Hello guys, here’s my story. I’m currently experiencing the “crash” and I’m seeing my doctor again soon, so I thought you guys could give some insight
- Where are you from (country)?
Brazil - 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?)
Googling “finasteride heat flash” - What is your current age, height, weight?
23, 181m, 66kg - Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
I normally walk a lot (no car). Due to fin, I started doing some home excercises - What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
Mostly healthy: no soda, no alcohol, lots of (green) tea, only whole grains, but sometimes I would go for chocolate or fast food. Since this crashed started, however, I’ve been eating like a monk - Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
hair loss - For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
roughly 3,5 years - How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
19 years old, June/2010 - How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
23 years old, February/2014 - How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey - What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
generic - What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1 mg/day - How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
2 years into = reduced libido, couldn’t easily masturbate x3 a day anymore. My sperm would also look weird sometimes and wouldn’t come in jets. Other effects started to appear, but they were somewhat sporadic so I didn’t think at time they were caused by fin
3,5 years into = hot flashes and a sick-like condition (heavy head, 37ºC “fever”, brain fog) became constant - What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
All of them, though I have just quit the drug
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[X] 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
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[x] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[X] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[X] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
Face aches, fat redistribution and body feminization, possible osteoporosis; more details on (17)
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Just a improved lifestyle for the time, seeing my doctor again soon - 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)?
I don’t have the pre tests - Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
See next - Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
My hair became thinner when I was 18. I went to a dermatologist and she recommend me Minoxil, which I used for about a year. Eventually, seeing no results (negative or positive) on Mixodil, I started taking fin on my own. I did some research on it beforehand, but back in 2010 fin mental and physical side effects were treated with suspicion. The generic drug was cheap and easy to acquire, so I pretty much forgot about it, thinking my hair was safe until my 30s.
My first side effects came two years later, the usual reduced libido and pitiful ejaculation. I was kind of expecting them and they didn’t bother me so much (I had no girlfriend at the time and I could still masturbate daily if I wanted, although not so easily). In hindsight, I was already experiencing others effects past these two years, but they would come randomly and be gone on the same day, so I never linked them to fin. I had face aches, panic attacks, insomnia, digestion problems. I went several times to the doctor feeling “sick” (mind fog and hot flashes posing as fever) without any other symptom. Looking at a X-ray, a doctor once said I had osteoporosis. My skin became dry and slightly shaggy, I went from skinny to skinnyfat (anorexic forearms + protuberant belly), my body became more feminine (thin waist, though no gyno). At the time, I didn’t imagine fin was the cause of these symptom, so I would needlessly seek medical help (I had magnetic resonance imaging for the mind fog) or just think I was getting old/lazy (the skin, the abdominal fat). >If there’s any relief in all this, at least now I know the cause of these problems and can try to address them properly; it’s better than just feel “worse” each year for no reason at all<
Begging this year, my sick condition and the hot flashes started to last for days. Once again, I thought I was really sick and had exams for almost everything, without results. Then I had a very distinct hot flash on my leg, like I never felt before (they’re were usually on the forehead). I searched it, which lead to antiandrogens, which lead to this forum. I stopped taking the pill immediately and then went to a endocrinologist. Thankfully, even if she wasn’t an specialist, she was aware of the side effects of fin and didn’t treat me like a paranoid. She asked for some basic tests to be taken after forty days and then return. The thing is, I didn’t had a crash at the time, so I underwent the tests and the results were on range. The tests were DHEA sulfate, FSH, TSH, Free and Total Testosterone, SHBG, Blood Count, Cholesterol, Creatine Phosphokinase, AST and ALT (FSH and platelets were on the lower end of the range). On returning, she said I was ok and that I should come back a few months later. I thought the crash only occurred 1-2 weeks after withdraw, so I guessed I was a lucky to not have it and just carry on my natural recovery.
Yesterday, the crash came. I had a fight with a relative and my mind fog/fever surged stronger than ever. My face ached terribly on the left side and I started to feel hysterical/suicidal. I could only sleep for 2-3 hours before awaking from terrible nightmares and stay alert for 2 more hours until the next one. Today, I took the day off and spent it all listening to music and exercising, trying to relax. The hysterics disappeared, but the mind fog and the face ache (various spots on the left side) came and went by through the day. My mouth is now aching, like the corners of it have “shrunk” leaving only tense skin left. Today has been a better day, but probably because yesterday was the worst day of my life. Let’s see how I’ll sleep today.
I’m seeing my doctor this Thursday and I would like your help on some matters:
My main concerns are now the fat redistribution (possible shrunk/asymmetrical face, hasn’t happened yet), because it’s widely evident to others, and the mind fog, because it makes my life utterly terrible. I haven’t had the courage to read much of the forum yet (it makes me more hysterical/hateful and I’m quite unstable at the moment) but I think the face aches and the insomnia are linked to abnormal cortisol levels. Is there any treatment available for the cortisol? Can the fat redistribution be reverted? As for the mind fog, I know it’s more complicated, but is there any neurosteroid you experienced to be crucial to recovery? I don’t think my doctor will comply to all the test listed in the FAQ (I don’t even know if they’re available in my country), but which are the ones you would say are definitely necessary? Should I seek another doctor because she only asked for a very few basic tests? Until I see her, I’m taking ginseng multivitamin and fish oil. Should I stick to then? Is there other supplement (I’m thinking specially about magnesium) which could ease the crash? One more question about masturbation: since I quit fin, I have being trying to masturbate as many times a day as I can in order improve testosterone. Is it detrimental or beneficial?
Thank you folks.