someone has taken antibiotics while using propecia?
I took propecia for 5 years and never had problems. Last year(on propecia) i used antibiotics several times. then that I began to feel side effects such as ED, low libido, depression. When I stopped using propecia, all the side effects increased. The side effects remained for 3 years.
0) Where are you from (country)?
Argentina
1) 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?)
2) What is your current age, height, weight?
34y 178cm 184 pouds
3) Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
weight training for 12 years 4-5 times a week
4) What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
meat eater
5) Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
hair loss
6) For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
5 years
7) How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
25 (2004)
8) How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
30 (2008)
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? taper off)
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
other generic
1 mg every other day
1 month
reduced sperm, brain fog, dry skin, low libido. Never ED
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[X] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[X] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[X] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[X] 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
[X] 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)
[X] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
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)
nolvadex, clomid, andractim, T4, tribulus, maca, ZMA. centrum.
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?
a lot of sleep problems
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
after 2.5 years off finasteride, started program to recovery. I will describe the use of drugs and the effect. This is in sequence of time.
TRIBULUS - After 30 days, I felt I was wasting time and money.
MACA - After 30 days, I felt I was wasting time and money.
ZMA - helps with sleep.
NOLVADEX - After 30 days (20mg), I lost interest in sweets and chocolates. My testosterone levels increased to the highest rate (702 ng/dL - 240-816). Before was 240. I got more aggressive. the acnes/pimps of the forehead are gone. nothing happened to the erection and libido. After that, i did not use anything for a few months.
ARIMIDEX/NOLVADEX - i used 10mg NOLVADEX and 1mg of arimidex each 3 days. after 18 days my erection and libido back to normal, a lot of morning/night woods. depression is gone. I awoke with an erection so strong that even standing, had to wait 5 minutes in order to urinate. increased sensitivity to urinate during the day. great sensitivity in the penis and pleasure. reatly increased oiliness of facial skin. hair loss increased for the first time in 3 years off propecia. Suddenly came a strong depression and everything came back as before. I stoped arimidex and took 10mg nolvadex. i did not use anything for 1 month.
ANDRACTIM - 30 days and depression is gone. unbelievable! while on this drug i never laughed so much and had so much fun in 3 years without finasteride. increased libido. Nothing happened w/ erections. unfortunately my digestion became slowly gained weight and stopped using for a few days.
The only thing that works for ED was Arimidex. NOw i´m very afraid to take again and have some low estradiol problem such depression and join pain.
any ideas?
thanks
Can you explain the timeline in further details,
Did the symptoms get worse, and how did u feel right after stopping propecia, did you crash, and why have you decided to try the treatments 2.5 years later were there any signs that a recovery can come as 2.5 yrs is a long time!
Wait so are you still having side effects or are you recovered?
I used propecia for 5 years, never had problems with ED. In the last year before stopping use(propecia), I used some antibiotics. Some months before I stop using the Propecia, I noticed that my erections started to become weak.
After stopping using propecia I crash. All side effects, ED, no morning woods, no night woods. brain fog, muscle loss, no connection between the brain and the penis. I lost sensation in the penis. It was as if the skin is dead. Totally lost libido. I could not reach orgasm anymore. i never went to the doctor seek help in 2.5 years since last pill of propecia.
The only drug I used was viagra and cialis. in those years the most curious is that my hair stopped falling and the oiliness of the face disappeared. Appeared a lot of pimples on my face. With 30 years was the first time I had pimples on my face. I could have erections with viagra and cialis, I could have sex, but I could not reach orgasm. The only thing I did was to give pleasure to my girlfriend. I no longer had any pleasure in sex. And of course I was depressed, but I could not see, even my friends and relatives.
Last year an article was published in the local newspaper in my town about a study at the University of Georgia. After that I realized that my problem was related to propecia. I never thought I could have a health problem without reason.
Last year I went to some doctors and did all the tests as testosterone, estradiol, LH, FSH, prolactin, progesterone, thyroid, TSH, SGOT. TPG, cholesterol, prostate ultrasom etc. …
All examinations were normal. The first doctor said it was psychological and I should make an appointment with a therapist. After that, i started the medications above in sequence of time. One at a time.
After 2.5 years did not feel any improvement in symptoms. I started to feel an improvement when I started using Nolvadex(tamoxifen). was a great remedy, really helped me increase my energy, but didnt helped me with erectile dysfunction, depression and libido.
