Just stopped.. help

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)?

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? 29, 176cm, 67kg

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

What condition was being treated with the drug? MPB

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

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 19 years old

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

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 noticing slight sides about 5 years in, but they weren’t severe enough to make me quit for good. Went on and off a few times, the last time I was off it for a year, then went back on for 8 months. When I noticed worsening sides I decided I had to quit for good…then this happened

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
[*] 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
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[x] 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
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[x] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[x] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[x] Other (please explain) Hot flashes, which are triggered by warm weather, physical exercise, etc.

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)? I haven’t been to the doctor yet, not sure if I should go

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.

1 Like
#2

Sorry to hear your experience with this evil drug my friend. For now I’d say your still early into the crash and you may improve overtime. But seeing those improvements can take months so don’t panic just yet.

In the mean time definitely don’t supplement with anything. Keep us updated though I really hope things improve for you sooner then later.

#3

Thank you for your kind words @AaronF. It’s so strage having to pretend everything is normal with friends, coworkers, flatmates… so thank you for acknowledging my suffering.

I was thinking of just taking l-arginine and l-citrulline for blood flow, but I’m worried they might worsen my tinnitus. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Any other replies containing advice, or just messages of anonymous friendship are worth than you can imagine. I’m in a very dark place.

2 Likes
#4

Welcome to the forum. I’m sorry to see you here. Just want to say you this condition is probably reversible, but its gonna be hard as hell. Calm down and start informing yourself about this. You can check yourself to the doctor as many of us did, but I don’t think its gonna give you any result after all. Anyway, you’re not alone. I can see you’ve checked suicidal thoughts. Do not do anything stupid. You can recover only if you are alive :slight_smile: And dont rush with your recovery using dangerous drugs to fix this. Stay strong.

1 Like
#5

Thank you for your words of encouragement :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
#6

My situation is deteriorating quickly. It’s been two and a half months since quitting, and as of this afternoon I cannot achieve any kind of erection, even with porn + manual stimulation. Does the advice to continue to wait and do nothing (as my genitals keep shrinking) still apply? I’m considering going to an endocrinologist and requesting drastic measures to shock my system into doing something, at this point I can’t get any worse sexually.

#7

Your hormones are clearly out of order, if it continues to get worse.

See an endocrinologist immediately to have a full hormone check done and take 10mg cialis daily, which will not improve your erection (if it is indeed hormone related), but it helps reverse penile atrophy.

Note that you will need to get your hormones back in order and take cialis for up to a year or two in order to recover, so don’t expect a fast recovery, but at the same time don’t lose hope.

#8

Thank you @varanga, I will do that. I know it’s supposed to be all about androgen receptors and neurosteroids, but there’s no way my T is in range right now. I’m going to ask him to put me on Clomid, arimidex or something similar… it just can’t get any worse than it is now. I need something to jumpstart my system.

Does anyone know a good London endo?

#10

Do you have testicular shrinkage?

#11

Strangely no, only penile (clearly visible after 2 months)

#12

Hey there,

I hope it’s helpful to know that my experience of shrinkage is that it’s variable, not permanent and sadly, unpredictable and uncontrollable.

I say this because I have seem myself in a condition which I thought was a clear indication of permanent damage. I’ve also seen myself - a year later - back to my pre finasteride state.

At the moment, I would say I am closer to normal most of the time.

I know this is very scary and it seems very few people have bothered to report their improvements - it seems that most people who have felt better with time just don’t bother posting anymore. I know that I scoured the forum for something positive repeatedly.

I hope that helps.