My story
I started using propecia in sept of 2005 an stopped in sept of 2009. During that time the drug had adverse effects on me throughout although I was so out of touch with myself and reality that I didn’t discontinue use. I was always in the spotlight, very social, lead singer of a band, alway loved to laugh and joke and be around people and enjoy life. The last relationship I had before starting g to use propecia my sex drive was at an all time very high a well as a high level of sexual performance. At this age of 27 I noticed I was starting to thin a bit and I was very self conscious especially when playin in the band and around my gf at the time. I looked into all types of ways to save my hair and at that time I became obsessed with my hair. I got a hair transplant and in sept of 2005 started using propecia. Immediately after first using the drug I felt a funny burning feeling in my testicals. I remember thinking that something may be wrong but I began to deny the fact bc I wanted this so much to be a solution to my hair loss problem (meanwhile there were other alternatives including the hair transplant that really was all i needed). Still I stayed on the drug and felt dependent on it. It didn’t lower my sex drive right away but gradually overtime as well as other side effects. I remember in oct 2006 I started to feel weird aches all over my torso and lower back. I remember getting cat scans and x rays but never wanting to admit that it may be the propecia. All the doctors said they couldn’t find anything. Into 2007 I went and at this time I was still masterbating everyday although I don’t enjoy it as much. I didn’t notice then but looking back now I became very introverted. I quit the band, I stopped dating, confidence level dropped, I became more nervous and shy in social situations and began experiencing a lot of anxiety an d even panic attacks again (previously I had anxiety and took Paxil but stopped when I began a meditation practice). Now it was coming back in full force but I still made no connection to the propecia. I remember staying in my room a lot and not going out on the weekends a lot and if I did i had to force myself as it was a real chore. I started to notice that I would get this weird tight and uncomfortable feeling in my chest, (the best way u can describe it was like a physical anxiety and tightness) when I was sitting quiet in meditation. It actually made it hard to meditate. I continued going through the routine of masterbating everyday but continued to loose my strong sexual drive. I also started to notice that my experience of orgasm wasn’t as fulfilling and I would feel it on the rigt side of my groin. At that point I didn’t really think to myself it was serious and thought it may be a side effect but that’s okay. How ignorant was I? Very! I continued on and experienced this for another 2 years or so. I dated here and there and in 2009 I met someone that I would wind up going steady with. She really liked me and at that point I was lying to myself(not consciously) that I was healthy. The first few times we were intimate I noticed that I didn’t have natural erections but I needed a lot of physical manipulation. Then I noticed that it was hard to stay erect when we were having sex( this was the first sex i had in a while and since the effects of the medicine had set in). Suprsigly she really seemed to enjoy it and said it was the best sex f her life. I thought to myself I stink and these are the worst performances of my life but very lucky she is enjoying this. I used to be a sexual machine always wanting it and now I was nervous of it and my performance needed much to be desired, at least by my standards. I used to last for long periods with very stiff erections and now it was difficult to stay fully erect. Still I stayed on propecia! I was so afraid to go off the medicine bc I thought all my hair would fall out…I was living in a warped reality, a place of delusion. In any event it wasn’t until may That more of the decline started to progress. One night during an orgasm I felt this burning sensation on the rigt side (where I had been experiencing the localized orgasm sensation). In the days that followed I began having soreness and burning sensations all over my groin area and lower back. I went to the doctors and they put me on an antibiotic and still none of us thought of the propecia as the problem! One night not long after I went to experiment and see if everything was in working order and the plumbing was working correctly. I realized I couldn’t achieve an erection. I was horrified. I didn’t give up and not long after I brought myself to becoming erect. It shouldn’t be that difficult I thought. My dense head finally began to question the propecia. I began looking up propecia side effects and found this forum. I saw that people were still experiencing side effects after being off the drug. I began to panic but sought refuge in my spiritual practice and meditation. I made the firm decision to stop taking the drug and by sept 2009 I was completely weened off. No