MAJOR mood swings during first few months

Symptoms
#1

Hey guys, I’m having side effects for almost 7 weeks after ending finasteride. I believe its pfs since I had only 4 doses of (1.25mg), so the poison should have left my body by now. Within these 7 weeks I feel like my symptoms have gotten worse. My palms have become wrinkly, I can’t workout/exercise without crashing, and high intolerance to many food items. My fatigue, inability to exercise and wrinkles have gotten worse. I also have alot of ED issues, however I’m not completely impotent (can get erection on porn).

But my main issue is mental side effects. I believe I don’t have brain fog yet, but I’m having significant mood swings throughout the day. This ranges from complete anxiety, difficulty concentrating, suicidal thoughts, anhedonia, etc. And then there are few times throughout the day where I feel somewhat better mentally. I feels like my body is trying to stabilize my hormones but it cant (most probably due to AR over expression). Within these 7 weeks the rate of mood swings has somewhat reduced, however most of the time I feel mentally bad, and having fewer moments of being ‘better’. Mood swings seem random aswell. Although get worse after eating carbs or working out.

I am extremely scared cause I am a uni student (thank god I’m on summer break atleast).
Has anyone had a similar experience in terms of the mood fluctuations? Does it get better or worse?

#2

No one knows how you will progress, but reducing unnecessary measures is always the right thing. For me, taking finasteride is the most wrong decision in life, and taking creatine after experiencing side effects is undoubtedly the second wrong decision, greatly exacerbating my mental side effects and not helping with sexual function
According to reports, most mental side effects are resolved within 10-18 months, so do not play with hormones until then
What you have experienced is likely just a fluctuation of neurosteroids. Don’t pay too much attention to AR theory. I think only a small number of people on this forum have caused irreversible damage

1 Like
#3

Thanks for some assurance at least. Have you gotten better since your second crash? Hmm I didn’t think about the neurosteroids fluctuations, that does make sense tho. But anyways gradually mentally getting worse.
Like sometimes I suddenly feel a surge of some chemical that was ‘missing’ and feel like I’m improving, but then my brain feels like there’s too much of that ‘chemical’ after sometime and my brain feels inflammation, so I thought I matched the AR overexpression theory.
But these ‘surges’ in chemicals have reduced, and I feel more depressed and suicidal with time.

#4

It’s definitely better, but the process is ups and downs, and the people here summarize it right, probably two steps forward, one step back, and the general trend goes up

#5

What’s your baseline now? Sometimes I feel like I can handle university, sometimes I don’t

#6

After my second crash, I experienced severe suicidal thoughts and muscle twitching and was forced to take the antidepressant agomelatine, which successfully brought me back to moderate depression. The emotional dullness didn’t change much, but I I can still feel certain emotions, my libido and erection are back 70 percent, and my muscle twitching has subsided a lot now, and I would consider myself making progress.
My grades were a mess but I still managed to pass, I had brain fog and lack of concentration but they were manageable, I think it’s helpful not to get too focused on this forum and put yourself into it and avoid being too Under great pressure, as a good friend of mine on the forum said, adjust your life plan for the next twelve to eighteen months, change your goals, and focus on recovery.

#7

Isn’t it a major red flag taking anti depressants while having PFS? What made u risk it? Thanks for the advice. I did see ur story and it seems that after your first crash ur symptoms improved somewhat after 1 and a half months right?.

#8

I have no other choice. The strong suicidal thoughts and muscle twitching caused by the second crash drove me crazy. Emotional delay is a controllable side effect, but suicidal thoughts are difficult. I avoided SSRI antidepressants
My symptoms improved a week after my first crash. I was careless and took a 10 day creatine course for the gym, but the situation got worse and worse. I didn’t connect, but after a month and a half, my condition improved significantly. I took creatine again and found that my libido and emotions had dropped to zero. I threw away that dog poop, but the progress was slow after that, Until my second crash caused by probiotics or rabeprazole

#9

Hmm, so you did see gradual improvements with time. That is great! Yeah I think its SSRIs that cause the biggest issues.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen gradual progress within these 2 months, only small recovery windows in the beginning that don’t come anymore.

#10

Focusing on your diet and exercise is crucial, even if it may make you worse at first. If you just feel bad after exercising, then I think you should stick to it. Many people report significant progress in the first year, and it’s not gradual. If you want to take supplements, I personally believe that ALCAR and low-dose vitamin D can be helpful

#11

Thanks for the tips man. But I’ve heard that some people are unfortunately intolerant to exercise. And shouldn’t push it. But yeah after a month I’ll restart working out.

I feel good while working out and after for about 2 hours, but then at night I get a small crash.

#12

Now it’s officially the 8 week post fin(4 mg).
The mood swings seem to have reduced quiet alot. But unfortunately my mental state is probably at a 3/10 most of the time. Finding it difficult to do simple stuff such as cooking, cleaning and laundry, but I’m forcing myself to do so. To mentally prepare myself when university begins.
Also playing video games has slightly helped take my mind off this, playing basketball helps at the moment but I think I would suffer more at night.

#13

Hey man thanks for posting your story. How are you now , did you start the university term okay.

#14

Hey man, unfortunately I’m not doing that well mentally. My mental state has stabilized tho, and somewhat better than month 2.
Yes, I’ve decided to continue my studies for this semester with a reduced work load, where I’d have to do only half my subjects.
And I guess I’m doing alright academically atm, mainly cause I’m putting most of my energy on passing.
Not sure about the future of my studies tho, since I don’t believe I can continue keep doing the reduced study load. So hopeful that things improve later on.

#15

Well done on your studies and I’m sure you will do well if you keep at it.

Have you identified with the mental sides whens best to manage them, I.e. worse after sleeping? After eating?

#16

Hopefully, I’ll be able to handle it, because I’m doing a STEM course.

Tbh I’m only about 1 month into uni, so still trying to find a way to manage symptoms. What I have noticed is I feel abit better after having a meal.