-
How did you find this forum? Google
-
What is your current age, height, weight? 21, 6.1 Ft, 170Lbs
-
Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of exercise? I used to be a high level athlete. I do not exercise regularly but I keep decent shape.
-
What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Before having these set of issues I would eat whatever was in front of me. After what happened I have been trying to eat healthier do to digestive problems.
-
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? I took Saw Palmetto for Hair Loss.
-
For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? I took 2 160mg soft gels of extract for 2 weeks once a day.
-
How old were you when you started Finasteride? 21
-
How old were you when you quit? 21
-
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold Turkey. There wasn’t much tapering off with just 2 weeks.
-
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Saw Palmetto
-
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 160mg twice a day.
-
How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? See explanation below
-
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
[50%] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[50%] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] 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
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy
Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[X] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease this is not frequent but sometimes it feels like that
[ ] Weight Gain
[X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] 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?
– - 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)?
– - Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
I took Saw Palmetto not Finasteride - Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Well it starts as most Finasteride users’ stories. I was losing hair rapidly. I got really scared and started to look for a solution. I knew about propecia but I never had the guts to try it (Thank God). So I went with the natural “harmless” solution of Saw Palmetto. As soon as I started taking it, I did not feel much difference in my body as a whole. The only thing was that my erections weren’t strong at all. I thought it would subdue when my body got used to this herb being in my system. I also had a lot of depression and brain fog, but at the time I thought that the depression was because I was losing hair rapidly and being depressed for such long periods of time brought the brain fog. Only in hindsight I realized it was because of saw palmetto. Well as I said before, I took saw palmetto for two weeks and my erections were incredibly week and my ejaculation was very watery and low volume. After two weeks of using the drug I decided to quit. As soon as I quit my ability to get strong erections returned. And spent like three days feeling just like normal. I would get strong morning, nocturnal and random boners. However, after the third day I started developing the following symptoms. I am going to divide them into three categories and explain them separately. As background knowledge so that you know where I am at right now, I will tell you that today it’s been exactly four weeks since my last saw palmetto doses. I know it sounds like I am overreacting but I would love to get some feedback from this experienced community. I have been struggling a lot these days in order to keep my calm. - Gyno
For the first week after quitting I had very strong chest pains as if I was literally growing boobs. My pectorals were very swollen and they hurt constantly. This subdued within a week but the inflammation of my chest kind of like comes and goes. I feel they are still a little bit inflated but they do not hurt anymore. There are times were they feel normal and times where it looks like if I had the breast of a 14 year old girl. As a side not I am not in great shape but I am a pretty lean guy. Has anyone experienced something like this before? - Erections and Penis Shape and Ejaculation
The thing that really worries me the most is that my penis looks extremely odd when it is in flaccid state. It is way smaller than it usually was in flaccid state. And it sometimes looks like it rotated on his axis. The rotation thing happens on occasion but it happens. Let’s say 50% of the times I look at my dick. Also, when it is erect it looks a little more tilted to the left than it used to be before this symptoms. I also do not get spontaneous erections at all. I do get a mild version of morning wood, and when I wake up at nights I also have mild erections. I can easily achieve erections by hand and they are as strong as always. The one thing is that my penis looks a little more skewed to the left than it used to be when erect. Has somebody experience something like this before? - Constipation
It has been like a month and I only shit little poo pallets and I feel my digestion is way slower than it used to be. I have improved my diet a little like eating more fiber, less junk and fruit but it has not helped the consistency of my shit (sorry for the disgusting phrasing)
Now my question is? What would you guys recommend me to do about each of the issues? The only corrective actions I have taken are: reducing masturbation, eating right (not any specific diet but just not eat crap), give myself time to heal. Would you guys recommend anything else for any of the issues that I am experiencing?
I honestly will immensely appreciate any feedback from anybody. I am sorry for the long post and I know I might be overreacting a little but this is how I feel.
I wish everybody a healthy recovery