The only medicine that caused me to return temporarily to have high libido and morning/night/espontaneus erections, was the arimidex. Unfortunately it was temporary and the symptoms returned.
I think that the enzyme 5arII is inactive and most of the testosterone is converted to estradiol. Even that estradiol is normal, the balance between these hormones is affected by low production of DHT. All the side effects are high estradiol. I think there may be some relation to the abuse of antibiotics with finasteride and the immune system to attack the enzyme itself.
I realized that some people have returned to normal accelerating metabolism using T4. Now I will try to use T4 (25mcg) and 10mg Nolvadex and occasionally 0.25mg of Arimidex. Is very easy to know when estradiol is too high, we were very emotional and sensitive.
I can now say I had a partial recovery. I am much better, there is a connection between the penis and the brain. The flow of blood into the penis is much better. Viagra gives me confidence and increases erection strength. Libido was partially solved with andractim. Night and morning erections are appearing more frequently though not 100%.
Yet I’m still looking for full recovery. I want to return finasteride exactly as before. when I had a temporary full recovery has given me much hope. Now I know that our problem is just a hormonal imbalance.
You seem to be a in a good place dude, avoid this website for a while and continue with your daily life, people who crash usually have a full recovery years later, as long as over time things did improve for you than their is nothing to worry about
Best of luck
I used antibiotics and cortisone cream for the first time in my life weeks before my crash - before that i quit propecia over 5 times and went back to normal within 5 days. It does make me wonder.
Some guys even swear that Rogaine has given them permanent sexual side effects.
Rogaine has never effected me but I stopped too just incase 
Interesting. I had a pretty much full recovery in libido on arimidex. But it only lasted a few days. I was getting wood just looking at pictures of girls. I felt back to normal. Then I lost it all. I tried this again and my e got too low. Painful joints and so forth. I have not been able to reproduce this.
DHT or test never helped me.
The next thing I plan to try is trenbolone as I saw that hormone manipulation may help.
after 3 weeks using T4 at low dosage, 25mcg each 3 days or less I discovered that cause me a lot of face skin oil. 3 years did not happened. Another thing, my hands became less dry and more wet. I became a little more smart too. thyroid must be a clue to our problem.
my updates and last treatments
06/02/2012
testosterone 747 ng/dL (240 - 816)
free testosterone 567.4 pmol/L (131 - 640)
SHBG 35 nmol/L (12 - 75)
LH 6.3 UI/L ( < 9)
FSH 8.3 UI/L ( < 10)
estradiol 2.5 nd/dL (0.8 - 4.3)
Testosterone
After my testosterone, estradiol, LH, FSH levels return to normal, my libido has not returned to normal pre fin. I gained 6 pounds of muscle with these levels of testosterone. I never met as much muscle as now, I’m more muscular than before finasteride. Weight training for 10 years, and now I’m perfectly normal in the anabolic effect of testosterone.
Wood
My nocturnal erections returned. Now i have night wood every night, but no morning wood. morning erections returned for a short period of time when I used the dexamethasone. I used dexamethasone for 4 days (0.5mg). After one month I tried again.
Libido
My libido has not returned to normal pre fin. I still can not get excited as before the finasteride. I can have sex with viagra / cialis, but the sensitivity and pleasure is not the same thing. It seems that I have no such sensitivity in the penis.
I remember I had a temporary return of all functions, sensitivity, erections, arousal, depression, when I used arimidex. But I could not do it again, perhaps my estradiol is normal now.
Depression
I found one thing that has helped me a lot: Garlic!
I started to crush 4 garlic cloves and leave in water for 20 minutes. Then mix with honey and drink. See the effect:
After 3 weeks I started to use garlic oil capsules (smelling). Perhaps the antibiotic and antibacterial effect of garlic has helped me.
next steps
now that my hormones are normal, I try to use tribulus terrestris for a while to see if it increases libido. I will use andractim only if I believe my estradiol increased.
I’ll use AI 3Z sports to improve the quality of sleep.
Thanks for sharing your semi-sucess. I decided I’ll try and wait to see if my body can heal itself. I still can have an 80% erection with viagra, enough for sex. But if I get too tired of waiting (I decided to wait for 6 or 7 months, from today), I’ll try to follow your steps.
Loweing estrogen seems to help many people here. I am trying to work out why, any ideas?
