Propecia Side Effects Issue (PFS)

Member Stories
#1

Hello,

  1. Where are you from (country)? USA

  2. 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

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 26,5’7,159 LBS

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of exercise? 6 days a week, cardio, weight lifting, legs

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Healthy diet.

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 24 days

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 25

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 25

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

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? propecia

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

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? two weeks

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? hard to get a 10/10 erection

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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)
[ ] 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
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? none

  2. 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 not taken a blood test but have an appointment with a suggested doctor on this website.

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride? yes

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

My story is, that a friend who I trust, recommended me take this drug for hair loss, as he has friends who take it, and have had success. He also told me he researched the drug, and went to top doctors, who also said the drug is safe. I figured no need to start seriously googling about the drug, since I have all the info I need, I did do some research on WEBMD but there was nothing on PFS there. I went to a dermatologist and got a prescription as I figured no big deal, the Doctor who gave me the prescription did not make it sound at all like an unsafe drug, she told me even her brother uses it, and also explained that only one patient of hers had breast enlargement from the drug. Anyhow I figured it was safe, and went ahead and started using it.

Two and half weeks on the drug I noticed side effects, I was unable to get an erection to have sex, this is the literal definition of ED. My libido dropped by 80%, and I had little to no sperm. I went to the doctor and asked if I should continue using the drug, given I’m experiencing side effects, the Doctor recommended I use it for another month, and see if the side effects go away. Once I got home I decided to do a little more research of my own, and that was the first time I learned about PFS. I almost fainted and had a heart attack when I learnt about it, as I was not aware of the true risk behind this drug. I would NEVER have taken this drug given the information and feedback that is available to the public about this drug. Since learning about PFS, I never slept a full night of sleep without waking up in middle of the night scared to death. This did not happen when I was on Fin, only once learning about PFS. If you google ‘prescription drugs with permanent side effects’ PFS will show up 3x on the first page of google! not easy to get there, given there are 1,500+ FDA drugs.

I’m seven weeks off the drug, at this point, I cant get over the fact I have taken a drug, that can cause irreversible side effects. I’m the kind of person that easily gets psyched out, and have no idea if I even have PFS or not. I have very strong morning erection, and I can masterbate normally if I’m relaxed, and had no issues having sex either, but I have no idea if my Libido is the same as it was before since I’m extremely depressed the fact I had taken the drug without knowing the extremely dangers. I met a girl, and was having panic attacks since maybe I’m effected, and cant perform. But I was able to preform normally. I was not depressed while taking FIN, I only got this, once learning about PFS, and knowing I can be a possible victim.

Today, I keep sex talking girls to confirm that I can get an erection, 50% of the time I get a boner by just talking to them, the other 50% I don’t get anything, but again if I’m extremely sad, and depressed that I was exposed to this drug. Thats enough will throw off my libido. I’m not sure where I stand with my symptoms, my ejaculations are normal, and feels like it was before, or if not better. I do believe its harder for me to get a hard on, then it was before, and when I do get hard its a 8/10, not a 10/10 like my morning erections. Its possible it was like this before as well, I really don’t know. I don’t always get a morning erection, but I’m not sure if always got one pre-fin. Sometimes I’ll get an erection at night sometimes not, but I wouldn’t know if I’m sleeping. If I wake up in the night with an erection, I feel happy, and can easily go back to sleep, if not then I get scared, and psych myself out. Some weeks are better then others, some days are better then others. As far as brain fog goes, I have no idea if I had this in my head, as once I’m psyched out, I’ll get every last side effect I read about. I have also read every horror story on the internet possible, and they keep replying in my head which makes me shake and makes my muscles twitch and causes a major loss of libido, but if relaxed I’ll have some libido, but no idea if its like before.

When I was on Fin, I had runny nose, weight gain, and major dizziness, fatigue all these went away a few days or weeks after stoping the drug.

My bottom line question is do I have PFS, or is it in my head? if its in my head, how can I confirm this?

#2

IMO, if you can have an erection talking to females 50% of the time, you don’t have Pfs or have a mild form that may resolve completely. Hell, if even Taylor Swift were sitting on my lap, I’m sure i’d feel nothing.

#3

It depends, if I don’t masterbate for one week, then its like I’m back to my previous baseline.

I also believe if I get sunlight it helps a lot.

#4

He lowered his male sexual potency with fin use, but that’s normal, it’s simply the price you pay to lower grown-man hormones and regrow hair like a boy. Most likely he can reverse it with pro-dht and pro brain-to-penis connection supplements, primarily Sorghum (he should feel the DHT flooding back in early the next morning), Acetyl L-Carnitine, and Tyrosine. It might only take a month and about $25 for those things I just mentioned to be as good as ever, it might take him 2 years of trying to undo the damage, or the changes he is observing might be permanent. In which case he will soon be too old to care. Enjoy your youth and your slightly changed but mostly normal virility while it lasts, you’ve learned a valuable lesson nothing comes for free.

Read member stories, you can have PFS with no sexual side-effects at all, or erection problems and penis shrinkage but normal semen, or semen problems but normal erections and no shrinkage. If you experience side-effects less than 3 weeks after stopping fin it doesn’t mean you have this! PFS is about men suffering for years as eunuchs, hermaphrodites, etc and that’s only the sexual part, it might not be fun but the other sides like panic attacks and memory loss and inability to sleep are even worse.

