New Member Responses to Profile Questions:
I am from Santa Rosa, California in the United States.
I don’t recall how I found this forum - my memory is part of the problem. But I think it was through a Google search.
I am 31 years old, approximately 6ft. and 230 lbs.
3 or 4 days a week I hike over a hill near my house and back - about 50 minutes of exercise.
My diet is inconsistent. I try to consume whole grains with most meals but, even though I know the benefits, I don’t eat nearly enough fruits and vegetables and also eat fast food multiple times a week - usually Arby’s chicken strips or Panda Express.
I took Finasteride because I noticed a lot of hair coming out in the shower while I was in college, and noticed it began to noticeably appear thinner (used to have naturally thick hair). Both my grandfathers started going bald beginning in their late 20’s or early 30’s, and I wanted to prevent this. I should not have allowed the natural aging process to affect my vanity. What makes me angry is that I was not made aware of the risks of taking the drug by the prescribing University doctor - I just expressed an interest and he wrote the prescription. He should have told me about its hormone-altering effects and that, through these effects, an essentially unnatural hormonal balance is produced in the body.
I took Finsteride for almost exactly a decade.
It was sometime in 2002 when I started taking the drug - just before or just after my 21st birthday.
I quit taking the drug on 11/19/2012 after researching the drug on Wikipedia and WebMD and realizing that it was likely responsible for many or most of the health ills I was dealing with.
I quit ‘cold turkey’ - no tapering off.
I was taking Propecia 1mg every day for that approximately 10 year period.
It was always the same 1mg daily dose.
I noticed dizziness and anxiety a couple of months after starting to take the drug, and depression shortly thereafter. However, I was also smoking marijuana on a daily basis at the time, which concealed some of the anxiety and depression, I believe, and I did not attribute my health issues to the Propecia because I didn’t realize it could be the cause.
The continuing side effects include: lethargy (very little energy or motivation, both of which are only with me in the 2-3 hours following the consumption of caffeine), dizziness/lightheadedness/disorientation, a constant sense of being anxious or uncomfortable (always feeling stressed out), always feeling depressed to the point of ongoing suicidal ideation (which I’ve had since shortly after quitting the marijuana; since at least early October), the sense that nothing is quite real (like I’m partway between being awake and being in a dream state), my mental faculties feel impaired, like I’m thinking in slow motion and nothing is perfectly clear but always at least a bit hazy, and feeling like I have no connection with the past (like my memory is highly defective). I have all the mental effects listed below but none of the sexual side effects. However, I must be honest and say that it is at least possible that some of the effects are caused by my discontinuation of marijuana use after an equally long bout of dependence upon that drug (which I likely felt compelled to take to conceal some of the effects of the Propecia).
Sexual: none of those listed.
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
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[X] Weight Gain
Misc
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion"
[X] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
I have not undertaken medical treatments in my attempt to recover, although I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I have, however, been taking herbal supplements in the attempt to counteract the depression and lack of energy, including: Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, Muira Puama, Ginkgo Biloba and St. John’s Wort.
I just had blood drawn regarding this issue for the first time yesterday - results are due within a week.
My experience with Finsteride in my own words: during the decade I was on Finsteride, starting in college, I took antidepressants, was addicted to opiates for a year (Oxycontin) followed by 3+ years on opiate blocker/simulator Suboxone and smoked marijuana the whole time. It is my belief now that I felt compelled towards much of this drug use due to a need to conceal, or deal with, the effects of Finasteride. I am no longer consuming any of the aforementioned drugs, with the last to go being the marijuana, almost 7 months ago. After quitting marijuana I felt the following side-effects as also listed above: lethargy (very little energy or motivation, both of which are only with me in the 2-3 hours following the consumption of caffeine), dizziness/lightheadedness/disorientation, a constant sense of being anxious or uncomfortable (always feeling stressed out), always feeling depressed to the point of ongoing suicidal ideation (which I’ve had since shortly after quitting the marijuana; since at least early October), the sense that nothing is quite real (like I’m partway between being awake and being in a dream state), my mental faculties feel impaired, like I’m thinking in slow motion and nothing is perfectly clear but always at least a bit hazy, and feeling like I have no connection with the past (like my memory is highly defective). Some of this may be due to marijuana withdrawal, but I believe some of it is due to the fact that marijuana was helping me deal with the side-effects of the Propecia, which were much more noticeable upon ceasing the marijuana.