my story- guys I would be eternally grateful for some advice

first of all, i just have to say that this website is a godsend. you’re all great men, and if i could, i would buy each and every one of you a beer

here are the facts. I am 22. I used propecia 1 mg tablets on a mostly consistent basis for about a year. i then took three months off because I thought the drug was way too expensive,and my hair was starting to really look great. I then took propecia again for another 6 months afternoticing my hair falling out at faster rates. last week i stopped taking propecia. here’s why:

When i started propecia, I was just turning 21. i was as virile as a bull shark. I stared at tits and ass all day (i am not trying to joke around i will keep it serious) and i watched porn almost daily and tried to chase every girl i met. when i started taking propecia i was extremely hesistant about the side effects i read about, but i , like so many of you fine gentleman, followed merck’s bullshit claims that 'it only affected less than 2% of 'to the depths of mental hell. around the time when i started taking the drug i also started dating my current girlfriend. as you all know the first months of a great relationship are full of fantastic, non stop sex, and i couldnt keep my hands off her. after 4 months of dating and no side effects (hair looked much better), she moved across the country, and because i loved her, i decided to stay with her in a long distance relationship.
here is where propecia rears its nasty fucking head.
while she was away(for 6 months!!!) the side effects of propecia came into play, but they came so subtly, i only started to notice much later. while i was home with my friends, i would keep in good contact with my girl across the country while still going out with my mates and helping them chase tail and generally be fun loving young guys. it was about after a month or two ofmy long distance relationship that i began to wonder. i never had the desire to masturbate. morning wood stopped occuring. I also felt less mentally sharp and i wasnt on point. here i was, having not had sex for several months, losing the desire to at least talk to girls while my girlfriend was across the country. now i respect women and the moral code that no man should ever cheat on his girl. but here i was with NO desire to even think about girls. my friends would encourage me, hey man, just help me wing it tonight, lets just meet some chicks, and i had no desire to help. my friends were amazed that i could keep up such abstinence but little did they know i was on the devil’s pill.

anyway, after those 6 months, my gf moved back and we have been dating ever since. i stopped taking propecia for 3 months in the summer not because I had side effects but because the drug became too expensive. during those 3months i didnt notice any relief from side effects and when i got another job last fall, i began taking the 1mg pills again. I had been on the drugs for the last 6 or so months, and stopped taking them last week when i found this website and realized that my loss of morning wood and loss of sexual desire and general mental ‘foginess’ where commonplace side effects of this terrible pill. So now i begin my recovery from propecia but before I take a trip to the endocrinologist, change my diet, and start trying to regain my mojo i wanted some questions answered and i was hoping you guys couldhelp answer.

I certaintly lost a lot of my libido. I have sex with my girlfriend about 3 times a week (which is low when youre both 22 year olds) but it doesnt feel thesame.
my main question is: can i pin my lack of sexual desire and infrequent encounters solely on propecia or is it also maybe a product of dating a girl for over a year and a half and having thing just turn stale, as in, im under the impression that anyone who dates someone for over a year loses sexual interest at least somewhat? it is a possibility that my loss of mojo was just a product of a stale sexual relationship or does propecia come into play?

also, beause the side effects took so long to kick in and did so very gradually , i cant really remember what it was like to be a really horny man. because of this mental cloudiness, i cant quite remember what i lost, so i cannot determine exactly howmuch libido i lost, but i know i used to be hornier.i just dont feel it anymore!

ive been off the drugs for a week. morning erections non existent, and i dont feel the need to whack off ever.
is it worth going to an endocrinologist or will i just pysch myself out of future recovery? this site is extremely helpful but i worry that there can come a point where one starts to seek too much advice and delays helping themself.

also, a lot ofthe ‘full, 98%, almost full’ etc. recovery stories posted concern guys that have the drugs for a matter of months or less. do you guys have any ideas about recovery times for aguy that has taken satan’s pill for over 1.5 years?

i cant thank you guys enough for taking thetime to read my story. any advice in any form is welcome. if you guys ever want to bring merck down i am there with you and i will spend every last dollar i have made suing the shit outta them.

god bless

boston87

Congratulations on quiting this horrible pill. You have chosen life over hair in my opinion.

You should probably fill out the form under, “New Members start here” It asks a bunch of questions that can help members know what advice to possibly give you.

You will probably have to go to your primary care dr first and run a blood test. Then he will refer you to an endocrinoligist. I had to go to 3 before I found one that believed I had a problem and believed Propecia might have casued the problem. I say, “might” even though I know, because the other drs were pricks. They thought I was fine.

I actually saw one dr in the Boston area. This dr was an a hole. I have now moved outside of Boston and seeing a dr in a sister state of MA. He is a very understanding endo dr and wants to help. If you are interested in possibly seeing this dr I can PM his name to you. It might be a little bit of hike for you if you’re living in Boston though.

You should test as many hormones as possible. There is a short list on the main area of the website. ALso, get the test done at 8:00 am. This is very important. The male hormones should be at peak levels at this time.

My advice is once you get the blood test. Post it here and guys can tell you what they think. Also, try to look on the website for other guys that had similar blood results as yours and see what may have worked for them.

good luck BostonUSA

thanks boston. heres my info guys. thank you so much for all your time and help

  1. How did you find this forum?
    Just dedicated googling-is that a verb now?

  2. What is your current age, height, weight?
    22,6’1”, 185

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    Not really

  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Try toeat healthy . Eat a lot of whole grains and organics. Drink a lot of alcohol on weekends

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

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    1.5 years. 1 year straight, a couple months off, then5-6 months back on

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride?
    20

  8. How old were you when you quit?
    22

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

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

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

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    that’s the damn problem. I don’t remember how I used to feel aka levels of mental sharpness and sex drive. I guess I started to feel the side effects 5-6 months into taking it

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Just quit one week ago. Decreased sex drive, lost mental sharpness, less aggressive, less erections

Put an X beside all that apply:

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

Mental
[x ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[x ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

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
[ ] 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?
    Nothing yet

boston87,

so it looks like you took the pill for about 2 years. There a lot of problems you didn’t check off that a lot of us have experienced such muscle wastage, joint issues, stomach problems. That could bode well for you.

You really need to take the next step and get a blood test done. Push your dr to include as many hormones as possible. My dr originally only included 3 hormones, T, Free T & SHBG. There are a ton of HOrmones that are infuenced by the drug. The more you can test for the better.

There is a short list on the main area of the website. I would try to include as many as possible. I have done 7 blood tests in 8 months; and only now after my 7th test do I feel I am starting to realize what hormones are the worst off. If I could have tested all of these hormones 7 months ago, I might have been able to save myself some time.

I imagine your probably not looking forward to going to the dr to discuss all of these problems. I remember thinking the same thing. It sucks to have to bring this shit up with a dr for the first time. You will be glad you did though once you do it.

good luck