Prostitits from stopping propecia???

Symptoms Physical
#1

A few days after stopping propecia (after being on it for three years), I’m having some symptoms similar to those of prostitits. My urethra burns off an on, I’m having testicle pain, and some lower back pain.

Has anyone else ever experienced this after stopping propecia? I’m praying that its just my prostate gland temporarily re-adjusting itself now that its not under the influence of finasteride, but it’s been about five days now of off and on symptoms, and I’m getting nervous.

I did stop propecia for about two months about a year and a half ago, and i did get some temporary groin pain for about a week, but not a burning urethra.

I did not ween off 1 mg propecia, should I have? Should I start up again and ween off?

#2

Some guys get this while on the drug, others when they come off. Couldn’t tell you exactly why, probably the interplay between hormones and Prostate readjusting to DHT coming back? Just a guess…

I doubt it would make any difference since the drug has a flat dose response, ie even taking 0.125mg/day would be almost the same as 1mg… they inhibit nearly the same amount of DHT. Although, there is something to be said for weening off so as to reduce withdrawal symptoms and “shock” to the system.

If its been 5 days you probably could get back on but its up to you, I doubt you will be any better off in the long run since the more you take the drug, the more you are causing damage to yourself.

If you haven’t read the FAQ at the top of the forum, suggest you do so for starters. Keep us posted…

#3

Well, prostatitis is caused by an infection of the prostate, which you know is connected to the bladder and excretory system via the urethra. If anything gets inflamed here, or doesn’t work properly, for even a brief period of time, “shock”, then the prostate can get infected, and then it can be hard to get rid of.
Dude, until you get your blood results back and find out about possible hormones, if you do think its a prostatitis infection, which it sounds like it is, I would:
-get on some antibiotics for at least three weeks for it.
-do A LOT of walking, i.e. like 2-3 hours per night (to keep blood flow pumping through).
-take relaxing hot baths everyday, also to keep all capillaries expanded and blood flowing much better).

If anything, these are the best things you can do for a prostate infection right away, before it can become a chronic persisting condition which infects deeper into the prostate.

Good luck man. I’m telling you. Get your blood work done, eat a healthy macrobiotic diet (its not very hard or bad), and then try to get out and do this walking, and relax in the tub. Stay off the computer for a month, its not gonna do you any good at all I’m telling you. And tell us how you are doing with your walking please. Many men have cured prostatitis by relaxing walking. (The pelvic movement gently massages the prostate over the course of many many hours.)
Take my advice. Its a short amount of time compared to how long many of us have been suffering…
B

#4

[quote]

Some guys get this while on the drug, others when they come off. Couldn’t tell you exactly why, probably the interplay between hormones and Prostate readjusting to DHT coming back? Just a guess…

[quote]

Do you know anyone who has gotten the urethra burn temporarily while coming off finast?

#5

Boston, don’t you think this is all a bit premature? I just started getting the urethra mild burn/tickle a few days ago. It comes and goes. The groin and back pain was only for a day, it’s gone. While I agree, it does sound like prostatitis, I would hope that this is just a temporary reaction to my body readusting after being on propecia for so long. You may very well be right, and I REALLY hope its not prostatitis, but I just feel like I should give it a few more days before running to a doctor. Who knows…this sucks.

#6

Well, I didn’t have a burn but I do recall a strong “ache” in my shaft for a few weeks after quitting (besides the testicular pain)… it did go away though. If that is what you are referring to, then things should improve in that department with time.

Regardless I’d still get a blood test done as outlined in the Blood Tests section ASAP (the sooner after u came off, the better) so you can see what Fin has done to your hormones, so you’ll have some proof if you need it.

#7

Does anyone know if it’s better to go straight to a urologist for this, or see my general doc first? All of the online literature says to see a general doc first.

My symptoms now just mainly consists of a very mild burning/tingling sensation in the tip of my urethra, and a slight increased feeling of needing to urinate. The other pains did not last. And there is no burning when i urinate or any of the other common symptoms.

It’s been about a week since I stopped propecia cold turkey. But after reading the thread on this site about weaning off, I went ahead today and took another pill. I’m going to gradually reduce to dosage/frequency. I figure since it’s only been a week, this might not be a bad idea.

I don’t know, this is all so confusing. But I don’t think this feeling is a coincidence. A week after stopping propecia I get this?

#8

I’d request the proper bloodtests from your doc. If the results show things out of range/low/high, you’d need to evaluate next steps with the doc or better yet, an endocrinologist that will believe your case (not easy to find, since most of them dont know, believe or deny Fin can cause long-term hormonal problems).

Seems you have decided to ween off, good luck and keep us updated…

#9

DO NOT GET BACK ON IT. you will only mess up your body even more. all my issues starter when i stopped, and got back on propecia.

go directly to a urologist. dont mention anything specific about propecia, you just get tons of discrimination. just tell your doctor your symptoms and ask if he thinks you have prostatits

#10

Premature, I don’t think so. If someone told me to go run a marathon once a week because there was a chance I could recover and it wouldn’t set in as easily this way, right after I came off like you have, and if I actually knew how bad it was, for almost five fucking months now!!! Feeling like I wanna jump off a bridge!! I would’ve done it in a heartbeat.

