Major depression

Symptoms Neurological
#1

:imp: ,
Well at first i became depressed and didnt care about stuff that i usually do , and then came the panic attacks which developed to be a sort of permanent anxiety , i have been off work for over a month . everybody thinks im crazy but i know im not
a Major brain fog - i had a hard time even talking without stuttering
which is now improved - i recently just recieved one of my features back: i can think .
now i have some sort of tierdness
have i mentioned that i need glasses now ? (not that it would solve the rest of my fucked up foggy vision)
and im itching like a crazy bitch,difficulty urinating .
How fun - and im not talking about my loss of sexual interest because right now that is not what is concerning me …i hope i dont go crazy permanently , cuz i havent been out of the house for a month
.
Merck is evil
.

i guess the anxiety has to do with Extra testosterone going Progesterone not turning into DHP(5ar block also P2DHP) , having a monthly supply of 0% allopregnanolone which made me a loco.

How fun.

has anybody made a Synacthen test ? if so what were the result im going to have an FSH LH Testosterone Cortisol Check in 2 days …

has anybody experienced this 'ruin of life, thing also ?

:unamused:

oh and all of this from only 25 propecia pills each one everyday
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#2

I’ve been off Propecia for about 1.5 years now. The problem: I took it for six. Like you, I don’t care as much about the adverse sexual side-effects; I won’t until my thinking is straight. I have severe anxiety that hits me hard whenever I experience even a slightly stressful situation (ie. whenever I don’t feel 100% comfortable, then I get anxious and brain fogged). I don’t really know if things have improved. Some days it feels like they have, and then the next day it can feel like nothing’s changed. The foggy head has destroyed my life. I worked all last year through the ordeal and it was hell. As a result I’ve taken the last 6 months off to sit around and try to recover.

I’ve noticed that alcohold and caffeine affect me really badly. If I know I need to have my head as clear as possible, I stay away from them. I’ve also been using St. John’s Wort to deal with the depression and raise my dopamine levels. I do think it has helped. I noticed some good effects after about 10 days. I also take gingko biloba to increase blood flow.

#3

Had Cbc’s and stuff

?
The only thing i take is Gaba Pills

this is B A D
…
has anybody here got rid of the mental side effects at all ? if so what was the duration and how long have you been taking propecia …

#4

it’s been almost 1 year since i’ve quit. been taking it for about 6-7 months if i remember…

my thinking has gotten much better. i basically avoided stress as much as possible. took l-theanine, gaba pills, took anything that basically creates “balance” in your body. ie. ginseng.

recently I’ve been eating honey. apparantly its VERY helpful for stress and healing nerves…

There is hope. I thought I was hopeless for quite sometime and it REALLY sucked. Now I am just dealing with a prostate problem.

Hang tight! I basically avoided people for 6 months. Although it sucked, I tried to minimize any stress on my body.

#5

I had the same crap and with time it seemed to taper. I tried so many different approaches and nothing worked, it seemed to make it worse.
Caffeine, sugar and alcohol made me feel even worse. Ive laid off most supplements, I have a feeling it stresses the system out more.
Mild exercise seems to help, a better diet too.

#6

These problems are due to either lowereed dihydrotestosterone and/or elevated SHBG and resulting lowered free testosterone.

They can be treated, please view my post in the general forum.

Anxiety, depression and memory problems often accompany hypogonadism.

#7

Hi all!
I used propecia for about 1 year and have been off them for 10 months now. Cant remember if it was when i stopped taking them or just before (~1 year) but at that time I started to get very weird symptoms. At first chest pains and just felling generally weird. After that I got some weird form of blurry vision (same as you Mk?)and felt that it was hard to accomplish logical thoughts. I thought that it was connected to the vision and went to the “eye-doctor”. They said I had perfect vision and could not explain the blurryness.

Now, I have no chest pains but the vision problem and the reduced mental capacity remains. I work as an engineer and I was relatively high performing in mental capacity (compared to the current mental capacity) prior to the propecia treatment. To be honest; this shit is seriously fucking me up! After one year, it don’t seem to get any better. Is there any hope?Additionally, I have been feeling depressed lately, but this may originate from the fact that I feel like a retard.

Anyway, I felt so alone with these symptoms, I thought I was crazy and in all the misery i am experiencing I am very glad to have found this forum.

Is there any way back to normal? no coffey, better diet, exercise, reduce stress, this i will try! Is there any other treatments? Or is this the final punishment for the vain desire to get some hair on my head?

