Where are you from (country)?
I am from the US
- How did you find this forum (Google)
le search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)
Recently I have discovered that symptoms I have been experiencing for the last four years are most likely related to a DHT inhibiter that I took when I was 22 years old. Because of this I googled something along the lines of "sexual problems after taking Avodart which is how I came across this website.
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What is your current age, height, weight?
Current age: 29
Current height: 6 foot 5 inch
Current weight: 210 pounds. -
Do you exercise regularly? If so, what type of exercise?
Yes I exercise regularly. I do a combination of cardio (2.5 miles runs on treadmill 2-3 days per week and general weight lifting for approx 1 hour at time 5 days a week. Trying to add more cardio to my work out routines in an attempt to resolve symptoms caused by Avodart. -
What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
I eat no fast food at all. I eat meat and foods that contain lots of crabs. My diet is deff not on point one hundred percent but at same time pretty good. Recently in-between males I make it a point to snake on fruits and vegetables. Trying to add additional improvements to diet an attempt to help resolve symptoms caused by Avodart. -
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
A urologist prescribed me Avodart for BPH. -
For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
I took one 0.5 dose of Avodart every day for thirty days. -
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
I was 22 years old when I took Avodart. I took my first dose 5/25/2006 and took it for 30 days only. (0.5 dosage every day for 30 days straight starting on 5/25/2006) -
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
See above answer -
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold Turkey. -
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Avodart. I know Avodart is the dual inhibiter that inhibits 5alpha type 1 and type 2. I am not sure if it falls under Propecia, Proscar or generic. Figured this would be a simple google search away but this was confusing to me for whatever reason. -
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
0.5 MG every day for thirty days. -
How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
During the time that I took it when I was 22 years old for the one month period I noticed no symptoms/negative side effects! After I stopped I noticed no negative side effects! This is how my story is different from everyone else’s on the this forum. My side effects started when I was 26 years old. This is correct, I experienced no side effects until 4 years after taking the Avodart when all of sudden I started to experience the negative sexual side effects that everyone on this forum talks about. -
What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[ X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence (not complete impotence but if I had to add a percentage to how much impotence I suffer from would say I lost about 50 percent of sexual function in general.
[ X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X ] Watery Ejaculate
[ X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility (unknown at this time because I have never tried to father child, mostly because I can’t even really have a sex life because of these symptoms)
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
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[X ] Muscle Wastage
[X ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes ( sometimes small circles that I contribute to not being able to sleep that good at certain times sense this whole thing started but this is not a problem for me)
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets” (recently started to experience constipation, will explain)
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
I do not sleep as good sense this whole thing started when I was 26. Also I do not have the same levels of overall energy that I had before this situation started.
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
I plan on explaining everything I have tried in vivid detail under the tell us your story question. But a general idea of the treatments that I tried are as follows:
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Noticed my symptoms when I was 26. I went approx 3 months without doing anything, watching and waiting hoping my body fixed whatever issue was going on, on its own. Sexual symptoms never went away
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At this point after doing research on line I came to conclusion that my symptoms such as all of a sudden I have a difficult time achieving and maintain erection, reduced and watery semen, semen driples out instead of shoots out, weak orgasms and a certain level of a general numbness type of feeling in penis where all result of a classic case of low testosterone.
3)I went to approx 4 endocrinologists. They all ordered blood labs for me which included Total T, Free T, LH, FSH, SHBG and estrogen. Over a course of a 3 month period my basic hormone panels kept coming back all Low normal (every time my Total T being in the low 300’s NG/DL) Of course I kept getting the hey it’s all in your head response just stop thinking about it so much.
4)Eventually I found a good Urologist/Endo in Boston, MA (at the time I lived near Boston) At this time It has now been approx 6 months sense I started experiencing the above mentioned symptoms. (again remember at the time I was 26 and it has been 4 years sense I stopped taking the Avodart that I took when I was 22 and was only on it for 30 days. Just wanted to make that clear again for the record) This good Urologist/Endo in Boston agreed that something was wrong and that a low/normal testosterone reading in the 300’s for a 26 year old guys is not normal. This doctor put me on Clomid that I took for a year. Symptoms did not improve. (will include full story on my clomid usage/ response later)
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Same doctor in Boston gave me Axrion (topical testosterone that you put under arm pits) after Clomid failed. Axrion gel got my T levels to a higher level but still did not improve my symptoms. (again will explain this in more detail)
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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)?
I have no pre-Avodart blood levels. (will include exact post Avodart blood levels under question 17)
- Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
Will list everything under next question.
- Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I am going to tell my story in the format of a time line/out line. Will take less room and be easier to follow:
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I am 29 years old, currently living in Washington, DC
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At age 22 I am prescribed Avodart. A very smart Urologist (trying to be funny) prescribed me this medication which to the sounds of it was produced in hell my the devil. I had seen this doctor because I had an inflamed prostate. The very intelligent Urologist decided to give me Avodart (a powerful dual 5 alpha reductase inhibiter used to treat BPH. Apparently this guy learned in medical school that if he’s treating a 22 year old guy for prostate/urinary issues than he’s most likely dealing with a complicated case of BPH that DHT is only going to make worse and not a prostate infection that could easily be cured with antibiotics. Anyways this is how and why I took this really safe medication as it states in my medical records “patient was advised and is fully aware of the risks associated with this drug” which is a complete lie! because I was not advised of shit. I had no side effects at all while on this drug for the 30 days, coming off of the drug or weeks or months after taking the drug.
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So of course my story is weird and is different from everyone else’s on this website. My story gets stranger because like I said I had no symptoms until 26 (again 4 years after taking the Avodart ). Because when I was 26 was also the time I was really into working out/lifting heavy ect… I decided that I wanted to try one of these “Testosterone boosters” that I have heard so much about. I went to GNC and got a product called Methyl Arimetest (to this day GNC still sells it). I took this product for not even 4 days when all of a sudden all of these side effects hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean 3 or 4 pills worse of this Methly Arimetest and that was it. I started having a hard time getting an erection, maintaining an erection, loss of sensation, watery sperm, reduced amount of sperm, weak feeling orgasms and this weird numbness feeling in the penis that everyone on here talks about. Of course I panicked and stopped taking the Methyl Arimetest supplement from GNC right when I noticed these symptoms. About 2 weeks after these symptoms started and I stopped taking the crap from GNC I noticed that I lost a good amount of lean muscle. I lost a solid inch of hard muscle in my legs. My legs took the hit the most out of muscle loss. Of course I am concerned at this point.
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at this point I am reviewing my situation. I am saying to myself, ok I take a testosterone booster from GNC and after 3 days on it I discontinue it because of these strange sexual side effects. I quickly learn about how putting stuff in your body that contains testosterone or converts to testosterone can shut off your natural production of testosterone. Most importantly keep in mind at this point I have no clue what DHT inhibiters are or what it even was that, that stupid Urologist gave me when I was 22 years old, in other words I did not know what Avodart was.
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I wait 3 months, waiting for my testosterone production to “turn back on” assuming that this Methyl Arimtest shut my natural production of testosterone off.
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3 Months into these symptoms (still 26 years old) I deiced to go to a endocrinologist to have my testosterone levels and other related hormones checked. They are all low. Every time my levels are checked I have low normal testosterone. As mentioned above an Endo in Boston decides to put me on clomid because he thinks that all of these sexual symptoms are related to a my low normal testosterone readings. I have an awesome response to clomid in the regard that my LH goes through the roof as does my Total Testosterone. He keeps me on Arimdex to manage the high E that you typical get on Clomid therapy. My energy goes up, my sense of well being goes up but my limp dick and other sexual side effects continue.
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After a year on Clomid with no improvement of sexual side effects he puts me on topical testosterone. I have a good reaction to this as well on paper. Good looking hormones, mid range total testosterone, controlled estrogen from the arimdex, everything looks good. But still no improvement with sexual side effects.
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Time wise I am now 28 years old, I have experienced two years of hell with very limited sexual function and reduced muscle mass. I have gone through A year’s worse of clomid therapy, with waiting in between and about a half of a year worse of testosterone therapy with no improvement with sexual side effects. At one point during my Clomid therapy my sexual side effects actually take a turn for the worse. I actually noticed penis shrinkage, not even when having an erection but without having one. (this was the first time sense this hell started that I actually got the shrinkage which to me is the worst of it all)
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Because I realized that clomid and TRT (while taking arimdex with both) did not do anything for my sexual side effects I decided to change up my game plan and say ok no more meds, no more nothing. So I went 9 months without taking anything. Cold turkey stopped TRT with no PCT and just took it from there.
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At this point I am now 29 and I still suffer from the same side sexual sides. I have suffered from them sense I was 26 years old and they started right after I took the Methyl Armitest supplement from GNC when I was 26. Now this is when the Saw Palmetto comes in!! the best part of my story.
