Where are you from (country)?
From Hong Kong but living in Japan for several years.
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
What is your current age, height, weight?
31y.o. 163cm 45kg(since 1X y.o. and no health problem before finasteride crash)
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride and saw palmetto
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Fin: 0.5mg/day
Saw Palmetto: 1capsule, i forgot how many mg
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
7months
Date when you started the drug?
2022.10.11
Date when you quit the drug?
2023.5.23
Age when you quit?
31
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Taper off
0.5mg > 0.25mg for 9 days > 0
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
1 week
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Sexual
[o] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[o] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[o] Loss of Morning Erections
[o] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[o] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[o] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[o] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[o] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[o] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[o] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[o] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[o] Other (please explain)
- Post-void dribbling (post-micturition dribbling)
- Severe chronic insomnia
- Loss of appetite
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Supplements
Hi. First, I would like to share to you my strange experience.
2022.8.2 I got covid 19 and recovered within 2 weeks.
In 2022 mid Sep, I realised that I loss almost 200 hairs during shower and hair dryer every day.
Since my dad and his brothers are also bald, i thought I started balding too and I did not know it was actually due to covid.
Therefore, i started 0.25mg Finasteride on 2022.10.11.
Mild testicles pain in the first 3-4 days after Finasteride intake but went away very soon.
I avoided to ejaculate during the first week.
Before finasteride, i fapped 1-2 times per week.
On the fifth day, I started to have post void dribbling. One to two drops of urine leaks after I wear my pants and go out of the toilet.
Then I googled and all the websites say it is due to prostatitis.
I want to improve it so I started running 6km 3-4 times per week, drinking tomato juice every day and taking Saw Palmetto because they are all good to the prostate. I also started No Fap.
2-3 months later my hair loss stopped and started regrowing.
7 months passed but no improvement on dribbling.
I thought No Fap cannot improve my dribbling so on 2023.5.10 I fapped. This was my first masturbation since taking finasteride.
(But during the no fap period I had wet dreams and ejaculated several times. I had morning woods almost every day and libido had no change during this period.)
On the day I fapped (2023.5.10), i started to have insomnia. Before that, i slept from 12am to 8am almost every day. On that day, I woke up 1 hour earlier and could not fall asleep again.
The insomnia became more and more serious day by day. Wake up time became earlier and earlier. Woke up several times every night. More and more difficult to get asleep.
10 days later, I could not sleep at all.
On 2023.5.23, I went to see doctors. I was told I do not have prostatitis. Also I was prescribed Devigo 0.25mg sleeping pill. I also stopped taking finasteride on the same day because I saw many people here suffers from insomnia after taking finasteride.
No significant improvement on insomnia on the first several days so I think Devigo is useless but I still kept taking it. However, it improved gradually and disappeared on 2023.6.12. I slept 8 hours straight on that day. I believe it was due to quitting finasteride.
On the next day (2023.6.13), I fapped again and insomnia came back immediately. I could not slept at all on that night. And then it started to improve gradually again. Until 2023.7.20 I could 6.5-8 hours.
On the other hand, my post void dribbling also improved gradually since I quitted finasteride.
Like 90-99% recovered on 2023.7.20.
However, since 2023.7.21, insomnia and dribbling has came back until now (2023.9.26) although I am keeping no fap.
I cannot find out the reason and I am so helpless because the insomnia is worsening.
During these 2 months, i sleep at 12 and woke up at 2-4 on average with up and down. Sometimes I can fall asleep again and sleep until 6-7 although the sleep quality is not good. In bad days like yesterday, I woke up at 1am and could not fall asleep again! It is driving me crazy.
The more important thing is, I lost my libido and appetite 1 week ago. Morning wood has also disappeared. At the same time, I feel so tired during my job. I guess it may be due to adrenal fatigue because I do not have good sleep for so long. Should I have a cortisol test for that?
I think my first priority is to solve the insomnia.
Devigo is useless. Nothing changed even If I raise the dose to 0.5mg or quit it. I am not taking it anymore. I also tried Ramelteon (as melatonin is not being sold in Japan) but it was useless too.
I am trying different supplements. However, since my sleep pattern is quite up and down, it is difficult to find out what helps and what disturbs my sleep.
Valerian roots helps.
Taurine helps. But according to the post by thisisarealbummer, it may cause tolerance. So now I take it occasionally. (My Recovery and Neuro-Biological Disorder)
L-theanine does not worsen my sleep.
I tried Magtein once but that night I could not sleep well.
I tried Glycine together with magnesium bisglycinate once but that night I could not sleep at all.
Today morning I tried magnesium malate and I will see the result tonight.
I quitted running since insomnia started because I am so tired. Actually I have tried to run on 2023.6.16 in the morning but my sleep at that night is worse. I dunno if there is any relationship or not. I will try again later starting from shorter running distance.
I am like a walking dead every day. Please share with me your thoughts and suggestions.
I want to recover.
Thanks for reading such a long post and sorry for my poor english.