My story - side effects after stoppage!

  1. How did you find this forum?
    Google

  2. What is your current age, height, weight?
    32, 6ft -200lbs

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    Thorn ACL followed by surgery = not much physical activity

  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    meat,carbs,fruits &vegetables occasional fast food

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

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    1year 4months

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride?
    30

  8. How old were you when you quit?
    32

  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?
    11-12 months

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    Put an X beside all that apply:
    ONLY Testicular pain WHILE ON!
    All others after I STOPPED!

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
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ X] 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
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ X] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[X ] 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?
    None

  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)?
    No blood test yet.

  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.

[b]I started on propecia because of my hair loss, a battle that’s been going on for more then 9 years.After many products :minox,revivogen and many others that I’ve tried, I was loosing the fight.
So I surrendered to Propecia after visiting Rahal Hair Transplant in Ottawa,Canada(could’nt afford it!)so we discussed my other option Dr Rahal assured my worries that the effects of propecia if any would go away after stopping usage. Desperate I took the plunge!
I experienced absolutely no side effects for 11-12 months then I felt little testicular pain,very mild so I continued. My hair was getting a lot better!

I stopped because my wife and I want to have a child and recommendation by a doctor was to get off it for better chances to conceive. That was over 3 moths ago (late September’08)

The side effects (all the Xs above) didn’t start right away but about 5-6 weeks ago.[/b]

Questions:
-Is this common to get side effects after stoppage?
-Are they going to get worse?
-Should I jump to tribulus or any other herbal sup.?

Now I’m loosing my mind and my hair!
Please help!

Read FAQ at top of site and get bloodwork per list therein to see what is going on with your body, so you can evaluate next steps.

Yes, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. Do not wait around like most all the other poor paranoid souls on this website, and like I did, because I was scared into believing that the HCG that my roommate, an ex-body-builder, at the time was offering me. In hindsight, I would have taken it immediately. I would get on something immediately, to try to boost T back up.
If you are in Ottowa, I would go see Crisler in Michigan RIGHT AWAY! Dude, look at this as an emergency situation. You want to get treatment right away, otherwise you could drift into chronic side effects.
After you get your bloodtests first…
I would absolutely take Tribulus right away, because that is wat you can get your hands on, and then try to get on some HRT or PCT asap.
The only one it seems trying to actually take control and recover is ‘oneday’ right now. All the rest are mostly SO depressed and paranoid, a lot of them are stuck and still suffering, and will probably do so for a long while more.

Good luck man, Don’t let this get you down. Use it or Lose it. See this as an emergency situation and get on some stuff right away. Things are NOT just ‘going to get better with time’ Unless you want to wait 3 years plus!!

Good luck!

Thank you for replying!

I live in montreal,canada, I was in ottawa to for hair tran. consultation.

I got my self some tribulus and zma and scheduled a blood test!

I will keep you posted…

Good news for you is that you can join the Canadian class action, which I urge you to do once you have a handle on your situation. This echoes boston’s recommendation to be proactive about this, and change the situation, be it via treatment or challenging myth of 5ARinhibitor safety from a legal standpoint.