Only took two doses

Member Stories
#1

Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.

Where are you from (country)?

Finland

How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)

Googled "Finasteride side effects"

What is your current age, height, weight?

6ft, 160lbs

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?

Finasteride

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?

1.25mg daily

What condition was being treated with the drug?

Hair loss at an early age

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?

Two days

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?

17 years old, 30th August 2018

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?

17 years old, 31st August 2018

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?

Cold turkey

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?

Noticed sleepiness after the first dose, and sexual sides after the second dose.

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.

Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[*] Loss of Morning Erections (had it for a few weeks, seems to be coming back now)
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate (again, had it at first but seems to be recovering)
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat (was severe at the beginning, better now)
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating (same as above)
[x] Confusion (same as above)
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled) (dick looks really limp sometimes)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[x] Muscle Wastage (maybe a little bit?)
[*] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion (a little bit, but could be just due to me worrying about this condition)
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

Healthy eating and light exercise

If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?

Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

Male pattern hair loss runs aggressively in my family, and I was no different. I started noticing hair thinning when I was 16 years old, and was in denial for almost a year until it got too noticeable to ignore. Visited a dermatologist in August 2018 and got prescribed generic 5mg Finasteride cut into quarters. The dermatologist told me that side effects are extremely rare and if I encounter “anything uncomfortable”, I could stop the drug and the symptoms would go away.
I had done a lot of research about Finasteride and knew of the side effects. I decided to give it a try and promised to myself that if I encountered ANY side effects that I would stop immediately, to not risk any permanent damage. I took my first dose of 1.25mg Finasteride on August 30th. For the first few hours I didn’t notice anything, but about 6 hours after taking the pill I became REALLY tired. I decided to take a nap and felt slightly better. Had no more issues that day.
The next morning I took my second dose. During the day I started to get some testicular ache. I had read from forums that this was a rather common side effect, but I wanted to play it 100% safe so I decided to stop taking Fin. I masturbated that night and my semen was very watery. Another common side effect I had read about. Didn’t really worry at this point.
However the next morning when I woke up, I realized that my libido was completely GONE. Such an odd feeling. It felt like anything sexual was completely erased from my mind, like castration. I could look at women and wouldn’t feel a thing. I didn’t panic at all, and just thought “well, I guess Finasteride isn’t for me. So glad I decided to quit” and expected to get better in the next few days/weeks.
In the following week my sleep quality deteriorated and I got massive brain fog and emotional blunting. I didn’t feel like myself. It kinda felt like a hangover, couldn’t focus on anything, couldn’t find the right words etc. Felt like a completely different person. Still didn’t really panic because I thought it’d get better since I wasn’t taking Fin anymore. This severe brain fog lasted about 10 days, and I’d say it’s about 80% cleared now.
Im now almost three weeks off the poison and the mental side effects are thankfully clearing up, slowly but surely. However my libido is still pretty much nonexistent, and my penis feels numb and somewhat disconnected from my body. It’s a weird feeling. I used to masturbate almost everyday before Finasteride, now I can’t even get it up to porn more than maybe three times a week. My orgasms sometimes feel really dull and weird. The watery semen however feels back to normal. I’ve also been getting weird suicidal thoughts lately, I’m not depressed at all but just this weird urge that I need to kill myself. Really strange. I’ve read some of the stories here and realize it’s most likely the drug causing these thoughts and not me, so I won’t act on these thoughts, don’t worry.
So yeah, as I said it’s been almost three weeks since I took my last pill of Finasteride. Really hope I can get my libido back and my mental health back to 100%. I really hope and pray that I’m not so unlucky that not only did I start balding at 16, but I developed permanent side effects from taking two pills of Finasteride. That would be such a slap in the face. Anyway guys thanks for reading and share your thoughts if you can help in any way.

4 Likes
Recovery is possible
#2

Hey there, just because nobody has replied to you yet I’ll say:

People can take months for side effects to dissipate. People who develop PFS can either recover or their symptoms can fade.

It’s not all over.

How are you doing at the moment? Have you confided in anyone? I was very scared when my crash happened and I can’t imagine how scary it would be at your age. People here are very patient, helpful and kind in my experience. If you need support, make sure people here know.

2 Likes
#3

I only took it once and I’m here lol, a lot of my side effects got better but they’re still there. Give it a year, your mental side effects will definitely improve to some degree. The suicidal thoughts pass and go away for most people so don’t try anything rash. Suicide has a high failure rate meaning that a lot of people who attempt it don’t die and end up in worse pain than before. There’s no fool proof suicide method so you really shouldn’t try it, it’s not worth it.

Sucks that this happened to you being so young. You’re one person I actually feel sorry for on this website since you’re still a kid and everyone else here is an adult.

Just wait it out and don’t take any other hormone changing drugs cause you’ll just make it worse and hurt your chances of recovering. Some people randomly get better completely in like 8 months so hold on to that hope.

2 Likes
#4

I’m feeling pretty good, trying to remain calm even though it’s hard. I REALLY hope I’ll recover within a few months, my libido and penis sensitivity have been getting slightly better in the past week or so.

