Hello,
These are the symptoms I experienced.
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Where are you from (country)? Germany
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How did you find this forum? Google search
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What is your current age, height, weight? 36yo, 176 cm 80 kg
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? swimming
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? meat
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? ca. 6 months
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 31
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 31
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Propecia
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg/day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? not until I quit
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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
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ X] 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
[ X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ X] 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)
[ X] 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
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ X] Other (please explain)
tinnitus
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
clomifene -
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)?
unsure, because never needed pre-finasteride tests -
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
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Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
After approximately six months on finasteride (F), I read a news about a man complaining of impotence on this drug, so I decided to quit. Within weeks after quitting I first experienced brain fog, inability to focus and difficulties with understanding texts I was reading. The muscular atrophy followed. I noticed that the more I tried to prevent from muscular wastage by exercising in a gym, the more I muscles I actually lost, so I stopped exercising. The first year after Propecia was the worst one. Then, spontaneously, I was regaining some mental skills to an acceptable level. However, my muscle tone never returned. I tried clomifene treatment, which had great effect at first, then my body started getting used it and the effect was no longer so impressive, however it did help fighting all the symptoms. Unfortunately, my doctor disagreed to keep it at high dose and decided to taper off. Currently I’m taking a low dose and I don’t feel so well as I used to, but it’s still better than before the treatment.