New here. Hoping I quit early enough (6 days) to avoid long term problems

Member Stories
#1

Where are you from (country)?

USA

What is your current age, height, weight?

36 years old, 5’11”, 190 lbs

What specific drug did you use?

Finasteride 1mg/day for 6 days

What condition was being treated with the drug?

Hair loss

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?

36 years old, Nov. 1, 2020

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?

36 years old, Nov. 7, 2020

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?

Cold turkey

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?

After a few days

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

Loss of libido, ED, irritable, anxious and depressed.

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
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[x] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] 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
[ ] 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

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

None yet. Looking to get sildenafil to combat ED.

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)?

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

Noticing that my hair has started thinning significantly, I was feeling motivated to do something about it. I got finasteride prescribed and sent to me through the website “hims.”

I didn’t think much of it. I figured any sexual side effects would be minor and temporary, if they happened at all. The literature makes it seem like a pretty benign drug.

After a few days of taking 1mg/day, my libido was down, but I didn’t think much of it because going a few days without being horny isn’t that big of a deal.

It wasn’t until the 6th day of taking it that I realized something was very wrong. Not only was I unable to get an erection, but I had completely lost feeling in the head of my penis. It went numb.

I swore finasteride off that day.

Now two weeks later, the side effects persist. I’ve had a few instances of being able to get a weak erection over the past several days. Once when masturbating and once upon waking up. But my libido is still very low and the erections are problematic; weak, small, inconsistent, etc. On a few other occasions I’ve masturbated in an attempt to get an erection and I had weak orgasms without getting erect at all.

I’ve also been a nervous wreck; irritable, anxious, and depressed. But I don’t know how much of that is just the psychological reaction to the ED and how much of it is related to neurochemistry.

This stuff has very much freaked me out. I started off worried about losing hair, which now seems so inconsequential compared to the side effects of finasteride.

I have started a very promising long distance relationship and I’m freaked out that this will end up ruining everything once we meet in person. The pandemic has put that on hold for the time being, so I may have a few months to get this sorted out before we visit each other.

But in a matter of 6 days, I went from a horny dude with a huge sex drive and the ability to have multiple orgasms per day with strong, healthy erections, to being completely non functioning sexually. How can only 6 days of this drug have such awful, long lasting side effects?

Any words of encouragement or advice?

#2

Hey there,

We know what you’re going through. I took the drug for only 1 month, same dose, and I’m going through the same shit for over a year now.
Since you’ve quit only recently, you may have a good chance at recovery. For most people these side effects are temporary. Give it a few weeks or a few months. I know it’s awful but there’s little you can do now I think.

#3

Thanks for your response. It’s crazy how significant the negative side effects are after such a short period of time. I can definitely tell that it’s important for me to keep my head up and stay positive.

#4

Sorry you have to be on this forum, this poison’s awerness is still not clear to everybody out there - like it wasnt for me neither until february this year. I took only 4 pills and had a full blown PFS, I had a lot of improvements mentally, yet the sexual and physical sides will need a lot of time to heal, but they can ,so dont worry!, time is on your side.

For now you just try to reduce to think about sexual issues and try to get relaxed, dont panic if things wont get fast enough better, again they might need months up to years. Do avoid any hormone supplements for now, including sexually stimulating herbs.

Did you experience testicular atrophy? Any changes in your muscle mass?

#5

No noticeable difference in testicles. No pain either. But a numb glans. It’s slightly less numb now than it was two weeks ago, when I stopped taking fin.

No noticeable changes in muscle mass. But it’s only been two weeks. I should probably fast and exercise, as those things won’t hurt, and I already had wanted to be doing them prior to this fin issue. I have experience fasting for other reasons and I think it can Potentially help the body restore itself to default settings.

I looked up some stuff on the internet today and I read some stuff. Like a scientific looking article from last year where the whole premise is that pfs is psychosomatic.

But I know it isn’t psychosomatic. Because I went into the treatment with complete confidence in the safety of the drug. I believed the literature that said it was safe. I wasn’t worried about sexual side effects. I figured they would be minimal and temporary, if they happened at all. But then my dick went numb. So this isn’t a case of self-fulfilling negative expectations.

It’s obvious that those who profit off this drug have a vested interest in discrediting the victims that they’ve poisoned.

#6

Oh and also, I’m now being bombarded by ads on the internet for testosterone supplements. From snooping around here, did I notice that testosterone supplements are not recommended for pfs?

#7

Thats great news you hadn’t experienced testicular atrophy, which i had! I have like 40% less in testicular size and fullness. So as far as your situation, you must be in better hands than i am, and even my erections improved some.

Intermittent fasting and excersize are my 2 “treatments” I’m doing regulalry, I simply skin breakfast every day, so I’m avoiding eating after 6pm until 1pm the next day. Its has been proven to help repair epigenetic damage which might have occured in some of PFS victims.

Yea just ignore T therapy for a long while. After what I read on the forum, its best to wait with such treatments for at least 2 years on PFS and if you dont imrprove enough you then might give it a shot.
But reading your case, the penile numbness and ED will be fixed imo within a year.

#8

That would be amazing if it resolves on its own. I very much appreciate your words of encouragement and your support.

#9

dont stress, keep us updated!

#10

It’s been 2 months since I stopped taking fin. After 3 weeks, I made a point of putting it out of my mind (best as I could) and to just be patient. There were a few instances of achieving fairly normal erections in response to masturbation during that time.

But I feel significantly less recovered at this point. I have zero sex drive and the last few times I tried to get an erection I couldn’t at all. I finished with erectionless orgasms that were very weak in sensation.

