Looking for some helpfull advice about quitting Finasteride

General Discussion
#1

Hello everyone,

I’m a 29 year old guy from Holland and have been using Finasteride for roughly 3 years now (1.25mg per day).

It worked wonders for me. Regained a lot of my hair and it got me out of a depressed state when I initially started losing my hair and got obsessed about it (I’m prone to being obsessed about things).

I had most of the common side-effects when I started with Finasteride (ED, less/watery ejaculation, my balls were hurting etc). Most of these sides faded after a while. After about 6 months I really started to notice great hair results and I couldn’t be happier. I was feeling great! Both sexually and mentally.

The only things I noticed that I basicly never had morningwood any longer, and my overall libido was a bit lower then I was used to. But bare in mind that I never really had a huge libido anyway.

Sadly, since february, shit started to look VERY bad for me.

I went to a party and used XTC (used XTC on the regular). After this night I’v had severe Depersonalization/Derealization till today.

Now, the reason why I’m looking for advice is that, both me and my psychatrist were thinking that using Propecia MIGHT be the cause of hightened anxiety and that using XTC just gave the final push. Looking back at myself prio to taking finasteride, I was a lot more relaxed. And I gradually started to become more anxious (Atleast, that’s what I think). It could have also just been because of graduating, getting a new job etc.

I actually quit Finasteride for about 3 weeks a couple of months ago because I was on holiday and I forgot to get a new prescription. During these 3 weeks I actually felt a relief from depersonalization (But it could also just be because I was on holiday). When I came back from Holiday I started with Finasteride again because I was scared to lose my regained hair.

At this very moment I’m thinking of quitting Finasteride for a longer period of time!! Just to see if my anxiety will lower and maybe even cure my Depersonalization. I have already stopped taking Finasteride cold-turkey for about a week now. BUTTT, now I’m reading all these horror-stories about PFS, and it makes me wonder if this is the right decision to quit at this moment in my life (with the depersonalization being VERY bad already even on Finasteride). I’m not sure if I will even make it with added PFS, i’m already feeling suicidial sometimes with the problems I’m having now. I never had (bad) mental issues during the most part of my Finasteride use.

What do you guys suggest? Should I continue Finasteride, quit or maybe even taper down? Because the anxiety/dp I’m having now COULD be related to FInasteride. But, then again, the problems that i’m having now could also just be related to my XTC use, and it has NOTHING to do with FInasteride.

Thanks for taking the time to read my story, and hopefully you guys could give me some advice.

If you have any further questions, go ahead.

#2

mind telling us what XTC is instead of abbreviating it for the first time you use the term…?

#3

XTC = ecstasy or MDMA

#4

I’m sorry. It was mdma, yes. I’m already a very active user on the depersonalization forums, but they hardly know anything about Finasteride.

Most people get DPDR from recreational drugs.

I’m not sure if I should stop with Finasteride, but I’v been reading that many people struggle with anxiety issues while ON finasteride. And because in most cases DPDR is a direct result from anxiety i’m thinking of quitting Finasteride.

But if Finasteride is not causing my dpdr then it would be a shame to stop it. I have a chance of getting PFS and on top of that I will lose my hair. This is such a dilemma.

Maybe a very slow taper? Would that even matter? As I’v already stated before, I did quit Finasteride for 3 weeks and didnt notice anything really. Would that mean I’m not prone to PFS, or is 3 weeks too soon to tell?

#5

It takes 1+ months for finasteride to even “leave your system”. It binds permanently to the 5AR enzymes, so your body actually has to produce new enzymes that are not bound by finasteride. Most people on this forum would recommend you quit, especially if you are having these side effects, but everyone is free to choose for themselves. The suicidal ideations and depersonalization can absolutely be related to finasteride use. I personally had both of these problems while taking the pill. Both side effects have disappeared to a significant extent in the ten years since I stopped taking finasteride. Because of the way the pill operates, I don’t believe there is any benefit to tapering, but I could be wrong. In my case I quit cold turkey. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made in life. Best of luck.

