Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.
Where are you from )?
United States
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?
20, 6ft, 145lbs
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1mg a day
What condition was being treated with the drug?
hairloss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
6 months
Date when you started the drug?
january 1st
Date when you quit the drug?
july 10th ish
Age when you quit?
20
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
6 months
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
gut issues, bloated all the time, dry skin, thinning eyebrows, low libido, low sperm count, difficulty maintaining an erection, heat intolerance, insomnia, anxiety
Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.
Sexual
[ Y] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[Y ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ Y] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ Y] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ Y] Watery Ejaculate
[ Y] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ Y] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[Y ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[Y ] 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
[Y ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ Y] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ Y] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ Y] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[Y ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ Y] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ Y] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
none
If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?
dont have blood tests but developed new sides after stopping
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
when I was on the drug I was completely fine I actually felt better than I have ever felt before in my life. No sides, very happy and visibly very healthy. Around 6 months I started having pretty noticeable gut issues which I have never had before. My eyebrows thinned, skin got dry, extreme bloating after every meal, stomach hurting, shit sucked. I wasnt even nsure if this was finasteride because this came after a couple weeks of being slightly more diet restrictive and i was doing mid to high intesnity cardio every morning. I looked it up and it says that it can cause gut issues and my dermatologist told me to quit it cold turkey so i did. 2 weeks later i got insane insomnia and body aches. Water retention everywhere, insane anxiety, cant get hard barely, very low sperm count, the digestion issues got way worse. I am wondering if I should get back on it since my body is probably reacting to the hormonal chaos of suddenly stopping and trying to fix my gut by pulling back on the high intensity cardio and trying to eat more or if i should stay off it bc i literally had no sexual or mental side effects what so ever until i came off and i was comoletely fine on it for 6 months
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance:
- Dosage:
- How often you took it:
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]