New here - total sexual dysfunction and fatigue

Member Stories
#1

  1. Where are you from (country)? USA

  2. 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 search

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? age 35, 6 feet, 160 pounds

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? no

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? healthy

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? hair loss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 3 years

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? age 32, started April 2008

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? age 35, quit June 2011

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

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Propecia

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1 mg/day

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 3 years

  14. 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
[X] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[X] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] 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
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] 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?
    testosterone replacement therapy

  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.

I don’t know if Propecia is the cause of my problems. It seems like three years on the drug is a long time to begin to notice any symptoms, but I could be wrong. Anyway, this has totally upended my life and I am here to share ideas and information. I am seeing an endocrinologist who so far does not know what is causing my problems. I was tested for low testosterone initially and my total T came back at 300, which is just within the normal range. Thank you for reading and any thoughts are appreciated.

#2

I haven’t posted in a long time. My problems started in late 2010/early 2011: loss of libido, depression, brain fog, lethargy, and trouble sleeping through the night. Have been off Propecia for about 12 months. I’m pretty (OK, very) tired most days from lack of sleep.

I’m happy to report that the depression, brain fog, and lethargy have been 100% gone for about nine months now. I just woke up one day and didn’t have them anymore, and they never came back. I’m exercising as much as possible but trying to get the sleep under control, and working with a good doctor, so I can do more.

#3

So what supps, TRT or any natural stuff are you taking?

#4

This is realy gerat to hear and gives also many people hope! I´m realy happy to hear this and Thanks a lot for sharing this to us.

What happend to your Libido and Ed? is this also getting better?

For sleep helps me a lot 400mg and magnesium short before going to sleep.

Could you please post what you have done so far?

#5

All I have taken consistently is a GNC Mega Man multivitamin and fish oil daily.

ED has gotten significantly better, libido only very slightly. Some of this improvement I think may have been due to simply not being as depressed and beginning to exercise more.

The mental problems were very bad, so obviously I’m happy I didn’t have them very long and they seemed to resolve mostly just as a result of time.

#6

I had my first-ever actual, substantial increase in libido over the past two days, all day long (i.e., definite “excitement” along with physical arousal through purely visual stimulus or thoughts). Libido has hovered at basically zero for 13 months since quitting without any significant fluctuation. I don’t want to overstate it, but if I was at basically 0%, I’d say I went to 10%. It’s funny, too, because I didn’t even sleep that well these last two days although the overall trajectory of my sleep is improving. The only thing I’ve done differently recently is to begin using Sustain Alpha, but that was only about three weeks ago, can’t believe there’s any cause and effect there.

#7

These are the results of my blood work collected on 6/27/12, along with the reference ranges.

TSH (Third Generation): 0.978 (0.40-5.50)
Free T4: 1.2 (0.7-1.7)
Free T3: 3.4 (2.3-4.2)
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody: 12 (<35)

Vitamin D,25-Hydroxy 38.2 (Sufficiency: 30-100)(now taking 5,000 IU of Vitamin D3 at night)

Luteinizing Hormone: 3.5 (1.5-9.3)
Follicle Stimulating Hormone: 2.9 (1.4-18.1)
Prolactin: 2.9 (2.1-17.7)
E2 (Estradiol): 36 (<40)
Cortisol: 11.0 (AM 5-25, PM 3-13)

DHEA-S: 297 (80-560)

T3, Reverse: 332 (90-350)

Total Testosterone: 416 (160-726)
Free Testosterone: 105.3 (20.3-135.0)
Testosterone, Percentage Free: 2.53 (1.47-3.21)
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin: 21.9 (10-57)
5-A-Dihydrotestosterone: 165.0 (106.0-719.0)

#8

A brief update. My sleep quality (and, in retrospect, libido) was in steady decline for all of 2010. In October 2010, I stopped being able to sleep through the night, ever, and my sleep just kept getting worse, waking up once a night, then 2 times, then just all over the map terrible and the sleep I did get was of very poor quality.

I quit Propecia in June-July 2011 (started in 2008). My sleep only started to get better in December 2011, with very gradual improvement in 2012. In the past month, I have finally regained the ability to sleep deeply and uninterrupted through the night, which feels just wonderful. I had all but forgotten what deep, fully refreshing sleep was like. Now it’s back. I still have the occasional off night but they are getting more rare and they are usually not that bad when they do occur.

All I have been taking in the way of supplements is 900 mg Valerian, which does seem to help settle me down a little in the evening, a multivitamin, and fish oil. I have been on an exercise regimen for the past 4-5 weeks now where I exercise every day, 3 days in the gym with weights, 4 days running (3 miles, for a total of 12 miles a week). This makes me feel great and I am going to continue it.

Starting with several symptoms, it seems I am basically down to an extremely low libido only. That’s a difficult challenge obviously, but it is vastly better than where I started and I had no expectation in my worst days that I would get to this point.

#9

I am still doing very well other than sexually. I have continued vigorous regular exercise and have begun to slowly but unmistakably gain muscular definition and build. No mental or non-sexual physical problems whatsoever. My sleep is good, I eat an excellent diet and have no fat on me to speak of. Sexually I am about as low as I’ve ever been in this process, with some shrinkage, nonexistent or extremely low libido and great difficulty achieving an erection.

#10

gsc - glad to hear you’re doing well in the physical and mental departments. I’ll keep my fingers x’d for you in the other area(s), especially since it seems like you and I are on a similar path.

For what it’s worth, things are relatively good for me right now. Working out regularly, sleeping better, but libido is still low most days. However, I have had some moments of normal functionality, just not consistent.

Thanks again for your recent replies & posts. I find them helpful.

Take care and continue to recover.

#11

Gsc500-are you regaining muscle mass in your lower legs? When u crashed did you get thinner lower legs and lower arms?

#12

when I crased I got thinner legs and arms and I still have.

#13

Sonder, you are in my boat…took for 9 years. Have you been doing better with sexual sides? I am actually improving lately with more nocturnals, morning, and random erections, sensitivity and better feeling orgasms. Have you experienced this as well?

#14

Hej Finatruth

My sexual sides is no problem when my testosterone is up

When it is down I have sexual sides.

The last year my testosterone has gone up and down

                  Testo range 8 - 25

last time nov testo 23,8 very high sex fine

Sep. testo 10 very low and big sex sides

juli testo 18,8

Maj testo 21,7

april testo 11

marts 9

Yes same case you 9 years no sides and I 13 years and no sides when we stopped we got sides (big)

Regards sonder

#15

I’ve always been thin and didn’t get any thinner as a result of Propecia. Putting on muscle has always taken a lot of effort and now is no different. By working out hard, though, I have visibly developed the muscles in my upper body and legs. Not talking huge here, just saying a “normal guy gym physique.”

#16

For the past two weeks I have observed that I can consistently achieve a “hands-free” erection, perhaps of 80-85% strength, from visual stimulation alone. This is a notable improvement; just need to see if it lasts. To date I have still not had any sustained improvement regarding libido.

My sleep continues to improve. This is remarkable considering how poor it was for so long. My sleep has not been at a level this good for approximately three years. It has been what I would describe as stable, with few middle of the night wake-ups, since last fall. In the past couple of months it has further improved to where I get a good night’s sleep on most nights and my “not so good” nights are tolerable. I very rarely wake up in the middle of the night now, maybe once every couple of weeks.

I have not been exercising as intensely lately even though I have been consistent about doing at least some exercise practically every day. Some of this is due to cold weather. I need to step this back up. Other than my very bad sexual problems, I have not felt this good overall, again, for about three years.

#17

Great to hear your update. You’ve been a great help to me during my low points.

Here’s to further improvements!