Mid 20s Male Suffering from PFS / Looking for Advice

Member Stories
#1

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)? United States.

How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Propecia Help

What is your current age, height, weight? 25, 5’11.5, 170

What specific drug did you use? Finasteride

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg everyday for eight days

What condition was being treated with the drug? Male Pattern Baldness

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 8 days

Date when you started the drug? May 24th, 2025

Date when you quit the drug? June 1st, 2025

Age when you quit? 25

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold turkey.

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? Three days.

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Brutal sexual side effects and slight loss of working memory

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
[ :heavy_check_mark: ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ :heavy_check_mark: ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ :heavy_check_mark: ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ :heavy_check_mark:] Watery Ejaculate
[ :heavy_check_mark: ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ :heavy_check_mark:] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ :heavy_check_mark: ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ :heavy_check_mark:] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ :heavy_check_mark: ] 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
[ ] Weight Gain
[ :heavy_check_mark: ] 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
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)
I previously suffered with chronic constipation before finasteride. I’m able to get partial erections from physical touch. I have genital numbing and the brain to groin disconnect, which both of those are by far the most brutal and psychologically distressing sexual side effects so far for me.

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? I’ve used hydroxyzine 10 MG for sleep, but it doesn’t seem to really help with only getting 2 to 4 hours of sleep I’m getting. I briefly used Wellbutrin 100 SR for two days, but that gave me insomnia and I think made my situation slightly worse.

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)? I had a hormonal board done at the beginning of this month and everything came back good unfortunately which was sort of expected.

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.

From May 24th, 2025 to June 1st, 2025 I took 1 MG generic oral finasteride for male pattern baldness. I noticed lowered morning erections and an inability to get erections naturally at night with imagination three days into use. My libido also felt the decreased as well. After I quit from eight days of use a side effects persisted. Around the week of July 4, I experienced a horrifying crash. This is when the genital numbing, mind to groin disconnect, additional loss of libido, decreased erections from physical touch from the opposite sex occurred. My morning erections and morning emissions are also weaker which may be contributed to the lack of sleep and increase anxiety this situation will never subside. On top of all this, I’ve been suffering from severe obsessive compulsive disorder, which this has not made any better. The crash also introduced the slightly worse working memory although this could be a byproduct of the brutal stress this brings upon. I’ve also been averaging 2 to 4 hours of sleep and waking up with brutal anxiety but I think this could also be attributed to the OCD regarding the situation and the psychological stress of losing my powerful sex drive at 25. Pre-finasteride I was getting six hours of sleep with intense anxiety due to hair loss but nothing like this. This disorder brings upon horrible thoughts of suicide that I can’t bring myself to act upon to escape this nightmare.

Any ideas on what I can do? My friends and family are aware of this situation and I’ve basically lost my girlfriend. I can’t even feel love anymore, whether that be sexual or not. One of the most painful things is I was aware of PFS but still decide to take this poison anyways. Not a day is gone by I wish I could reverse that, all for hair loss, which is painful.

Thanks for reading my story.

#2

Update 9/28/2025

Posting an update here and things really haven’t gotten better. The brain to groin disconnect and genital numbness has slightly gotten better, but honestly that’s the last thing on my mind. The anhedonia, quality of sleep, anxiety amplified by extreme obsessive compulsive disorder, and extreme suicidal ideation. I really don’t want to leave this world but the mental torture is unbearable. I would empty my entire net worth to get my old life back or a new one that contains a sense of well being.

I had forgot to mention in my last post that I developed anhedonia and insomnia back in the middle of August after only two pills of Wellbutrin. I regret that decision dearly. I’m also dealing with heartbreak which is insurmountable to cope with which wasn’t related to my PFS but other life circumstances out of my and her control.

Because I have nothing better to do other than ruminate on this horrible situation, I’ve been doing research on this. It’s found that individuals with OCD, GAD, and/or chronic stress have lowered ALLO levels. My hypothesis is that finasteride nuked my already low levels of ALLO which made me predisposed to this disease.

