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)?
From India. Living in Australia.
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 - Finasteride Side effects.
What is your current age, height, weight?
27y, 183cm, 64kg.
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1.25mg per day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Pattern hair loss.
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
for about 1-2 months.
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
24 years old, started drug use in around July 2016
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
24 years old, 6 september 2016
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold Turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
1-2 months, Immediately stopped.
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Mild Erectile dysfunction.
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
[*] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[*] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[*] Confusion
[*] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[*] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[*] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[*] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[*] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[*] 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
[ ] 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)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
-I am still unable to convince the doctors about PFS. They themselves don’t have any clue what’s happening to me.
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)?
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.
Please excuse me for my English. Has been living in Australia before the drug use.
I started taking the finasteride in july 2016. 1-2 months Into the drug usage I started having mild erection problems, that’s when I checked for the side effects of the drug and Immediately stopped. Few months after stopping the drug use I was 90% okay with my erection problem. So I completely forgot about Finasteride. But after like 8-9 months I lost my morning erections and stimulated erections started to get weaker and weaker to about 20-30% until one day I crashed. I crashed in Nov-Dec 2018. I started urinating frequently with burning, paining, pins and needles sensation in my whole groin area. Could not control my urnie. Had to urinate every half an hour or every hour at least. Also developed couple venous cysts in the scrotum. My felt tired 24/7. Also had rectal and penis pain which gets worse when standing or exercising. Always felt my penis, scrotum and whlie groin blood vessels to be inflamed and burning. Had dribbling after urinating probably because of inflammation of the blood vessels. The color of my penis head/tip under the foreskin changed to purple. before the crash I started having joint pains and pain in my left nose(probably due to stiffness in blood vessels) which is still there and severe and I can easily relate it to PFS.
Doctors did usual blood tests and found nothing. Was referred to a Urologist who wrote a cystoscopy test to check for any obstruction to the urine and in the mean time gave me some antibiotics. Antibiotics did nothing. Meanwhile went to India, saw another urologist who gave some more antibiotics with no improvement. Came back to Australia had my cystoscopy done with no complications. Inbetween moved to another town where I consulted 3-4 different GPs with no help. So in this whole procedure a year went by with no luck. From May 2019 to August my symptoms got better a little bit(about 20-25%) probably because I think I was not doing any physical work. Also my frequent urination problem got improved quite a lot. After that they went back to as they were after my crash.
In the first week of December 2019 I had another crash with new symptoms and worsening previous symptoms. That’s when I started researching again about finasteride side effects and found this website. . Every day I am discovering new symptom. Seems like I am gonna soon die. Here is a list of my all current symptoms including new and old, and left me with no hope in my life.
Physical Symptoms
- Inflammation/soreness, burning, pain, itchiness, stiffness of blood vessels started in groin and now spreading to all body parts. To many cysts being formed in the blood vessels in whole body mainly but mainly groin, neck, inner thighs, belly. Possible nerve
- Rubber like skin in whole body.
- Difficulty/Pain in stretching, especially legs.
- Numbness in penis and around the prostate area. Numbness in whole body to some extent. Possible nerve damage.
- TMJ Disorder - Painful Jaw Movement.
- Left hip pain.
- Dry skin.
- Darker penis/scrotum skin.
- Random pulse sensation throughout the body.
- Severe sore throat.
- Neck pain/stiffness. Can’t even turn the neck sideways and backward. Just farward motion.
- Premature Ejeculation.
- Painful Ejeculations.
- Wrinkled penis head due to damaged/wrinkled blood vessels which are protruding out of the skin.
- Numbness in penis, scrotum and thighs.
- Erectile dysfunction (about 70-80%) - no morning wood for at least 2 years. Worse after masterbation.
- Feel less thirsty.
- Little to no sweats even when exercising.
- Random muscle twitches
- Pins and needles sensation on random body parts especially groin, feet and hands. Worse at night.
- Shortness of breath.
- Tight and stiff belly - can’t even run
- Pain/Pressure while defecating - started first week of december 2019
- Insomnia
- had few episodes of insomnia where I could not sleep for more than 4 hours for a couple of weeks each time
- Weight lost from 71 to 64
- Always Dull headache and pressured heavy head. Worse at night
- Pain and burning while defecating/urinating.
- Increased constipation
- Unusual red spots on the penis head
- Purple penis head, could be blood circulation issue.
- White spot on penis head
- Mostly loose/saggy scrotum
- Feeling of something itchy flowing mainly through in and around the thighs, lower belly and head)
- Have 2-3 cysts in scrotum. They cause pain, itchiness and burning. Symptoms gets worse upon touching…
- Rectal pain. Gets worse while standing, sitting on foot, walking. Worst after exercising.
- Whole body skin getting loose.
- sensitive skin
- Purple color of penis head under the foreskin with unusual whitish tinge and red spots.
- Worsened throat.
- Pain and burning sensation along the penis upto rectum, lower belly and thighs
- burning of legs and feet
- irritated/sensitive penis head and whole penis shaft
- Dry Penis Head.
- Dribbling after urination.
- Hard to control the urine
- Intermittent Frequent urination
- longer I stand still, worse the symptoms get.
- thinning of the skin tissue along the penis especially penis head
- random needle like pain around the groin area
- delay in starting urination.
- 24/7 pressure in the ear.
- always tired body.
- Joint pain especially knee
- Dull headache and pressured head, more so in the front right side.
- Cold limbs.
- symptoms get worse as the day progresses and becomes worse at night.
I have random itching under my skin throughout the body and when I touch the itched area it’s either the inflamed blood vessel or cysts that is the culprit.
Digestive Symptoms.
- Pinkish-Yellowish stool.
- acid reflux and severe constipation.
- Unusual bowel movements.
Mental Symptoms
- Highly depressed.
- memory loss.
- brain/cognitive confusion.
- Insomnia.
I do a driving job and my work time is spent on the roads. I am easily forgetting street names I have known for years. That is just one aspect of my mental/memory problem. There are so many.
Also I asked my GP to have me examined for hormones test. She only agreed to testosterone test not for other hormones because she thinks that’s the only thing I should be concerned about. By the way my testosterone levels came out normal.
I may not have remembered a few symptoms. but It still gives you an idea of my overall condition. Will keep updating my condition and recovery if any.
Please help me with any suggestion if you have.