I’m going to still try to be patient and not overthink it, as overthinking and worrying doesn’t help. One positive is that I have sometimes been waking up with some degree of morning wood. But that hasn’t translated to being able to achieve an erection from arousal.

#11

@roy1 im still here since march its gonna be 10 months in january 22, with only 3 pills , weak erections hard to get one and inconsistent, low semen ejaculated , kinda of low libido, if time will heal us its gonna be a long for some of us we cant lose the hope!!
be cool and dont think about it for a while

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#12

Checking in. It’s been 5 months now since I took 1mg fin for six days.

My sex drive is a little better. I am able to mentally want masturbate (with a significant amount of mental focus on the idea) about once a week. Prior to fin I would be overwhelmed with the need for release if I went longer than 1 day without masturbating.

Re: erections, morning wood has finally returned, but my shaft doesn’t get as wide as it used to, and the glans stays soft even when erect. This is also true for erections that I achieve through masturbation, though I still don’t even get erect at all when I masturbate. Or rather, I generally don’t get erect until just before I orgasm, and those erections are still skinnier and w/ a soft glans. Still, this is all an improvement over a few months ago.

Orgasms are still pretty weak, but a little better than they were a few months ago. I do notice the watery-ness. This symptom is less important to me than the others. I do want this to return to 100%, but the other stuff freaks me out more.

My emotions are more stable than they were a few months ago. But I’d hardly consider myself to be doing well mentally/emotionally. I’ve been struggling with life circumstances for years that are unrelated to pfs. So it’s hard to say “I’m still depressed from the pfs.” :man_shrugging:t2: I’m less volatile about small things, anyway.

I put on weight. Not sure how much is related to pfs. I completely lost my motivation to be healthy when the pfs hit. That didn’t help, especially in the winter during an isolating pandemic. Hopefully this spring will help with motivation. I got some OTC fat burning supplement that was recommended on a police forum (of all places). It mostly seems to be caffeine but I’ll stick with it in case it helps. The drugs that actually work for this kind of thing are all made illegal. Because they might harm a small percentage of users :thinking:. Funny that.

Getting into shape would give me a boost in confidence which hopefully would help some of the other symptoms. It couldn’t hurt and would at least make me feel more comfortable socially once in-person hangouts become a thing again.

Anyway, that’s where I’m at. I find it’s better for me to not be on the forum much. Obsessing over pfs doesn’t help. But I do want to check in periodically. I guess it’s time for me to participate in the survey when I can figure out how to do that. Can I do it on an iPhone?

Thinking of everyone who has had to suffer through this awful experience while the medical community dismisses the condition off-hand. I have some thoughts on how it’s the most perfectly awful combination of symptoms & current social pressures to make it so most everyone completely dismisses the condition and/or thinks our suffering is funny. Pretty fucking cruel.

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#13

Hi @roy1

I’m glad to hear you’ve made improvements in some areas, but sorry to hear things aren’t great in others. It’s an awful disease in that sense, where one symptom can improve while another gets worse. I hope with some more time you continue to stabilise.

Regarding the survey, thank you so much for helping out. Every completion counts.

I’ve created a quick video on how you can complete it here, which is possible via mobile. It takes a little time, but is an incredibly important resource for our community.

Please continue to check in with us, and let me know if you’d ever like to chat.

Best,
Mitch

2 Likes
#14

Did the survey close already? I’m still having trouble finding how to do it on mobile. I’d like to contribute if possible.

#15

Hey roy,

I hope you’re still improving both physically and mentally. It seems we have similar symptoms and have both taken Propecia same amount of time. I took the topical version for 7 days and decided to stop after minor side effects. I crashed two weeks later with severe anxiety/depression, erectile dysfunction, episodes of genital arousal disorder, hard flaccid, genital numbness, burning urethra and loss of libido. I’ve improved a lot in many areas in 3-4 weeks (I’m almost at week 5 now) and mostly suffer from hard flaccid, numbness, and occasional anxiety attacks.

I’ll keep you in my prayers and maybe we can stay in contact on our progress. I wish you the best and my only advice is to keep your head high and put it in your mind that you’ll continue to get better. You may have weeks that are a relapse to progress, but from what I’ve read, those are expected as your body readjusts itself. Stay strong, my friend!

#16

Hey Bruce. Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. I’m still struggling and suppose I need to keep being patient. It’s hard to understand how only 6 days of 1mg of this drug can still be preventing me from functioning normally.

I hope your recovery goes quickly and smoothly. Hopefully only using it topically will be a saving grace.

1 Like
#17

Hi Roy,

It should still be open. If you’re receiving an error, can you send it to me via PM please?

Thank you.

1 Like
#18

I hope you get well soon boy :100:

1 Like
#19

Hey everyone. Popping in to give an update.

It’s now been almost 7 months since I took 6 1mg pills over the course of 6 days.

And I can finally say that I’m starting to feel mostly back to normal. It’s a huge relief, but I also know that a lot of people experience ups & downs, crashes, etc. So I’ll keep tabs on it and give more updates in the future, if this forum is interested.

It’s been a long, worrisome seven months. I’m definitely never going to touch that stuff again, even if I go bald.

I can’t really contribute my recovery to anything but time. I was about 210 lbs this past winter. I’m down to 195 lbs now. I have fasted for small stretches, and I hope to continue doing that with the goal of getting down to about 180 lbs. It definitely helps me feel better overall to shed some of the fat.

I hope things are going well in all of your recoveries.

3 Likes
#20

I swear… You are the 10th person I’ve either conversed with or read in forums who has significantly improved around the 1/2 year mark. If you can, please document your recovery timeline, I’d be really interested and think others would be too! I’m stoked you’re improving!!

Based on what I know, you should see some zig-zag still within next months, but 2-3 years it will stabilize completely. Best wishes!

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