If by some miracle I could get Zuranolone the healthcare system could save my life and sense of well being.

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#3

it is not known how pfs sufferers would respond to Zuranolone. it can relieve some of your suffering or it can backfire spectacularly and make you suffer more than ever.

keep that in mind before taking anything new…

#4

I understand fully I could crash into oblivion taking it but the mental pain is horrible. Based on what I’ve noticed, it appears my androgen receptors atleast somewhat work so maybe finasteride sparred those.

#5

Update 10/04/2025

Sleep has seemingly returned to pre-Wellbutrin levels. I’m getting six hours of sleep which was even pre-PFS but the anhedonia makes it feel useless. I’ve started 100 MG Gabapentin in the evening and morning which seems to help with blunting the fight or flight anxiety. Will hopefully be starting estketamine soon as it’s covered under my health insurance. Hoping it can help with anhedonia which causes heightened anxiety and suicidal ideation.

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#6

I had a friend who had some PFS-ish problems caused by Pregabalin (sp?). All the typical Neuro symptoms you see with PFS. He is 3-4 years out, but ketamine treatments are what he says helped him the most. Talked to him a few weeks ago and he hasn’t had a treatment now in 8 months and he’s still doing decent.

Just thought you may be interested to hear.

Edit: Man, I just read your 9/28 update and just want to let you know that I was exactly where you were, the unbearable mental torture. I’m so sorry you’re going through this, I cannot think of a worse fate for anyone. Your thoughts of ending it are completely valid. In the state like that, it’s basically just the logical choice. I know it affects us all differently, but you are in the worst of it right now. For me and many others it got better. You can get through this too. Hang in there.

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#7

That’s actually really exciting news. Ketamine therapy can be very helpful.

Gabapentin is the cousin medication to Pregablin (Lyrica, there’s no generic) and can cause some nasty side effects. Gabapentin on the other hand is a lot more tolerable especially at lower doses.

Before PFS, I was struggling immensely with OCD. It was the worst it’s even been in my entire life. Taking finasteride was like being thrown down a well.

Let’s hope we both get out of this nightmare.

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#8

Update 10/5/2025

Just documenting the utter torture I’m going through. Woke up with nausea and diarrhea. I also seem to have mild postal nasal drip.

The only good news I have is sexual thoughts have been returning for a few days now, my personality (which is sarcasm and pessimism lol) is slightly returning, remembering random old songs, and partial morning erections have returned.

Once I eventually escape this 24/7 torture chamber, I will be pursuing legal action against the dermatologist that prescribed me this. You don’t just ruin my life and get away with it. This means war.

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#9

Update 10/5/2025 Part 2

Apologies for the uptick in posts today.

So it turns out I most likely didn’t crash from Gabapentin instead I got sick from my mother who had a virus consisting of nasuea, bowel issues, and muscle soreness. The show goes on! Hopefully this passes with time. I’m doing my first Spravato session.

In some sense, it could indirectly increase the production of allopregnanolone and other calming neurosteroids. Hoping that production kicks in because I need some sense of well being.

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#10

Update 10/07/2025

The virus is causing full on insomnia and has increased the anxiety (I didn’t think that was possible). I simply cannot sleep or function with this discomfort. I don’t get relief from the muscle soreness as I have full blown anhedonia. What I feared most, but I have to do is take low-dose benzodiazepines in the afternoon and morning. I also have slight groin pain. The Spravato wasn’t all that helpful but I do have another session this week.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

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#11

Update 10/12/2025

Current Symptoms

Anhedonia (worst form of human torture), Partial Genital Numbness, Partial Erectile Dysfunction, Anxiety (seems to be improving and will go away when anhedonia goes away).

