Mental Effects AFTER Quitting Propecia?

Symptoms Neurological
#1

Started on 0.5mg Propecia per day in late 2007, after 6 months reduced to 0.25mg for 1 month, then quit (7 months total). As of this posting it has been about 2 weeks since I quit.

Sexual side effects (see checked boxes above) started appearing shortly after I started on Propecia, but I tolerated them because I didn’t think they would be permanent; then read some scary stories online and quit.

A month or so before I quit Propecia, I started having a lot of work-related stress. The stress at work continues to this day, but somehow I feel that going off Propecia threw me in a worse mental state. I read a lot of postings of people experiencing depression / anxiety / lack of motivation during Propecia, but I seem to be experiencing all these things (and worse) more intensely immediately after going off Propecia. Prior to the onset of the work related stress I had been on Propecia for a period of 4-5 months, and I didn’t notice anything off mentally.

Now, everything overwhelms me. I am generally unmotivated. I feel very depressed. I feel like there is no way out. Plus the work stress is still there. I just started seeing a counselor. I don’t know what is next.

I just do not know whether it is going off Propecia that’s causing all this or whether I am ill-equipped to handle the stress that I am currently in and that I should quit my job. Suffice it so say, I don’t recall ever feeling this hopeless before. I have always had a “fight” instinct that somehow no longer seems to be there.

#2

Mate, tell me about it. I totally know where your coming from but i experienced these side effects while I was on. I have suffered from panic attacks from an early age but Finasteride definatly made them occor more frequently. It was like being on a rollercoster ride. one minute I was aggressive and like a pittball off the chain then next minute I was crying. I have come off the drug and my moods have changed back to normal (I was only taking for a month).
As far as depression the tablets gave me an initial confidence boost but when the light went out at night all my insecuritys crept in.
Advice : im not a GP but your body needs to restore its natrual ballance (common sence) so just carry on wat your doing for now, keep the job!..maybe do some weights to boost testosterone levels so you have more testosterone to convert to DHT therfore maybe stimulating the ballance to come quicker?
I may be wrong but thats how I would go about it

#3

Sprinter, I know exactly how you feel. About 6 weeks after I quit Propecia I suddenly hit a wall of anxiety and depression. I had to quit my job because of it. My advice is to bring this study to your doctor and talk to him/her about it.

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewt … =7684#7684

I personally would advise against taking any anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax or any anti-depressants but in the end the decision is yours to make. The only things I found that helped me feel better were diet, running, and GABA supplements. You don’t need a prescription for the supplements and they aren’t addictive. Besides that absolutely stay away from caffeine and chocolate and focus on eating right and doing some exercise like running. It took about 6 months for the anxiety and depression to clear but then I stupidly took propecia again and relapsed back into hell.

Anyway, don’t give up hope!