My slow road to recovery

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)? USA

  2. 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 from years ago - propecia side effects.

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 55, 6’1", 180lbs

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Yes, aerobics and Chi Kung

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Mostly meat

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? approx: 2 years

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 45, in mid-2005

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 47, mid-2007

Start and end dates are approximate.

  1. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey

  2. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Propecia

  3. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg/day

  4. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 18 months but didn’t know it was due to Propecia

  5. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? lack of motivation, sexual dysfunction

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] 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
[X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X] 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)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    For lack of mental focus I take 800mg of Piracetam daily. This completely cures any mental focus issues and memory issues, and partially helps with depression.
    For ED I take a daily combination of ginseng, zinc, resveratrol, B6, B12, and L-Phenyalanine. It took me three years to get the combination right.
    For penis numbness I rub pure Emu Oil on my penis which brings back 50% of the sensation I had. Needs to be applied an hour before sex and lasts 12 hours.
    A very small “hit” of marijuana (very mild high) brings back libido.

I also do Chi Kung which helps with all symptoms including libido, but the challenge is finding the quiet time and place to do Chi Kung.

  1. 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)?
    My last blood test was two years ago and had everything perfect, down the middle.

  2. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

  3. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    The above is pretty much it. I took propecia for hair loss, first had a lack of motivation, next cloudy thinking, and as my thinking got more cloudy I fell into a deep depression and noticed ED. I stopped taking propecia because I just didn’t care to renew my prescription. I later overheard a conversation about Propecia side effects. I searched and found this forum years ago. That’s when I realized it was Propecia that had done this to me. I drank lots of water hoping to flush it out of my system. I then experimented with different vitamins and supplements to reduce my symptoms.

I’m an engineer so I tend to look at these things analytically, and once I get into problem solving mode mental issues go away.