My story: finasteride

Member Stories
#1

Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.

Where are you from (country)?
Spain, madrid.
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
What is your current age, height, weight?
23,1,82,78
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1 mg/day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
3 weeks
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
22, 16 february
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
22, 5 march
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
3 weeks
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.

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

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ x] 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
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Nothing
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)?
Nothing
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?

Hi.Im jorge, from spain. Iv been on this drug called finasteride for 3 weeks. My dermatology prescribed me for hair loss but the problem was that i dont needed it, my head was full of hair, even in the frontal the problem was that it was getting weak but still not a visual problem, so to prevent it my dermatology prescribe me this shit.it was all normal till in the 3 week i wake up with depressive symptoms that lasted till today.now it seems that im recoverying from this symptom, im feeling better today but im still with this slightly low mood and with a difficulty to get a full erection and to fully concentrate while studying.the problem is that all people around me are trying to convince me to starting taking again this pill because they think its mental and there is a small minority of people who developed severe symptoms and that this pill would help me with my hair a lot now that im in time to keeping my hair and getting the density i had before but im scared of getting again this severe low mood i had and start to develop more other symptoms like neurological or sexual that can disabled me. What should i do? Give another chance to this medication?or tryng with another treatments like minoxidil, prp, mesoteraphy or so? I wont take a hair transplant because i have a lot of hair and its contraindicating whe you dont have a moderate/severe alopecia.so,what should i do?

#2

I wouldn’t take anything anymore if i was you. PFS is a serious condition. Your life lesson after this shit should be ‘be careful with your health’. So please be careful with your body. What do you want more? No hairloss or a healthy body?

#3

I’m pretty sure any of us here would go completely bald instantly to be free of PFS. Don’t do anything, just get a new haircut. For goodness’ sake don’t take ANYTHING again and if you’re recovering then congratulations.

Stay away from anything else. Just wait for the symptoms to go and move on.

3 Likes
#4

Hi Jorge.

If you are going to take finasteride again, you will likely have another bad reaction.

This is not a hairloss forum. If you want advice for your hair, go somewhere else. If you have persistent problems after stopping finasteride, we will try to help and support you. If you want to keep taking finasteride, this is not the forum for you.

My advice, as above, is to accept that you are someone for whom this type of treatment will only cause problems.

4 Likes
#5

to be honest i wouldnt. but i have a full head of hair. i hope for a natural recovery. but my hope fades every month when im not better. is here anyone with cognitive impairment that completely resolved over the years? would be a great motivation

#6

this. this is a forum for people that struggle with side effects even after stopping these drugs like finasteride. There are other ways to help with hair loss. finasteride is the wrong way

#7

Shave your head or get used to having bald spots, don’t ever touch ANYTHING for hair treatment again (including lotions or shampoos), and pray you completely recover naturally while you’re young. I was 24 when I crashed. I’m 42 now and I get great relief with the use of amino acids, but if I could do it over, I’d love to just be bald and never have been through this. This website is here for a reason and it’s not so we can sit here and chat to be friends. Two people on here threatened to commit suicide in just the last couple of weeks, one of which was confirmed and another that is unconfirmed but no one has heard from since.

5 Likes
#8

Thanks for your advice. Definitely im not going to take propecia ever again after what i read here.i just asked if theres another safety treatment for hairloss so i dont have to take this shit again. But if theres not i will asume it,dont worry. The problem is that im a depressive person from the start but i dont know if it was finasteride or my mind that when i take it my mood gets worse than ever. So maybe it was my suggestion but i dont want to take the risk. Thanks

#9

I know that this condition is a hell, and i know that more than 50 people died because of this shit and many other gets his life ruined but still its a minority the people that had this condition.and even the people who had it, most of them almost recover from it or manage to live “fine” whit it. Im not disacrediting this condition, i know that is very hard to deal whit it but from what i read here,theres much hope and probably this will be cured in a few years

#10

Jorge, depression is very much a symptom of PFS.

Whatever you’re thinking right now, you don’t need to find a reason to work out how you feel. Just try to be healthy and move on.

You can’t use another product to save your hair. Sorry.

1 Like
#11

Don’t take it man please we are all suffering here, hair loss sucks don’t get me wrong but I don’t care about my hair anymore after what this did to my life please avoid this stuff it is not safe your sides could have been much worse please listen to what we are telling you!

1 Like
#12

probably this wont be cured in a few years . its a complex condition and as we see how slow medicine works, in the worst case, we are all stuck in this place for our lifetime

#13

…well in case anyone was in danger of having a good, optimistic day…

1 Like
#14

But still many people recovered from this, yeah sometimes it takes years but they do or they manage to live with this without caring too much and enjoying life. Iv been searching for many cases with this condition here and in youtube or other forums and many of them recovery like a 80% or so with this.there are very few the people who get worse in a point to comitting suicide. In fact, in spain there are just a bunch of 70 to 100 people or so with this condition and the most of them are now recovered.there are many options of treatments maybe there is not a “main” treatment that works for all but there are many options.dont give up