endocrine system crash and about a week or two being completely off the meds I started to have full, firm erections back. I was still in the relationship and noticed I still would feel my orgasms on the rigt side, still have soreness in the groin and lower back area and soreness in the prostate area. My semen was gradually getting back to normal (not as watery and more full). At times it would seem as it would take a lot to get an erection. I also noticed that I would not last long while having sex. My sex drive was coming back but not as strong as it once was. In December of 2009 I started to see an acupuncturist who prescribed acupuncture as well as Chinese herbs and whole food supplements. At times my sex drive would come in strong. Also my orgasms would feel more full and my semen fuller and thicker. I knew if I could feel like myself again sometimes it was possible to feel that way all the time. I felt the power of my own mind and Having positive thoughts was very important as well. At that time my relationship was coming to an end so I felt a lot of my mental energy for healing was caught up in that. With the new year (2010) came a new journey of healing. It seemed like a long one and at times I became discouraged. My acupuncturist gave me a lot of good advice and a diet plan. I really didn’t put it into practice but kept up the supplements and acupuncture appointments. It wasn’t until I entered a new relationship in 2011 that I really took the healing plan to a new level. At that point I started to take the advice if diet from my acupuncturist to heart. I felt he had a depth of understanding of the body and mind as well as a spiritual understanding that had profound effects. A lot of side effects started to diminish further. I was no longer as nervous, had more confidence, stronger sex drive. I also began to develop a strict workout routine including karate, yoga and weight lifting. A lot of this motivation to add more discipline in my life came from my new girlfriend. She noticed that I was uncomfortable in bed and that i had some existing problems and was perfectly honest with me. At first I wasn’t honest with her but after 3 months I told her everything. It hasn’t been an easy road but almost a year into the relationship I feel like I came the furthest I have in the healing process in the last year. The Medicine had a psychological effect that made me nervous when I became intimate with a woman. Physically things feel much better. My erections come much more naturally without physical manipulation when i am with her and I seem to bounce back with more energy after ejaculating and am ready the next day or even later that day. I also notice my scrotum isn’t as loose and more consistently tight. i want to be 100 percent better before having sex with my girlfriend. She is great and we have decided to wait. I feel that after being off the drug for almost 3 years i still am not fully recovered. My sex drive although at times strong(when i am with my gf I have a strong drive and interest when we are in bed laying together and we are messing around. I become fully erect quickly) is not 100 back. I used to eant ti have sex or masterbate everyday. Also I get nervous that I will ejaculatw too quick or lose the erection but I know a lot of that is the mental side effects. Also i experinced brain fog and at times become very sleepy during the day. I took a sleep test and found out that I have idiopathic hypersomnia (now I may have had this previously and doctors think that the propecia exacerbated the condition. My acupuncturist thinks it will get better once I am 100 percent as he said it is tied to the sympathetic nervous system like the sex is. when. I am on my own I notice I don’t masterbate as much. Maybe a few times a week but when I do i notice I bounce back more quickly. I have been starting to have spontaneous erections and night time and morning erections much more consistently. I am feeling more energy but My sex drive should be stronger. I want to become like how I was in 2005 with a very strong sex drive and feel everyday I am gettin closer to that. I am feeling that a big part of the healig process is, like I said earlier, a positive mental state and outlook. There is no turning back now and I will not stop until I am 100 percent and I will know when I am there. I believe this bc I know the days when I am at full capacity with a 100 percent drive. It has been quite the journey both mentally physically and spiritually but i believe in the end, a life altering experience that has made me a stronger person in a lot of ways.
Ps. I Took blood work a few months back (before I got into this new workout routine). I will post the results. It looked like my t an dht were in normal range but my adiol g was low. My SHBG was normal as well as a few others. I should note here that my acupuncturist said that when I first went to him my t was all out of wack and that got better but my fsh still needed balance which he would focus on as well as the rest do the entire body (that is the wholistic approach)