I would love to know why decreasing estradiol cause recovery. My hypothesis for the problem is that our body has changed the conversion ratio of testosterone to DHT and estradiol.
while my estradiol was super high, arimidex caused a fantastic recovery. It was amazing how I recovered. My erection was incredibly strong and the whole feeling of pleasure again. Today I can not use 0.25mg of arimidex I have pains in the bones. I have a crazy idea.
crazy idea
While I was high estradiol arimidex work gradually over three weeks. After this period there was a regression. Theoretically the problem must have been lower estradiol. My theory would be adding estradiol to maintain healthy levels while uses arimidex. Why not use testosterone TRT to add more estradiol? As my testosterone is normal, I see no sense in adding testosterone and have a testicular atrophy. I do not see TRT as a solution. TRT also has its difficulties in dose levels of estradiol. I currently only try this protocol with prescribed medical.
Current treatment
I am now taking a supplement quercetin and resveratrol. I felt that the testicle is more full. erection is very solid and firm. I had a morning erection in one day too. A low libido and lack of excitement is always the big problem. Andractim has caused serious problems in the stomach and can no longer use.
Yes I have had pretty much full recoveries on anti estrogens.
Now the question is it simply that our estrogen and testosterone are not at the right levels? If this would be the cause it should be easy to maintain the recovery don’t you think.
It does not seem to be easy to retain the recovery by continuing arimidex.
Maybe there is something there that we do not fully understand. Whatever it is we need to work it out.
I was thinking that maybe it is some disregulation of SHBG. But not sure?
It is kind of hard to come to the conclusion that our androgen receptors are broken. Or downregulating too fast in the presence of estrogen.
I think the next thing to test is non aromazable steroids like trenbolone, or equipse or 1-test-cyp.
These could give us an idea perhaps?
What dose of arimidex u using? Have you tried something like .1mg a day?
My recent test results show high normal values ​​of testosterone and estradiol normal. Even with these values​​, my libido was so low. Perhaps the arimidex should act in some specific tissues in the brain and prostate that increase the activity of the enzyme 5arII.
I do not know anything about SHBG.
trembolone…hum…I’m very afraid of using steroids and worsen the production of testosterone. My testosterone is normal and I know that a testicular atrophy could end up even with my job. I really need it to compete. if I do not have to work surely would have tried other protocols and TRT. I’ve done steroids in 2002. I had a testicular atrophy for 2 months and I recovered. This period was one of the most difficult of my life.
If we had a recovery with arimidex, certainly has some to do with estrogen or estrogen receptors. I do not think it should be very complex as neurosteroids.
one of the problems that I think I have developed is a low production of thyroid hormones. My T4 is close to the minimum and also the TSH. how are your thyroid hormones?
never tried using 1/10 of arimidex. In fact I was so afraid of the side effect that I am not willing to take any amount again. I had pains in the bones of the chest. I was afraid to break or something. It was shortly after doing bench press with 200lb.
how is your digestion?
I am afraid I am with malabsorption of some nutrients. I tried a gastroenterologist doctor. I’m doing some tests to evaluate possible inflammatory bowel disease and liver.
I do not get those problems with my bones on a rimidex i tried arimidex ith transdermal cream and got sore joints but then when i tried it with high dose injectable testosterone my joints improved.
The only think I can suggest is that you test FREE estrogen via a siliva test. Because free estrogen is really the important value. And ScaredToDeath who recovered for a week to on arimidex did a blood test after and it looks as when he lost the good effects his free estrogen actually went up.
IO have been on testosterone for months my testicles are still hard for some reason. Testosterone alone helps for somethings a little.
My thyroid looks fine except RT3 is highish because free cortisol is low, but blood cortisol is high. Estrogen increases cortisol binding globulin.
My digestion is not good. Evey morning I almost must run to the toilet and often what comes out is like a pile of unformed material. No logs.
But during my recoveries this has improved. I think it is all the same root cause. I doubt a gastrointestinal doctor can help you.
Both free cortisol and estrogen and probably testosterone have a big impact on digestion.
I have done extensive testing and the tests all seem to point that estrogen is having a much to big influence on my cells.
There are so many who have recovered via anti estrogens for short periods. Robbocopp says he is better on 25mg aromasin per day.
I have started this thread about this - viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6595
Can you get some aromasin? And then do a free estrogen siliva test?