Hello all;
I’m not coming here all freaked out about my three days of Proscar use (3 days use, 5 mg, quartered) and asking questions like “OMG, WHAT DO???” I just want to tell my story of how I came to be in this boat.
My story begins like most of you all; I began thinning about three years ago at the age of 24. It didn’t bother me all too much until the beginning of this year, so I went to see a dermatologist back in January. She “officially” diagnosed me with MPB, wrote me a prescription for Propecia, and gave me two weeks worth of the drug as a parting gift. Being the skeptical person I am by nature, I did a bit of research on the drug and was hit with a myriad of results detailing the side effects of the drug; however, all of them mentioned they would disappear after discontinuing the intake. Being freaked out by the possible side effects (one guy on a forum I was reading actually reported “chunks” in his spunk), I resolved not to take the drug and let the pills and the prescription note sit on my desk until I graduated and moved out of my apartment, where I then threw them both away with the rest of the junk. At that point I resolved to accept my hair loss rather than face unnecessary side effects.
All was well until September when the whole hair loss issue started bugging me again. So, I went to see another dermatologist this past Tuesday (election day). I made sure to ask him questions about finasteride as I had done my research on the side effects. He told me out of all his patients he prescribed the drug, zero reported any side effects that are common with use. He then reassured me the symptoms would disappear when use was discontinued as I had thought myself. Having read that Proscar was a pain in the ass to get a prescription for since it is treated for something completely different, the doctor (rather easily) prescribed a 5 mg dosage, quartered and taken daily. My health insurance allowed me to purchase thirty pills for a really low price, and I was allowed three refills. Regaining my hair was within my grasp. No more looking in the mirror and instantly becoming fixated on the thinness, provided I stayed on for at least a year.
So, you all are probably asking: Why did this idiot take the drug, even when he was aware of the possible side effects??? Well, I hadn’t come across this forum yet and was under the false notion the side effects would disappear when the intake was discontinued. Also,I figured a decreased libido would be the least of my problems since I don’t and have never been with that special someone. What’s the point of a libido if you never use it, right??? I kept asking myself the question, is a head of hair worth my sex drive? How naive we lead ourselves to be all in the immature attempt at vanity…
Apparently, hair was more important than those spontaneous erections and morning wood, for I began taking the drug this past Wednesday (too focused on the election to begin on the same day).
Day 1 (Wed night/Thursday): I was watching an episode of the Simpsons when I popped a quartered pill. I didn’t notice any effects whatsoever until I went to bed. While reading a book to lull myself to sleep, all of a sudden there was a strange sensation in my prostate. It didn’t hurt, but I could feel it shrinking, so to speak. Something told me that this is not right and I should immediately stop taking the drug, but I told myself I was being silly and tried my best in going to sleep while trying to ignore the activity taking place with my prostate. I did not sleep well that night; I woke up every hour as my subconscious mind tried its best to fight the drug with semi-erections. Each time I awoke, I was also strangely delirious and in some mind-altered state. Wednesday night/Thursday morning was not enjoyable; I hoped this was my body’s way of getting accomodated with the drug and all would be normal in the future.
The next morning, the prostate sensation was taking place and kept me in a state of unease. It kind of felt like I had ejaculated, but without the orgasm and continously all day. As the day progressed, a low throbbing began to take place in my pelvic region, the moved to my penis, and finally to my testicles. Still telling myself that all this was my body getting used to the Finasteride and all would be normal in the future, I popped another quarter that night.
Day 2 (Thurs night/Friday): Again, the shrinking prostate sensation took hold as I was getting ready for bed, but I managed to sleep well last night, only waking once to relieve myself during another semi-erection.
The next morning I felt pretty normal. But I didn’t feel like me. Usually I wake up revitalized and ready to take on the day. Today, however, I was blah. I work out often and consider myself in above average shape and kind of “pose” in the mirror before hopping in the shower. Today I just glanced at myself (also thought I looked fat) and stepped into the tub. During the ride to work I had a slight chest pain, but wrote it off as an upset stomach due to hunger; I eat breakfast at my desk. Sometimes I’m so hungry I can feel my stomach rumbling in my throat, so I thought this was the problem.
All day today, I just didn’t feel like myself. No strange pains, no prostate tingling, but not myself. It finally occured to me that in these two days, not a lewd thought passed through my head and I hadn’t had an erection. Could I really be content with a nonexistent libido for the rest of my life? So I decided to test myself when I got home. Under my YouTube profile, I have a number of videos that have me stiff in no time. Watching them, I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was as if my sex drive was literally taken from my mind. This was an hour after I had already taken my third quarter. I then searched for finasteride side effects (before I had just searched “propecia” side effects) and one of the first pages was about how a guy had taken the pill for about 6 months hand hadn’t recovered a year later. I then came to this site.
I instantly dumped my last quarter and the other 29 pills in the garbage.
So, here I am now, 3.75 mg of finasteride taken over the course of three days. As to lingering side effects, who can say? I have a fresh 1.25 mg in my system as I am typing this. So I won’t say that I won’t have any lingering symptoms.
All I know now is that there are worse things in life than a hairless head.