See, once prostatitis sets in, it can be very very hard to get rid of and often doesn’t show up on lab urine and/or blood tests. Its very hard to diagnose and treat once it has been living in your prostate for long enough. I would have tried to walk this bug off months ago if I had known about prostatitis. I was also just too depressed, and I am constantly kicking myself for it now!!

Do it man. Don’t give that shit a happy home, festering inside of you like that.
Put on your Ipod and become Forest Gump for a few weeks until you know you’ve recovered, you don’t want to end up like the rest of us. I’m telling you! I’m telling you man!! Anythimg you can possibly do as a preventative measure. Make up an excuse to others in your life if they’re wondering about your walking…
Good luck!

#11

Boston, what kind of doctor did you see? What all did they do to diagnose you? Who gave you advice about walking? What are your symptoms?

#12

read my past 10-20 posts. its all there. I had weeks worth of burning in my perineum which thankfully has gone down, but still lighter burnings at times. I’m leaving on my excursion in just a couple hours though, so running around like mad doing last minute things!! so read other posts of mine… typical though, aching and pain sometimes, urinary frequency, all these are when things are inflamed. They directly co-relate.

I know I have an infection though, because it flares up almost predictably when I eat certain things. Also, almost immediately into my prostate massage, once “stuff” started moving, I felt big flare-ups that lasted for two days.

Basically, I know I have an infection in there. Nobody is gonna tell me any different. (Try reading this too: us.geocities.com/bill3320/index.html ) Basically, if I am not completely better after my journey, I will try a heavy antibiotics cycle, and if that doesn’t cure it all the way, I think I may try going to Tucson for the Feliciano massages and cure. …only thing is $3,000!!

but i don’t even care, if i can borrow i will. I don’t want this to take over my life and enlarge my prostate.

Peace

oh, btw, most doctors don’t know shit about curing prostatitis, all they do is say try this, and then “pee in this cup.”
And as you can read from all the literature on line, urine analysis rarely detects infection INSIDE the prostate, unless done right, i.e. after some massage, and then a 5-7 day analysis, not an immediate one. Even at that, it doesn’t pick it up usually.

Other than all this, some encouraging news may be that actually my penis itself acts, looks, and feels better otherwise!! So if I can just get rid of this infection, I think I should be ok.

Good luck bro!

#13

Just wanted to give you all an update. I’ve been off propecia now since Monday. I’m not going back on.

The only symptom I have is that mild burn sensation in the tip of my urethra. Ejaculation still seems to aggravate a little more, but it’s basically constant.

I found this article on prostatis, a doc responding to another guy who is having the same symptom:

en.allexperts.com/q/Urology-Male … -penis.htm

Sounds to me like there is a good chance this is prostatis. Not sure if it was brought about by quitting the propecia. But I guess at this point it doesnt matter…I have it…and I have to deal with it.

My only hope at this point is that it’s the non-bacterial type, and that the longer I go without popping more propecia, that maybe my body will re-adjust itself and everything will be fine again. I don’t even know if this is possible???

Either way, I’m going to make an oppt. with a Urologist tomorrow to get in as soon as I can. I’m sure they’ll want blood tests and the whole nine yards. I just pray this is something that can be fixed, and it’s not the beginning of a long term wild goose chase. Wow, I can’t believe this is happening…I have enough problems. (sigh).

#14

I Just wanted to give you all an update on my original post. I think its been three weeks or so since I came on here.

I finally got to a urologist about three weeks ago. He suspected I have early symptoms of prostatits. He said he had never heard of this being related to finasteride. He gave me a blood, psa, urine test, as well as a kidney ultrasound. Put me on an antibiotic (Doxycycline) for 10 days, and said let’s start with this, and he’d give me a digital rectal exam when I came back in. After about the fifth day on the anti-biotic, things really started improving. By the 10th day, I’d say my symptoms were 98% gone.

So, yesterday I went back for my follow up. His P.A. saw me this time, a beautiful young woman of all things. She said all my tests came back fine, but that this is most likely early signs of prostatis. (Da!). She then gave me a digital rectal exam (Yeah, I’m still in shock over that). She gave me another 10 day supply of anti-biotics (Levaquin), and Urelle for the penis tip burning (if needed). She recommended hot baths as well.

Now, here’s the kicker, ever since that d.r.e., my penis tip sting/burn has returned. Is it possible the d.r.e. irritated my prostate or something? I’m really annoyed because I thought I had beat this thing. Now I feel like the d.r.e. made things worse. Has anyone experienced this? :question:

I guess I’ll see where I’m at after anti-biotic round 2. But this is so ridiculous, I’m only 33. I’m not supposed to have crap like this. I can’t say this is related to going off finasteride, I would be reckless to just assume it is, but I still think it’s a pretty big coincidence.

#15

Yeah, after a prostate massage things flared up for me.
Its usuallly because the massage releases blocked up bacteria up inside the prostate. You can read all about it.

