- Where are you from (country)?
Italy
- 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?)
From an italian hairloss website (www.ieson.com)
- What is your current age, height, weight?
29, 5’3", 115lb (1.62mt, 52kg)
- Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
I used to do leightweight athletics as a kid, now doing swimming since almost 10 years. I swim 3 times per week, and now I will attempt to add running 1-2 times per week (8-10km per run)
- What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
I eat healthy (mediterranean diet, italian food), a lot of fish, fruit, pasta, vegetables and meat (only fillet since I dislike fat).
- Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Hairloss under suggestion of the dermatologist.
- For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
8 months
- How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
28 years old, mid October 2011
- How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
28 years old, 20 June 2012.
- How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey, even though the doctor suggested me to taper off (but I was too scared and suggestioned).
- What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Generic proscar
- What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
5mg cut into 4 (around 1.33mg per day).
- How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
Immediately, but I didn’t consider these side effects to be an issue.
- 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
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[X] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] 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
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[X] 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
[X] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[X] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[X] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[X] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
I’m taking a pill of Propolberry on empty stomach (Propolis + Blueberry), 30mins afterwards Centrum, then Omega3 (1410mg) + Vitamin E (400UI) during meals (twice a day).
- 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 only had generic blood work before assuming Finasteride, the only difference was my Hematocrit being lowered:
In 2008 - HCT 45% (likely to be the same value before I started Propecia)
March 2012 - on propecia since 5 months, HCT 42%
July 2012 - off the drog since 1 month, Hematocrit at 39%
-
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
-
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I started taking generic Proscar cut into 4 (1.3mg per day) in October 2011, under prescription of a dermatologist, and being assured that all sides could be resolved at the suspension of the treatment (also confirmed from my GP). First week I experience complete impotence. After 1 week I could finally achieve an erection but my sperm was completely transparent (although not watery). Few days afterwards my sperm went back to its natural color, however I was left with low libido. I didn’t consider that a problem since I used to have a rather high libido before. Immediately I started noticing how I was less aggressive doing sport (especially on 50mt series at the pool). My hair got immediately a better look, more shiny, shedding stop and after a couple of months they started to grow back on the sides. I also had a younger look in my face (although generally people guess I’m 6-7 years older than what I am, due also to the tiny constitution).
My body was in good shape and I even increased muscle mass. Probably this was because of increased Testosterone due to Propecia’s effect in inhibiting DHT. My testicles looked always retired to the top while before the treatment they used to hang down most of the time. Left teste started to hurt, but it was a light pain, so I decide to get over it. Libido was about OK after a few months (around December) but my morning erections disappeared since the very first day I started to take the drug.
In February I had an inflammation to my frenum that was cured as a candida. Needless to say the cream that I was prescriped just made things worse and I had to stop applying it. I had a urethral tampon (sorry if this is not the right term) to check for bacterias, but results were negative. This resolved in a couple of weeks but as a result my frenum became longer.
Around March/April 2012 I give up swimming, I wasn’t feeling motivated and I decided to keep only running. Unfortunately I felt strangely fatigued and not in my usual shape with running so I gave this up too.
I also felt too emotionally sensitive, and I had a negative approach to life. Never felt really happy while I was taking Finasteride.
At some point I also noticed how frequently I was stumbling over words or not finding the right finds, or simply not being able to make up a sentence.
Around May/June I started noticing how my hips looked feminine and that an unusual fat pattern developed on them. Pubic hairs pattern also looked feminine, forming a triangle while earlier they were mostly concentrated around the penis. Hairs going from the bellyhole to the pube were also much fewer.
After reading that most sides on propeciahelp.com looked the same than those I had, I stopped cold turkey and felt really scared.
A few days after stopping propecia I felt incredibly anxious and my heart frequency was much accelerated. It wasn’t psychological because I could really feel it was not something I could control. My testicles dropped in their pre-finasteride position and my flaccid penis got larger. I also felt my muscles were in a much better tone. After a few days I started getting a sense of loss of balance and extreme fatigue. A week after I started getting tremors all over my body, and I could see it when I was spreading the fingers of my hands.
2 months off the drug (around beginning of September) my penis became bent of about 15 degrees, while before I had a congenite curvature of just 5-6 degrees (estimated). I don’t know if it had anything to do with it, but curvature seemed to appear after I started taking a ZMA supplement (Zinc,Magnesium,VitB6). I also felt incredibly horny while taking ZMA, but felt more fatigued during the day and could not get good sleep. I stopped it for this reason.
I had a dynamic eco-color-doppler done on the penis with forced erection (andrologist injected 5mcg of Aprostadil) which gave me an erection that lasted about 3 hours (although the dosage was really low). Andrologist found some calcifications on the penile tissue and confirmed that now my penis has more fibrotic tissue than I probably had before starting the treatment. He said however those calcifications are superficial and not inside the tunica albuginea. He has also checked manually (before injecting the aprostadil) for Peyronie plaques but did not find any. The ecography confirmed later I had no Peyronie’s diseases. He didn’t check my prostate as he says that I’m still under the effect of Finasteride and that it’s better to check again in January 2013 to see if I have prostathitis.
Now it’s been more than 3 months off the drug, and I still have the issues described in the above questionnaire. Loss of balance (when I stand up suddenly, the first steps I walk I feel like going too much on one side), fatigue, low libido, tremors. Fat distribution in the hips improved but it’s still mostly present in a sort of feminine shape. I guess I’ll have to get really hard on exercising (esp. running) to get rid of it. Visual acuity is also annoying, and tremors are still present.
The cognitive/mental sides are similar to those of Multiple Sclerosis, which is scary. I believe my tremors are also given by a neurological problem.
Some days I get a very good libido, but it’s like a roller coaster. I probably get good libido every couple of weeks or so. My skin got more oily after I stopped the treatment, although the days that I feel my libido lower also my skin feels less oily (but I don’t know if this is just my own impression).
I don’t know if it’s an impression, but I feel better when I’m tired. This is why I want to see how it goes now that I’ve started hitting the pool again. I will add running starting from this week, I think exercises should help. Testosterone level was good with latest bloodwork (in the upper third), as well as DHT and all other hormones.
However my sperm had a reduced count and motility but this was tested just 1 month off the treatment.
Now the plan is the following:
- I will keep an healthy life style and eat healthy food, absolutely no alcool (never too drugs or smoke before).
- Exercise a lot
- Repeat bloodwork and spermgram in January 2013, repeat andrological visit to check prostate
- Wait… time is what seems to count most in these cases
I’m not depressed over my condition although certainly I did not expect to get all of this s*** after coming off the drug. While on the drug I had some sides but definitely nothing comparable to what I’m witnessing after stopping it.
Anything you want to say, especially to cheer me up a bit, it would be appreciated (especially from Mew, who is the founder/veteran of the forum).
Best.