#8

Game Over, give yourself more time, lay off the sweets and stimulants (caffeine), depressants (alcohol)…

Try taking a good multivitamin, eat clean, get lots of sleep… stay away from products that lower DHT (Saw Palmetto, Nettles, Pygmeum – sometimes found in multivitamins) or Testosterone (ie, Licorice). Cardio and weight lifting will also help.

Also be sure to read the following FAQ:
propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7

Make sure you get the bloodtests done that are listed in the FAQ, they should give you a starting point to help figure out what the issues may be, hormonally speaking.

For me, things started clearing up after month 11/12… I still have some brain fog but it is MUCH better than last October when I felt pretty much drunk and was tripping and slurring my speech constantly, couldnt remember anything and had a very hard time processing information.

Hang in there!

#9

I stopped taking propecia in March 2006, which is about 18 months ago after taking it for about 2.5 years. The mental sides (depression, brain fog, etc.) have been fluctuating since I stopped. Sometimes I feel normal. Other times I feel completely out-of-it. Recently I’ve been feeling especially depressed and stressed. I feel nervous around people. I don’t speak as clearly. My desire to learn new concepts has decreased.

Josh

#10

When did you first experience your mental side effects? Before quitting or after quitting and if after quitting, how long after you quit? And how long did they/have they persisted for?

My mental side effects did not emerge until about 2 or 3 months after quitting. One day I got panicked on a flight for no good reason and could not calm down. The next week I got dizzy and irritable and then had my first full blown panic attack. From there things got worse for a while then better then worse, and on like that up to the present day. Some things have gotten a bit less severe and I do have some days where I feel a bit more calm and normal. I’m usually not too bad until I leave the house then I get dizzy, light-headed, and anxious. When I had a job I used to come home shaking and in pain due to the stress of everyday work. I don’t think I am ready to get a job yet though. I’ve had these problems for 7 months now and the only things that have helped reduce their severity have been exercise and sleep.

#11

To all I would suggest l-tyrosine. This has worked WONDERS for my brainfog and my stress - which was pretty severe and detrimental to my job. I read that it is helpful with stress, mental clarity, depression and which those over-weight. I’ve also read that it can stimulate HGH.

I don’t know, but I DO know that I am now confident with work. I’m sometimes 100%, sometimes a little less. and long as I take 1000 mg in the morning and 1000 mg with lunch, sometimes 500 mg before lunch and 500 with lunch. Dosages could vary so I would start off with 500 mg in the morning and 500 with lunch, and maybe a supper dose also if you need to be alert. Monitor your b/p if you have high blood pressure. Too much can cause irritability.

This information that I got from this site has saved my life and I hope this will help others.

#12

I took Propecia a few years ago for a few months. It had no effect on my hair at all. However, I had major side effects. It made me feel depressed as soon as I started on it; sometimes depressed in a hostile way. I stuck with it, thinking the symptoms would disappear with time. Then I developed a black depression like nothing I had ever experienced before. The only way I could describe it was a “bottom-of-the-barrel, no way out” depression. I also started experiencing joint pain for the first time in my life, in all of my joints, especially my fingers and elbows. I stopped taking it because the depression scared me, and within a week, the depression disappeared! The joint pain didn’t. I started taking it again to see if the depression was linked to it, and wham, it came back like a sledgehammer immediately. I stopped it again permanently, and flushed the remaining pills. $200 worth. During this time I made the mistake of going to a doctor to see if this drug’s testosterone-affecting ability could be related to depression. He said (and I kid you not) “hmm, sounds like you’re depressed. Have you considered counseling”? It was the only time I angrily told a doctor “you don’t know what you’re talking about!” which took him aback. He had completely ignored the symptoms I told him about, including the joint pain. Doctors are unwilling and unable to say “I don’t know”; they don’t know enough about this drug to give advice, and are unwilling to say so.
The joint pain persisted another three months even with arthritis medication, but thankfully, slowly started to go away. I was 34, by the way. I still have occasional joint pain, but am hoping it is not related to this drug.
Apparently testosterone plays a part in joint protection like estrogen does in women. How does this company get away with continuing to sell this drug? I’m sorry to hear of other people’s experience with depression, but I’m glad I have validation that it was not my imagination, as doctors love to say.

#13

The drug has been linked to depression.

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40

My opinion: likely due to a combination of factors, ie rising Estrogen levels (due to upregulation of Testosterone while on Fin… extra Testosterone which normally would convert into DHT but can’t since it’s blocked by Finasteride, so it aromatizes into Estradiol), Finasteride interfering with 5AR-derived neurotransmitters such as Allopregnanolone, which acts on GABA-A receptors in the brain… and of course, deprivation of the potent androgen, DHT.

Post-Fin depression: could be due to low Testosterone levels/elevated Estrogens.