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)?
United States
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?)
Via reddits PFS subreddit
What is your current age, height, weight?
24, 5’9, 162lbs
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.)?
0.25mg
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Androgenic alopecia
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
3.9 months
Date when you started the drug?
Feb 8 2025
Date when you quit the drug?
June 6 2025
Age when you quit?
24
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
I noticed erectile dysfunction about 1-2 months while taking finasteride, and high estrogen symptoms (managed with aromasin). Then like a frog in hot water, I slowly became very depressed and more anxious. June 6 was an enormous panic attack when I knew something was definitely wrong.
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
When off of my current routine (HCG+Testosterone+DHEA&PREG), I experience the following: (checklist)
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
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[x] 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 or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[x] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] 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
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[x] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] 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?
My sweet spot for 85-95% improvement is the following:
70-90mg Testosterone CYP weekly (split EOD SUBQ Injections)
1,162iu HCG weekly (split EOD SUBQ Injections): This is the most important in my stack arguably, and it saved my life.
6.25 mg DHEA morning (helps with libido and anhedonia)
25 mg Pregnenolone split morning and night
0.125mg Arimidex EOD to manage estrogen
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)?
After stopping finasteride, I couldn’t stand how I felt and I had access to testosterone and hcg. While on fin I was already using TRT (110mg) and HCG (~500iu weekly to keep balls working). When I crashed I immediately increased my testosterone to ~250 mg and HCG to ~1,500-2,000iu in an effort to combat the side effects. In blood work with this large amount of androgens, I had a very high total testosterone and a disproportionately high free test (my guess is the lack of 5ar, leading to a higher amount of circulating “substrate”). This also caused high estrogen because there isn’t any 5ar or dht to balance it. My DHT was in normal range, but considering my enormous test levels it seemed disproportionally low.
The most recent blood test shows dht stayed around the same with lowered test, while taking 10g creatine daily (signaling my 5ar is recovering but my tissues are still changed somehow).
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
One thing to note is that while I recovered well with HCG and test, my gut was still fucked. Soft stools and poor digestion even when my emotions were regulated. I started eating a serving of kimchi every day for several weeks, and that seemed to heal my gut. Now I have perfectly healthy stools every day following this regimen.
Regarding hair loss, my hairline has gotten a little better because I have a very rigorous regimen now with topical AR inhibitors. However, a month after stopping fin, I developed a telogen effluvium shed all over my head that has yet to stop to this day. It could be a shed from starting or stopping fin, or from blasting HCG and test, or from the extreme stress of PFS. My micronutrients are very good so I am just waiting now for it to hopefully resolve itself.
Interestingly, lending to the androgen receptor theory in my opinion, I developed severe dry eye after stopping the drug, diagnosed by my eye doctor. I still suffer from dry eye to this day, but when the large amount of testosterone I took kicked in, it went away. These days I have been slowly titrating down the testosterone to not wreck my body long term and see what I can handle. The lower my test, the worse the dry eye gets, although Ive been managing with saline drops and blinking (regular pf eye drops seemed to irritate me).
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
So anytime I drop my hcg below 1.1k weekly, I develop PFS symptoms again, the first one mainly being terrible anxiety and poor well being. Pounding heart and panic attacks non stop, or triggered very easily. My guess is the progesterone stimulating effects of HCG are giving me my allopregnenolone that I need very badly. The pregnenolone I take daily honestly doesnt feel like it does much, but on blood test it showed by preg and dhea were low normal so I supplement to get them up and aid in memory formation, libido etc. DHEA especially helps with libido alot, and it makes sense hormonally.
Some things I am experimenting with right now are L-Carnitine 500mg (injectable because oral bioavailability is low AF). This is in an effort to re-sensitize AR, especially in my Meibomian glands of the eye. I have also read lots about the proviron cycle people talk about and It seems interesting to try. Luckily when this whole debacle happened to me I had extensive knowledge about hormone usage and access to them. I do not know how long I would have lasted without HRT, the pfs sides are like withdrawing from several drugs x2. I say I am 85-95% recovered but these days I suffer from slight anhedonia and constantly elevated estrogen that I have to manage with an aromatase inhibitor. One thing to note about HCG is that in a dose dependent manner, it will disproportionately increase estrogen with higher dosages, so if you use it you should split the doses into daily or eod to avoid excess aromatization that occurs in the testicles. This video discusses the mechanism behind HCG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWQa0G5Ep8c. Another very important thing for you guys, HCG can often be underdosed. Please try to find a reliable source or get it prescribed before you write it off as something that didn’t work for you. If you DM me, I can provide you a source. Also I can provide bloodwork of me at blasting dosages and me at lower androgen dosages.
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance:
- Dosage:
- How often you took it:
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]