My Story

Member Stories
#1

Thanks to those of you who have put together this site and forum. I have found it very useful and will try to be a helpful participant.

I used Propecia for two months for hairloss. At first things were fine but very quickly things changed. Sadly it took me a couple weeks to make the connection and the I discontinued use.

My symptoms, some of which I am still just connecting the dots on thanks to this website, are sexual and vision related.

I have a dramatic decrease in libido and occassional ED. I also have the watery semen when I am able to discharge and often I have some of that when I am not aroused at all.

I havent seen any other posters state this as a common symptom but when I do get aroused and have sex I have uncontrollable pre-mature ejaculation. I did not suffer from this prior to using Propecia.

My vision seems to be getting worse by the day. I am squinting all of the time even though my eye glass prescription is less than a year old. My eyes hurt (probably from squinting) and I am always tired.

I’m gonna be honest. I am really starting to freak out. I read somewhere on-line that sometimes the symptoms can take as long as the amount of time you used the drug to go away. Well in my case, that did not happen so I might be in for the long haul.

The scary thing about Finasteride is that it works. I fear that people will not understand that these side effects are real and keep trying the drug. I know that is what happened to me. I wish I came across this sight before I filled that prescritption.

Ugh.

  1. How did you find this forum?
    Google

  2. What is your current age, height, weight?
    38, 6-4, 185

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    Yes. I run and bike 3-4 times a week

  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Mixed bag. Sometimes healthy, sometimes junk.

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

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

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride?
    38

  8. How old were you when you quit?
    38

  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

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    5 weeks-ish

  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:

Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[x] 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
[ ] 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
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)
Sadly, pre-mature ejaculation when I am able to get an erection.

  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)?
    Have not done this yet.

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    No.

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    See above.