just used finesteride for two weeks. help needed

[billbo]

0. Where are you from (country)?

Australia

1. 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?)

Searching the internet for help

2. What is your current age, height, weight?

28, 6,1 and 78kg

3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?

before usage: cycle, lift weights, yoga

nothing at the moment, taking up yoga again as it is the only thing I have been left strong enough to do. i did my first session back after finesteride and i was worse that my first ever lesson.

4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?

healthy amount of everything

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

hairloss

6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?

2 weeks exactly

7. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?

28, 05/10/2012

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

28, 19/10/2012

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

cold turkey

10. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?

finesteride

11. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?

1.25 a day, quarter of a tablet

12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?

exactly on the 14th day

13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

all

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[X] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] 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
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[X] 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
[X] Weight Gain
[X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[X] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[X] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[X] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[X] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)
1. impossible to get an erection, only bendable is achievable.
2… Once obtained very hard to maintain a bendable semi.
3. semen volume is a lot less. if before taking it was considered 100% i would now be at 10% or 20%. semen is also watery.
4. Orgasms have NO feeling, same % as previous comment stated. and before taking an orgasm would make me feel tired or if i had a stressful day or a headache it would help alleviate, Now they feel like they cause a headache, make me awake, dizzy, short of breath, weak and sick.
5. twitches while trying to get to sleep. small random muscle spasms in the day.
6. Insomnia, trouble sleeping at night, waking in the night at 4:30am and maybe again at 5:30, waking and getting up at 6:30 everyday. I used to love to sleep, sleep in and need to hit the “snooze” button three times before getting up, now I’m wide awake at 6:30am every morning but feeling flat and lifeless.
7. very low libido, Iv’e gone from being able to orgasm 3-5 times in a day to one or two with great difficulty.
8. loss of morning erection, spontaneous erection and nocturnal erection
9. smaller penis while flaccid and erect. smaller testicles
10. the head of my penis is numb while erect, the back of the shaft of my penis is numb. also my forehead and sternum are numb, and the rest of the skin on my body has less feeling and sensitivity.
11. this has eased but was at its worst the first week of stopping, fumbling of sentences and words. my words were muddled, mixed and mispronounced, I couldn’t construct correct sentences.
12. this has eased but was at its worst the first week of stopping. testicle pain, they felt like they were trying to escape up into my body. to just being very sore, small and sensitive now.
13. extremely dry mouth and difficulty swallowing. dry lips
14. headaches when i wake up, and on/off throughout the day.
15. loss of co-ordination and balance, strength, energy and motivation
16. loss of muscle tone
17. abdominal weight gain
18. my voice has got deeper and croaky. It breaks during conversations. and I can’t sing as well as I used to, Something I used to love
19. pale facial skin
20. brittle bones, my fingers, ankles, knees and shoulders are cracking a lot more. and if something is leaning on them, i don’t have the same strength
21. also I’m short of breath a lot, and my heart feels congested, sometimes i realize how I’m sitting or standing and it’s a crammed up pose and not relaxed. i have to breathe deeply to slow spontanious rapid heart beat. And fast to catch my breath, even if just sitting down doing nothing.
22. this has eased but was at its worst the first week of stopping. brain fog, it’s a disorientated feeling in the head that left me late responsive to other peoples questions and actions. this has eased now to dizziness, feeling heavy headed and headaches. yay
23. dizziness
24. constantly feeling sick, like i need to throw up, bed ridden when I’m not at work, I don’t have strength for anything.
25. memory loss, the simplest of things I can’t remember any more.
26. severe loss of concentration, this could be caused by how stressed and depressed I’am but it’s definitely there.
end.

14. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

started taking more natural supplements. zinc and magnesium. GNC T40 (testo booster) resveratrol, creatine, ginseng,
turmeric, vital greens.

15. 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)?

none yet, but i have an appointment to see a dr friday 9/11/2012 to advise me on to blood tests.
16) Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

It’s the worst vile poison a man could take. why anyone would associate this with “help for hairloss” and how it is being sold to you like it’s a new hat has disgusted me.

17. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

I went to see a specialist place about hair loss and i was advised to take this. i asked about the side effects and was given a story about only 1%-3% of people experience side effects. i took the tablet every morning as prescribed at 1.25mg for two weeks exactly. I immediately stopped on the 14th day at the first side of side effects. Then the worst time in my life began and the count. It is now 18 days since i took it and I’am still experiencing all of the above effects listed. this has been life changing for me. i have no girlfriend but i have saved up enough for my first house and i was ready to buy, move in, find a relationship start a family. this all seems impossible now.
I’m very interested in hearing of others experiences, especially if they took it for as little time as i did and if they have recovered or can help. And advice on DR’s and therapists that are experienced in PFS.

Thank you for taking the time in reading this.

[whoah]

Hey man, any changes?

[gregory0305]

Hey Billbo… just realized you posted your comments in Nov 2012… about 2 months ago… So… not sure if you checking back here… i noticed your post because it was in the non-replied ones… not sure how i ended up there… i FREAKED out when i read these posted back on Aug 25 2012… it promoted me to get off the med and to perhaps find a little time to help those out who are suffering … i’ve done a lot of research since then… and have a lot of ideas … time will tell if any of them pan out… but… until then i figured i could at last chat with a few folks who could maybe use some hope for their future… i believe there is… we just have to learn more to beat this nasty drugs neg effects… G.

