new member needing answers

Member Stories
#1

  1. How did you find this forum?
    google

  2. What is your current age, height, weight?
    47 6ft 3in

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    5-6 times a week weights and cardio

  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    very health low fat low carbs

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

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    since it came out so 13 I think years a long time

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride?
    37ish

  8. How old were you when you quit?
    46

  9. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    Cold Turkey

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

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

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    6 months but took no notice at the time was to interested in the hair growth

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    I am very confused with sides as I don’t think at the time took much notice lack of ejaculate and not so hard erections

X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[ x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ x] Erectile Dysfunction
[x ] Complete Impotence
[ x] Loss of Morning Erections
[ xLoss of Spontaneous Erections
[ x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] 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
[x ] Slurring of Speech
[ x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ x] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ x] 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
[ x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ x] Prostate pain
[ x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ x] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ x] Frequent urination
[ x] 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?
    I unrelated to this went to see an age management doctor who tested me and at the time I was thinling that maybe propecia had done something to me as I had mentioned it to Doctor…but still had not truly related the two

  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)?post them later

  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.

First I am so glad I found this site. About a year and half ago I decided to come off propecia I dont know why I just did, I had several hair transplants so I figured enough. I stayed off for a while and noticed my hair falling out again, after about three months seeing doctors hypnotherapists for lack of motorvaton, concentraton etc I still thought it was life. I then decided to do something about it, joined the gym went to see and age management doctor and a load of tests mainly hormone, he said there were a few things wrong and perscribed TRT, HGH, HCG, vitamins etc. I started at the gym felt slightly better but stll had erection problems, felt really horny all the time but no erections which was frustrating, I wanted to masturbate all the time but noticed my penis had become shrunken and rubbery and ejaculate grey and watery.
Its basicly where I am today, I have had a few times where I have had the odd solid hard on’s no morinng erections and no intrest in sex.
It wasn’t untill a few weeks ago after searching the internet that I found this website and everthing finally clicked into place.
I have suffered pretty much the same as every body else on here low symptoms while on the pill (or so I thought) and now a huge crash and a life thats seemingly spiraling out of control.
I have been having all sorts of problems with my prostate, when I first stopped propecia I had prostate aching and pain when ejaculating, took no notice and it went away. Just recently I have had the same not as bad but something is definately going on in there. I have taken a ton of supplements to try and cure what I thgought was ED nothing helped.
But recently took some really strong antioxadents and for a few days felt something going on in my groin my penis seemed to grow a little and I felt my prostate was wierd cant describe it, still not that good erections but two days of unbelievable sensativity in my penis which I have not obviously felt in years. now that has gone away and my prostate seems to be hurting again and my testicles ache. I am so frustrated do not no what to do I am now living back in England as I was In the US before, things here are crap compared to the states. I want to go to my Doctor here but do not know where to start, I will follow people on this site to see what I can learn, any help from people in the UK would be very helpfull.

#2

Welcome to the forum. You are NOT ALONE. To this day, we have new members enrolling on this website, and MERCK continues to deny these side effects. Numbers certainly do not lie…

I’m 28 years old and have been dealing with sexual side for the last 8 years…I was only on the drug for 2 months. Suprisingly, there are theories on silenced gene expressions(DNA Hypermethylation) that we are currently investigating. It seems that TRT, HCG, HGH works for some…but for some others it just doesn’t cure the problem.

I’m currently doing my best with vitamins/minerals since I have a normal hormone profile right now. I’m waiting to see how things evolve in the next few months…

Keep your head up…

#3

Thanks for the reply, well I hope I can find some answers I am detoxing at the moment and am going to try a few things (natural) to see if I can improve my situation, especially since I had the first glimmer of hope for those two days, first time in a year so we will see.
Have you had any periods where you felt better?

#4

Yes I have but not fully…

You should participate in Dr. Irwig’s study please…This is important in order for us to figure out a solution.

#5

gazzaa,

Welcome to the forum. You made the right decision to finally quit this horrible drug. You’re experiencing the post finasteride crash. The majority of us also went through this as well when we discontinued use of the medication.

My advice is to get a blood panel with as many of the hormones on this list as possible:
At a minimum, try to get the ones in bold.

