Only took two pills

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)? UK

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?) Google search - finasteride issues

What is your current age, height, weight? 29 5’7 80kg

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.)? 1MG - THE PLAN WAS MONDAY WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY. ONLY DID WEDNESDAY AND THEN FRIDAY

What condition was being treated with the DRUG? Hair loss prevenatitive measure

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 2 doses only of 1mg spaced one day apart

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 29

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 29

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

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? The next day ED. Couldn’t keep it up for long and was not as strong as the day before

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? ANXIETY, INSOMNIA RAPID HEARTRATE. LIGHT HEADED and ED

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
[X ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ X] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ X] 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)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ X] 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? tried water fasting which helped breifly

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.

So I was wary and skeptical about the drug as have heard a lot regarding the side effects but after listening to these 2 Australian hair doctors who had been using finasteride since its inception and claimed that in their long experience with the drug side effects went away and the sooner you got them the sooner they left and vice versa. So I decided to take the plunge and purchased some over the Internet.

I took the first pill Wednesday night and earlier in the day I masturbated fine then I noticed when getting an erection the following day after taking the first pill my penis was not as strong and I couldn’t maintain the erection which was alarming as I’ve never had any issues like that before. Stupidly I decided to continue as I heard many times about the placebo effect and also that as I was only going to be taking 3mg per week the side effects could subside.

So along came my next day of taking the poison on Friday night and nothing much seemed to change as I woke on Saturday. It was then where I was lying in bed and all of a sudden I had what I now realised was an anxiety attack. It was like a wave of uncomfortableness and a sick feeling in my stomach. Through Saturday night to Sunday I managed only an hours sleep or so and was petrified thinking what the hells going on.

Sunday I decided to do a water fast to cleanse my body and it did work in the sense that my anxiety was reduced to maybe 10-15% if I say it was 100% through Sunday morning. So during Sunday afternoon the anxiety lowered and stupidly I thought to myself I should be fine and the next day went to eat as normal.

From that Monday to Saturday I would say i was feeling 85-90% better. My sleep was the only slight issue were I was getting 5 hours instead of my usual 8 but apart from that my ED was improving day by day and the anxious feelings I had were dissolving

Then throughout Sunday I started feeling funny again and after having some toast with almond butter and milk it hit me again the same anxiety and I could not sleep for 2 days no matter what. My chest also felt it was on fire internally however to the touch it felt normal temperature

I’m very scared right now and don’t know what to do. This Friday will be two weeks since I last took the stuff and I’ve heard that it be permanent issues. After my first sleepless night I could still function somewhat working from home but yesterday was extremely difficult and I feel like i need sleep but I just cannot actively fall asleep. Whenever my head touches the pillow I can almost hear my frantic heartbeat vibrating

It’s hard to imagine a future like this moreso with the constant anxiety and any help I can get on here would be much appreciated.

I’m wary of going to sleeping pills as I don’t want to be dependent plus I’ve been made aware that there is still somewhat of a chance that I can recover naturally within 3 months as I am still quite early from when I last took the pill.

Could there be any medication for anxiety and insomnia that doesn’t have side effects I’ve heard zinc, magnesium?

Thanks

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I was thinking about starting finasteride, but after reading this site i guess i won't anymore?
#2

Welcome @Neverwill, I’m so sorry to read of what you’ve been going through.

Yes, as a general rule we advise that one should consider themselves to have Post Finasteride Syndrome if they’re having persistent symptoms for at least 3 months post cessation of the drug. As you say, you only took the drug very recently and there have been several accounts of people here making member stories with a litany of problems who then go on to state they recovered after a few weeks/months.

I would strongly advise staying away from trying to spot fix symptoms with drugs at this time, if possible. You may have noticed from browsing on the forum but in case you aren’t aware, we consider the persistent syndromes arising in some users following use of Finasteride, Isotretinoin, SSRIs or other antiandrogenic substances to be ostensibly the same disease. Some doctors try to prescribe SSRIs for anxiety so definitely avoid that class of drug. Zinc is also a 5ar inhibitor so it’s probably best avoided given your reaction to Finasteride. I’m not sure about magnesium, the search function on the site may offer some insight.

My advice at this time would be to try to stay strong during this period and go easy on yourself. Please keep us updated on how you’re getting on.

2 Likes
#3

@Tzinkman.

Thanks for getting back to me and for all your information and help I really appreciate it. It’s just with my mind racing and every second of the day asking myself why did I do it to myself was getting too much. In a state of panic I was going to buy any supplement but after doing research I’ve heard like you’ve said that it can make you regress even worse which is scary to think.

