New user going to see Dr. Shippen

Hi everyone I am a new user and just joined. First I want to thank everyone for there input on everything on this site. I’m 22 and I started taking propecia a year ago for 2 weeks. The first week I took 1 mg every day and started having e d problems so i cut back to a half a pill for the other week with no improvements. I quit taking it and started taking 450 mg of saw palmetto up until 3 weeks ago when I found this site and read about that. I could see a noticable differance when I first quit but haven’t progressed anymore. I haven’t had any blood work done but have an appt with dr shippen in dec. He is going to send me the information on which tests I need to get done.

Welcome to the forum.

Pls keep us posted on your appointment and test results.

In the meantime, consider copy/pasting and answering questions per the list here as part of your story:

propeciahelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=371

  1. How did you find this forum? Yahoo

  2. What is your current age, height, weight? 22, 160 lbs, 5"11

  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? About 2 to 3 times a week. Weight lifting.

  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Everything

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

  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 2 weeks

  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride? 21

  8. How old were you when you quit? 21

  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

  11. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1 mg a day for 1 week, and 1/2 mg for 1 week.

  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 3 or 4 days

  13. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? No erections

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
[ ] 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
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[x] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[x] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[x] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] 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?

  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)?

  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.