Total Testosterone
Free Testosterone
Bioavailable Testosterone
Androstenedione
Androstenediol
DHT (not accurate compared to Adiol-G)
3alpha-diol G (Androstanediol glucuronide-- “Adiol-G” for short): metabolite of DHT, measures 5AR-II activity
Androsterone glucuronide (another metabolite of DHT that measures 5AR activity)
Estradiol (E2) Ultrasensitive
Estrone (E1)
Total Estrogens
LH
FSH
DHEA-S
Vitamin D
Cortisol (24-hour urine sample)
Cortisone
Corticosterone
Aldosterone
Deoxycorticosterone
SHBG
Prolactin
Progesterone
Pregnenolone
17-OH Progesterone
17-OH Pregnenolone
Albumin
ACTH
PSA
TSH
Free T3
Free T4
IGF-1
IGF-BP3 CBC or FBC (Complete Blood Count/Full Blood Count)
LFT (Liver Function Tests - AST, ALT, GGT, Bilirubin, etc.)
Androgen/Estrogen ratio
Testosterone/DHT ratio
17-ketosteroids (24-hr urine sample)

When you have your results post them on the forum, so we can provide some feedback for what areas you suggest to look into with your doctor.

As more members get thorough blood tests completed, we are finding more common hormonal problems amoung many of us. Getting your blood work done and submitting here, will improve what we can learn about the damage propecia does to the male endocrine system.
good luck

#6

Gazzaa - this is the link to dr irwigs study - please participate.

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3497

#7

gazza

how long have u been on TRT? and what kind Gel or shots?

sps

#8

Hi Thanks, before I figured out what was going on I went to an age management doctor, he put me on Test 100 ml a week IM and sermorelin HGH I remember it improved mood made me think about sex alot but still no erections, I stopped that around Xmas as I was home in the UK and impossible to carry on, I crashed again about 3 months ago so was thinking of going back on a TRT program, I’m in the middle of a move and job hunting so I have put everything on hold.
Here are the original blood tests I had last year at the Doctors.

Total T- 572 (280-800)
Free t 4.92 (1.4-12.6)
DHT Did not have done but know from the past it is very low
Estradiol 11.9 (7.6 42.6)
DHEA 181.4 (44.3-331.00)
Vit D 16.7 (30.0 100.0)
SHGB 41 (7-50)
progesterone 0.45 (0.2-1.4
IGF-1 181.0 (44.3-331.0)
T3 Total 115.9 (80-200)
T4 Free 1.45 (0.9-1.7
PSA Total 0,20 (0.0-4.0)
Thats all I had on your list I had a second test which I will have to get after I was on TRT HCG HGH.
Tell me what you think. There is definitely something going on with my prostate, It’s like its dead, it came back for a couple of days two weeks ago and I regained sensitivity but still no erections .
I am going insane I know I am 46 but I work out like a mad man I look great for my age, like in my 30’s there is nothing wrong with me and I have never been ill. I plan to go to my GP and see if he can help me find a good Doctor to see about this.

#9

Gazza, who was this ‘age management doctor’ you saw in the UK? were you not happy with him?

I am trying to check out any people that maybe able to help with therapy/ recovery in the UK so let me know if you come across anyone good.

#10

Hey Joe was not ignoring your pm it would not let me reply as I was a new member.
The Doctor I went to was in the US as I have just moved back here for a few years.
I have been searching and there is one in London but nothing like what you have in the US, so I wouldn’t waste money. Have you tried Sustan Alpha? that is what I am going to try next plus I workout allot and am going on HGH, Testosterone and HCG for an eight week cycle try to get some muscle tone back as have crashed for a couple of months.
Your young why don’t you join a gym and bang the weights, it really helps me allot.

#11

Your Vitamin D is very low like most of us.

I would be concerned about your thyroid. T3 doesnt look optimal.

Also, what is your cortisol? We can’t rule out adrenal fatigue.

#12

Yes I was going to post that your Vit D is very low. Get yourself some Vit D3. This is something you can do, that is very inexpensive and should give you a little relief.

#13

Yeah Thanks, Thats what the Doctor said doing the test and had me on Vit D shots, I don’t know weather it was too much at once but I felt really weird for a couple of weeks , anxiety, rapid heart beat , red flushed face and could not sleep and my blood pressure was high and I am someone who is 110/70 all the time. He told me my thyroid was fine ? he wanted to give me another shot after about 4 weeks, I told him I was concerned due to the symptoms of the first shot, he thought I was crazy so I did it and it happened again, and also when I had a sun bed not related to same time as shot I felt really anxious like it was doing something to my body.
I had a cortisol tested as I changed Doctors after the Vit D incidence, I have no faith in Doctors that pay no attention to you as to how you feel on something they are giving you. and it came back fine they would not have continued me on HGH if it was bad, as a sign of adrenal fatigue and this would bad with HGH. I am getting this blood work sent to me this week and I will post it, but I remember my D levels went up to about 30 after two shots, that was a while ago so I will start on D3 this week.
I will also try and get my thyroid done again, good luck on the British NHS system.

#14

Thanks for the reply, I’m in the UK mate like you which is why I am keen to hear any progress you make with doctors.

I would go to the gym but hard exercise makes me feel ill since I crashed, high intensity running and some weights feels ok but last time I pushed it I spent two days in bed. I was going to give it another shot though see what happens.