[billbo]

the story i need to tell people.

ashleigh and martin australia

my first phone call. come in for a free consultation. on consultation, i said numerous times i do not want to take anything with sexual side effects, i was never replied that i would be taking finesteride. i was asked do i want to have kids, i replied yes, the salesman went silent on me, i assumed his silence to my reply meant there was no danger and that he should tell me what he knows if there was any danger. several times i mentioned i do not want to take anything with sexual side effects and finally i mentioned i do not want to take propecia which had been on my mind the whole interview, he leapt forward in his chair and raised his finger in the air towards me and said, it’s not propecia it’s like propecia. i took this on good will that with my several statements of not being interested in taking propecia or anything that had sexual side effects that i was not signing up for either of this. i signed up for $3900 for what they called real growth pills, real growth solution which was minoxidil, saw palmetto, shampoos and fortnightly laser treatments. he gave me everything except the real growth pills and minoxidil. those would be provided by a dr at an appointment the following week. the whle interview he lied to me, he didm’t tell me what i had purchased, he didn’t tell me the truth behind the side effects of what i had side for, which ended up being worse than anything i had imagined.

upon entering the dr’s appointment, i walked in, the dr had finesteride sitting on her desk, it was placed perfectly on the table towards me, later i would realise she was a master salesman and liar for the most evil corporation in the world. i knew that propecia and finesteride were related products, i was furious that this was the “real growth pills” stated by the salesman and in the contract after i said so many times that i was not interested in taking propecia or any sexual side effects. i immediately said to this to the dr, i’am not interested in taking that and i was assured that the product in question was not this, she sternly replied with a confused look on her face “why not?” in a suggesting tone that nothing was wrong with this and that she was not only confused but innocently fazed that i didn’t want to take it. i told her that i had done research in the past and this has a bad reputation for the side effects that i was not interested in, she started off her sales pitch “woah, let me tell you, there is a lot of crazy stuff you can read about this out there on the internet” she then asked me if i had ever met anyone who had actually taken this, i said no. and she said “well the truth is that only 2% of people who take this get side effects” i was startled that was such a small percentage. yes she said, in all tests carried out only 2% suffered side effects, and once people stopped taking this all their side effects stopped and they returned to normal. she then proceeded to explain a few other non-sexual side effects, insomnia, depression, weight gain. she also told me that this would change the texture of my semen while i was on it, but was careful to assure me this would return to normal upon stopping. i asked her if it would change the amount of semen i have which she replied “no”. she told me that she was the biggest prescriber of finesteride in the country, and that this is so popular that she can’t keep up with the demand she gets from her customers, she said that the manufacturer was so overwhelmed with orders that sometimes she was in short of suppling her customers. i asked her about a hair laser machine they were using on me for 2 session, my question was about radiation from it, which she said in cheeky tone “you’re really smart aren’t you?” i wanted to reply my thoughts "if i was would i be talking to you?” , but i was too polite to. she asked me if i wanted to have kids which i replied yes, again she like the previous sales man went silent, i assumed the silence meant there was no danger or she would tell me, she was a dr. i had faith in the title dr. my country australia and the year 2012. a dr. is meant to be someone who looks out for peoples health, i thought medication is designed to help people, in the medical industry for peoples health and wellbeing. i had never been so wrong in my life.this was a perfectly rehearsed lie, everything she said and carefully avoided saying in order to get me to tale finesteride, if something was so bad for someone and she was a dr, surely she would not be doing this. i had been a salesman myself for 9 years in the same city as a motorcycle safety apparel salesman, for 9 years i made sure people came in knowing nothing and left knowing everything and were completely covered in protective gear, and this person was a dr. how fate can be so cruel. finally during our conversation she said she has to ask if i heard about how this can cause cancer, i said yes but tell me, she again gave her 2% statistic, i replied foolishly that i was not worried about cancer but i was concerned with sexual dysfunction, again told 2%. convinced with the small odds, her claims of clients, i would take the pill. followed has been the worst experience of my life. i have met true evil, and it’s not an evil movie villain, it’s a woman, a mother of children, a dr and an agent for one of the biggest pharmaceuticals companies in the world, how she can sleep at night i do not know, how she can do this to other people for money i do not know. i have thought to myself was she raped by a man as a child, does she have a grudge against men, is she that money hungry. their is no logic to how someone can be such a liar to form out a perfectly structured sales tactic to steal your money and leave you in such ill health. The entire time she was trying to convince me to take this with Lies that she knew the truth to, 100% of my time with her was her lying to me.

her name is dr. terri labberton, she works for ashley and martin, this company and her are both agents of merck.

i tried to see lawyers about my situation. they all said there is nothing we can do but the lawyers had been contacted before about this company for the same reason.

now one year later at 29 years of age. i face being alone for the rest of my life. no female will ever feel sexual pleasure from me again. i will never be able to keep a partner. i will never have kids. i will be forced to become a recluse alone for the rest of my life.

[depressedguy]

dıd you have any ımprovements so far? Is everythıng same? Some mental, pyshıcal ımprovements?

[billbo]

yes some VERY little improvements. if my overall loss was calculated at 100% i would say i have gained back 20% on all sides. and these gains have reached their peak and are not improving further.