And of course even if the luck is on my side I will still come back to explain how the symptoms left

Thanks again

1 Like
#4

@Neverwill, please report your symptoms to the Yellow Card:

4 Likes
#5

Hi @Tzinkman

Sorry to bother you just wanted to update you on my situation

Unfortunately I am very sure now that I do indeed have PFS and this isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. My anxiety seems to keep flaring up every few days and also I seem to notice my skin is becoming more elastic and dry and palish. I know common procedure says give it 3 months before messing with supplements and so on but it’s getting to a point where the longer I leave it maybe the more irreversible damage. Heard great things about this CDnuts protocol which is something I am looking to go to as a recovery method. Really worried now and can’t believe this has happened honestly I never knew the side effects could be this much. Thought it would be just ED which would probably subside but never anxiety and insomnia etc. Also having done some general reading on here I have not yet seen someone with similar symptoms recover within that 3 month time frame

Thanks

#6

Please don’t be, it’s no bother. I remember what it was like to have just crashed and was learning about the issue as I was going along.

A minimum of 3 months is the generally accepted time at which it is considered persistent, not to do with when to start attempting self therapy.

I’m speaking from experience here: drop this mentality now. If you are in the early stages of post finasteride syndrome there is no herb, supplement or drug you can take to limit the damage. That was a big worry of mine early on: being passive when I could potentially be preventing further injury. In the months following my crash I was inundated with a plethora of different things I should have been doing (on another website); trying to parse a workable therapeutic approach in the midst of this milieu was dizzying and was just added external stress in addition to the outrageous changes happening in my brain and body. Having read the majority of this forum and countless other peoples’ accounts of PFS on other forums, I can assure you that the most consistent factor in patients’ improvements is time. Most supplements, herbs or drugs have a poor record of efficacy in PFS patients and some have even made them worse.

My advice is to not do this. That person is not credible for a number of reasons I won’t go into here. He recommends over 30 supplements/herbs. Some of those, like tribulus, have been reported to cause significant worsening of patients that are active on this forum. I highly recommend staying away from any of those recommended supplements/herbs. You could try exercise but you should be aware that gym work makes some patients’ symptoms worse.

Maybe not but many patients experience improvements in the first 6-12 months. Try not to be too fatalistic if things don’t improve in the first 3 months (this is easier said than done, I know).

Keep us updated, stay close. We’re all here for you man.

2 Likes
#7

Will tell you my personal experience with magnesium has been good. It helps with sleep; muscle twitches; heart arrhythmia, in my case. It is in no sense a “cure” for this condition whatsoever. It just helps with a specific band of symptoms, for me. The magnesium citrate variety is the one I’ve used vs. the other kinds, having trialled a few.

1 Like
#8

Thanks for the reply my friend

That’s interesting that people actually have had symptoms gone worse through doing the CD protocol with herbs as having symptoms getting worse is for sure something I am looking to avoid. I would like to have attempted the gym at least with light workouts nothing to strenuous but with covid that’s not possible.

I guess I will in that case give it time I mean tomorrow marks 3 weeks since I took the last dose of the worst mistake so there is still a way to go in terms of hitting the 3 month mark.

And for sure I will keep you guys updated whether it be if time was to recover me or if I did happen to stumble across something that accelerated my recovery as I have seen a few posts on whereby sufferers seem like they have made a big step on the road to recovery and then vanish, I understand it in terms of wanting to close this chapter in your life, but I believe it would be great to potential help others with the information

Thanks again I really appreciate your response

2 Likes
#9

Hi pete,

Magnesium I believe would be a safe supplement to use. What dosage do use of magnesium citrate please?

#10

Magnesium citrate providing 1480mg per serving
Providing:
Elemental magnesium 40mg
Daily serving: 2 tablets

I usually have 2 and a half of them daily.
One first thing. Then half around lunch. Then one in late evening.

As a general point - on occassion I have run out of pills and not taken any for a few days. This has resulted in some very bad sleep. As in, nights of 1-2 hours of sleep. This was corrected by restocking and taking the pills again. Sleep quality back to a good level straight away.

Another point here is that the following can deplete your magnesium levels:

  • Caffeine
  • Alcohol
  • Stress
  • Sweating due to exercise or warm weather

Have control over these factors. Of course, exercise and warm weather you just deal with and personally I titrate the dose upwards somewhat in summer. I tend to go based on what I feel primarily.
Bear in mind there are risks in taking anything and read about what you are doing.

#11

Hi,
I took a small dose like you, after 10 days i experienced the return of my libido, then in the following days started to decrease.
I would like to know, do you have nocturnal erections?, this is something that has came in the last three days and I hope is a good sign. It’s involuntary. And it preceed the return of my libido days ago.

#12

SO how you going by now ?