I think Propecia disturbed things just enough and for long enough for my prostate to then become infected. Any disturbance inside here can cause prostatitis. And so I came down with it.

#16

Just thought I would check back in on this post. Since I originally posted this back in August, here is my status:

After off and on cipro treatments, my symptoms have diminished to only a very mild inconsistent ache in my perineum, and a very mild feeling of pressure in that area. The original feelings I had of a burning urethra and slow urination disappeared 2 or 3 months ago.

My urologist said he will probably due some furthur evaluation this month, but has out right told me I will have to manage this the rest of my life.

Am I convinced that propecia had anything to do with this? No. Prostatitis is very common in men under 50. I have to wonder if the propecia (and the way it shrinks the prostate) was only masking the symptoms. Perhaps I’ve had prostatitis for several years, but the propecia hid the symptoms. This idea occured to me after reading how men sometimes take saw palmetto, or even finasteride, to relieve symptoms. I think its a real possibility. Just want to be fair.

Either way, I’m stuck with this at age 34, and I’m trying to be positive about dealing with it. If anyone has had any success with this, please let me know.

#17

Hey man, people get rid of this. It takes time I think, maybe some luck, and also some care, but people can get over this.

Why, did you urologist say that once a man gets it, he has it forever?? What did he say about other patients??

ANyway, I have gotten much better too. Sometimes I think it is gone, but it is still not completely.
Do you ever have flare-ups, usually caused by diet, or stress??

Also, doesn’t it F with your sexual abilities a bit, i.e. lower libido and such like that??

It does suck, although I’m thinking I might be able to get past this. But I would like to hear all about what your doctor has said.

#18

Boston, glad to hear you’re doing better man, gives me hope.

To answer your questions, he did tell me twice that “I will have this rest of my life to some extent. Even if it disappears, that I will always have a predisposition to it flaring back up. And that i will have to manage it.”
This is consistent with 99% of what I’ve read online about it. And I think this guy knows what he’s talking about. This is somewhat of a speciality of his. He’s given seminars about it, and been published in the Miami Herald regarding it. So, who knows…

He is giving me cipro, urotraxel, and ibuprofin. He’ll check back in with me in a couple weeks to see how that went. They believe I have chronic prostatis. He wants to do furthur evalutation. Maybe prostate ultrasound, and look at my bladder. I don’t want to have the cystoscopy…but, I guess I’ll survive if its necessary.

I don’t know if diet effects it for sure, but stress definetly does. And inactivity makes it worse.

Although I don’t think it effects my sexual abilities, it does ache more after ejaculation.

One thing I don’t understand is why bother giving antibiotics if it’s chronic? I’ve read several times that docs do it because antibiotics decrease inflamation, but that the Antibiotics don’t really do you any good. I’m going to ask him about that.

Have you found any alternative treatments that have credence? Like the brocoli idea? Sounds like a pain in the ass.

I’m going to get a second opinion within the next few months. I’m starting to search for experts in my area. But its not an easy task. There seems to be a lot of ignorance out there when it comes to prostatitis.

#19

Yeah, it is a pain.
One thing to keep in mind though is, since we are Ex-Fin users, our situation may be different. Just as many fin users get better from their sexual dysfunction after enough time, because maybe their prostates return to normal size, or what not, I think that maybe once our prostates get better, then maybe the prostatitis will get better.
Idk, because if millions of men get prostatitis, I’m sure most of them get better.

In other words, we may not quite fit the chronic prostatitis mold yet. There may be another mechanism at work here, and once that gets normal maybe our prostatitis will go away.

But anyway, I also appreciate the guys honesty… I dont know what to say. I just think I can get better from this. SOmedays it feels like it is almost gone, but just not quite yet.
It just needs more time.

Did he say anything about guys who get better from it??
Thats probably why he’s prescribing the Cipro.

Anyway, hey man, have you been on the chronic bacterial prostatitis web forum yet?? There are guys there who have also gotten better.
ANyway, its good to hear what the docs think tho too.

Peace man!

#20

I’ve been on propecia for 5 months… .then stopped it… a month later… Huge urge to urinate and discomfort in urethra: (like a tingling, burning and urge to urinate). Not to mention, while on propecia I did experience muscle aches and testicular pain… but I wanted hair regrowth(how superficial)
My Dr results came négative for infections, STD etc… and the Dr recommended me to go on propecia again and that there’s no connection with my sypmtoms.
Naively enough, I went on it back for 2 months and experienced again testicular and aches. I decided NO MORE Propecia for me! AND a month later… same urethritis and prostatitis… but less severe… it’s been 2 months I’m off it (for good) and I’m starting to feel much better ( less urge etc…) Not to mention again… I went to see the MD again… all results were negative. I am a podiatric physician and microbiologist and have concluded Propecia had important risk assiociated with it.
Merk would do research on perhaps 3000 men… but there are over 1.5 million propecia users and thus abnormal side effetcs (hidden by merk post marketing) has now grew…
Stay AWAY from Propecia, it’s indeed a poison, I wish I was never tempted into taking it.
All the best to all and give me ur news…