My Story

Member Stories
#1

0) Where are you from (country)?

St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

1) 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 - “propecia side effects”

2) What is your current age, height, weight?

27, 6 feet tall, 180 lbs

3) Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?

1-2 or 2-3 times a week, jogging and some weightlifting

4) What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?

Try to eat healthy with high amounts of vegetables, but do cheat with fast foods from time to time.

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

Hair Loss

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

Approx. 1 year a few months.

7) How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?

I was 20 when I started,

8) How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?

I was 22 when I quit… August of 2006.

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.)?

1 mg/day

12) How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?

It sort of crept up on me as I was in a long distance relationship, but started noticing difficulty acheiving erection and less reaction to porn. The relationship went on again and off again so there were times when I tried to be sexually active where it was very difficult/impossible.

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
[X] Loss of Morning Erections (acheiving weaker ones lately
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks (will explain below)
[X] 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
[X] 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
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

14) What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

Cialis, but no formal other treatments other than adjusting diet.

15) 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)?

I only went to a doctor after deal with symptoms for about 2 years. When checked they reported all hormone levels were “normal”

16) Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

Regarding anxiety and depression, I find that its directly correlated to what I eat. At Christmas time this year I really ate terribly, a lot of chips, chocolate, processed foods, and felt so depressed. However, when I eat properly its not uncommon for me to still get anxiety, however usually over the pettiest things. I can usually manage it within my own mind by diverting my mind and understanding that its most likely a symptom of my PFS.

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

I’ve been off the drug for a while, and have always visited this site to read, and a few others along the way. I feel its about time that I chime in here.

I do see Propeciahelp getting a bit of hate in other forums, and a lot of people doubting the side effects. While I can understand why people would think forums would not be a reliable/scientific means for information, it did me a lot of good being able to read people with similar issues and how they’re dealing.

I find it all too coincidental that I experienced symptoms that line up so accurately with many others around the world.

I have issues with ED and libido. I can have sex (albeit usually one occurence and I’m not able after that), but usually with a 65% to 70% erection that’s difficult to maintain. I can hardly self stimulate myself and don’t find myself thinking about sex like I used to. Porn does virtually anything anymore.

I deal with anxiety attacks over the pettiest things. My focus has diminished, my short term memory fails me more than it use to. I can say that I’ve experienced and experience “brain fog” all the time. I can certainly also relate to the idea of male breasts and belly fat. I eat well and exercise and deal with these issues. I’m not overweight by any stretch (180 lbs, 6 feet tall) but I have way more fat in these areas than I should.

I always have a light ache in my prostate area. Nothing too bothersome, but enough to know that it’s there. My testicles pain from time to time in a similar fashion. Just enough to know that it’s there.

I will say, and I can only speak from my own body, that the drug hasn’t completely ruined my life to the point where I can’t live and cope with every day tasks. Maybe if I let it get me it could but I believe living and thinking that way only adds to the anxiety, and furthers the symptoms.(I believe that stress/depression only makes sexual dysfunction worse).

I’ve learned to live and cope with the various issues through diet and mental strength. A very vegetable driven diet and this site have been big parts of that for me. I do know without question, however, that I’m not near the same young, sexual man at 27 as I was at 20. My creativity and motivation is different. Its all very hard to explain, but its so very clear that it has changed.

I look forward to talking with everyone that I’ve read about for so long.

#2

Narfish,

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for joining. I personally believe the more of us that come forward and stop pretending or simply hiding from the damage this poison has caused, the better for all of us.

So I assume based on the information you gave, you have been off of the drug for 5 years now and have taken it again since. The brain fog and anxiety seems to diminish for many after the first year or two. So maybe your diet is playing a role there now as well. The large number of symptoms you listed lead me to imagine you suffered what we refer to as, “a crash”. I’m surprised you haven’t experienced any joint issues though.

I’m sure you are aware of the few promising theories that are being investigated now. So try to stay positive. You are joining the group at a time that is much better than the 2 years ago when I joined.

One piece of advice I would offer is use good discretion when selecting a doctor to use; don’t just choose the first one you can find. Also, don’t spend a lot of money on supplements. Most of them won’t do anything more than, make you more poor. The only two that have provided me good benifits consistently are Vit C & D3.

#3

Hey Boston,

Thanks for the reply. I just want to clarify a couple of things as I might have been totally clear in my story,

I’ve only taken the drug once (one time period), for just over a year. I’ve just waited a long time to join this forum, but I’ve always read posts here. I don’t really recall a crash, per say, but my sides were getting very bad when I was on Propecia, it seems it just came to be that after I finished my side effects got a bit better, then got worse. And as for joint issues, I don’t experience any pain but I would say that my joints pop and crack a lot in recent years. Not sure if this is related but this is something I’ve observed that I’ve never linked to the Propecia.

Absolutely. I’ve been reading up for years. Things are starting to show a lot more promise.

My history with doctors has been a little mixed, mostly negative. I waited a while to confront the sides because, A, I knew it was going to be difficult for many doctors to understand or believe, and B, I was embarrassed by the nature of the symptoms. About 2.5-3 years ago I eventually went in to my doctor for something else and decided to bring up my PFS at the end of the appointment out of the blue. She was very understanding and got me to see a Urologist. He, however, dismissed my symptoms and believed it didn’t make sense that they didn’t go away, and gave me a sample pack of Cialis. This worked I guess to help me maintain erections but didn’t really fix the heart of the issue. Libido was still low, I still had brain fog, etc.

A few months ago I decided that I wasn’t satisfied and with all the current info coming out decided to see an Endocrinologist. He listened and overall seemed to believe that PFS was real, but had no real suggestion on how to fix it as my hormone levels were fine. It was a moral victory in a way but certainly not helpful in making my situation better.

Certainly more and more hopeful as days go by. I’ve also found some solace in the cards I’ve been dealt. W

#4

That is the common pattern for men affected by this drug: quitting, brief improvement (ie, DHT surge within 2 weeks of quitting which only lasts ~ 1 week), followed by a post-drug drop in Testosterone/LH/FSH values to hypogonadal levels thereafter.

Review timeline here: propeciahelp.com/symptoms

Sounds like this could be what happened to you. Do you have any bloodtest results before/after drug?

#5

Narfish,

It Most certainly is related. The majority of men have this side including myself. This is not a normal thing for a young man. Your 27 years old and unless you have a family history of joint problems the connection is clear.

#6

Unfortunately not. I’ve had tests done since but all have come back, as in many cases here, as “normal”.

Very interesting. I’ve never had that connection but if that is a side effect its clear that’s something that has come up over the past 4-5 years. My friends often comment on how much my joints pop and crack when I move about, work out, etc.

The other side that I believe might be related is I have very dry hair and dry skin. My hair dresser brings up to me how dry my hair is and while I use moisturizing shampoos and conditioners I see little improvement. I try to moisten my face 1-2 times a day and if I miss it feels very dry.

And also, I would say that I’m still losing hair my very slowly. I believe it was falling out much quicker before I took Propecia. My brother, who is 10 years older than me, starting thin around the same ago I did but was way more thin when he was 27 years old. I still have a decent head of hair. I believe I’ve read that others have commented on this.