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 (country)?
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?)
What is your current age, height, weight?
20, 6’0, 150
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
Date when you quit the drug?
August
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?
weight gain , digestion issues , fatigue , low libido , insomnia
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
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ Y] Reduced Ejaculate
[ Y] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ Y] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[Y ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[Y ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[Y ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ Y] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ Y] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[Y ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ Y] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ Y] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[Y ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[Y ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ Y] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ Y] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ Y] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[Y ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[Y ] Increased hair loss
[ Y] 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)?
got my blood work done test was 131 free test 2.5
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.
so i was taking finasteride for around 6 months and in that 6 months i actually was doing amazing. i looked the best and felt the best i ever had and had a lot going for me. towards the end of the 6th month which was just in august i started experiencing minor bloating and digestion problems and i didn’t know if finasteride could really cause that or not so i quit cold turkey. a couple weeks later i fucking crashed hard i couldn’t sleep the entire night my body was freezing cold and sensitive no matter what , i didn’t go to the bathroom for like 3 days and everything i ate just hurt my stomach , i was fatigued no matter what during workouts , my eyebrows have thinned , i’ve gained like 5 pounds since i quit it which is only like 3 weeks. i went to get blood work done and my test is like 131 and free test is 2.5 which is like hypogonodal range and i am fucking terrified. i don’t know what to do because im reading all these stories on here on how this is basically forever and my life is essentially ruined when i had so much going for me and i am SO young only 20 and this year i have a lot of big life decisions to make and obviously thats all gonna go to shit if i’m having all these health problems like people on here say never goes away. i am like shocked ive always been so lean and healthy looking when i look in the mirror its like im not at all who i was a month ago do i have literally any chance to ever get myself back or is my life basically over cause i cant live like this ?
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 [ ]