Need Advice

Member Stories
#1

Hey guys, I don’t really know how to go about this but basically I started taking propecia in september because my doctor did not tell me that there were any side effects I should be worried about. Basically I got a concussion from soccer in the middle of my 7 weeks on propecia and then got a whole bunch of symptoms that could not be explained by a concussion. The main symptoms were urinary urgency, Erectile dysfunction, crazy muscle fasciculations everywhere and then massive testicle pain followed by no discharge and decreased libido. There was a period where I got acne on the inside of my legs as well as my face and really large testicles. 2 weeks after the Concussion I started to get breast tenderness and more testicular pain and it was then that I noticed my testicles had shrunk an amazing amount.

It was at this point that I quit the damn propecia. I have been off of it since last Wednesday and I started to feel really really really good on Sunday morning. However, this feeling was short lived and It is like I have now been plunged farther into the fog than I had ever been before. I h have started finding it impossible to follow any conversations, or read anything that I need to.

I am a medical student and I went from being 99.9th percentile on the mcat to a student pulling a 53% on a relatively easy exam that I did in fact study for. I was wondering if you guys know what percentage of people end up actually recovering from this? Is there anything that I can do to lift the fog since I need my brain to continue on in medicine.

I feel terrible for most of you guys as the world is really ignorant to the fact that propecia is this insane as a drug. Its to the point where on other forums people will reccomend staying on a “regime” even if you start to get side effects which to me is absolutely ludicrous.

) Where are you from (country)?
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
  2. What is your current age, height, weight?
    6’4 200 lbs
  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    All the time (hockey, soccer, weight lifting)
  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    strict balanced diet
  5. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, othemr)?
    Hair loss because I am an idiot
  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    ~7 weeks
  7. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    Started September 5 2012 Age=23
  8. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    Quit October 26, 2012 Age= 23
  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?
    Proscar cut into quarters
  11. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1.25 mg every day
  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    3 weeks but was confounded by a concussion, definitively noticed on the 26th the day I quit
  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
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x] 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
[ ] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[x ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[x ] Testicular Pain
[x ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[x] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    None

  2. 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)?

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

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

#2

[was wondering if you guys know what percentage of people end up actually recovering from this?]

There is no statistic. Consensus is that most people recover within a couple of weeks. Some recover within a couple of months. And a few don’t recover at all. That’s us, the residents here. So give it a couple of weeks and see what happens.

I don’t have brainfog, so I cannot comment on that, but alot of people here share this symptom. So someone else might comment on that or you can do a search in the forum.

Generally, everything that improves general health (diet, excercise etc.) might improve your condition.

Good luck!

#3

Northern Star
Could you tell me where did you get this information from? or it is from Merck?
The reality is that once you get the side,that is it. There is No “U” turn.
Please go to PFSfoundation.org and joint it,if possible donate.

#4

Hey guys. Just thought I would post an update here. I have been either 7 or 9 days off of propecia and I have started having sex dreams again and getting night boners. I am hoping I keep getting better and better. I just wanted to say that as a future medical professional, I am going to try and do something for you guys. It is difficult because there are a ton of sceptics on the internet, yet having gone through a toned down version of what propecia can do to you I know that you guys are all immensely courageous. Stand and fight and hopefully some day something will be done.

You guys need more scientific minds on here because some of the stuff is quite interesting to me. For example the masturbation leading to a crash thing is likely just a confounding variable. Consider that any man who instantly has an increase in erectile function will likely masturbate. Therefore anyone who is recovering off of propecia will do this. Thus, anyone who crashes will also have done this. In order to prove that the masturbation causes the crash, you would need to have a group of guys who didn’t crash who didn’t masturbate.

It is my wish that there is soon a much better study into propecia and that you guys get all of the help you need! I am also scared that I may crash since I have had crazy symptoms but was only on the drug for 7 weeks.

Good luck, stand and fight!

Adam

#5

Adam, there is generally the known initial crash, however I have experienced several crashes of the last 6 monthd, some following working out, some from drinking alcohol etc.

#6

I can say for sure, guys. I crash everytime I masturbate. It’s even worse when I do before fully recovering from the last crash (which usually happens between 5-7 days, but might take a lot longer if I masturbate 2 times in a row). It’s a nightmare…

#7

Just thought I’d update. I quit on the 24th of october. Since then some interesting things have happened. Semen quality normalized, started getting nocturnal erections. Brain fog got worse about a week after but today started to feel pretty much normal again. The testicular pain appears to have stopped and the breast tenderness is becoming much less frequent. As of right now two symptoms that remain are the poo pellets and severe constipation, urinary urgency (is getting a tiny bit better), new onset back pain and finally really dry eyes as well as muscle twitches. I will update again in 2 weeks just to keep a cohesive case report going. Thanks for the support guys

#8

Time for another update

I am either at 3 weeks off of propecia, or 2.5 weeks. I currently am back to full mental function. I had the best erection ever this morning and my hair started falling out of my head again (never thought I would be so happy at pulling 5 hairs out of my head). Even the poo pellets and muscle twitches are gone as of this morning. I am just gonna push through these next two weeks and hopefully I stay this way. I think my account definitely proves that there are more side effects of propecia than they list on the label and I am hoping to draw some awareness to this within the medical community.

Again thanks and will update again in 1 or 2 weeks

#9

Just updating again to keep consistent case report going

1)Today I noticed that my eyes were not dry anymore
2)I began sweating out of my feet a ton
3)Slept very well last night
4) talked to a girl via skype and got a boner spontaneously complete with pre ejaculate ( something I had forgot even existed for the last 2 months)
5) Mentally I feel 100% as of today- I am my old self

Hoping I can get through the next week or two without a crash.

