my story from Spain

Member Stories
#1
  1. Where are you from (country)?
    Madrid, Spain
  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
  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    38
  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    jogging 2 days a week
  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    multivitamin supplement, tribulus terrestris caps
  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    Hair loss
  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    4 years and 8 months continuously
  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    33 years old
  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    37 yers old
  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    cold turkey
  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    proscar fragmented in 4 pieces
  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1,25 mg/day, everyday
  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    I noticed side effects the last year of use, but I still kept taking it for just about 7 or 8 months more, as I didn’t thought that it was a finasteride-related issue
  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    on the drug I experience sex drive and ED, the rest of symtoms came after quitting.
    Put an X beside all that apply:

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

Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] 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] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[x] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[x] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] Joint Pain
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[x] Lowered body temperature

[x] Other (please explain)
Bag under eyes, as a consequence of liquid retention
extreme insomnia

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    multivitamin complex and tribuls terrestris supplement

  2. 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)?
    prolactine ranges very high, and possible hypothyroidism.
    I still have to get a further blood test.

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

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

#2

Your story?

#3

I started taking Proscar (fragmented in 4 pieces) in 2008. I never felt wrong on this drug until the last year of use. Then, I noticed that my pennish turned out to be smaller and smaller, but it still worked ok, so I didn’t thought it was very serious. Shrotly after, I experienced the symptoms of hypothyroidism, pain in the thyroid gland, hair fragile, fasciculations, dry circles on the upper eyelids,and very dry skin.

I went to my Gp and despite he didn’t think it was a finasteride-related issue, he advised me to give up. I quit cold turkey in 2012, as I din’t have any info about how to quit the drug. Few days later, I found out this forum and I became terrified. Once I quit the drug, I experienced most of the symptoms described in this website, and some other new, like my eyelids swollen. Two months later, most of the side effects, dissapeared, but not the sexual problems, like lack of libido, ED, loss of morning erections and so on.

The thing is that about 11 months later, all the horrible side effects came back in full force again. Side effects such as pain in the thyroid gland, swollen eyelids,insomnia, and depression. Also, I started to experience muscle wasting and lost of stamina and strength. Now 13 months later, my life is all crap, my total testosterone levels are 340 ng/ml, Ranges from 300 ng/ml to 900ng/ml, and my prolactine is 42 ng/ml, ranges 2,5 ng/ml to 17 ng/ml. The thing is that Dr’s think that it’s not anything worrying, and he are just checking those hormones, ignoring the rest of them. What is more, they don’t think it is related to Finasteride, which it’s horrible because I’m really helpless on this matter.

#4

Can you remember if there was something that happened at 11 months from quitting, that might have caused the side effects to return? Too much sports, sex, junk food or something else? Did you have symptoms of a crash?

#5

Honestly, I think it’s all completely out of our control. I also had a massive downward spike around year mark and now it’s been uphill again. Slowly things improve even with horrifying downward spikes

#6

Yes, I was highly stressed out one month before that crash of 11 months after quitting the drug. I was getting a lot of stress from work, as the company was in huge employee downsizing. Also the bets-known state Bank of Spain, ripped off all my lifelong savings, in the biggest finacial scandal ever happened in Spain. That was more than a shock for me.

#7

you may aswell ask a monkey to change a head gasket than ask a doctor about finasteride side effects,they just dont have a clue about it YET…