I’ll start off by saying that I have pretty much fully recovered from the after-effects of Propecia. While on the drug, I had no real side-effects at all until just before ceasing use. I was on ¼ of one tablet (0.25 of a mg) once daily, for about 3mths from DEC08 to FEB09. I had taken it before, about a year ago, for a few weeks but didn’t like the way it made me feel. So I decided to take a very small dosage for the above mentioned 3mth period, hoping that there would be no side effects. I was 29 years old at the time.
I stopped taking Propecia due to the increasing anxiety I was feeling toward the end of the 3mths. I also experienced confused thoughts, negative emotions, and mood swings (irritability, short temper, scary thoughts). The trouble really started when I stopped taking it.
Upon stopping Propecia, I almost immediately felt / experienced:
- Intense anxiety, increasing in intensity upon ceasing use. This lasted about a week, then moderated somewhat.
- Terrible sleeplessness. It was as if my sleep “trigger” simply ceased working, and even when very, very tired I could not go down to a restful sleep. This lasted about 6wks.
- Depression, which increased with the sleeplessness. Was on and off, depending on the amount of sleep I got and how I got to sleep.
- Impotence about one week after ceasing use, which lasted about two weeks.
- Loss of appetite. It was as if I didn’t really want or need to eat. I had to force myself to eat at regular meal times to maintain weight.
- Dried out tear ducts.
It seems that many people suffer the above, some get better and some continue to experience some of the above or other symptoms. Here is my experience throughout the recovery:
- I have had serious anxiety in the past, and learned how to handle it naturally. I “knew” this would be temporary, so I rode it out without resorting to medication. I used breathing techniques, and exercise primarily to deal with the anxiety. It subsided.
- The impotence was scary. I had never suffered this before in my life. It was as if my penis shrunk and went limp overnight. No morning erections, no desire to have sex, like my dick had just died on me! Pretty terrifying at the time! I forced myself to FULLY accept what had happened, and this acceptance relaxed me. My wife was very concerned, and I had to tell her that I could not even contemplate sex while this was going on. I decided this was something I had to fix myself without her help. I started swallowing zinc tablets, which helped, and (yeah, I know this sounds funky, but it worked!) looking at porn when I was alone, with no pressure from the wife or anybody else. I simply had the aim to “get hard” first, then I’d deal with maintaining an erection and ejaculating. Well, I got hard after about two weeks, then managed to get full use back a few days later. Seriously, I couldn’t get it to work around my wife, I really had to get it back in action myself. Then everything came together from there. