- Where are you from (country)?
European but live in Asia - 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 search - What is your current age, height, weight?
39 years, 1.87m, 80kg - Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
3x strength resistance training per week, 1-2 cardio per week - What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
In summer low to no carb / ketogenic, in winter slow carb, big focus on healthy nutrition - Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Had stopped hairloss with Nizoral & Rogain and wanted to test if regrowth can be achieved with Propecia - For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
6 months - How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
37, September 2015 - How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
37, February 2016 - How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey - What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Propecia - What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1 tablet with 1 mg/day - How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
After 4 months - 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
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] 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
[ X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
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
[X ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X ] Other (please explain)
Chronic symptoms:
- Hot feet
- Tingling feeling in left hand
- Permanent headache in left temple area
- Racing heart
- Almost daily 1x per day dizzy spells & anxiety attacks that last for 3-4hours
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Zoloft 50mg - 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)?
Had Testosterone & Cortisol tested which were in normal range - Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
See below - Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I took Propecia for 6 months. Approx. 4 months after starting to take Propecia it got chronic symptoms incl. tingling fingers in left hand, hot feet, strong permanent headaches in left temple, racing heart and approx. 1x day very strong dizzy spells / anxiety attacks that would last 3-4 hours. They feel like being very drunk, I get clouded vision and feel detached from reality. Even though I feel like stumbling or falling there are no real physical impairments. No other symptoms such as libido, etc. I have no history of depression or anxiety and during the time the symptoms appeared had no external factors such as stress, depression etc. that could have explained these symptoms. I also never had any other medical conditions & am otherwise perfectly healthy, physically and mentally. When I first had these attacks I completely panicked – I had never before experienced such strong reactions. I did not immediately make the connection to Propecia but as part of the investigation of what could be the cause stopped taking Propecia after approx…2 more months. This however did not stop the symptoms.
After having run all possible tests incl. blood work, heart monitor, heavy metal testing, hormone test, allergy tests, stool tests / integrative medicine, TCM, etc. and seeing approx. 8-9 different doctors no clear diagnosis could be made and no treatment had helped. As last resort I started to take Zoloft 50mg daily which after approx. 3 weeks removed ALL symptoms. I took Zoloft for approx. 5 months then tapered off and remained without any symptoms for almost 1 year. Approx. 4 weeks ago the symptoms started again and progressively worsened. I noticed that taking Adaptogens (ashwagandha rhodiola ginseng complex supplement) noticeably helped reduce the symptoms by approx… 40% but the remaining 60% are still too strong too endure.
Again there were no changes in my life such as stress, anxiety or depression and also no lifestyle changes that could explain the re-emergence of these symptoms. The only thing is that both times they started in winter around January.
I am otherwise a very fit & healthy 39 year old male. Strength training 3x per week, 1-2x cardio per week. Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t take any drugs or other medication. Very high emphasize on healthy nutrition in summer / for cutting low carb / ketogenic diet in winter / for bulking slow carb diet. I take a multi-vitamin, fish oil and a sawpalmetto supplement daily. I have used Nizoral and Rogaine with excellent results for approx. 5 years (stopped hairloss entirely & almost retained all hair).
In order to be able to function it seems I have no choice than to momentarily go back on Zoloft again which is really something I would rather avoid. At the same time I am now determined to find the root cause for these problems and get rid off them once and for all.
It would be fantastic if someone here has experienced a similar history and has found a cure. Currently my closed lead as diagnosis with similar symptoms is traumatic brain injury (TBI). This would point towards a hormone imbalance of sorts. Also since as long as I took Zoloft ALL symptoms went away and I feel perfectly fine it seems to be related to serotonin production / levels of some sort. No doctor I spoke with sofar has experience with such cases and nobody could recommend exactly which tests I could run that measure related hormone levels or other brain chemistry. It would really appreciate if someone here could list what I should be testing to be able to validated this hunch and narrow down the reasons to then find a permanent solution (hormone replacement therapy?). Thank you so much in advance for your help.