In order to be persuasive, Mandi is really going to have to change the theme and outlay of her website. With the black background and pink text it seems like a middle-school girl has been updating the website.
She forgot testicular atrophy on her list of side effects
What a brave human being…!! she’s really getting attention.
Funny that she has more balls than 99% of the forum.
[Size=4][Size=4]the big question is whether some day we will recover?[/size][/size]
in my case with 12 years having my testicles side effects are in perfect size. I have no gynecomastia.
each body reacts differently.
Thats for sure!
concerning mandi is 100% secure. the value is incredible.!!!
I’m just glad he’s working hard to get the word out to as many people as possible.
‘So much happening. Next week, a European TV program is coming to spend 2 days with me. My real life in Tampa. (Girls… there might be a going out night!) Interviewing me and my ex-wife. Second part of the interview will come next month, meeting with doctors who specialize in this Post-Propecia Syndrome, other victims, and traveling to NJ to talk to lawyers and confront Merck. Girl power to the rescue =)’
Props for mandi, but that is a oxymoron… No docs truly specialize in PFS or even know much about it for that matter.
Hi all - this is Mandi McKee, the subject of the NY Post story. Sorry for my late reply, I am just now discovering this thread on PropeciaHelp.
There were a couple other threads here including my own story I had shared. But I am going to reply on this thread moving forward. But to start, I wanted to post in below my reply to a comment on one of the other threads. It’s below.
But first let me copy in this comment from my Facebook page today. Reason is, I am open and encourage anyone to comment as I work on putting together a FAQ today and this evening for the producers of a national television interview I (and my ex-wife) will be giving live in mid-September. I will post exact dates and details closer to the program.
Regarding my sexuality - many of the original stories misrepresented this, but I have been open in all interviews at that time and since that I did have a BRIEF period of sexual exploration when I was younger (early 20’s), during which time I determined I was NOT gay, may have had slight bisexual tendencies, but that I liked women… and I moved on. Got married for 10 years, had a child. I never thought about that again until after taking Finasteride. So yes, it may have been a “spark” on an existing gasoline tank as one commenter here said - however, I was strong, athletic, and happily married at the time I started Finasteride. However after a year of dealing with complete loss of not only sexual ability but seeming complete loss of sexual desire by late 2009, I began to think to myself that “I must have been right”. After my marriage ended in 2010, I explored again my sexuality - and determined AGAIN, this time in my late 30’s, that I am NOT gay. However I did begin to accept that I felt transgender, and went through all of 2011 severely depressed about confronting that, thinking that must have been the cause of all my life woes and physical depression and symptoms. Anyway, I continue the rest of my story in the comment below.
But I want everyone here to know that I am going on the assumption that I will never see a dime from this due to my use of the generic. That being said, my only motivation for continuing to talk publicly is to get the word out about all the horrid things related to Propecia. For that reason, I welcome input and comments. Don’t worry about offending me - I wouldn’t have shared my story if I didn’t expect that, but I am operating on the basis that I know everything in my story is true. I would never go on national TV if I didn’t know that. Aside from being a software engineer and internet entrepreneur for 15 years, prior to that time I was a pre-med student at the U of Virginia. I did the whole pre-med curriculum, focused on genetics as my major, and worked in pharmacology research labs for 2 years. Sharing my story is helping me in a way to break through the depression and brain fog because I am truly interested in the science behind this, not only because I want to get myself healthy no matter what it takes, but because it is simply unbelievable how something so wrong can continue going on in this country without Merck even acknowledging it.
I also understand transgender-ism isn’t well understood, or accepted. That’s fine. But I will tell you for me, I have concluded for MANY reasons - including all the science and testimonials - and including the fact that transgender patients taking Finasteride for M2F therapy don’t seem to be affected by PFS or brain fog - that I believe that if I decide to continue with transgender hormonal treatment to completely remove testosterone from my body - that it will cure the brain fog issue and other anxiety related symptoms. I believe that is why transgender people are not affected by PFS - it’s b/c they also take another drug to completely block out testosterone. It’s the body’s inability to USE testosterone in PFS that results in testosterone becoming like a poison to the body, resulting in the brain fog, anxiety symptoms etc. That is my theory, and I think it’s right. I understand that doesn’t “cure” PFS for men who do not want to become transgender. But the transgender people I have met who use Finasteride say they love it, would not want it off the market… it gave them the results they wanted and they don’t seem to get PFS.
