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?)
What is your current age, height, weight? 32
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
fin
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
quarter pill a week for 6/7 years
What condition was being treated with the drug?
mpb
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
6/7 years with breaks in between
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
early 20s
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
3.5 years ago
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
tapered
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
no side effects while on apart from prostate ache and frequent urination
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
crashed 1 month after stopping after a period of hypersexuality… erectile dysfunction my main issue
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
[mx Loss of Spontaneous Erections
x Loss of Nocturnal Erections
x Watery Ejaculate
x Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] 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
xPenile 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
x 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
x Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
electroshock therapy on penis
daily cialis
trib
tongkat ali
progesterone
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)?
high shbg, high prolactin, moderate testosterone, low vit d, normal dht
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.
been on this forum a while now, you can search through my posts to see my story
basically took fin for years, worked great for me. Gave it up for a few months, went back on for a bit and then stopped again. Had this period of hyper androgenic behaviour… extreme libido, aggression, sweating for a week… then woke up one morning and it was like i was chemically castrated…dick shrunk, unable to get erections, felt cold and damp
This continued for a few weeks, went through the usual round of going to the doc, specialists etc who all said it was in my head
First 12 months, i was basically impotent, went to the leading urologist in london and he said i had a venous leak and permanently broken. Went to another one who said that I didn’t have one but my hormone profile was all over the shop and referred me to an endocrinologist, he said it was all in my head after I paid him £500. Went to a third urologist who said the venous leak concept was a myth and prescribed me electro shock therapy for £3,000… that didn’t do much either
Had short bouts of improvement after the first 12 months, a few incidents where I got an erection without cialis. These were generally followed by further mini- crashes. I felt that the cycle of little improvements and down cycles continued for the next 12 months, but got longer and better over time. As recently as this summer, 3 years in I felt I was making real progress and had stopped worrying about it. Still had the odd bad day, and still not back to my old self… but felt some way normal and felt like there was progressive improvement
Then this week , for no apparent reason, felt like i was back to 2 years ago…very poor erection, libido poor and no morning erections
Just wanted to see if there was any one else out there who experiences these cycles…has anyone gotten past them completely? ie to a full recovery?
starting to doubt myself now that i was making any improvement in last 12 months and concerned that i have been deluding myself through positive thinking