Improvements - Libido/sex drive is starting to come back online, insomnia is gone, brain to groin disconnect has improved significantly, brain fog has been gone for some time but lingers with anxiety, morning cortisol spikes are gone, sexual thoughts are back just buried under anhedonia, and overall I’m somewhat hopeful.

My current therapeutic efforts are Zurzuvae (Zuranolone) and Spravato (Esketamine). I’ve completed 2/14 with Zurzuvae and 2 sessions of Spravato.

2 Likes
#12

Ohh, you are actually able to trial Zuranolone AND Esketamine? - That’s amazing!

Keep us up to date regarding your trials, please.

If you improve while on them, please make sure to come back and tell us about it!

#13

One of the most painful things is I was aware of PFS but still decide to take this poison anyways. Not a day is gone by I wish I could reverse that, all for hair loss, which is painful.

I’m in the same camp - however, it’s important to let go of that - no matter if you previously suspected that PFS could be a thing or definitely knew is a thing and you still decided to take Fin - you don’t deserve this and it’s impossible to have any real idea of what PFS actually means before actually experiencing it.

This is why drug regulations are a thing to begin with, because we individually always work with limited experiences and information.

It also seems that this is very new to you and you are still very young, so don’t overdo or underdo things and give it some time.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Don’t underestimate:

  • Brisk walks in nature if possible - light movement paired with the quiet of nature can help you break out of rumination/anxiety loops
  • Breathwork [Box breathing, Diaphragmatic breathing] / Guided Meditation Apps [e.g. Balance]
  • Acceptance Training [Paradoxically accepting your condition emotionally can help you get past it, by spending less strenuous energy worrying, which excessively by itself causes it’s own slew of symptoms]

Wish you all the best and hang in there - I’m sure you will improve.

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#14

I am unfortunately, a pretty extreme case mentally but Zuranolone has helped with sleeping.

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#15

Update 10/14/2025

I cannot overstate this enough but if you have anxiety DO NOT TAKE WELLBUTRIN. I was living an alright life with PFS and it utterly destroyed me. It’s been two months and the fight or flight anxiety as well as anhedonia has persisted.

In an effort to undue the harm of hellbutrin, I’ll be seeking out stellate ganglion block treatment. It should force the body out of fight or flight.

1 Like
#16

I read posts on here from 10 to 15 years ago and think how can this drug still be on the market. My father never took finasteride but took an earlier version of Accutane and had no long lasting side effects.

3 Likes
#17

@Henchman21

I had a friend who had some PFS-ish problems caused by Pregabalin (sp?). All the typical Neuro symptoms you see with PFS. He is 3-4 years out, but ketamine treatments are what he says helped him the most.

Out of interest, how much Pregabalin did he take and did it start during treatment or after/withdrawal? - This sounds like overuse (>600mg) and then abrupt withdrawal.

#18

Update 10/15/2025

As the anxiety and anhedonia wither away at my hippocampus I sit here in the ER. I watch as all the injured fellows walk around. Of course no medical professional believes Propecia or Wellbutrin have ruined my life. It’s like a horror movie and I’m the main character. Just a year ago today I was enjoying life and now I sit exhausted in this anhedonic state.

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#19

I don’t know, and don’t really want to ask him. He didn’t put two and two together initially. It was only until after I went through PFS and had all the mental and neurological problems that I was able to help him figure out what happened.

#20

This would be my recommendations as well. To be fair it does nothing to ease the unbearable torture of the extreme anxiety and anhedonia, all you can do at that point is try to keep distracted as much possible, which I know also does not help much. It is all about survival. Make a very well laid out daily schedule, know that in the next hour you will eat, after that you will walk for 30 minutes, after that you will read the forum, etc. Plan out your whole day, and just go through the motions from one thing to the next.

I was a severe case of this as well, but I would have occasional windows of clarity that would give me hope. 2-3 weeks of unbearable torture and then a few hours of clarity. Are you having similar windows these past two months?

@tiredofthispostfin, I like you had OCD tendencies, so this may be a similarity for us.

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