I’m off to pick up my son from pre-school… his LAST DAY before starting kindergarten next week! I have to give so much kudos to my ex-wife for not only being supportive of me, and of me speaking out, but of helping us to raise our son from the time he was 1 year old, when I started Finasteride - up to today with him starting kindergarten next week. The past few years were hell for me. But I have survived and sharing my story was in a way me saying “F-U” to staying stuck in depression over this thing for the rest of my life.
I will check back on this thread this evening.
from my Facebook today:
“I’m not going to be talking about Propecia/Finasteride forever, in fact I look fwd to not having to… but today, working on a master FAQ to give to producers for a national TV interview next month with the best-est journalist in the biz, complete with all the facts, studies, my story, links regarding Propecia, Finpecia (the generic Propecia I took produced by Cipla in India), the US FDA’s inspection/approval of Cipla’s Indian manufacturing plants since 1985, the FDA’s “non-enforcement rules” allowing US citizens to order small qty’s of overseas drugs for personal use, Propecia’s conflicting use as both a male hair loss cure and M2F transgender treatment, Post-Finasteride Syndrome’s “brain fog”, how it medically relates to Alzheimer’s Disease and why transgender patients don’t get it, and the US Supreme Court’s ruling last year preventing users of generic drugs - which account for 80% of prescrips in the US - from having any legal recourse - SOMETHING is not right with this picture. I already crossed the line of going public and will be glad to do what I can to help increase awareness of this mess - stay tuned, I’ll be posting the same FAQ doc to my blog. If Merck, Cipla, and the FDA want my opinion, they’ve messed with the wrong person - I don’t give up! Especially when I know the facts are ALL on my side =)”
my reply on another thread:
re MDG’s comment: "I have to believe that there are so many more men suffering from this than anyone ever imagined.
If this is what happened to me, it took me 2 years to make the connection."
MDG I stopped Finasteride in July 2009 after taking it 9 months for hair loss. I was also heavy into body building for close to 10 years.
MDG did you get your blood test results? I am having a full panel done in a couple weeks. It sucks to have to pay so much $$ for these tests when the docs say there is no known treatment and I likely can’t even sue, and have no health coverage or money due to my PFS problems.
After quitting Finasteride, It took me 3 years to make the connection including to my completely debilitating brain fog.
In those 3 years my life completely unraveled. Marriage ended, career as software engineer fell apart, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, bankruptcy, sexual identity crisis, gender identity crisis.
I ended up lost, isolated and depressed most of 2011. In December 2011 I pulled myself up and began transgender counseling, feeling that was my issue. Joined a transgender support group in early 2012. Upon making an appt w/ a transgender specialist MD in May 2012, I learned that the 2 most popular drugs given for M2F Transgender hormonal therapy (men who wish to become women) are Spiro and … you guessed it … Finasteride. My jaw dropped on the floor.
In the weeks that followed I discovered the Propecia hunger strike, suicides, the studies coming out, and was told my a doc everything I had experienced was linked to my use of Finasteride in 2008-2009.
I got in touch with a leading law firm handling the class action. Their full time medical doc who had interviewed close to 1,000 affected men did not even know that Finasteride is used as a primary treatment for M2F transgender therapy until I broke the news. I likely have no legal recourse b/c I took the generic version and the court system in this country protects corporations, excluding legal recourse for generic use, at least that is how the Supreme Court has ruled thus far. I now have personal transgender friends from my support group I joined earlier this year - WHO TAKE Finasteride - and are so happy with it, they say they wouldn’t want it taken from the market. It gave them the results they wanted.
I have debilitating brain fog/memory issues, which is now no surprise to me now that I have read the Post-Finasteride Syndrome blocks the same enzyme in the brain which is blocked in Alzheimer’s disease. I am broke and struggling to even qualify for disability as few docs even know of this condition much less Social Security.
SO the question is… why do transgender people not have these horrid side effects of brain fog, etc? I believe I know based on my crazy 3 year struggle with all of this. It is because transgender people are also prescribed another drug that completely knocks out testosterone.
