hope for the best.

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#4

How many hours per night are you sleeping?

#5

Hard to say, but my guess would be 4 or 5. Maybe more.

#6

You’ll be fine then as far as your job goes, you’ll just be tired. Just power through it and hope your sleep comes back within a year.

#7

I will do that thanks. But now, I have no idea if it is maybe less - it is hard to say the exact number. I have been like this for 17 days and I only feel tired a lot. I am able to write on this forum and English is not even my first langue. I also don’t have any hallucinations which are side effects from not sleeping (I guess). I go to bed at 22:00 and I try to stay in bed until 8:00. I do fall asleep, just I wake up frequently.

#8

As long as you get like 3-4 hours you can function, so I’d go back to work if I were you. If you wanna take sleeping pills it wouldn’t be an issue as long as they’re not depression drugs. Unisom is safe, it’ll make you dizzy if you take too much so you gotta experiment with the doses.

#9

A pharmacist gave me Vivinox 50 mg - I done it once and it knocked me out. Right now I am apprehensive about taking anything. I probably will use it if the situation becomes unbearable. But I am pretty certain that I do get 3 - 4 hours. At certain point I might add some sleeping supplements (like magnesium) but I will try to introduce them slowly.

#10

Yeah 4- 5 hours isn’t that bad really …that’s more than I have been getting lately .

Some of us it’s worse than that unfortunately, I’ve often had nights of 0 hours , although currently the past 2 weeks have been 2- 5 hours a night . However the past year since I quit I had months of sleeping 5-7 hours and not taking any kind of sleep aid so I know restoration is possible .

If it’s any consolation I’m studying a degree in Computing and have been doing programming …sometimes on 2 hours sleep , from this devilry.

I think the thing that has done this to me and all the rest of us is evil…pure evil .
But hey I’m never gonna let the evil win :fist:

Good luck and I hope you start feeling better

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#11

Thank you, I been a professional programmer for more than a decade and loosing my profession would be huge chunk of my identity lost. I wish you all the best in your recovery.

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#12

Keep the faith , you will continue to do well in your profession . It’s definitely a setback but stay strong and you will be able to get through it!

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#13

I would not take the risk of sleeping pills if you are getting this much sleep. If you are still getting 4-5 hrs you will likely improve in this department over time.

#14

Hi Guys, after some time I have decided not to update this thread and not to visit this site anymore. I’m sorry, but I have felt so much suffering here and it affects me. So many lives broken because of a seemingly benign decision, it literally breaks my heart. I just need to move away from it all. I’m sorry but it is just too hard. I wish you all the best in your recovery.

#15

I’m sorry to see you go , apologies if I was negative I didn’t mean to be . I’ve just been getting over a relapse of this lately and this one affected me hard .

This site is always here if you need further support - I wish you the best too , I personally think you will improve and by the 3 month mark you will be doing a lot better!

#16

Nobody was negative, quite the opposite. The enqurigment was heartwarming, but I saw some other threads and just could not take it. I’m sorry. I wish you all the best to get rid of this horrible drug that robs people of their lives

1 Like
#17

I understand - keep a positive frame of mind out there , stay on good diet , exercise etc you will be heading in the right direction and things will get better :pray: