New member and scared

Member Stories
#1

I quit finasteride 4 days ago and experienced erectile dysfunction for the first time in my life last night. It has scared me to death. My penis has been cold and tingling since I started taking the medicine last week. Do you think my symptoms will go away? Are long term side effects more common for people that have taken the drug for months or years? How could 4 doses of 1.25mg cause permanent damage?

  1. How did you find this forum? myproeciasideeffects.com

  2. What is your current age, height, weight? 29 5’9 135lbs

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Moderate exercise, cardio, weight lifting

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

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

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 5 days

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride? 29

  8. How old were you when you quit? 29

  9. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? tapered, took 3 pills, skipped a day and then took the final one.

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

  11. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25mg

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? second day

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? cold, tingling penis, nipple sensitivity

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[ ] 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
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

Physical
[x ] 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
[ ] 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? none

  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)? n/a

  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 recently stopped taking finasteride after 5 days usage. I experienced erectile dysfunction for the first time in my life last night. My penis has been tingling almost since starting the drug and I’ve also noticed weird feelings around my chest/nipple area.

#2

CAN ANYONE ANSWER THESE?? Are long term side effects more common for people that have taken the drug for months or years? How could 4 doses of 1.25mg cause permanent damage?

#3

It can sometimes. We have a guy on here right now who only took two pills. But you may see total resolution of your side effects in a few weeks. At least in a few months they may improve partially as they do seem to improve slightly for some of us over time. Realize I’m trying to be positive here where many people won’t be positive. This stuff messed me up terribly last year and I only started getting better from the mental side effects a couple months ago… I mean if you look back at my posts I was suicidal at one point. Not so much from the sexual problems but from the severe depression, insomnia and anxiety propecia causes.

#4

Thanks for answering. Not experiencing any depression, just couldn’t get hard last night when trying to have sex, I eventually did but it’s never been an issue. From what I’ve Been reading on here it seems it takes a week or two for your dht levels to climb back up to baseline; that’s what I’m hoping for.

#5

@yornfan

in my OPINION, you have every chance of coming out of this just fine … so, in the next few weeks and months, take it very easy on yourself and do not panic. … do not orgasm too much or do anything that may stress your system, just try and relax, i know it is hard to relax right now, but trust me, just take it easy and see what happens … if your issues are still bad after three months or so, then you may have issues which remain … until then, relax man, you have every chance of being just fine

#6

Thanks so much

#7

Chances are you are fine, but if you do crash though, come back here

#8

Dude even though you were a jerk on my page, Stay positive. You’ll probably be fine. As far as crashing I think having sex several times caused me to go back into the side effects.

#9

Good news, had had nocturnal erections last night! No morning wood, but hopefully this means it’s getting better.

#10

I only took it for one fu… single day in a low dose.

#11

All side effects went away within a week of stopping the medication

#12

Glad to hear. As per the manufacturer’s claims, that is what is supposed to happen. Hope it continues for you, in meantime enjoy yourself.