Where are you from (country)? Brazil
How did you find this forum? Google search (looking for answers for my symptoms)
What is your current age, height, weight? 28, 1.75m (5 ft 9 in), 78kg (172 lbs)
What specific drug did you use? finasteride and minoxidil (liquid solution applied to the hair)
What dose did you take? I can’t remember the specific percentage. I wanna say 5% minoxidil, no idea about finasteride
What condition was being treated with the drug? androgenic alopecia
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? around one month
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 25 years old, April 2018
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 25 years old, May 2018
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? around two months after quitting
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[X] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[X] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[X] Lowered body temperature
[X] Other (please explain)
Would wake up every two hours, strange body odor, smell loss, eye floaters, dry eyes, sensitivity to light, no appetite
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
zolpidem (for a week), supplements (magnesium l-threonate, acetyl-l-cartinine, l-arginine, l-citrulline, alpha-lipoic acid), probiotics, keto diet and fasting
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?
Low Testosterone, Extremely Low Cortisol, High Growth Hormone levels
I feel like it’s time to share my story after three long years. I’ll try to make it as short of a story as possible.
Doc prescribed me a liquid solution containing minoxidil and finasteride that I should apply to my hair once a day, which I did for about a month. It was April 2018. In May I decided to stop since I figured I wouldn’t wanna spend my whole life doing it every single day. I called him and he said it really was up to me, and so that’s what I did.
I started having weird sexual symptoms in July 2018. It was my first, not-so-terrible “crash”. I felt like I was losing interest in sex as it didn’t really feel that good anymore (“lack of sensitivity”). My orgasms were weaker and there was very low semen volume. My testosterone levels (free/total) were alright. Obviously no doctor knew what was going on. I decided to move on with my life. None of these symptoms really improved to this day.
Fast forward to October 2019. That’s when I crashed real hard. I remember waking up one night and I was soaked in sweat, my heart was pounding like crazy. From that night on, besides not being able to sleep for more than two hours without waking up, I started having smell loss/taste, crazy headaches, blurred vision (left eye), dry eyes, eye floaters, light sensitivity, tinnitus, bone pain, back pain, and all the awful mental side effects like brain fog, emotional blunting, and also had difficulty concentrating. My body smelled awful. The sexual sides got even worse during this time and I experienced ED for the first time since my hormones were all over the place.
I had to take zolpidem to help me sleep for a week. It did help me with that but it made me feel even worse in the morning. I started taking magnesium l-threonate and alpha-lipoic acid once a day. I only began to see improvements after some 40 days (December 2019). Since then I’ve tried fasting (it helped mentally), keto diet, probiotics (mostly kefir and kombucha), and the other supplements listed above.
As of May 2021: All the vision problems continue, as well as the loss of smell, and occasional headaches and body pain. I still have very little penis sensitivity and low libido. My hormone levels got back to normal, I can sleep for 6-7 hours every night, the brain fog and the tinnitus are pretty much gone and I haven’t experienced ED again.
So yeah, those who don’t believe that a liquid solution applied to your scalp can do as much harm to your body as a pill or a tablet… yes, it can. The thing, though, is that I used to be certain finasteride was the main cause of all this shit, but I’ve also seen people complaining about minoxidil with very similar side effects, so I have no idea anymore. What is your take on this, and has anyone had these same symptoms after taking minoxidil?
Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment, ask questions or message me.