I started taking propecia about 3 1/2 weeks ago. The first couple days i was good. I just turned 20 years old as well. Anways I took the drug for about 6 or 7 days and then noticed that i had watery ejaculate and it was more difficult to achieve an erection. I can still get one it is just harder to get one than usual. After the 9th day of being on propecia i couldnt take it anymore as i heard horror stories of people not recovering so i quit taking it ever since the 9th day. It has been about 2 weeks since i stopped taking it and i still have the sides. At first it felt like it was getting better but then i started getting a dull pain on and off throughout the day by my testicles. Not sure if its my prostate or testicles that hurt. It comes and goes throughout the day. i am very tired, depressed, have severe anxiety because of all this and i am literally goin crazy. Can taking the drug only 9 days permanently screw me up for life!? That cant be possible. i had my t levels checked and they are well above 500, i recently had my prostate checked a month ago and it was perfectly normal. I know that propecia “shrinks” our prostate but it couldnt have affected me in only 9 days. Someone please help me any advice. I might have accidenlty taken two pills one day but i am pretty sure i only took one. They are only 1mg tablets. Please help someone, will these side effects ever go away. keep in mind that i can still get an erection, i just have to think very hard about sex in order to get one, also i dont get morning erections as much. That was what freaked me out. will the semen quality and viscosity return to normal in a few days or weeks? I am just scared to death because i only had watery ejaculate and mild ed while on it, but after i stopped after the 9 days of being on it it seems like verything is getting worse. Is it just getting out of my system maybe? Also will taking charcoal tablets help remove it all from my system and get me back up and kicking again? please help me thanks
Relax. You won’t know if the sides are permanent for a while, there is a good chance you will recover. Eat a healthy paleo diet, get plenty of rest and moderate exercise. Do not overtrain or stress yourself out. It’s imperative. Also do not drink or take other drugs, even ibuprofen, as it can affect the liver. No sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. Give your body a few months to recover naturally, most likely you will be fine.
I know you’re terrified (we all know how that feels), but please try to calm yourself. To answer a couple of your questions, yes, any amount of pills can cause the syndrome (it was 2 for me). Second, there is no way to know what is going to happen next. Statistically you will likely recover, but there are no guarantees. Everyone’s body is different, and you can’t base a recovery timeline off of anyone or anything. Your body will simply do whatever it does.
For general PFS (Post-Finasteride Syndrome) advice:
• Avoid drinking alcohol.
• Avoid caffeine
• Do not ever take a 5 alpha reductase inhibitor again
• Do not take any SSRIs
• Eat healthy
• Don’t panic
• Review the FAQ for more information.
If you’d like something to do in the meantime, you could try the spinach diet. It’s the first treatment based off of the dolichol deprivation theory, and it may potentially help. You can read more about it in the topic, but it basically goes like this:
Eat a bag (about 170g) of raw uncooked spinach a day, every day. If possible, get organic spinach. Continue eating your spinach once a day for at least a month. When you decide to start weening off, eat about 3/4th of a bag for about 4 days, then 1/2 a bag for 4 days, then 1/4th for 4 days, and finally 1/8th for 4 days.
Feel free to send me a PM if you have any other questions about it, and I’ll be praying for you to get better soon.
In addition to everything in the above two posts dont masturbate too much. Some of us crashed after doing it a few times in the same day. Having an orgasm is very taxing on your endocrine system. I’d lay off, maybe only once a week, for the next several months.
Ok so I went to the urologist. They told me it takes 6 weeks for the drug to even get in my system and another 6 to get out. Also they didn’t even look at me or do any exams but said I was fine and it was all in my head. KNOW that my testocles are hurting and they feel warm and hot. Way hotter than normal. I have the desire for sex but it isn’t as strong as before and when I want to I can’t get it up very easily. I KNOW this isn’t in my head. He said to give it 6 more weeks and the side effects will go away if I’m even experiencing them. But still… My testes are hurting all day long. He said I was focusing on that area too much and that’s why. Also he said that there is no way it could do any damage only taking it for 9 days because I only took 1mg per day and they prescribe 5mg to other people and they are fine. I am freaking out and don’t even want to live anymore. Will these go away plz help me I don’t even know what to do anymore. It’s been 2 and a half weeks and the sides just persist. However I am not as confused or brain fogged anymore. It’s making me lose my mind!
