My experience with propecia...

  1. Where are you from (country)? Poland

  2. 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: propecia side effects

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 23, 184, 85

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? No. However back when I noticed the side effects, which is end of 2010, I was jogging/running on a daily basis. Stopped in August 2011

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Due to lack of time mainly junk food.

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss.

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 6 months

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 22 years (20.07.2010)

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 22 (15.01.2011)

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey. Didn’t know that it matters when I quit. After talking with my doctor and got certain that this shit is the reason why I suffer, I simply quit propecia.

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Propecia.

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg per day. Every morning

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 20 days

  14. 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
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[X] Complete Impotence (for three months)
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes (probably not related since I work in front a computer)

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    Since my doctor advised me to stop taking the drug, I took that advise and wait. It got better after three months. But now the problem is back. I had several blood tests (before taking propecia, during the ‘treatment’ and after). I was sent from one person to another, starting from urologist, then psychogist, sexologist. All they have to offer is a temporary solution like viagra, cialis etc.

  2. 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)?
    –will be updated shortly–

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    There should be an additional question: do you also think about suicide every goddamn morning?

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    After approx. 4 months and 2 weeks of using propecia I became actually impotent. I got a severe erectile disfunction which continued for 3 months. Side effects noticed at the end Dec 2010. I stopped taking the drug on 15th of January after visiting my dermatologist. Although it was better for some period of time, I have never lets say fully recovered to the state before propecia. Then it gone worse again in August and continue like this till now. Started visiting sexologist from November, however none of the doctors met so far got no knowledge nor experience in treating propecia’s side effects…

I do not know if there is a way to modify my previous post so I apologize for my comment:
“There should be an additional question: do you also think about suicide every goddamn morning?”
I do not want to spread my horrible mood, I’m just a little bit lost. Nonetheless I still hope that a cure will be developed someday. I simply cannot believe it happened to me at this age. Thats all. For now. Have a good evening.

if any body says he does not feel like he would die or does not have suicidal thoughts he is liar after pfs.
yes suicidal thoughts are real and I still have time to time.

hey man.

Have you got all those blood tests. They would be good to see. Most people do not have before and after tests.