Post-finasteride syndrome results in the body’s inability to USE testosterone by inhibiting conversion to DHT. The result is testosterone becomes like a poison to the body, resulting in braind fog, memory issues, anxiety etc, and the only thing that helps is reducing it. This explains everything I’ve read from all victims - including many that say “fasting”/losing weight helps with the brain fog. Of course, because “fasting” shrinks muscles, which reduces free testosterone in the body.
I had some slight bisexual feelings when I was young, but moved on from that having felt like I liked women much more. I got married for 10 years and have a son. However I think it was those feelings when I was younger that - in the 3 YEARS after quitting Finasteride that I had NO IDEA what the hell was happening in my life, I came to the assumption that “I must have been right when I was younger”. However I quickly determined (again) that in no way did I feel gay - but that led to me accepting that I was feeling transgender in late 2010/early 2011 - emotionally, cognitively, and physically. At that point I became near-suicidal for 4 months, no money, living without electricity in my loft from January-April 2011. I finally pulled myself up after realizing “checking out” could never be an option for me… and the fact I was a parent… I decided that I was transgender and that must have been the cause of all my woes. That led me on a 12 month path of coming out slowly, therapy, support groups etc from April 2011 - April 2012, before all these dots started connecting in May 2012 and I felt like I had been “Punk’d” or on candid camera when I learned I may be prescribed Finasteride for transgender treatment. I had stopped taking it less than a year before my marriage ended.
Anyway, with no legal recourse b/c I took the generic, feeling totally screwed over and waking every day now to spend the entire day unable to focus, with extreme fatigue issues, sleeplessness, having lost over 40 lbs of muscle, and feeling unable to work… I decided to just share my story publicly, which I’ve done here:
I was going to try and get a doc to prescribe me Provigil to see if that would help with the brain fog, but just read on this site today another post talking about how Provigil has its own share of nasty effects similar to Finasteride. If anyone has any experience or rec’s for treating the brain fog issue successfully, I would surely like to hear them.
Right now, I am hanging in another 2-3 months, getting my blood work done, etc. If I haven’t seen improvement in that time, I’m moving ahead with further transgender hormonal treatment to knock out my testosterone altogether. Based on all the science, testimonials, everything I’ve read - I am firmly convinced that knocking out my testosterone will solve the brain fog issue.
Can’t wait for your national televised interview. Good luck.
I don’t want to turn this into a theory thread but are you saying you think our bodies “forgot” how to utilize testosterone?
Someone else may back me up here but I don’t think I am theorizing when I say THE main action of both typical finasteride use as well as PFS (according to all science and studies published) is the inhibition/blocking of the body’s ability to convert testosterone to DHT, which is the usable form.
You can go straight to wikipedia.org and search finasteride and read that… it’s the basic mechanism of how finasteride works and also the main problem in PFS, separate from the additional neurosteroid issues … the “theory” part I mentioned is not testosterone blockage in the body, that is accepted widely as far as I know (anyone correct me if wrong) My “theory” which is based on the science is the additional anxiety/brain fog issues are brought about by excess testosterone in the body which cannot be utilized, hence why transgender patients who have 0 testosterone don’t get these problems from finasteride…
Well, the drug is documented to inhibit neurosteroids as you correctly pointed out, and as a result, causes anxiety and depression in susceptible patients (ie, reductions in 5AR-derived metabolites THDOC and Allopregnanolone, respectively).
See here:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=38
img2.tapuz.co.il/forums/1_125030674.pdf
download/file.php?id=260
drproctor.com/propecia/propecia.pdf
That said, steroid users (elevated Testosterone) have been known to exhibit depression, moodiness, rage and anxiety/paranoia at times. Thus perhaps a combination of elevated Testosterone levels with neurosteroid deprivation compounds the issue.
The reason some men get side effects and others do not likely comes down to genetic predisposition. Researchers are calling for men to be genotyped before men use 5AR inhibitors so they can determine proper drug choice based on potential efficacy and response: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1407
Further to this there is a hair loss test based on an individual’s genetics that evaluates Finasteride response, based on androgen receptor CAG repeats: hairdx.com
I love your blog Mandi. Can’t wait to see you on {REDACTED}
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as much as you dont believer her/him…some people will never believe us. get over it