0) Where are you from (country)?
United States, Connecticut to be exact.
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?)
Through the internet. I actually knew about this site prior to taking Finasteride. It popped up from time to time on hairlosstalk.com when I was researching hairloss treatments etc.
2) What is your current age, height, weight?
21 years old, will be 22 in 2 weeks. 6’3’’ and about 178lbs.
3) Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
Yes, light cardio and some weight training. But I stopped going to the gym about a week before starting finasteride, and i havent gone back since. Once my schedule eases up I will return full force.
4) What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
more of a meat eater, my diet is certainly not great.
5) Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Hairloss. Although mine wasn’t THAT bad, it really began accelerating as my senior year in college progressed.
6) For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
3 days. my plan was to start off with .5mg EOD. i took one dose of .5mg on 4/21/16 (thursday) then i took my second dose of .5mg on 4/23/16 (saturday). I quit after that.
7) How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
21, and 4/21/2016
8) How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
21, and 4/23/2016
- How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
the former, cold turkey. I figured in my case there was no difference since I only took 2 0.5mg pills.
10) What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Bottle says Finasteride. Unlike most, I received a bottle with 1mg pills.
11) What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
.5 mg EOD, taken twice total.
12) How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
After about 12 hours after my first dose, I noticed my penis began to feel a bit different. Saturday 4/23 when i took my second dose, which also turned out to be my last dose, is when i noticed the sexual sides. I had sex with my GF that night and it was much harder to maintain an erection, less sensitivity/sensation, and a weaker erection throughout.
13) What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
They resolved, but came back worse. I will explain later in this post in much more detail.
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[X ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ X ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ S] Reduced Ejaculate (S for somewhat)
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[S] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks (I have only had two, will explain later in post)
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[X ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ X] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ S] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X ] 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)
-almost complete lack of appetite. I will feel my stomach rumbling, and i will feel that it is empty. However, I won’t be hungry and won’t have an urge to eat.
14) What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
Not really any yet. I did buy some raw asparagus, a daily multivitamin, and L-arginine.
15) 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)?
I haven’t had any. However, since my crash was SO recent, I will get a hormonal test done ASAP.
16) Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
See below.
17) Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
OK so here’s my story fellas. I noticed sexual sides after my second dose of 0.5MG. I stopped thereafter. The next week after quitting the sides stayed with me. That weekend, 7 days exactly after quitting, i felt the DHT come back. I was lively, aggressive, rowdy, very horny. penis sensation and everything was back 110%. Had sex twice that weekend with my GF and it was phenomenal, no problem.
So heres a timeline. Friday i noticed i was back to normal. Saturday, the same. Sunday, the same. I thought I was in the clear and normal again! Important to note. I did some heavy drinking friday night, and light drinking saturday night. i also smoked a little weed during the day saturday. Everything was normal.
MONDAY is when i crashed. it was around 5PM my fraternity brother and I smoked weed and got VERY high before heading off to class. Halfway through class,i suddenly felt a massive panic attack. a huge wave of anxiety. I thought that i was going to faint/pass out or something. This was accompanied by a sensation in my genital area. Relating to all of the other crash stories, I 100% felt like “the life was being sucked out of me” etc. About 10-15 minutes later, it slowly calmed down, however i noticed that my penis, emotions, etc. had returned to the state they were in while on Fin, if not worse.
So this was my first CRASH. from that night (monday) until friday. things were alright. my sides were basically a shrunken dick, reduced sensitivity (both penis and orgasm), and slight ED and libido problems. i noticed that if i lied down on my back and relaxed muscles the shrunken penis went away. but it would come back at random times even if laying down. and it was certainly shrunk still when walking, standing. etc. I would still get boners randomly laying next to my GF and would get semi aroused.
During this week i avoided drinking but i smoked a little pot throughout the week. Friday night i got VERY high before i went to bed, about 1.5-2 hours later i decided to actually get in bed. Eventually i had another CRASH. i remember being in bed around 2AM and i felt the anxiety attack happen again, and the strange sensation in my penis/genital area again. Things got much WORSE after this second crash. my penis got even more shrunken. After the crash i had even less sensitivity. WAY less libido, and even more ED. I tried to have sex with my GF saturday afternoon, but i couldn’t even get a boner, despite a blowjob. It was bad. Then on Sunday morning I had sex with my GF , about 36 hours after my second crash. I had to manually stimulate to get hard. it felt very numb, but i was able to stay kind of hard (but still pretty weak), and eventually orgasm.
It’s now monday. 2 days since my 2nd crash. Im honestly incredibly confused. What made weed do this to me? Does anyone know the effects (specifically hormonal) that smoking weed has on a person? An important note: PRIOR to Fin, weed would make me horny as hell. it would cause a huge surge in my libido, make sex feel better, etc.
I’m also confused as to why my second crash made me even worse off…?? Needless to say, I have quit smoking. I will drink very lightly over the next week or so. but once i graduate and am home for summer i will be staying 100% sober.
What steps should I take from here???
Since I am located in CT, I am going to schedule an appt. with Dr. Shippen ASAP. I read that the earlier one begins treatment (i.e. clomid or tamoxiflen) following a crash, the better the chances of recovery are.
If those aren’t the answer, i am also very willing to follow a CDnuts protocol. Meaning a water fast, in tandem with a paleo diet, and a rigorous gym routine.
I would highly appreciate ANY feedback. This is my first post here so i would really like to hear from you guys. Especially if you have experienced a second crash short after your original crash.
Am i stuck at this state after my second crash?? I want to recover 100%, but honestly if i could just get back to the state i was in after my first crash, i would be happy. The difference in ED, arousal, and sensitivity (penis shaft, head, and orgasm) is night and day between crash 1 and crash 2.
thank you guys!