#5

I wouldn’t worry about libido if it’s showing positive signs already. That felt completely switched off for me for a while, but is definitely back now.

#6

Glad to hear man. It’s a scary feeling, like the word ”sex” didn’t exist in my brain at all.

#7

One thing that I would say is that I tried to not make an issue out of it.

I think the last thing you should do is try to get turned on if it’s not happening. If you’re not able to get aroused fairly quickly, then give up on the idea for the day. People have all sorts of hangups that can impair their sexuality, repeatedly failing a self imposed test could have longer term implications - your body might be ready but mentally you might suppress those urges by being worried.

1 Like
#8

Yeah I get where you’re coming from. However in the past few days I’ve been able to get turned on and get a boner just by thinking about something sexual for a while, unlike before when everything sexual was completely gone from my brain and my dick was DEAD. Hopefully this is a good sign.

#9

Sounds like you’re gonna be ok on that front

#10

Really hope so. Still a long way to go but at least I don’t feel castrated anymore

1 Like
#11

Libido’s still coming back slowly, and masturbating actually feels pleasurable again. (Sorry if too much information)

However this is something I find kinda weird: Every morning I wake up really anxious and my symptoms feel the worst. During the day I often feel hopeless about my situation, and a bit depressed. However at night almost all my symptoms go away, and I feel almost normal. Really odd.

1 Like
#12

It’s the same for me and a lot of people here. It’s odd when you first encounter it, but it’s not odd at all for our community. When I have a bad phase I cannot wait for the evening as I usually get some relief then (and it really sucks when I don’t, which is rare, fortunately). And I hate to go to bed knowing I will wake up too early and in a bad state.

Hang in there, propecia123! It’s only been a few weeks for you and you are already getting better. There is a good chance that you will recover or be left with tolerable symptoms. Never touch that poison again!

I know it sucks to be balding at such a young age. For me it startet at 18 and I thought it was the worst thing in the world (little did I know what would follow…). Now I am in my mid thirties. And ironically, if it wasn’t for my attempted treatment of male pattern baldness with Finasteride, my life would be amazing despite being bald. Confidence goes a long way (I hated it when people said that to me, but now I know it’s true)!

Take care and good luck!

2 Likes
#13

Yeah man I’m definitely never touching that poison again… I honestly can’t believe how the people here can endure this condition for years and years, for me these three weeks have been a complete nightmare. I’m having good days and bad days, but thankfully I’m seeing stable improvements every week. I can actually get aroused again, and slowly but surely my brain’s syncing with my penis again. The “detached” feeling is so weird.

#14

You won’t believe what some people here go through. People who never went through any of this cannot possibly understand how it bad feels when your sexuality, your emotions and your connection to the world are wiped-out or significantly altered. And unfortunately, some people had it so bad that they decided to take their own lifes.

On the other had, there are also many incredible strong people here who stoically fight through this condition day by day for years and years hoping that one day we can all leave this behind us. And fortunately, there also some amazing people here who have managed to develop a research frame work, build a network of scientists, establish a not-for-profit Foundation and initiate scientific studies with top class specialists, so that one day, hopefully, no more young people with male-pattern baldness are readily prescribed a medication that can destroy their lifes. And hopefully, those of us that were and whose lifes have been significant altered or even destroyed can get better.

6 Likes
#15

Yeah honestly nothing can prepare you for these side effects, it goes way beyond the “sexual sides” often talked about on forums. This stuff can ruin lives. I have a lot of respect for people who have been suffering for a long time.

1 Like
#16

Libido and penis sensitivity are still improving, however my brain fog and fatigue have gotten worse. Hopefully my hormones are just readjusting to normal levels and this’ll pass in a few weeks.

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#17

Mental sides seem to be improving pretty drastically. I have almost no brain fog anymore, nor do I think about suicide daily lol. Libido improved for about three days, but has now gone back to almost zero. What a rollercoaster this is.

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#18

It’s very strange, a lot of people are consuming finasteride for years and everything is OK. And you only two doses…

Sometimes I think that this castration comes from the power of the unconscious, maybe you feel unconsciously so much depressed by hair loss so this causes sexual castration. Maybe.

When I’m depressed I feel unable to have an erection, but when I’m well I can have a full, stronged and prolonged erection.

Caution with this.

1 Like
#19

Been feeling really depressed today, but on the good side my penis doesn’t feel as “disconnected” anymore. This is such a rollercoaster, two steps forward one step back. Praying that I recover within the next month or two. I’m only 18, I can’t deal with this shit for the rest of my life :frowning:

also for the past few weeks i’ve been waking up at 5am every single morning, without fail. seems to be pretty common from what i’ve read.

1 Like
#20

You still have time. Some people recover even after a year or two. It’s early days for you. I know it’s tough, but keep your head up. Chances are good that you are going to recover or at least get significantly better.

Waking up early is indeed common. When I have a bad phase I wake up 6am sharp no matter how little or how much I’ve slept and it’s impossible to go back to sleep. Fortunately, this has been better recently again.

1 Like