New user - low dose but all the symptoms

Symptoms Sexual
#1

Hi everyone,

I took fin around 2 weeks ago for about 10 days. In total i took around 5 tablets at 0.5mg.

I didn’t notice too many sides at the time but i was already suffering from anxiety and already had ED issues.

Long story short things stopped working down there. Flaccid, no desire and normally seeing a hit girl would be enough to get me started.
At present i can get to about a 60% erection with porn but i’m struggling to get going when i’m with my gf. The pressure to go from a complete dead rubber to raging hard is too much mentally i think. I told her about the meds and shes understanding - we havent had sex since but i will be going the viagra route when we do and keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

In addition to this ive been stressed all week thinking about it. I want to exercise but my motivation is so low and i spent the day in bed as i have severe brain fog. I just wanted to sleep and wake up normal again.

As its only been a week of symptoms i’m going to give it time and see where I’m at in a few months.

Anyway, I wanted to ask anybody who has had similar symptoms if they have managed to maintain a somewhat adequate sex life? I can live with the loss of libido all week but when it comes to the deed i need to know i can get there whether im using meds or not.

Thanks

#2

Hello and welcome,

We know what you’re going through. It’s awful. It’s best not to panic. I would advise to get off the drug if you haven’t already. Give your body time to recover. Don’t overthink it.
I would advise to try to abstain from porn for some time as well because it’s not going to help you with your GF.
Take good care of yourself. Don’t smoke, don’t drink, eat well, sleep well. Try exercising regularly and give it a few months.

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#3

Thanks. It is so weird how things can change in such a short period of time. I stopped after the 6th pill.

I’ve been looking for positives this week and i do notice i get the occasional weak morning erection although i am waling up 4-5 times throughout the night.

Frustratingly i can’t seem to stop ‘testing‘ myself by watching porn to prove i can still get close to an erection. Today i’ve stopped and haven’t orgasmed for a few days (weak erection and weak ejectulation). I know if i go a week or so without any form of sex or masterbation i’m busting at the seems… but this time everything feels different. Its like that area is dead or belongs to somebody else.

I’m hoping viagra 50mg (which i have been taking before sex) continues to work… i’ve thought that if not i may have to look into direct injections as i’ve read that theyre 90% effective. Anybody any experience in this route?

#4

I understand your feelings about the need to prove this sexual ability to yourself, as I have been in that position myself, but the fact of the matter is; You’re not performing well. That feels awful and may disturb you but you need to accept for a while that you are recovering from a setback and need some chill time to allow yourself this recovery. This means your GF may need to accept your boundaries as well for a while, despite your desire to overcome this and prove yourself to her in terms of performance. The anxiety and obsessive fixation with sexual performance may be adding or worsening potential psychosomatic elements to your erectile dysfunction.

Talk about viagra and/or injections is way too soon for you and you are overthinking this by a lot. Two weeks is nothing. After this experience with finasteride, you should know better than to expose your body to all kinds of exogenous substances for some cosmetic trait or some temporary performance.

So take a few steps back in your thinking.
The vast majority of people who take finasteride have these exact symptoms but simply recover after a few weeks or months, because that’s the time the body needs to recover. Again, two weeks is nothing. You haven’t even given your body the genuine opportunity to recover itself. Give it a few months and don’t do anything stupid in the meantime.

Also, I would not take Viagra before I was absolutely certain every trace of Finasteride had left my body in terms of digestion and metabolization in the liver. You may want to read up on Viagra to know what exactly it is and what it does. You may want to wait a few weeks before even attempting your first viagra pill. On top of that, although rare, Viagra can potentially cause serious side effects that should in my opinion not be overlooked.

If I recall correctly, people have very differing accounts on here about whether viagra is effective for them or not. My personal experience with the viagra that I have tried (admittedly I tried only a small dose once) is that it didn’t do much for me, despite following all the instructions. But others may have better experiences so don’t let that get you down once you decide to try it out.

I urge you to take it easy, don’t think about viagra until you’re at least two months into this and try to focus your attention on other things.

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#5

Thanks Wintermoon. My hope is that things can go back just as quick as they occurred… I’m trying to convince my brain that because its only been a week my body needs time to straighten itself out and may do so so heres hoping.

As for the viagra - i have already been taking it for months for sex as i had ED problems before Fin… its the libido loss and rubbery penis that is the main concern right now. I’m confident if i can get it up i can keep it up with Viagra or something else so i can at least have a fulfilling sex life in my relationship.

#6

My experience is also that finasteride has greatly reduced if not completely eradicated my libido.

You’re a pretty unique case in having ED already before taking finasteride.
Do you have any knowledge why you have been suffering from it before finasteride?

Obviously, I am not a doctor. Do what works for you. I’m just being a first responder here and trying to tell you to not freak out and give it some time. That’s all. :slight_smile:

#7

Hi,
No - i never went the medical route to determine why i had ED but i’ve suffered for about a year now with it.

I am in a bad place like i am sure most of us are on here. I can tell that my body is broken at present and even though its been a week i’m starting to forget the feeling of being normal. I can’t sleep, eat, work and basically function at present and i’ve already taken time off work to just sleep - i’m feeling so depressed. I’m speaking to my doctor about the depression and ED aspects this week so i have a feeling i may go on a course of anti-depressants as right now i can’t see any positivity :frowning:

#8

I also have a history with depression.

Here’s the brutal truth:
Pharmaceuticals are not going to solve your depression for you. Lifestyle changes will.
Even worse, most antidepressants are very dangerous and can potentially worsen your condition both physically and cognitively. Many antidepressants have sexual and libido decreasing side effects, which is the very last thing you want.

If you are depressed then there is a reason for that. You need to start talking about those with a professional therapist and take better care of yourself. You don’t have to do this alone, I encourage you to get coaching or therapy or some form of help with creating a better lifestyle that fits you. Treat yourself to some nice things like snacks and fun things once in a while and cut out negative or abusive people from your life. Stop drinking alcohol for a while. I know this all sounds like a lot of work. But trust me, while an antidepressant pill sounds like a nice and quick solution. It doesn’t really work like that.

If you’re dead set on antidepressants, do NOT take antidepressants of the SSRI class. They can permanently give you horrifying symptoms. There are ‘safer’ alternatives like bupropion, lavender oil, and some others. I have taken bupropion in the past, but in retrospect I feel I would not have needed that had I started therapy and got help from my coach earlier down the line.

Stop expecting pharmaceuticals to solve all your problems in life whether it’s ED or hairloss or depression. These pharmacists make big promises but they come at a big price. If it weren’t for the lies and greed in the pharmaceutical industry this website wouldn’t exist and none of us would be victims of finasteride (or any other drug) in the first place, because it was never invented with the intent of being a hairloss drug.

Please heed my warning and do not make the same mistakes others have made in the past.

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