Doubt anyone is still reading this but if someone is. Can anyone tell me how long I have to wait until I am out of the crash zone?

#10

4 week update.
Eyes still dry as hell (don’t know if they will ever come back). Testicular pain has been on and off but seems to be better as of yesterday. Breast tenderness finally went away. Testicles are much smaller than before. Haven’t jacked off to test semen quality. Constipation came back. Libido is like 1/5 of what it once was.

#11

Testicle pain finally went away today. Breast pain has gone away but I am left with a small nodule in my left nipple area. Interestingly body odor and sweating out of my armpits was back today which I didn’t notice was gone. Head got clearer and I feel “online” again today for what its worth

#12

Day 30 here
I went to the doctors today and he felt behind my left breast and said there is some tissue there. Told me to wait a couple months and hopefully it will go away.Dry eyes have abated finally and I started getting sweaty feet and pit hair again. I went to the gym and my zest for life was through the roof. This will be my last post unless these symptoms come back. Although my post’s may seem out of place in this forum I think that this forum is one of the better one’s out there since it actually highlights the downsides of propecia and it seems that this is the first place that researchers will come looking. I think its important that people cruising these forums see the Impact this evil drug can have on peoples lives and hopefully it prevents them from going on it. I commend you guys for pushing on. When I had my brain fog, I was a useless person and it was debilitating. I failed almost every test over the course of 2 months and yet the medical community told me I was fine.

My hope with these posts was to document my journey to recovery and offer some hope to those who have come off of that devil pill and are looking for answers. For me there were only two options HAVE no sides on the pill and come off it fine, or have sides come off the pill and get more sides.

This story is to offer hope to those who have quit the pill with horrible sides and to offer them at least one tale of hope.
To recap I had the following symptoms
immense brain fog
Erectile dysfunction
Reduced sensitivity
Constipation
Hot flashes
Muscle aches
Severely dry eyes (became red even from sleeping)
Severe emotional blunting
Watery semen
Testicle ache that lasted for an entire month after I quite the pill
Tender breasts and gynecomastia
Urinary urgency (I am convinced this is from estrogens impact on the trigone in the bladder rather than a shrunken prostate)
Sleep problems
My testicles shrank (this is the only symptom that remains)

Today after 30 days the testicular shrinkage is the only symptom that remains.
To anyone considering propecia be aware that it’s only hair and that your life is much more important than a few stupid follicles. DHT is your friend and not your enemy, EMBRACE IT.

Good luck to all suffering here and thanks for the support

#13

I have a new and not so positive update. My penis appears to have died. IT is super cold all the time and it started curving a little to the left. It is thinner than before and hangs farther down. I noticed a vein along the side of that was not there before and I can no longer get any erections. WTF is going on? My balls are also hanging way lower than before. WTF?

#14

the dreaded crash, especially penis curving to the left. Hang in there, I have been off 7 months and this is all defintely neural/hormonally related so you are pobably going to bounce around a lot.

#15

I have a question for you guys. SO apparently I crashed but mentally I still feel fine which I didn’t on the drug. Also my hair started falling out again right around the time that my dick stopped working. If my hair is falling out, doesn’t that mean my DHT is still kicking around? Does this have any implication to my recovery and is it even worth going to see a doctor about this Ice-cicle between my legs?

#16

Another week, another update with some weird changes.

I feel about 100% mentally, my libido is even back(I see girls and think about touching them) even though my dick is a cold limp noodle and doesn’t function at night or during the day. I got a whole bunch of random new symptoms the other day though which are confusing. FIrst off, I got all this pain in the joints of my hands and wrist for no apparent reason. It was on both sides. Furthermore, the hot flashes I had 3 weeks on fin for 2 days are back with a vengeance. They have increased in frequency and began affecting my sleep again.

MY question for today is:
Do hot flashes occur with both fallign testosterone and falling estrogen. Could it be that my system is just ditching the estrogen (my nipples are no longer hurting ever) and my digestion is getting better which to me points to estrogen levels falling. Are these hot flashes a good or bad sign. Also, my damn testicles still hurt every day for no reason and the right one is so small its kind of funny. Well, most likely no one will answer again but any input would be appreciated.

#17

Hi scaredmang, I like to answer you

My joints started aching about 6 month after crash and in the same places than you, in particular an anonymous finger joints have been the worst. But during all this I haven’t experinced hot flashed so i can’t say nothing about that.
And like you, I had nipple and digestion issues but they have almost totally gone. I also had pain in the testicle immediately after crash and lasted for several months. Pain was so terrible in the beginnig that i couldn`t do anything than sit hunched.

You are in early stage and you have had improvements so you will keep improving, I hope

#18

Thanks for the reply. I have some new updates today. My testicles got bigger but now feel really hard which is interesting. I also got a crazy erection out of nowhere. Perhaps this is the final kick toward normality. Here’s hoping for a night without the hot flashes

#19

Yes, there is interesting things but they may be associated with recovery(my considerations). You have to give time yourself to get better, try to sleep well and enough and keep a positive attitude.
How is your night/morning erections compared to pre fin?

#20

Interestingly I never really noticed night erections before fin because I would sleep through the whole night always. But I used to have morning boners every day. Over the last two nights I have had night erections ( very encouraging). I think I am probably getting better slowly. The dry eyes is the only thing that I think I am gonna be left with forever.