hey guys, It’s me Cinnimon.
Ok, you might be wondering what we have in common…well we both used fin…and I have a prostate too. I’m a surgical female (2005).
Still with me?
Good 
I took this for a different reason than you guys did, I did have hair loss on my temples when I was 18 so when I hear by word of mouth that fin could help with regrowing my lost hair and block DHT I was really excited to try it. Plus most everyone in our community believes that blocking testosterone with fin is the greatest thing…well I know better from learning it the hard way.
You only have to check out my pics from before and after or my videos.
I hope to get help to recover myself and for my girlfriends that have quit fin or are thinking about quiting and researching their side effects. I’ve seen many beautiful girls age dramatically post fin - it’s a shame not enough is said about it in our community. That’s what it’s about for me. Nothing more.
I love guys and I hate to think that so many have gone for this and are having so much pain and problems afterwards.
ok now for my story…
- Where are you from (country)?
USA
- 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 - “dark circles” “can’t think clearly” “visceral fat gain” “low testosterone effects” “is testosterone important to females” “purple eye lids”
“side effects of hair loss treatments” “skin aging and fat loss from medication” so many more I can’t remember. I began my searches about 5 months ago while I was still a fin user. I was shocked, before I always thought fin was a good thing for me, infact when I first saw this site and the Doctor’s Youtube video I was almost thinking he was totally wrong - intil I looked in the mirror and kept listening to his words and read many posts on this board.
I know the truth now. Thank you guys.
- What is your current age, height, weight?
5’2" 190 lbs, 45 years old
- Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
currently no (sprained ankle) (cardio, aerobics and power walking)
- What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
organic, fish, chicken etc. I avoid refined or porcessed stuff totally
- Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
to block testosterone and DHT, hair loss on head (and to lose body hair seems counter intuitive huh? but that happens…lol)
- For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
5 +/- years
- How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
36
- How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
- Quit on 05/01/2010
- How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey
- What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Proscar
- What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
5mg
- How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
a few months at the time I was getting electrolysis to remove my facial hair so I didn’t connect the way my skin looked to the fin.
- 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
[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 to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[X] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X ] Confusion
[X ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[X ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X ] Depression / Melancholy
Physical
[X ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled) (my note: it started to disintegrate, soft, sore, tenderized - I can’t really explain it)
[X ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain (nah…had that already back in the days I was starting out on birth control pills)
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness (They were already like that 7+ years estrogen)
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease (actually mine increased
[X ] Weight Gain (huge weight gain) I used to be 115 pounds of muscle and bone. now I’m fat. meh.
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts) (would have been cool to have this happen!!)
[X ] Muscle Wastage
[X ] Muscle Weakness
[X ] Joint Pain
[X ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes (Very bad and the first thing I noticed that something really had to be wrong, what I didn’t know)
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets” (Yes. especially when going on it or off it. did that sound right…damn …oh well…you know what I mean.)
[X ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness (Prescriptions changed when I got on it, then off then after on it again, weird really - I didn’t connect fin)
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X] Other (please explain) Very DRY hair and slow growing hair on my head. more gray hairs - alot more and hair curl pattern changed.
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Vitamin D, Fish Oil Omega 3, tried estratest for a month but I noticed a few body hairs to start and no way was I going to have that again!)
- 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)?
20 years ago my testosterone was way high it was horrible for me being a girl, it used to be over 1100 (sorry don’t know the lab lingo here)
current tests indicate it’s 13 which I guess is a little low even for a girl.
- Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
Maybe later.
- Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I wanted to get help with things I could fix on my own. One of the things that was supposed to help with that discussed in my community is fin.
My endo said I didn’t really need it - it was for men with prostate problems and truthfully my prostate which had been a source of pain and problems (urgency, always feeling like I had to go, etc.) before Estrogen therapy wasn’t bothering me anymore. I wish I didn’t ask for it now. It was my fault for asking for this even if I didn’t know what it would do to me. The brain fog thing affected my ability in college and at work and the facial aging is something I will have to deal with I guess with cosmetic surgery down the road someday. One thing that really concerns me is the visceral fat that I’ve gained. I was always thin and muscular even on estrogen for years I had a nice waist line and lots of definition without looking jacked up or anything just sporty, I was a sporty gril very active and I loved doing aerobics and waling and working out, dancing etc. The sweating is really gross, I wish that would stop. I read on another website about an operation to stop palm sweating, and I might need to save up for that someday if this sweating problem doesn’t go away on it’s own, sometimes for no apparent reason my palms and feet sweat and then dry instanly with no real connection to anything, it’s so weird cycle of dry/wet/dry etc. omg. seriously. I haven’t worked a regular 9-5 job since 2006 because of these reasons. The only solution was for me to get into entertainment and I’m hoping to be able to pursue those opportunities.