New User: First Post: please reply to me

Member Stories
#1

Hello all,

Thank God that this place exists.

I took Generic Finasteride for 5 days this past week. On day 5, I couldn’t get an erection.

I stopped immediately, this is my 3rd day off it.

The past two nights and yesterday have been insane. I’ve barely slept, I feel anxious, hot flashes, zero sexuality, groin pain.

Right now I’m exhausted and am thinking of going to the doctor to ask for both some sleeping tablets and some Viagra. It is my expectation that the doctor will have no knowledge of PFS / Finasteride in general.

Should I ask him to run tests? What should I ask for? What good would it do?

I have no idea if either is a good idea but I have read that the latter can help to open up blood flow and aid recovery. I’ve read a lot online. I have no idea how reliable any of it is. I read that you should take a decreasing dose to get off Finasteride, no idea again. I am afraid of what could happen if I take more.

I am hopeful that because I took such a small number of pills it might mean I am able to recover. Suicide already weighs heavily upon me and I have planned to make a will this week. As far as I can tell, things could get much worse. I dread mood swings and brain fog.

How do you cope?

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#2

i had an extreme reaction as well and still suffer 4 months later, if you are from greece you can pm me so we can discuss this, suicide is not an option

stay strong you might recover in couple weeks naturally

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#3

hi Greek - first of all, I’m very sorry to hear you’ve been badly affected by finasteride. I am one of the most severe cases after 0.25mg last year, with the worst onsetting 2 days after and developing from there, so I know there is no dose dependency to this syndrome. What you describe is a typical ‘crash’, and it’s important to at this point try and make sure you have someone in your real life who is understanding and can support you - a close friend or family member you can explain to what has happened.

As you may know there is currently no ‘test’ for PFS and doctors are not aware of it broadly speaking, though you could consult your doctor for general testing to exclude other causes. It is also important to report what has happened to you to your doctor and national pharmaceutical watchdog - details of these can be found on pfsfoundation.org

I would advise in no circumstance should you take more finasteride. Any speculation you have read about titrating off finasteride has no basis, and whatever has happened to you has already happened. There is no possible way for you to take a ‘small’ amount of this drug as it is incredibly unusual in its dose response curve and extremely powerful down to 0.05.

There are cases who have a crash and recover quite significantly, and in most cases many initial crash symptoms wear off in some months, so please try and suppress suicidal thoughts at this stage - right now you need to avoid focusing on outcomes as this wont be helpful to you. You need to focus on managing moment to moment and pushing yourself through the worst of it. We’re here for you.

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#4

@kon93 @axolotl

Thanks so much. That’s really helped, more than you might think.

#5

As it is so early I wouldn’t advise taking viagra yet. If you’re in the middle of a crash it could just add more unnecessary stress to your system.

You could recover naturally in a few weeks so for the time being I would advise trying to have somebody who can care for you close by if at all possible. If not, keep it in mind that many people describe the side effects you’re having then recover in the space of a few weeks or months so as much as you can, try not to catastrophize at this stage (I know this is easier said than done).

There are various different recommendations for sleep aides dotted around this site, I believe glycine has helped some when taken before bed but please search the forum for this as I haven’t personally used it. I would advise against taking any pharmaceutical drugs at this stage if you can help it.

And you have my sympathy. It is a truly horrid thing to have to go through and I know speaking with people who understand it can be a big comfort.

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#6

Thankyou.

Is there a general advice thread where lots of these things are collected?

It would be helpful to have a list of general things we can do, maybe.

#7

The problem is that supplements or other things that helped one of us could also have no effect or even worsen symptoms for others. I do not think that after this short period of time you should try something.
Give your body more time, try to stay calm and focus on moments where you feel a little better. After 2-3 months you can slowly begin in trying things when you want to.
The safest you can do is waiting and try to live healthy for the moment. Take sleep when you need it, avoid stress ore things that can stress your body like coffein or to much suger.

For me the suicidal soughts persisted only for 1-2 weeks. After 10 months now i only think on finishing my life on very very bad days, but even then it’s only a thinking of it but no more intention in doing it realy.

Best to you.

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#8

It’s okay to be worried but you really need to try to relax. You just got off the drug, it’s too early to tell if you have PFS. In about two weeks your DHT will come back in full force and all your symptoms will pretty much improve.

After that two things can happen, you’ll either be completely normal again or you’ll still have the symptoms. If you’re normal obviously you’re healed and don’t have to worry anymore. If your symptoms come back then you might have PFS. In which case, you have to wait it out cause it is possible you could completely heal randomly in a year. Try to avoid all medications for at least a year cause they’ll hinder your recovery. Viagra/Cilias can make you blind and give you tinnitus, they’re just as dangerous as finasteride. If you need sleeping pills, just take over the counter unisom or something, but don’t depend on them, you need to try to sleep without pills.

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#9

Thankyou very much for your replies.

I have found that by consciously remaining calm - which can involve staying off the internet, has helped, particularly at night.

I am not currently seeking medicine.

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#10

Good mindset, hope you recover soon, im greek as well so dont hesitate to pm me if you need support

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#11

Thankyou, PM me if you want to too.

#12

Had a couple of days of feeling just about back to normal but it feels like it’s coming back now. A wave of anxiety hit me just now after I felt strangely tired tonight. Is that it? Am I stuck with this?

#13

lol I said wait two weeks and you’ve only waited 6 days…

#14

Thanks, not feeling as bad as earlier already. Just panicked.

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#15

This post makes me feel hopeful. Thank you!!

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#16

Not the first time I read about this 1 year limit. Is there such a record about natural recoveries? I am 6 months in and starting to wonder when to start trying hormone protocols… Would be fine to cross the “natural way” out of the list without regreting it later, watcha think? As one of the most active members on the “skeptic side”, I’d really like to hear from @Greek about his experience, attitude and improvment timelines in this road, as well as other “natural recoveries”!

Cheers!

#17

Hey Greek. How are you now? Any updates?