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Where are you from (country)? ireland
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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 – propecia side effects
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What is your current age, height, weight? 34, 6ft 2, 210 lbs
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Running, swimming, circuits/body weight resistance
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Healthy varied with plenty of fruit and veg
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 14 months
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 33
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 34
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold turkey
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? propecia
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25mg/day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? Mental side effects manifested gradually but now in retrospect and considering this with a clear perspective these side effects became serious after 5 months.
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What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] 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
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] Depression / Melancholy
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[x] 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
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
Insomnia
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Following suspicion that i may have adrenal fatigue and possibly hypothyroid i eliminated caffeine and processed sugars from my diet and took B complex and vitamin D supplement. Currently awaiting blood test results.
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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)? None available.
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
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Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
In 2009 i had a consultation with a hair transplant surgeon. He advised me that i was not suitable for a hair transplant as i did not have sufficient donor hair. He then told me that he could prescribe me a drug called finasteride which was originally developed for treating enlarged prostate and prostate cancer. I queried him on the side effects and he explained the effects as rash, ED, loss of libido etc. At this time depression was not acknowledged as a side effect. I asked him how the side effects were determined and he explained about the placebo and double blind testing etc. I told him that i had very good health and looked after my health. I have never taken anything other than an occasional antibiotic, never used any recreational drugs and drink very infrequently. He assured me that he had prescribed this drug to many and there were no problems. He also said that if i noticed any side effects i should stop immediately and all would be ok.
I went away and after some debate over several days i decided to try finasteride, unfortunately i took this surgeon at his word and did not check the side effects question any further.
The side effects i experienced were predominantly mental. Before i started using the drug i never had any psychological or physiological ill health. I had a happy family life, professional working life and i was a reliable, dependable person who loved living.
I now know in retrospect and from piecing things together over the months of finasteride use that the side effects crept up on me slowly and after five months i was experiencing apathy and a loss of emotions. The period of 5 months corresponds with a scientific research paper i have read on this forum which stated that mental side effects took between 9 and 20 weeks to manifest during the study.
I became paranoid in my regard for many people including loved ones. i treated my wife very badly. I began focusing on and magnifying out of all proportion negative memories and did not seem capable of recalling positive memories. Negative incidents that had happened years before which i never thought about were recalled and i became vengeful but in a cold resigned manner. I went from being someone with an appreciation for life to a person who could not find joy or meaning to life any longer. I behaved and did things that i would not have ever considered before using finasteride. I read on this forum about a woman who’s husband, a non-swimmer, jumped from a cruise ship following a minor argument with his wife. This lady stated that her husband was not under stress and had a happy, positive life and that finasteride had affected his mental health. My own behaviour was like that of a person with bipolar or manic-depression but mostly in a manic state. I had no fear for the consequences of my actions and was disinhibited. During all this i could not see outside of the mental condition i was in. Its like the term that psychiatrists use, “Perception is reality” and my warped, crazy perception was my reality. I did not recognise what was going on.
After nearly 12 months of use i was travelling and did not take the drug for approximately 7 days. I then started to feel that something was wrong and started to question the way i was behaving and things i had done. This was brief and i went back on the drug. The feeling or sense of something being wrong quickly subsided. After almost another 2 months i had a cold and cough which required an antibiotic. I decided that it was best not to mix the finasteride and antibiotics so for over ten days i stopped using finasteride. It was during this time that this finasteride induced cloud lifted and i could now with a clearer mind see with horror and regret my actions and behaviour over the previous months. I could not reconcile that i had behaved the way i had and thought the way i did. I was now looking at everything through the eyes and mind of the real me but could not understand what had happened to me. I was suicidal with despair and regret and went to a psychiatrist. After more than 2 weeks of soul searching and questioning the only thing i could identify that had changed was my use of finasteride. I then googled it and was terrified and saddened at what i saw. At this point i had been back on the drug for a few days not realising what was going on. I then stopped.
About seven weeks after i ceased use of finasteride i had insomnia and symptoms of adrenal fatigue or hypothyroidism. I am not sure if this is directly connected to the finasteride because i was so upset for weeks that i may have stressed my adrenal glands to the extreme. These symptoms have improved but not completely resolved.
While on finasteride i had no dreams. These returned shortly after i stopped using the drug. Also while taking it i had involuntary muscle twitching in my right shoulder/upper arm. After some months i had language problems where i could not find words and struggled to complete sentences. This mostly occurred when at meetings where i would be involved in discussion of technical and management issues. Again it crept up on me and i did not fully appreciate what was happening until i stopped taking the drug.
Following some investigation i have now established that there is a history of depression and schizophrenia on one side of my family. When i spoke to my own GP he was horrified that i was prescribed for cosmetic reasons a drug which can cause depression without any reference to or screening of my psychological health or history.
I would be very grateful to get a response from anyone who experienced similar side effects to myself. I would like to know did your personality change ? Did you do things, behave completely out of character ? The change in me was very pronounced when i stopped using finasteride. The apathy and paranoia lifted and i could see life again the way i would have normally seen it, but unfortunately i was left with the memory of many crazy things i had done.
Also to any wives, fiancées, girlfriends of finasteride users if your partner is behaving coldy towards you or has abruptly ended the relationship, i can tell you if you can get him to stop taking the drug for two weeks he will begin to experience emotions again and see you and life with his own eyes and not through a finasteride induced fog. I am very lucky to have a wife who despite the way i behaved while on finasteride is looking after me and loves me.
I never thought a prescription drug could change my personality the way Finasteride did.