Good sir, firstly calm down… Secondly, its only been two weeks… You really really need to relax… causing unnecessary stress will only make things worse… More often then not, the side effects go away after a few weeks to a month…
Your uro told you false information. The drug suppresses dht levels on average of 65% within the first four hours of administration. This is demonstrated by Merck on the product information leaflet.
Boston332 is right, don’t masturbate too much, no more than once every 3-4 days or longer. It has been associated on this board in multiple occasions to cause a “crash”.
ok i stopped masturbating id say three days ago. I did it a few times before that just to see if i could. and i did it twice in one day so i REALLY hope that didnt cause me a crash or any permanent damage. But yes i have stopped and today is the third or fourth day without masterbating. I DO have some good news. I woke up this morning with an erection that was harder than the ones i was getting a few days ago. THe pain in my testicles has subsided or at least decreased a lot. THey use to hurt all day this week and now they didnt hurt at all today although i could slightly feel an ache sometimes throughout the day, my libido has increased and i now “feel like having sex” but cant get an erection without thinking and focusing VERY hard on the matter. Umm, my mood has increased a lot. I dont feel tired or brain fogged, i am happy now and not freaking out as much. My penis does feel a little number than it did before when i try to get an erection and get one. I took a hot bath last night and i think that helped a lot with everything. Do you guys think that i will get my erections back to normal in a few more weeks since my libido seems to be coming back a little. Also will the numbness go away and should i stop TRYING to make myself get erections when i am not masterbating. I try to get them just to see if i can. Also can i ride my bike a lot? Or is that bad? I havnt taken any medicine and i have been getting god sleep and not masterbating and things seem to be getting better. I also threw up really bad and had diarehha and ever since then i started feeling better. THink its just gonna take a few weeks to get out completely? Also im woried about the bike thing. Im suppsed to ride my bike a lot this weekend and dont want to damage anything by doing it. its a flat trail no huge bumps but will that help to exercise or just hurt me in the long run? thanks a lot guys you are really helping me throught this hard battle. I reall appreciate it. 
I think that you are all right about not worrying. I have noticed that the side effects are not in my head, but worrying about them and focusing on that area makes them worse and puts me in more pain. Luckily i am feeling better today and my mood is 100% normal, my energy has increased and i feel like me again as far as personality. The testicle pain is better now, another hot bath should help. I felt exactly the same way when i thought i had a urinary tract infection about a month ago and the doctors put me on some medicine to clear out my urethra just in case i did have one. I couldnt get an erection then and i had absolutely no libido but i learned to stop worrying about it and after the antibiotics took their course i returned to normal, lets just hope this medicine exits the same way and takes all the symptoms with it. I felt EXACTLY the same way with all of these symptoms a few months ago because i masturbated too hard when i was very stressed out and forced a climax… in result i had a little blood in my semen and i went to the doctors scared as crap. THey told me i was fine and to take a break from the habbit. I did and i returned to normal. But its weird that i felt exactly like i do now then, my testicles hurt the same, i had no libido and i felt like i was loksing my mind because of all of it. I think i just need to forget about my libido and my erections for a while and focus on life and other activities, maybe then the problem will just fix itself and ill be good again. Any ideas?
