My progress - there is hope

Member Stories
#1

I am a lurker, as I think the majority of those who use this site are. I just wanted to provide a bit of an update on my progress since crashing last August. I am pleased to report I have made some good progress since my crash.

Here is a little background first. I purchased Propecia from Boots in the UK after panicking about loosing my hair. I wanted to use a very small dose initially. Sadly, even 0.25mg every other day gave me strong side effects. I stopped taking the medication and recovered for a few months - I was back to my normal self. Then, around August of 2015, I “crashed”, falling back into the full blown side effects I experienced on Propecia, but worse. These included very low mood (including suicidal thoughts for the first week or so), depression, low sex drive, some erectile dysfunction and prostate pain. I also experienced aching joints and very dry eyes. As you all know, its hard to describe how devastating this syndrome is until you experience it, but its not something I would wish on my worst enemy (as the cliche goes).

I went to the doctor in the UK. Although supportive, I think he remained skeptical about the condition. Nevertheless, he did perform some blood tests:

Oestradiol - 74 pmol/L

Serum testosterone 1- 5.9 nmol/L

Serum Prolactin - 332 mu/L

Serum LH - 3.7 iu/L

Serum FSH - 4.5 iu/L

Serum TSH - 2.1

Serum Free T4 - 17.1

As far as I could tell from this, I had low T and low Oestradiol. I have not had any follow up tests, but I am keen to do this to see how things might have improved.

I still have some ups and downs, but I am having a lot more good days than bad. I would say I am between 70-80% recovered now. It really is a question of time I think. I haven’t really done anything dramatic. I have experimented with supplements, (zinc, etc) but these have caused fluctuations in symptoms. I think a gradual approach has worked best for me. My worst lingering symptom is prostate pain. If this is really bad, it tends to give me penis numbness and shrinkage. If anyone has any advice on improving prostate pain, I would be interested in getting advice.

My main hope for this post is that people who have just crashed don’t loose hope. I know reading this forum can be a very scary experience, especially after the crash. I really think we need to put a disclaimer up on this forum, emphasizing the need not to panic. It is easy to believe there is no hope. I want to make it clear that THERE IS HOPE. However dark you feel it is right now, things will get better. I can testify to that.

I am happy to answer any questions anyone has. I will come back here to update you guys.

Stay positive.

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#2

Great post. Your probably long gone and hope your recovery going well. Would it be possible to give an update.

#3

Glad you found my post useful. Yes, I am continuing to progress. I still have one or two lingering symptoms occasionally, but it’s now something that I rarely think about. I found that improvements come in stages, and slowly level off over time.

#4

That’s awesome. I’m really pleased your doing well. Thanks for giving an update. I’ve been having some improvements lately and they also seem to come in stages, and so it’s good to hear. Hopefully I am on the same path as you.

#5

That’s great news - I’m sure you will continue to progress

#6

I’d like to speak to both of you if possible about what you did for the dryness?

#7

Thanks for posting, I’m happy to hear about your improvement. If you could go into some detail about the things that have worked or not worked for you, it could be helpful.

#8

Hi fingerscrossed,

Your story sounds very similar to mine. It’s been about a year since I quit fin after only taking 0.5MG for 6 days. My labs showed similar values, low T, borderline low E. My only really serious side is low libido and things seem to be starting to flicker on and off. I hope that this is a sign of further improvement to come. Thank you for coming back and updating your status! People like you give hope! Can I ask you how long you were on fin? Also, what supplements did you take other than zinc?

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