- Where are you from (country)?
Australia - 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?)
Google - What is your current age, height, weight?
25, 175cm, 76kg - Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
Yes, weight training - What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
Regular healthy diet - Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
MPB - For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
11months + 3months tapering - How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
23, first dose November 2012 - How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
24, started reducing dose November 2013, ceased 31st Jan 2014 - How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Taper - What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Propecia - What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1mg/d - How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
10-11months - What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
ED - whilst on the medication.
Worsening ED, loss of libido, muscle loss, testicular shrinkage and generally feeling less energetic - since stopping.
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
[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
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] 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
[x] Other (please explain)
Excessive thirst
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
HCG - 2 cycles 150iu/d, Zinc 45-90mg/d, macuna pruriens, Prednisolone 7.5mg/d, DHEA 30mg/d, PDE5 inhibitors, Heavy weight training -
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)?
Initial tests - 3months post finasteride:
T and DHT - lower end of reference range
Oestrogen - slightly above reference range
Prolactin - approx double maximum reference range value. Current bloods remain unchanged except for prolactin which is now at top end of reference range.
Recent saliva test - low cortisol. -
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.
Had been taking finasteride 1mg/d for 11months when decided to stop due to mild ED which had not been a problem at all up until this point. Read about crashing so deciced to taper. Did not ‘crash’, however, did have some bad days when tapering.
First blood tests done at about 3 months post ceasing due to persistent ED. Since then have also experienced some muscle loss and loss of libido. However, ED is #1 problem.
HCG 150iu/d for 5 weeks x 2 cycles - improvement in teste size, however bloods and other symptoms remained unchanged.
Current situation (8 months since stopping): muscle loss stabilised - however extremely difficult to put on muscle, libido = low but manageable, ED = severe, only slight benefit from PDE5 inhibitors. Recent saliva test - low cortisol suggesting adrenal fatigue so have stopped weight training and currently on prednisolone 7.5mg/d and DHEA 30mg/d.