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)? UK
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?
40,5.9,84
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride and Saw Palmetto, Sertraline for anti depressant and olanzapine for anti psychotic drug
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Finasteride 1 mg and Sertraline 150 mg and Olanzapine 10mg
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss and anti depressant
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
Finasteride 4 months , 3 times in a week.
Saw palmetto just only for a week
After PFS symptoms, started taking olanzapine for a year now and Sertraline 4 months now.
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
39, Started taking Jul’20
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
39, Fin taken only 4 months, Quitted in Nov’20.
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
Within 2 months of taking Fin i notice the mental health and mood disorder side effects.
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Experiencing Severe mood disorders, too much negative thoughts, emotions and depressive feeling.
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
[ ] 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 or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[x ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[x ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ x] Slurring of Speech
[ x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ x] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[x ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Olanzapine has stopped Brain fog and insomnia problems.
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)?
None
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.
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 [ ]
Hello Guys,
I started taking Finasteride back Jul’20 after having Hair loss transplant. Initially i was taking 1mg per day and then i slowly moved to 3 times per week. I started feeling very low in my mood and experienced slow psychological changes. I doubted it may due to Fin and then i stopped taking Fin. In total I would have taken this poison like 25 mg on a 4 month timeframe on/off. I paused for a little while and then i moved to take Saw Palmetto. During Saw palmetto dosage still i felt my mood slowly getting worse and then i stopped taking Saw Palmetto. Again I would have taken this Saw only for a week.
Then on the night of Dec 11’2021 i encountered this mental Crash, It all Started with brain fog and insomnia with Vivid dreams mainly derealization, thoughts that raised doesn’t seem to have a connect with reality of my past life and then every night i hardly slept 3/4 hours with frequent wake ups and thinking of the derealization thoughts with total disconnect with my memory.
I had memory issue recalling, Cognitive issue, Lack of focus and concentration that impacted my work/personal life. i had to socially isolate myself keep thinking of my past life and then my wife realized something is seriously wrong with my mental health.
We immediately seeked Psychiatrics doctor help and i have been so ignorant and never thought it is because of finasteride at that time. i mentioned to doctor explaining only mental issue symptoms. He diagnosed saying that you had a sudden low level dopamine and prescribed Olanzapine an antipsychotic drug with 2.5 mg low dose. After taking this medication i felt great improvement with both my brain fog and Insomnia disappeared.
But mood doesn’t seem to improve nor my focus and concentration. After couple of months i also experienced depression and OCD symptoms with worst Weird thoughts which i never had in my past or before taking Fin. During frequent visit with Psychiatric he later diagnosed saying you also have depression and prescribed an SSRI drug Sertraline 150 mg .
This anti-depressant sertraline and olanzapine seems to show good improvement in my mood and i felt good focus and concentration in my work. It’s been a year now i’m in this medication.
I only came across recently about various PFS studies/blog and started looking into forums absolutely gutted thinking i was so ignorant, how i could missed out looking into the finasteride side effects at the first place. I have been so stupid taking this medication and feel i totally destroyed my own mental health.
I’m planning to visit my psychiatrist this week and going to making him aware about this PFS issue and possibly thinking of asking to prescribe allopregnanolone and Pregnenolane upregulation medication.
Could someone plz advice below clarification.
- Someone in this forum was saying that SSRI anti-depressant makes PFS worse. Is this true should i stop taking this SSRI drug now.
- Can i seek hormone level blood test to identify imbalance on the hormone levels.
- Do anyone think and did an MRI brain scan that would possible identify extensive neuro damage that this Fin drug would have caused.
With incorrect diagnosis and wrong medication i don’t want to make myself spoil again with PFS symptoms. Thankfully i do not have any physiological issues so far.
Guys, i need your desperate help to seek your advice to guide what would be better to do next. Please assist.
Very grateful for your response
Joe