My story - help wanted!

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)? Norway

  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

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 25, 1.83cm, 72kg

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? No, though my work is somewhat physical

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Healthy.

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

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 7 months

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 23, started Sept. 2010

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? stopped March 2011

  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

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

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 7 months, quit right after

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

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
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] 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
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

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

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

[X] Other (please explain)
Varicocele

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Nothing

  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)? Don’t have them

  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.

Well, I started taking it to combat hair loss, stopped after 7 months because of (sudden) erectile dysfunction. After I quit I’ve experienced the following symptoms:

  • Low libido (don’t quite get the same reaction from watching porn. I can still get hard, but it takes a little more effort than before. Rarely horny)
  • Varicocele (gotten increasingly worse and more painful, thinking about surgery)
  • Prostate pain/discomfort (whenever my bowels are full, my penis and nutsack look somewhat different (they contract and get numb in a way)
  • Sometimes when I wake up after a night out, my genital area hurts like fuck.
  • Penis generally more numb and different from before, nutsack looking a bit odd (probably due to the varicocele)

Took me a while to join this site and post this because I thought the symptoms would go away after a while (and sometimes they did, it was a roller coaster at times). I do have a sneaky suspicion that this may all be linked to my prostate, and that if I manage to get that little fucker sorted out everything will be fine, but some of you undoubtedly know more about this than I do.

I desperately need your help, because now I’m starting to get really worried that I’ll never be the same as I was in terms of libido and overall genital function.

#2

Although it may be hard to believe, you are actually better off than some guys here. Some of us can’t get erections at all, or only get weak ones with extreme difficulty. Also, you seem to have been spared from the nasty mental side effects that a lot of guys get (brain fog and depression being but two). Finally, your symptoms come and go. A lot of guys on here have flat symptoms with no improvement or period of improvement.

All that said, this is still a shitty state to be in. Looking at your symptom list I think we are just about in the same boat, although I don’t have the constant genital pain that you do. My symptoms also improve intermittently like yours. Your symptoms do seem to be prostate-related, so I would strongly recommend a prostate exam and other tests to check for prostatis. The broccoli treatment may also help you.

Hang in there man. I have a feeling that if we all get the word out and band together we can find a cure.

1 Like
#3

Thanks for your reply, and I agree that it does seem to be prostate-related.

I also want to say that I realize I’m better off than a lot of the guys on here, and it must be extraordinarily frustrating for them that almost no doctors believe them. I sympathize with you guys, and I hope you all get better soon. I had erectile dysfunction for two days (which is why I quit fin), and it was extremely scary, and I panicked completely, so no one is going to tell me that this shit doesn’t f*ck people up.

#4

Thought I’d ask for help again…

I’ve now been off the drug 2 1/2 years. Been in a state of denial since I suppose, always thinking that I would return to normal sooner or later… But over the past 3 months I’ve started getting more and worse symptoms; digestion problems, periodic anxiety (had a panic attack while on marihuana, not touching that shit again, but I think it might be related), depression, emotional flatness, very low libido (pretty much non-existent most of the time), erectile problems (a lot of the time. I can get hard, but most often it takes more work and it’s harder to stay erect), discomfort in the genital area (testicle pain, and pain in lower abdomen/back), breathing difficulties (feels like my throat is swelling up), fatigue (get exhausted very quickly while doing physical things), feeling physically weak…

I’m very scared at the moment :frowning: Terrified that I might have screwed up something permanently… Feeling that life isn’t worth living at times.

I have a doctor’s appointment on Monday, going to request that my hormone levels get checked. If these turn out to be normal (which I get the impression is usually the case with guys on here), what can/should I do?!? Is there anything I CAN do? I want my sex drive back, and I don’t want to be depressed anymore ;(

What is this broccoli treatment that I’ve read people talking about?

#5

My hair loss has completely stopped by the way. Haven’t lost anything since quitting finasteride, and I was well on my way to being bald (would’ve been almost completely bald by now I think). Thinking this must be related to 5AR somehow, maybe my body has stopped producing it to a degree or something?

#6

Just got back from the doctor. Told her everything about my symptoms, and told her that I took finasteride for a period of time and that I think all of this is related to that. She told me she’d be happy to test my hormone levels if I wanted to, but that she thinks this has to do with something else. She also said that she doubted this had something to do with the prostate, because if it did then I’d be getting different symptoms, like dribbling, frequent urination and so on. She also said that she saw no evidence of varicocele or hydrocele, which surprised me.

Next up is getting my testicles ultrasounded, plus a whole range of tests, including testosterone and thyroid levels. If everything comes back normal I’ll start getting a bit more adamant that this must have something to do with my hormones and my finasteride use.

#7

So, back again…

I had 4 days where I felt completely normal again. Strong erections, normal libido, normal penis/no more genital shrinkage, energy, no more depression etc. In short I felt fantastic, and I was thrilled about it. That was 3-4 weeks ago, and I’ve deteriorated since, and now I’ve hit another low…

Really starting to lose hope. I feel so f*cking crappy right now. Depressed, mood-swings, anxiety, throat problems/difficulty breathing, trouble sleeping, and worst of all, zero libido and difficulty getting and maintaining an erection. Also, I seem to have gotten worse throughout these two years, as opposed to others here who have gotten better. That thought is really tearing at my last hope of getting better.

Thinking about asking my doctor for a full hormonal profile, even if it doesn’t seem to have done much good for others in here.

I’m deeply unhappy, and I just can’t go on living like this.

#8

I’m also gonna try not masturbating for a while too (not that I want to anyway), and see whether that will affect my symptoms to any degree, one way or the other.

#9

Hi, just want to find out if you followed any of the guidelines that the people in the ‘Recovery’ section posted? Such as living healthy, eating healthy, do weight lifting etc? For me, they seem to help. Also, I’m going through acupuncture treatment. I think that helps also.

#10

Well I do eat healthy (though at times I have an irregular eating pattern), and I consider myself relatively healthy. I have a very irregular sleeping pattern though, and I don’t lift weights, but I might try doing that (even if I have little energy and strength).

Anyway, feeling a little better than the last time I was in here. At least the anxiety and depression has gone away (for now anyway), libido better (around 80-85% I’d say). Hopefully I continue to improve.

#11

I always get so much worse the day after I’ve been drinking. I really feel like shit, with anxiety, depression, low libido and discomfort in the genital area, etc. Sometimes it lasts several days afterwards (if I’ve been drinking heavily). Anyone know why?

Anyway, I have begun to exercise a bit now (doing pushups and cardio), and eating healthier and more regularly. Libido still fairly low (though it occasionally spikes), but I can get hard (recovery time after masturbation is a few hours though, and it used to be like 15 minutes).