#6

I thought it would be Exstasy
Don’t think that would have any real long lasting side effects ive taken it myself a long time ago.
Finasteride is just one of many drugs ive tried to be honest the stupid thing about it is that’s its the one that is supposed to be SAFE yet it’s the one that did the MOST DAMAGE ever imaginable.
I can say without a shadow of doubt I wish that I had never even heard of the Drug or it’s existence then I wouldn’t have ever taken it.
Finasteride is a drug that needs further research I will be so releived for myself and for others when the medical world finally realizes the damage it does to people then and then only will they stop pushing it.

#7

My intent is not to worry you by saying this, but you need to know about a common theme on this forum where men who quit finasteride only to start and then quit again have a much higher probability of experiencing PFS symptoms. Do your body a favor and stop consuming asap. The after effects will only be worse the more time you spend on the drug.

#8

Thanks for all the responses! I will continue to stop Finasteride and see where it leads me in 1+ month. I will also discuss it with my psychiatrist, but she just seems unaware of PFS, just as all of the other doctors i’v seen so far. They strongly believe my current problems are not related to Finasteride ugh… I agree with Baz44uk, that this drug needs a lot more research!

I’ll update you guys in a month from now.

#9

Do they think it’s related to the MDMA? Do you have any other physical symptoms/mental symptoms or only DPDR?

#10

Yes it’s definitely a chinese finger trap situation, you take a drug to try fix a problem which actually makes your problem worse or creates new ones, you then try fix those issues with more drugs that continue to make you worse or have no effect at all, people then just think your mad or have health anxiety.

it’s a scary thing to think about and hopefully in the near future we can break the viscous circle. Imagine a day we can just take something and once stopped everything else goes away like a “normal” person. :blush:

#11

Well, that’s the problem when it comes to DPDR. It could be trauma, drugs, medication, withdrawel, stress or anxiety related…

For me it started with derealization after that night of MDMA abuse (I did mdma many times before and never had problems tbh).

Now derealization faded and just left me with intens DP and social anxiety which also induced depression.

I can’t really imagine that Finasteride is the main cause of my Depersonalization because I already had minor episodes of DP prior to taking Finasteride. Maybe its just a long term comedown from Ecstacy which is a real thing (look it up). During the most part of my Finasteride use, I never had these problems I’m experiencing now.

But because I’m reading so many stories about people experiencing Anxiety when taking Finasteride, I would like to quit Finasteride. Because ANY anxiety increases my DP directly.

#13

He brother. Sorry to hear your in the same kind of boat.

No I don’t really have other LTC’s besides dpdr (which is already a living nightmare). I remember having lagging images in my head initialy but they subsided. Maybe I’m also daydreaming a bit more and just a lot more anxiety in general (but I feel that my increased anxiety is a sympton from dp, because it scares me a lot).

I started getting panic-attacks since 2 months but thats because I started with anti-depressants. I had to quit AD because of the severe sides.

I had a lot of headaches BEFORE my dpdr kicked in, but not anymore. I changed my lifestyle (better sleep patterns etc) but this dp is so persistant.

#14

Oh man, sorry to hear that I had bad DR and now it’s just a crazy confused feeling, like my brain is on fire. I’m still DR’d but it’s really visual and sensory - less emotional. Is your DP strictly emotional? Or does it have a visual aspect to it?

#15

Damn, I know how you feel and what your going through. It’s a very very tiring struggle every day. Hang in there!! Try to keep doing everything you did prior to DR (Because I made the mistake to stop doing that all together, which made things worse)

My DR was initialy visual and sensory. Everything looked warped/2D but it was manageble. But now its just a mindpuzzle, feeling disconnected, mind body and behaviour feels distorted. It feels like I have no connection or relation to anything alive.

I can’t really imagine that this is because of Finasteride, since I never had these problems before ugh… Might be a combination of mdma/finasteride though.