I started on propecia about a month ago and took it for 9 days before i started having watery ejaculate and noticed it was a little harder to achieve an erection. So i immediately stopped the med. It has been nearly three weeks and i am still having the sides and some newer sides have appeared since i stopped taking it. I noticed my testicles started aching after i quit the drug and my libido was practically nothing at some point. I am terrified that this could have damaged me permanently but i am hoping not. Please tell me that taking it for 9 days has not pernanmently damaged me. I noticed that my brain fog/ confusion, dizziness and attitude are now back to normal finally. I was loksing my mind. My libido is slowly increasing and i have some desire for sex but i have a hard time getting an erection. My testicles have stopped hurting today and i feel only a little pain whereas they hurt all day and bad the past few days, that pain is going away. I lost mornign erections but now i have had them for the past two days and i am feeling not so depressed as i was. Does this mean the sides are wearing off and i am not permanently damaged or is there still a very big chance i am. Im kind of scared as i am only 20 years old and was fine before this medicine which i really didnt need. My hairline went back a half inch in the past year so i freaked out. Wish i never would have even started propecia. Am i screwed for life or am i gonna be alright? I thoguht there was no hope earlier as my testicles hurt, no libido, hard to get an erection, watery ejaculate, and severe anxiety/ depression but now all i have is a small ache in testicles and my libido is slowly coming back i think. Also i can get an erection better now than i could the first few days of the sides. I heard not to masturbate during this period because it can cause a crash. One day i did a few times just to se if i could and it wasnt too easy but i got it. Could that have caused permanent damage? I am wanting to ride my bike for a long time this week but can that hurt me or will it possibly help with a little exercise? Ifeel there is some hope but i am worried about ed being permanent. I can still get an erection if i try but its not as easy as it was before. Any idvice please i have stopped worrying about it as much as before but im still a little freaked out. Thanks
Bob, is there some reason you keep spamming the board with your story over and over? People have already given you advice above.
Also, you say you only took the drug for 9 days yet your profile says you took it from January 3 2011 until September 3 2011, which is in the FUTURE. It doesn’t add up.
I recommend you get bloodwork as listed here: viewtopic.php?p=3534#p3534 … and take a break from this site for the next few months, it seems to only be fueling your anxiety. Most likely your issues will resolve as it sounds like many of your symptoms have been clearing up in the few weeks off the drug which is extremely encouraging.
As far as masturbation, it will not cause persistent side effects, the persistent side effects are a result of Finasteride use in a minority of men… however it might be a good idea to refrain from masturbating frequently over next few weeks so as not to tax your body while its trying to recover from the drug, ie give yourself a rest, try and let libido build up etc.
Sorry it said something about the question being deleted so
I reported but now the question apparently was never deleted. As for my profile I have no idea why it says September or January whatever. I put from mid April to late April so I’m not sure why it did that. Sorry for the confusion
Alright… Update time. I noticed my libido is slowly coming back but my erections aren’t quite hard their still kind of soft and now my penis head feels numb. I can pinch it and feel
It a little but not too much. Does this numbers ever go away? I feel some tingly/ burning there sometimes but it doesn’t last long. Will the numbers go
Away and my erections be as hard as before probably or is this just something I’m screwed with? Testicle pain is gone, brain fog/depression as well. I got a few natural erections today but they were semi and not hard at all. Think everything will return to normal? Maybe post in the recoveries before long?
Good to hear!
Like the other posters said, take it easy, and don’t drink. I second Mew’s advice about staying off the forum for a while.
I’ve been off fin for half a year, and penile numbness has been the most stubborn side effect. But most people recover fully within a month or two. The rest hang out on this forum.
Alright, things seem to be clearing up for the better. Numbness is going away slowly, and mood is getting back to normal. I’m happier now and think my hormones are starting to rebalance slowly but surely. I went to the doctor for prostate pain and he said I probably have prostatits because he found protein in my urine. Gave me a prescription for 500mg cypro. Twice a day. Seems to be helping. Also I had a strong morning erection now so that is a plus. I am going to let time sort this out and I will keep the updates coming.
Libido is coming back. Everythings going well. I will NEVER put another propecia in my mouth as long as I live and anyone I know who wants to start it will get a big lecture for sure. I’m just glad God helped me and got rid of all these terrible symptoms. They were really dragging me down. I’ve been exercising and eating a lot to try and keep my body replenished and it seems to work, that in combination with prayer and it’s all good to go.