Hello everybody, this is my Symptoms proflie template, with my experience.
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Where are you from (country)? Italy
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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?) Suggested by a doctor.
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What is your current age, height, weight? 38y 178 cm 78 kg
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? yes, fitness/body building
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? mainly protheic, with meat, fish and cheese, also rich in vegetables, fibers and friuts. A little of bread/pasta/rice and almost no fats and fast-food.
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 21 months
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? i was 35 and i started 'round 20 of october 2007
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? i was 36 and i quit 'round 23 of july 2009
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? mainly propecia, 2 months proscar
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1 mg/day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? after some more than 1 year and 6 months, short after mononucleosis
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What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? reduction of libido, erectile dysfunction, loss of spontaneous erections, reduced ejaculate, reduced sensibility on gland, depression and melancholy, weakness, fatigue, Joint Pain
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] 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
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[x] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[x] Muscle Weakness
[x] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? none
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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 still have no hormonal test
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
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Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I started taking Propecia after a dermatological visit for hair loss, and i went on taking it for more than a year and a half, without facing any side effect. On the contrary, i felt over-excited sometimes, from sexual side, and more focused, dynamic and “loaded” from the mental side. Physically i was in good shape, doing fitness/body building and jogging 4 times a week, feeling full of strenght. My appetite was good, without gaining so much weight, and with absolute regularity in digestion and urine function, and sleeping deeply and well.
Around june 2009 i took mononucleosis, and after this passed, Finasteride side effects showed up, perhaps combining with the illness.
During the cure i had no stable relationship, but i started a new one during the days i stopped Propecia, and so it was horrible: i wasn’t prepared.
I faced at first very weak, with so much joint pain: all of a sudden, i started to sweat a lot,losing many minerals (white spots on shirts where sweated…), also for a minimal effort.
Sex was so hard to do, with problems to maintain an erection, a lack of sensibility on penis, and problems in ejaculation, cause the sex drive was growing and at a certain point it was vanishing. The amount of sperm was regular, perhaps somehow watery, but in a minimal way. After sex i felt a kind of “pressure” feeling in the prostatic zone and i was not so ready to start again. Erections in the morning were no more a constant, and i started feeling constipated and my urination started to be not so frequent as usual.
My mood was also hit heavily: i was passing from euphoria to anger to depression and to anxiety more times in a day. Moreover, also sleeping was not so easy, with cycles of 2/3 hours of sleep, 1 or 2 hours awake and so on.
During the first four months this state was continuous, then it started to be somehow fluctuating, with a couple of weeks of staying a bit better and then a month as before, and so on.
My relationship ended after 8 months from first side effects. Obviously, i took this as a tragedy. After a month i started a new one with another girl.
As my reatioships, also side effects evolved somehow. Sweating reduced a bit, problems with erection went on the same, but times i reached an orgasm were more frequent. Sometimes also coming too fast. Sensibility issues on penis was improved, but ejaculation started being reduced in amount, even if sperm was white.
What was the more dramatic side was the growing loss of libido and sex drive.
The feeling of prostatic pressure stayed, spontateous erections become less frequent, constipation and urination issues stayed also, along with mental issues and weight gain.
The actual state is that 3 months ago i regained strenght and sleep, and sweating and urination now are normal. My mood now is somehow changed, from being less depressive but more flat.
Still libido and sex drive are so, so low and i feel that erection can be more “hard” and sperm is more or less at 70% of my normal amount and sperm comes out at the half of its normal force.
Penis sensibility is good, but still i feel sometimes that pressure on prostatic zone. Now i’m not in a relationship, so i don’t know for how much time i can have a reliable erection and if i’d came fast, or regularly or if i’d have problems in ejaculation.
My last blood tests of 3 months ago still signaled Gamma Gt values of quite the double the normal (97 i think…) and a PSA of 2,7, but no signals of infections.
I’m eating quite better than before, i started again going at gym and i’ve dome many progresses in a short time, so i’m feeling on the right road for going out of this nightmare, but still there are those problems to fix. And more than 2 years passed after giving up with Propecia.
And believe me, the hair that grew using propecia fall short after stopping using it. By the way, i discovered other natural methods to face that issue and i still use them, with slow but permanent results and sadisfaction.