PFS is not about a slightly weaker erection or less ejaculate or less frequent spontaneous erections and morning wood or prostate pain, it is about life changing side-effects that leave you mentally and physically handicapped even if for the sake of argument you ignore male sexuality and relationships entirely and pretend that women, fertility, and your healthy or masculine appearance are of no importance to your happiness and your well being.

#5

Ignore that statement Mistake25, if you noticed those sexual sides while on the drug, before being aware of them being a possible result of the drug, and they continue after discontinuation, then yes you have PFS. But in your case it seems very mild. I am not going to tell you you should feel lucky you can still fuck and lead a relatively normal life, because I am sure you have read some of the more serious cases here and are aware. Plus, the worse experience of others does little to diminish your need to feel better and does nothing to make you feel better.

I don’t understand why people get so territorial about who does and doesn’t have PFS. Diseases (as PFS is classified) can vary in severity. Which is why you don’t tell someone diagnosed with MS but no notable symptoms that they don’t have MS because they are not confined to a wheelchair.

The main reason I am writing this is to let you know that it will be okay. There are many reports of people recovering significantly, and the Baylor study into PFS that people on this forum have been waiting for for over 5 years is out this year, which could give some important answers. Based on my own investigations on this site and SolvePFS, I would strongly suggest that you adopt an ultra healthy routine (paleo or similar). I am 36 hours into my first water fast, ahead of adopting such a diet, and many people on here and SolvePFS insist they help. I am one year into PFS, but only now acknowledging I have it after creatine fucked me up and enhanced some physical / mental sides that had previously been so mild I didn’t link them to PFS. I quit the drug because of sexual sides, but was scared off of contributing to these forums for precisely that attitude of “if your symptoms aren’t heavy enough you don’t have PFS”, which I find extremely unhelpful. The main thing to remember is, you have done your body some serious damage that cannot be recovered from quickly, but that doesn’t make it impossible. I am not suggesting everyone will heal, but in your case, with only two Xs in the boxes, you would seem to stand a strong chance.

Given that your sides are libido / sexual function related, you might want to look at trying a virility supp like tongkat ali, many advocate it. I haven’t yet taken the dive with supps as I am a bit overwhelmed by the choice and also toying with whether to hand on for the Baylor study. But I would certainly say look around for stories about things that fucked them up, in order to keep an eye out. For example, I have read about people having good sexual effects from licorice root, and others saying it took them into a full blown crash.

Of course, I would wait for the blood tests to come back before starting on anything, seeing as it will be soon. Something else to consider, one user on here had normal markers for thyroid on 3 consecutive blood tests, then the fourth showed a problem. He then went for further tests which showed 120 x the normal thyroid antibodies. This was not picked up for a significant time. I am going to be seeking a test for this when I go for my bloodworks this week and you might want to consider the same. If you have got yourself a good doc, I would suggest you ask for the same. That user said it was only after addressing the thyroid issue that his serious PFS sides could begin to be resolved. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10014&p=100935#p100935

Feel free to PM me about anything. I am new to this, but can point you in the direction of things I found interesting or answer questions you might have.

#6

Finasteride side-effects are not pfs. They are SIDE-EFFECTS. Just like any pharmaceutical drug. Only worse, but what did you expect taking a hormonal drug?

Erectile dysfunction and reduced fertility is not pfs. You are warned of those side-effects by your doctor and merck. (Granted you are also told they will go away when you get off fin). Even “depression” is not pfs if it is simple ‘temporary’ depression not anhedonia or loss of human emotions or doom and anxiety.

Guys fighting for their lives trying to free themselves of certain symptoms before they lose their jobs and marriages and everything else and wind up homeless or dead don’t have time for the imaginary problems of college-aged jerkoffs who treat every minor day-to-day change of their orgasm with lots of drama. Not every young guy is like that but some are simply insecure and delusional and reading too much into it. You know when you have PFS, you feel different than you have your entire life. Not 5% diminished, but profoundly changed and weird in your own body.

Do I have PFS?. 1 year 1mg Fin
#7

I tend to agree with ignite…Though the severity of the condition varies if you get full blown pfs its so severe that you almost seem to be a different person…With dramatic and massive differences emerging and appearing from your normal self…Whether it be mental, physical or sexual…A catastrophic change seems to have occurred in those with those severe of symptoms that goes beyond side effects…Fundamental alteration in the way your body functions…

#8

Hey tenyearuser
Love the comment Taylor Swift on your lap and still feel nothing now your making sense of things mate coming through load and clear I’m in the same boat mate I have zero sexual feelings mentally you could drop me into any situation i can’t imagine getting a stiffy for a second (and No I’m not into guys by the way) but each to their own though i have nothings against Gay people at all.
I think you put it an easy to understand way with the Taylor swift thing if you have been affected by finasteride you lose your sexuality in some strange way , you find women attractive but not in so much of a sexual way . You can look at women think yessss she’s nice big boobs blah blah blah but you dont get that urge to bonk her all night you would sooner go to dinner have a laugh and cuddle