Link's Story

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    United Kingdom

  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?)
    A Hairloss forum

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    22, around 6ft 1, not sure of my weight

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    I don’t go to the gym but my job requires hours of walking and manual labour

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Anything really, whatever’s for tea, but I throw in fruit and healthy foods in my daily routine

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

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    Around about a month, 0.5 a day, sometimes i would miss a day or 2

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    22, i cannot remember the exact date sorry (silly i know)

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    22, I quit around 3/4 weeks ago

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

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

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    0.5mg a day

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    Maybe watery semen once or twice, softer erections, little bit of libido loss

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Loss of libido, ED, numbness of area and inner thighs, ache’s in arms and legs sometimes

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] 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
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[X] 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
[X] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[X] Other (please explain)
I guess I get the feeling im ‘bloated’ a bit sometimes.

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    I haven’t, I mean i’ve been taking L-Arginine, Multivitamin and Cod Liver Oil which I was doing anyway

  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)?
    I have not taken bloodtests yet

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    To be honest being ON Finasteride wasn’t that bad at all, I got off it because even though it wasn’t that bad I just didn’t want to risk anything else, which at this point sounds stupid I know but I believe everything would go back to normal once I stopped taking Propecia.

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    I’m just, devastated I guess, I mean when i stopped it i felt fine, but about a week ago I noticed I just felt different, then I read about “crashing” and i’m pretty sure that’s what’s happened and i’m just in shock. I’m 22 and going to College next year, i’m not currently with a girl but I love one, I just feel like i’m less of a man if I can’t even use my penis properly.

What I will say is i can still achieve erections, this morning i thought of something sexual and i got an erection, i even read something sexual and got one, they weren’t 100% but they stayed for a bit so I know there’s still something there. I’ve noticed I need to pee a couple more times a day now and with a bit of leakage afterwards.

It hasn’t effected me negatively emotionally in anyway i’m still laughing and smiling and i’m upbeat that i’m going to beat this hopefully. I know I sound a little… I dunno… but I know i’ve only had this for a week and i can’t really bear it I can’t imagine what it must be like for years. :frowning:

Anyway thanks for reading guys.

My Story and Recovery
#2

Just be ready for a possible long journey. I took it for less than a week and my life has been turned upside down.

#3

Link,
it is very early for you and your chances are high that you recover naturally. Don’t panic and stay strong.

#4

Keepup is right. And it seems your mind-penis connection is still there, albeit weak.

Try to let your body recover and stay calm until then. Good luck.

#5

Thanks guys :), I’m staying strong, my attitude at the moment, whilst yes I’m scared, it’s almost as if nothings happened so I’m staying positive. I’m taking Alpa Lipoic Acid to now, not sure if this will help at all. Felt a pressure in my lower back today, but no pain, sometimes I feel like I need to pee but I know I don’t, feel like I’ve been holding it in for a while but I know I haven’t. Was thinking about trying the Broccoli treatment, what do you guys think?

#6

You can try broccoli treatment. It has not helped for me but others had some improvements.
When you recover please tell us. It is important to people here and gives them hope.
Thanks and good luck.

#7

Take 50mg Zinc each day immediately.

zinc picolinate

#8

My multivitamin has 15mg of Zinc in it, I also have a Calcium, Magnesium & Zinc supplement that contains 55% which i’ve stopped taking for now, should i start that or get some Zinc Picolinate like you suggested?

Have to say I woke up this morning and gelt 100% almost, most of the day i’ve felt really good, had a nap in the afternoon woke up with an erection that just wouldn’t go down so I take that as a good sign :), keeping my fingers crossed anyway.

#9

Excellent

Yeah take Zinc picolinate. If you’re feeling better already you could take 50mg mon-friday and take sat and sunday off.

Keep away from alcohol for a while, avoid excessive masturbation and strenuous exercise or stress. Let your body heal naturally - give yourself the best chance possible, you are currently in a delicate position, respect your health.

Good luck :slight_smile:

#10

Again thank you :), my usual place i get my supplements from only has 25mg Zinc Picolinate, would this be adequate as opposed to 50mg do you think?.

I tested and watched a bit of some porn earlier and i got an erection easily and fully i think and i felt “turned on”, I couldn’t do this about a week or so ago, still keeping my fingers crossssed.

#11

Why not just take two 25mg tablets then?

Those are good signs, heed my advice and i think you’ll go far :slight_smile:

#12

Haha duhhhh of course, i’m an idiot :p.

Anyway they didn’t have any in store today so i’ve just ordered some from the website. As for today, felt great, i feel almost 100% actually, any random thought about sex i had today resulted in arousal and a slight erection, and just now got an erection to, numbness in the area has fully gone, leg’s not achey or numb :D. The only thing seemingly not right about today, which again has been going on for the past couple days is my lower back, i thought maybe my Liver or Kidneys or something, but when i’m sat down it feels fine it’s only when im standing up, or more specifically in work does it feel uncomfortable, maybe because i’m bending over to pick up stock a lot?.

Anyway extremely positive signs so far :).

#13

Well it’s been around 3 weeks and i’m very relieved to say that i seem to be at 100% :D, my body has healed rather quickly, if anyone’s interested here’s what supplement’s I was taking as well as cutting out most sugar and other junk

Up at 5am for work and take L-Arginine
Around 8am take Cod Liver Oil Capsules with Evening Primrose Oil, Gamma-Linolic Acid and Cis-Linolic Acid
Around 10am take Multivitamin
Around 1pm take Alpha Lipoic Acid

I’m uncertain as to whether these helped me or not but thought i’d share. I’m going to add Zinc Picolinate on Monday when I get it, just in general anyway for sexual health benefits. Hopefully i won’t see a recurrence of the effects.

Thanks to all that helped me :slight_smile:

#14

Congrats on your normal recovery off the drug, hopefully it continues as claimed by the manufacturer. This is the usual timeframe that things should resolve in.

#15

Yeah that’s true, but I was fine after getting off the drug for about 2 weeks before i had the “crash” then the symptoms i’ve listed above appeared and it’s taken another 2/3 weeks to get to where i am now, so i’m not sure if that’s how it’s supposed to be haha.

#16

Link,
I am very happy for you. It is great to hear such stories. Now you can go on with your life.
I still don’t understand why I am not improving at all. I am suffering for manny many years.

#17

I am a little hesitant as you are using many supplements.SO I am not sure about your body’s natural response. I think you would laugh best if you continue to improve for 3 -5 months.
Dont take me negative I am just expressing my reservations.

stay happy and strong.

#18

So, October 9th, last time I posted.

I’ve been 100% pre fin since then more or less, if you’ve read I crashed about 2 weeks after getting off fin, it was horrible, numbness of legs, loss of sex drive, ED etc you know the drill. It took me around a month but i fully recovered, i was taking the supps mentioned about. After what spstriken said about it just possibly being the supps I took his advice and havent really bothered with them for a couple months and im still 100% fine so I think it’s safe to say im completely recovered.

Honestly i consider myself very lucky and am going to embrace baldness with open arms because i’d rather do that then go through another minute of that crap.

I send a prayer for all you guys, I hope some day you will feel like your old selves.

Would like to say Merry Christmas to all and hope for a great New Year

#19

So again i’m back… over the past couple of weeks I seem to have crashed again lol… the sympsoms are nowhere near as much as before or as much severity. But the slight numbness in thigh area, shrinking of flaccid penis and scrotum have appeared again, poo pellets to. Other than that I can get aroused, nothing wrong with my muscles etc. I was fully recovered and I can’t believe this has happened again :frowning:

#20

so are you taking anything like Vitamin D or Larginine ?