) Where are you from (country)?
-Bay Area, California
- 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?)
-Reddit - What is your current age, height, weight?
-25, 5’8, 170 - Do you exercise regularly? If so, what type of exercise?
-Yes, Weightlifting, 5 days a week, Cardio 7 days a week, Basketball was - What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
-Try to be as healthy as possible, Meat eater, high protein diet limit carbs. Heavy coffee drinker, - Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
-Hair Loss - For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
-2 months - How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
24, 06/2016 - How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
24, 08/2016 - How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
-Slowed down for two weeks before cold turkey - What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
-Generic Mpecia 5mg quartered - What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
-1.25 mg/day - How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
-First day, went in waves while on drug, sometimes worse, sometimes better - 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
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X ] Watery Ejaculate
[X ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X ] Confusion
[X ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[X ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X ] Testicular Pain
[X ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[X ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[X ] Frequent urination
[X ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
-Supplements:
Daily Multivitamin (AM)
B-Complex vitamin (AM)
Fish oil (Twice a day)
L-Arganine (Twice a day)
L-Carnitine (AM)
GABA (Twice a day)
5-htp (PM)
Magnesium (pm)
CoQ10 (twice a day)
Decrease Carbs, Cutting out Gluten, Decreasing Coffee intake - 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)?
Tests occurred one month following crash. DHT 36. (Range: 30-85)
DHT percent free dialysis 1.74% (0.54-2.58)
DHT 6.26 (2.3-11.6)
Testosterone 510 (348-1197)
Free T 12.6 (9.3-26.5)
PSA Total .6 (0-4)
TSH 2.840 (0.450-4.500)
Estradiol 13.4 (7.6-42.6)
FSH 2.7 (1.5-12.4)
LH 4.1 (1.7-8.6)
Prolactin 27.5 (4-15.2)
Sex Horm Binding Glob, Serum 31.2 (16.5-55.9) - Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
-Bought Fin from online generic website. Also have reached out to Dr. Irwin Goldstein for potential treatments. - Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
-Little bit of background on my situation. I just turned 25 a few days ago. Before finasteride, I’d consider myself overly sexually active, being able to have sex multiple times a day back to back. And if didn’t masturbate for more than a week or so, I’d have wet dreams. Seriously that horny all the time. When I started taking the drug in June of this year, I noticed definite sexual dysfunction (huge loss of libido, cold penis feeling, erectile dysfunction, reduced and watery ejaculate, shrinkage) but I thought I’d adjust to the drug and they’d go away. The symptoms went in waves progressively getting slightly better than worse over the two months I took the drug. I also experienced some brain fog and mood concerns as well, but rarely thought anything of it. When I decided to stop, I’d see when the side effects went away, then maybe get on the drug again at a lower dose so could at least keep my hair. From August 1 (day I stopped)- September 1 there was no change in symptoms that I had acquired when I was on the drug. From September 1- about the 28th, my symptoms improved and I was able to have sex again, have strong erections, penis returned to size etc etc. I still wouldn’t consider myself at 100% during that time, but definitely improving towards it. It was about the first of October that I really crashed. Not only did all the sex side effects come back in worse condition than before (cold penis all the time, weird sensations in the scrotum, lack of erections at any time, thoughts of permanent shrinkage and the like) I had a mental crash that I’d never experienced before, which was what was most scary to me. I couldn’t remember names, facts, or anything really. I struggled to hold conversations , finding it hard to come up with the right words. I felt like I was having a stroke. My extensive memory was gone. It started to effect my job performance. I felt like I’ve permanently zapped my mental capacity in addition to my sexual capacity. I also noticed decreased muscle mass (I’m a avid weightlifter). It has been about 2 months since my crash, and there have been some relief when it comes to the mental symptoms, its not close to normal. also sexual side effects seem to have gotten worse. Still occurring symptoms.
-No random erections
-constant cold penis sensation
-scrotum shrinkage
-penile shrinkage while flaccid/girth as well, possibly effecting erection size
-can’t keep erection
-weak erections
-decreased sensitivity
-smaller ejaculate
-no libido
-no sex dreams/daydreams
-don’t find women attractive like I used to
Physical
-harder to burn fat
-harder to build muscle
-softer muscles
Mental
-Struggle to recall names
-Struggle to recall facts and statistics I know I should know
-vast memory of life experiences and information feels drastically decreased
-highly depressed
-emotionally blunted
-feels like fundamental changes in the way my brain works
-struggle to hold conversations
Currently trying to get a referral to an endocrinologist through my primary care provider and an appointment with Dr. Irwin Goldstein in San Diego. Advice would be greatly appreciated.