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)?
=Thailand (I’m Asian)
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?)
=Intense googleing on negative effect of Finasteride
What is your current age, height, weight?
=I’m 30 turning 31 this year. 175 cm / 63 k.g.
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.)?
=started right 1 mg/day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
=To cure hair loss of course!
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
=ALMOST 1 year
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
= I was 29 started taking since 12.08.2019
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
= I quit cold turkey yesterday lol (09.08.2020) and never plan to take it again.
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
=as above answer
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
=since first week of usage!
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
=LOW sex drive, LOW sperm count, Feel older than my age.
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
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[x ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] 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)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
=No
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)?
=No have
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.
I have just signed up to share my story! I was once a guy with HIGH sex drive, I was easily turned on, penis always hard and hard every morning! I always have desire to have sex with, any beautiful ladies. I used to watch PORN and masturbating every single day. even twice a day with full load high volume of sperm. Well that was before i took the finasteride drug…
Things changed since i took the pill. Doctor said it will help stop my hair loss (which it did!). She said the side effect could be having lower sex drive etc. but everything will RETURN to normal once stop taking the drug. That’s the main reason i took the pill because i thought the effect will be just temporary… In face at that time I actually thought it is quite good idea. Because I would have more time spending on useful thing, unlike watching porn, masturbating, obsessive with sex etc. I can practice on more useful things in life and can have better future, better work. Well BIG MISTAKE I made.
Just after a week of taking drug. I noticed significantly lost of libido but i didn’t care much that time as it was expected. I continue taking the drug 1 mg everyday, just until last month that I started to wonder myself why am i feeling depressed lately, I just felt very inactive, easily sad, not happy with life, life is just not unpleasant to live, some kind of suicide thought but surely I won’t suicide I still wanted to live of course! but i want to live more quality life, I just wonder what’s the point of living? what’s the point of working? why human is competing each other? why are we pursuing for money? etc. And I feel my life is colorless, felt bored with it. What’s the point of having sex? After taking the drug I can stay overnight with my GF WITHOUT sex lol. I also no longer have the want to masturbate. I just felt like there’s no need to do (unlike the past when it was hard to resist doing so). But I sometimes forced my self to watch porn and jerk off just to ensure my ball can still function properly lol.
As a guy who used to masturbate on daily basic i know my sperm volume so well. I can tell that after taking finasteride, my sperm load has been reduced by HALF. The pleasant from cuming is also reduced by a LOT.
Yesterday after i figured out that it must be finasteride drug that worsen quality of my life. (Sex is also a part of quality life!), I googled it, study the side-effect carefully and just found out about PFS (never knew before) I was even more depressed and i decided to stop taking the drug immediately since yesterday. I went to local pharmacy and bought minoxidil instead. My regret is that I should have chosen minoxidil over finasteride year ago. I can’t believe finasteride can mess with hormone balance permanently.
I hope i will recover soon…