I had severe anhedonia for a lot of the first 6.5 months. It was the most difficult symptom to live with, amongst many devastating symptoms. It has improved a lot for me since then. Give this a read
I know it’s so difficult when you’re feeling like that but please try to keep it in mind that things can improve, particularly in the first 6 - 12 months.
But im worries about crashing. Does it have any influence on possiblity to recover?
I crashed. I think most patients here experience the crash.
What in your opinion is the best way to improve the recovery period? Do you still have anhedonia? I cant laugh or smile. I can only cry.
the first 10-12 months for me were bad when it came to the brain fog, but then i recovered to about 70-80%.
still not as sharp as before but i can function and get work done. having grit makes up for a lot of the decreased ability
let yourself heal and dont try anything crazy/risky
There isn’t much you can proactively do, really. It’s more important to avoid trying to self-medicate during this period, so many patients report temporary, and sometimes persistent, worsening from trying different substances. I don’t really recommend self-medication beyond the 12 month period either.
Best things I can recommend at the moment is to have people around you who care for you. Try to limit externally stressful situations as much as possible. Be kind to yourself, don’t self-blame.
If you want to inform your doctor of what has happened to you, you could give them this PFS resource pack https://www.propeciahelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/PFS-Letter-to-Health-Care-Providers.pdf
I was in that state. Like I said, it took 6.5 months for a significant improvement.
Thank you but i dont know if any doctor would want to read this especially in english. Im from Poland and medical care is -10/10 here tbh. If i dont get better in a year i will be a maniac and will quit for sure.
Don’t worry too much about the doctors, it’s a common experience here for PFS patients to be met with disbelief or bafflement by their medical care givers. Please stay strong.
Yeah im trying but waking up with this condition is making me closer and closer to the other side.
Sadly, as @Tzinkman says this is a familiar story. It does get better for many people. His advice to you is good advice. Now is not the time to make statements, this time will be tough, but you can get through it.
I can but living all my life with this. No thanks.
Yeah, like I said, now is not the time for grand statements.
Please take heed of the previous posts in this thread. The state you’re in now, many members here have been there. It feels completely hopeless. It was so bad for me I didn’t believe I could improve. But I did. You’re being incredibly brave at the moment; keep being so and remember our advice here when things seem intolerable.
Yep. Just what I wanted to post.
Currently sleep good, laugh at things, have hobbies again… never ever thought I’d get there (Greek especially will remember how bad I was at first) but now I’m way way better than I was at the start. I’m sure you’ll get there too.
Yeah but ultimately i want to be better not get better in coping… Do we have any chance? Baylor pls.
When I speak of improvement I’m referring to real, appreciable difference in the bearability of the situation, an improvement in your symptoms, not how you cope with them.
So what are your improvements? And how long did it take to see them? I know everybody is different but just want to know.
As I stated, at around 6.5 months in I experienced significant improvement. Read my member story thread, have a look at the posts I made when I first joined this site, you’ll see how severe my situation was.
For me definitely mental improvement. Initially I was just worried about my dick so didn’t realise just how mentally messed up I was post-crash until I started feeling improvements in this area.
I’m three months off and mentally I have recovered. My emotions, zest for life, “mental libido” are all back. I feel like myself again and my depression and anxiety have went right down too.
I still suffer from the physical/sexual side effects though, I have mild ED which fluctuates somewhat (I can still function but nowhere near as well as before) and a lowered “physical libido”. I have had some improvements in this area though, mainly in terms of sensitivity and sperm quality.
What is a finasteride crash? Have I experienced it? This is my second time trying finasteride. First time I had brutal anxiety but my psychiatrist and therapist always told me it was because of a trauma, because side effects coincided with a death of a parent and mobbing at work. I stopped finasteride because I thought it could contribute to my anxiety.
I restarted finasteride because I was feeling totally fine and happy. I started experiencing a little anxiety at first but then it came back with vengeance, brutal anxiety that makes me unable to function. Is this a crash? It has been like this for month and half and I just can’t cope. Can I recover if I recovered before? I have so many responsibilities and I just can’t do them right know I feel like my life is falling apart.