Hello everyone. First of all I’d like to tell you that for all those still suffering everyday, stay positive. I can’t tell you how much positivity will help you through this. Be honest, don’t hide your problem (but don’t go shouting about it in the street either), accept that this has happened and work through the neccessary steps to fix it. Not everyone is the same, you will react to certain things and not others. If something doesn’t work, stick it out for a while then try something else. It will take time and patience. DON’T GIVE UP. See a number of doctors until one you can trust believes you. You WILL get better. In my case, I thought I was hopeless. I was literally suicidal. I would check this forum every day, and pray to one day open that home page and see a cure staring me in the face.
Now I will tell how I recovered.
First of all, here’s my story:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4270
After realizing I was affected by this drug, everything made sense to me: my lack of zest for life, my near zero libido, no morning erections–generally no feeling at all when I looked at a beautiful girl. However, what didn’t help was I had broken up with my girlfriend months before (which I blame partly on the Propecia sides), my parents were divorcing, I hated my job. I felt like this was the worst part of my life, and that it couldn’t get any worse. When I realize what Propecia had done, it did.
Now for a while, I entertained the notion that it was depression. Do not rule this out, but don’t give it too much credit either if you know yourself well and understand what depression really is. I know a lot about depression, it runs in my family, and I have never suffered from chronic depression. Sure we all get down now and then, but I have always been a generally happy person. I, like many of you, was made to feel crazy when I went into the doctor with pages of statistics, research, on the verge of tears, practically begging the doctor to hear me out, always getting the feeling they felt threatened by me. Things were made worse when two doctors told me it was just depression, stop thinking about it so much, relax and let your body heal. Well, to an extent this was true. Most things in life aren’t absolute. For many of us the problem starts with propecia but is certainly exacerbated by our festering on the idea–day in and day out, sometimes obsessively–that we are impotent and worthless. Now, to a certain extent the doctors were right. I was depressed, because of my break-up, my parents, my life in general. But I knew and still know today that the side effects from Propecia were very real.
I finally met an endocrinologist named Eric Buxton here in the bay area. He looked me in the eyes and told me “I believe you. I have not only seen this problem before in young men, but it’s actually not uncommon. You will recover, and we’ll do what ever we can to make that happen.” I nearly cried.
Buxton also listened to me, and we worked out a recovery plan. I stopped taking supplements all together and started Synthroid. Now, I cannot promise that it helped. But Dr. Buxton also gave me some Viagra, and said to take the Synthroid, the viagra, and go be as sexually active as you possibly can be. I had met a girl, the girl of my dreams, who I’m still with now (this was seven months ago.) I had gotten her number but was apprehensive to call her because of fearing that inevitable moment at the end of the evening when I would have to get it up. I nearly didn’t call her. I was going to make up some lousy excuse. I had spoken to my mother and she knew my problem and of course believed me, and she talked me into calling her.
Another thing I’d like to say, for those of you whose sex lives has been indefinitely put on hold because you’re waiting to “get better” before you get back in the game, DON’T WAIT. I know it’s hard, but please, go for it. For the love of god! You’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did. If I hadn’t made that phone call, maybe I’d still be here crying over my keyboard. The worst that could happen is you will fail. If she’s a good girl, a real human being who likes you, she will not reject you, and if she does, she’s not worth seeing again. I know it’s hard, but you deserve it. Don’t let this turn you into an asexual hermit. You are still a good person who deserves to love and be loved.
So anyways, I did the Synthroid, the viagra, and OH MY GOD–the Viagra didn’t even fucking work. Wow. So now I’m taking this medication that gives impotent 70 year old men raging boners, and I’m 25 and still can’t get it up. Well, I went out with her again. We drank wine, saw movies, held hands, made out. I did things to her that I didn’t need my penis to do. I tried another time. I failed. I tried the next weekend, took an entire 100 mg of Viagra. Well, I felt some movement, my face was flush, and the erection this time was at least good enough for a minute or so of penetration. But it was still pathetic, and I was embarrassed. Finally I told my self that the next time this happens, I need to be honest with her. So yet again I had trouble in the erection department, and I told her what was wrong. I didn’t get into details, I didn’t use the word “propecia” or “viagra.” I simply said “I took a medication that I’m having some bad sexual reactions to, and I’m seeing doctors right now to try and work through it. This is really embarrassing for me to tell you, but the reason I’m telling you is because I really like you and don’t want this stupid problem to ruin something great.” She was so appreciative that I told her, I think it made her like me even more. She said wow that must be hard, and said I don’t have to apologize for anything and it was okay, and that she really liked me, too.
So, this is what I did: I kept taking the viagra. After a few more tries, it worked. I continued with the Synthroid. It was a six week period of time I took the synthroid, half a pill every day for the first four weeks, then half a pill every other day for the last two. After my penis had entered her a few times, I started to get more confident. Maybe that cold little bastard between my legs can learn to do his job again. So I tried to have as much sex as I could, masterbate when I wasn’t having sex. I essentially oversexualized myself. And I’m still with this girl, we love each other, and I stopped useing Viagra completely about three months ago (which means I took it for the first four months of our relationship.) She never knew about the viagra, so I wasn’t completely honest with her, but I don’t think she needs to know. I don’t use it now, I get morning erections, I can have sex a few times a day if I want to, or back to back sessions with 15 minutes between. It’s like I was before, it just works and I don’t have to think about it. I’m as horny as ever. I don’t take anything at all anymore besides a daily multivitamin. I also smoke and drink booze and coffee and I’m fine, and I don’t see this ever becoming a problem in the forseeable future. Of course anythings possible, but right now I am incredibly grateful. I feel like I was given my life back. And I would have worked at recovery for as long as it took, but fortunately this ordeal only wasted lasted one and a half years.
All of us here on this site are here to help you through this. I can’t tell you how much the support of friends and family and a girl will help lift you up to fight another day.
So basically, I took synthroid, viagra, and found a really sweet girl who I could confide in. I think the viagra woke things up a bit, reminded that region what it was supposed to do, then the synthroid (if it had an effect at all–I can’t be sure) just gave the rest of my system a fighting chance, and the support of a good girl, and engaging in as much sexual activity as I could–all these things helped me recover.
Don’t let it sit there and get cold, use that stubborn little bastard.
It was the biggest sigh of relief as I lay there naked with the limp culprit right there out there in the open and she said to me “you don’t have to apologize. Thanks for telling me, that must have been really hard to say.” Don’t underestimate the power of negative thinking also. Your mind will destroy you if you continuosly see yourself as an incomplete man. You are a human being, your body can recover, you can make your body recover, you will get better.
If any one has any questions, please feel free. If you would like to talk, I’ll give you my email address and you can send me your phone number and we can talk about it. Talking to another person is so much more meaningful than words on a screen.
P.S. I recently had a friend who started taking Propecia. I hadn’t told him what I was going through, but when he started taking it, I pulled him aside and told him my story. You better believe he threw those pills away right quick.
Good luck to all of you who are still fighting. Stay in the fight, you are a great person who will be happy again.
Best wishes
Top