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As of last month I end up meeting this girl I am really into. But of course sense my sexual function sucks I am nervous as shit as to how I am going to be able to get it on with this girl. (this is also the first time I wanted to try to have sex sense this whole thing started when I was 26) So I got the bright idea that hey, this whole thing is caused my prostate. After all I had an extremely enlarged prostate when I was 22 years old and raising my testosterone didn’t solve this problem so I came up with this awesome theory that my prostate is so enlarged that its causing my semen to be watery because after all the prostate makes half of what’s in are semen. Also before my endo from Boston put me on testosterone he did a prostate exam on me said I have BPH. So I connect the dots and say after all this time I do have BPH probably because of my higher than normal estrogen levels while on the Clomid and TRT and probable from the troubles I had when I was 22 which was most likely a prostate infection. One way or the other my prostate being inflamed is causing these problems, so let’s start looking up what kind of herbs you can take from GNC to reduce an inflamed prostate. Of course I am looking for anything that will work at this point because I really like this girl and I am so sick of not being in a relationship. After a couple first dates ect… and avoiding sexual contact because I know it’s going to be a problem I pretty much know its sink or swim at this point with moving forward with this girl so I am willing to try anything to hope to prove my latest inflamed prostate theory right.
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Time is now 3 weeks ago and of course because I am looking for supplements that shrinks an inflamed prostate at this point I end up with a bottle of Saw Palmetto in my hands. I take it for 2 weeks straight and all of a sudden I start to experience constipation like really bad constipation that I never experienced before. Already bad sexual side effects didn’t get worse, but I lost energy and gains in sleep quality that I gained sense this whole thing started when I was 26. But I did not experience declines of sexual side effects or muscle loss (thank god)
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So now it’s the end of my story and it’s 3 days ago. A voice in the back of my head was telling me to google the old Methyl aramitest supplement that I took when I was 26. That’s when I discovered that all that’s in that product is Saw Palmetto, combined with another natural supplement that blocks DHT production. The only thing that’s even in this Methyl Aramitest other than those two herbs is a mild estrogen reducer. That’s when it clicked! I fucking drove all night to the old urologist officer (DC to Boston) and got a copy of my old medical records. Remember up until this point I did not know what Avodart was (the drug I took when I was 22 for inflamed prostate) or what was in the Methly Arimetest supplement (that I took when I was 26 right before all my symptoms started).
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Present day. I have discovered that my symptoms that started when I was 26 are in result of the Avodart that I took when I was 22. For some reason the Avodart alone did not damage me. (probable because I was only on it for 30 days) It was the Avodart combined with the fact that 4 years later I took the Saw Palmetto from the Methly Arimetest supplement. Please don’t cancel my membership, I know I am right about this! I am not a member who was damaged by Saw Palmetto alone, It was first the Avodart when I was 22 combined with the Saw Palmetto I took when I was 26 years old that made me start to experience all of the same symptoms that you guys get. This is why TRT never fixed me. Just like most of the people on this website TRT does not help because we have something else going on that these DHT inhibiters caused. The worst part of my situation is that I took Saw Palmetto again recently not knowing any of this! As I have learned from this website time seems to be the best way to fix this issue. So it is terrible to know that I took a DHT inhibiter again which is the same poison that did this to me in the first place. To think that I may have lost everything that my body has done in the last 4 years to try to fix this is terrible. That combined with the fact that my sexual sides are bad enough to the point that I don’t even feel comfortable trying to be intiment with this new girl, combined with me finding out about what DHT inhibiters can do to you via this website all in the same short period of put me in the lowest spot I have ever been in before in my entire life.
I would rather believe that some weak Test booster (even though I have no history of steroid use, pro hormone use or any other supplement use at all) did this to me. I carry a firearm at work every day and thus I am around firearms all day. This level of depression mixed with firearms is not a good mix. I really did consider ending it the other day. But after reading peoples stories on this website who experienced worse reactions from DHT inhibiters than I did who are willing to fight this thing to the end has me looking at it like the fight has just begun.
I will post all of my blood work results later once I know I am not being put off as another Saw Palmetto case and canceled. When I post them I will post what they were 3 months after this started, what they where during Clomid , what they where during TRT, what they where 10 months after not taking anything and finally my latest results that I will get at the end of this month when I follow up with my doctor in Boston. (these are the most important to me as I am hoping my newest 2 week usage of Saw Palmetto didn’t put me back to square one.
I have so many questions for people on this website about this connection you guys found about the trait you guys all share in your labs. This possible way to measure 5ar11 activity in the body to be specific.
Also question to the administrator. Have you or anyone else you know had any additional contact with the anonymous person who emailed you back in 2009 about his possible theory of getting the 5ar11 activity back to normal using DHT.
I will fix this or die trying.