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)? Spain
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
What is your current age, height, weight?43, 1,79, 95 kg
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.)? 1/3 proscar 5mg (1,66mg/day)
What condition was being treated with the drug? alopecia
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 8 years
Date when you started the drug? 1998
Date when you quit the drug? 2006
Age when you quit? 27
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? I was already noticing effects during the shot, when I stopped taking it it took 4/5 days for the crash to hit
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Currently I only have sexual
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
[ x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x ] Reduced Ejaculate
[x ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] 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
[x ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[x ] 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? creatine. maca, tribulus, a.a., arginine, ginseng, aswhagandha,…
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)? Post-crash analysis, all in range.
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.
Excuse my English is not my first language. I took finasteride when I was 19 years old. With the first dose I noticed a slight drop in libido and less pleasure in orgasm, however with days it disappeared or I got used to it.
At the age of 25/26 I began to notice the first mental, sexual and physical effects, but I was in a relationship breakup and did not associate it with drugs. At the age of 27 I began to notice difficulty maintaining an erection, low libido and post-orgasmic asthenia, I thought about finasteride and stopped taking it for a week, I recovered and took it again for 3-4 months, the effects returned and I stopped taking it, 5 days later it gave me the crash.
At that time I still did not use the internet practically, I went to inform myself on the internet and read the first cases of people with problems like me due to finasteride, I was very scared.
I decided to let time pass and wait for a natural recovery…which never came.
The first years I suffered: total lack of libido, erectile dysfunction, shrinkage/numbness of the penis, anorgasmia, post-ejaculatory asthenia, reduced watery and clumpy semen, pain when ejaculating, digestive/stool problems, genito/urinary problems, brain fog, extreme fatigue, depression, severe insomnia , anxiety, derealization and suicidal ideation.
Over the years and leading a healthy life (sports and clean eating) all the symptoms improved, including the sexual ones. Currently I am recovered from everything except sexual and genito/urinary problems , which is worse than ever, in the 16 years I have had PFS, I have masturbated a lot with porn and smoking marijuana (it is the only substance that has given me a libido) and I suspect that I have worsened my sexual sides and I may also have PIED, right now I’m on Nofap for 2 weeks and no porn for 2 months, at the moment I don’t know if I’m flatlined, but my penis is shrunken and I don’t have morning erections even taking 5 mg of cialis in days alternate.
I have been with only 4 women in these 16 years of PFS and always having to take cialis or levitra, without any passion or desire and with the size of my penis smaller than before finasteride, a few weeks ago I lost a woman who for me it was ideal, it has only lasted two months, it has been patient and understanding, and it started with great enthusiasm, but in the end everything has broken down and it has been due to my sexual malfunction, I am psychologically collapsed, at my age these trains pass very little, maybe this was the last.
I have been reading the forum for weeks and I see that right now there is no reliable solution, I am thinking of trying proviron or HCG, that some cases of recovery have been read, but I do not know if it is my desperation, and they are really very credible and more cases are read of people getting worse.
Psychologically I feel very bad, losing this girl has sunk me, however I have depression and anxiety and some suicidal ideation, but I have not had brain fog, extreme fatigue, severe insomnia or joint pain, as at the beginning of PFS, so I know that they were effects caused by the PFS and not side effects of the depression that caused me to have the amount of sexual problems.
Thanks for reading and I hope the studies from Germany come out soon, right now it’s the only hope I see on the horizon, being very very very optimistic with the study coming out soon and elucidating the underlying mechanisms for PFS, I don’t expect a reasonable cure or palliative until in 5/6 years and because right now I need to be as optimistic as possible.
A lot of strength to all colleagues
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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