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?) Google
What is your current age, height, weight? 29, 5’10, 140 lbs
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)? roughly 18 months
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 28
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 29
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? about 8 months in
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? no libido, bad skin, extreme fatigue at times, tingling prostate
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
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] 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
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[x ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x ] Muscle Wastage
[ x] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[x ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[x ] Prostate pain
[x ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ x] 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? Wellbutrin
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)? None
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Hi guys, I’ve been visiting the site for a while but didn’t feel well enough to post. Recently the anxiety/extreme depression has seemingly cleared up, so I am posting on here. I started taking finasteride in April 2018. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my symptoms were coming on slowly probably from the time I started the drug. I remember thinking about 5-6 months on the drug that I was drinking a lot of coffee and maybe had a chronic fatigue syndrome. I had a gf at the time and was not having any performance issues, but had very little interest in masturbating during periods away from her. We ended up breaking up about 8 months on the drug.
During my time alone, things got significantly worse. Around 12 months on the drug I started getting very bad stomach pains that I could not figure out. I went to numerous gastro appointments with no help. Shortly after the stomach pains the brain fog started. Periodically I would get debilitating brain fog, but it didn’t seem to coincide with the stomach problems. I still was naive and didn’t even consider finasteride. My skin then went to shit on my face, penis and back of hands. It is like all are seethrough. I got the red spots at the tip of the penis that a lot of people on here complain about. With this, the prostate tingling began. I was getting tested for STDs with nothing coming up. I was urinating 16-20 times dome days, but urology said nothing was wrong with me. I still had no idea what was going on as each doctor (probably a total of 30 appointments in 4-5 month span told me it had nothing to do with finasteride). I eventually stopped taking the drug in November 2019, after my libido had disappeared and my ejaculate was barely anything/watery. After I stopped taking the drug none of my symptoms improved other than my urination calmed down…still not perfect. In February 2020, about 2-3 months off the drug the, the depression started. I could barely operate it was so bad. Luckily I was already seeing a therapist from a urologist thinking I was a hypochondriac. The therapist has been helpful just as someone to speak with. When the depression became unbearable we agreed to start Wellbutrin. I am not sure if it the Wellbrutrin or not but my anxiety/depression is significantly better today. Around the same time I started Wellbutrin, I started eating a strict paleo diet, 16 hour intermittent fasting every day(I only eat between 12-8 pm), stopped drinking alcohol/coffee.
So an update on my situation right now. I am 2 months on Wellbutrin, paleo/intermittent fasting (with no breaks). I have seen improvements in the past 2 months. I even had a wet dream the other night…as I get nocturnal erections frequently, but never close to one during the day. But I am still dealing with the below symptoms which are not much fun.
-No Libido
-Low energy (hard to get out of bed some days after 9 hours of sleep)
-bad skin (face, back of hands, red spots on penis)
-periodically tingling prostate (urination becomes more frequent when this is happening)
I guess if anyone can help that has dealt with these symptoms, that would be great…
