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)?
Brazil
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 search.
What is your current age, height, weight?
25, 1,73m 73kg
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.)?
1 mg/day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair Loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
4 weeks
Date when you started the drug?
september 2019
Date when you quit the drug?
october 2019
Age when you quit?
22
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’ve start noticing sides in the 3 week mark
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
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[x] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x] Suicidal Thoughts
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
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[x] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[x] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[x] Lowered body temperature
[x] Other (please explain)
Heart Pain
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
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 Will do a post in this section in the future.
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 would like to start by saying that my cognition and memory was affected and I still have the language barrier, I speak Portuguese, so maybe my text is a little messy and disorganized. I was a jiu jitsu athlete until I was 21, when I was studying engineering. I started taking the medicine at the end of 2019 and at first I noticed that I had a different reaction to the ones they usually have here on the site. It seemed to me that my receptors were hypersensitive, I had increased libido, burning sensations on the skin and on top of the scalp where I lost 80% of my hair, it was literally wiped out in just 4 weeks, I also had genital darkening. At the end of the first box I stopped the medication because the effects were unbearable, but the effects didn’t go away. Months after ceasing I started to have serious health problems and had to have 3 surgeries: removal of the appendix, circumcision due to the development of plasma cell balanitis (Zoon’s balanitis) and removal of a benign cyst on my lower eyelid next to the tear duct . I also had severe panic attacks and extreme anxiety at the time but I never linked it to the medication because I thought it was just the depression that the baldness caused me. So it went on for 2 years, massive hair loss daily, even on the sides (above the ears, at the temples), hair loss on the legs and on the eyebrows. At the end of this year the symptoms changed. I had testicular reduction in addition to an infection on the left side. The libido has gone along with the nocturnal erections and I am also having severe receding gums, stomach problems, eczema, muscle loss all over the body, even in the pelvic area. I’m desperate, I feel like my body is deteriorating like a 70 year old man. I have support from my mother but to see what this disease has done to me and her is devastating.
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance:
- Dosage:
- How often you took it:
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]