-
How did you find this forum? Google.
-
What is your current age, height, weight? 32, 5’10’’, 162
-
Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? Running, 4 times a week.
-
What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Very healthy.
-
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Male pattern baldness
-
For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 4 months
-
How old were you when you started Finasteride? 31
-
How old were you when you quit? 31
-
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
-
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Propecia from Merck
-
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg every day
-
How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? One month
-
What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Erectile dysfunction, lack of libido, depression, lack of motivation, insomnia, watery ejaculation, brain fog, lack of morning erections, no spontaneous erections.
Put an X beside all that apply:
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
[x] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[x] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[?] 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
[ ] 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
[x] Testicular Pain
[x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[x] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[x] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[x] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[X] Other (please explain)
Insomnia, dificulty to rest, agressiviness.
-
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? I was in denial for some time… i couldn´t believe this is possible. I didn t take any medication. I exercise more often to try to improve my sleep.
-
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 don´t have pre-propecia blood tests, but i ve always had a perfect health before this shit. What tests should i get now?
-
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 have always been very healthy. Just was a hard working and happy guy living his life to the fullest. Never had any health problems, really. I was very active and loved sports. It was very rare for me even to take an aspirin for example. I never thought something prescribed by a doctor and sold legally could destroy someone´s health like this.
Last year i noticed i was losing hair pretty fast and my hairline looked different. People noticed it too and someone suggested i should look for a dermatologist. I thought it couldn’t hurt to get advice from a specialist. The doctor was very nice and explained how propecia supposedlly works. She gave me a piece of advertising from Merck.
In this little book, she said, i would find all information i needed to know about propecia. I remember the slogan “save the hair”. I can´t believe i fell for that. It was too good to be true. She then told me in the studies 1% of the men claimed to have experienced erectile dysfuntion compared to 0.8 that didn´t. She told me if i fell in the one percent, any side effect would resolve with discontinuation of the drug. I agreed to get a prescription and she gave me one with three refills. It all seemed simple routine to me, she was so calm about this drug i felt safe.
When i got home i took the time to read Mercks booklet. I read it all, including the white pages of possible side effects and detailed explanation of the drug. It seemed so organized and well explained. And safe. They also claimed a safe period to know if propecia is working for you is at least 12 months. It seemed like a no brainer to me, i ll try it, i am pretty sure i won´t fall into the one percent, but if i do, i ll just stop it and things get back to normal. Oh, boy. How i regret this day. After one month using propecia i noticed it was hard to get an erection. I tried to masturbate but i would not get aroused by a nude picture like before. I thought i was having a bad day, since in the first three weeks using propecia things seemed fine. So, i kept taking the drug.
After another two weeks or so i started to feel unmotivated, nothing would excite me or move me. It seemed like i was detached emotionally, but it never ocurred to me it could be from propecia, since they don´t list emotional changes as a possible side effect. So i kept taking it and getting worse and worse to the point i felt depressed. Still, i didnt link it to propecia, it never ocurred to me it could cause depression.
One day i decided to do a google search about depression. In one of the sites, they listed prescription drugs as a possible cause of depression, so i decided to do a google search of propecia and depression. Oh my god, my world fell apart when i found this website. You feel different but it takes time before you actually stop and think about every thing that you re feeling. And all the most common persistent side effects listed here match exactly with mine. But i was still in denial. It couldnt be true.
Someone wouldn’t know this drug could cause all these problems and sell it. And do all that advertising!Lecture doctors! This would go against all my value system. And this drug was studied. Data. Facts. Scientific method. What a twisted world.
But days went by and i never got better. Besides the sexual sides, which are so awful to bear, the depression is killing me. I also have ridiculous headaches. They last for hours and hours. Running is not helping to resolve the insomnia and unrest. It is like i can´t turn off. My body doesn t relax like before. It s weird. Can’t explain.
There are also emotional consequences. I don’t trust people anymore. I feel deceived. I was a very generous person. My heart is more of a rock now. Sorry if i seem bitter but it s been so hard to take all of this at once.
This drug destroyed my sex life, my social life, career, everything. Thanks for those who read this and for the creators of this site.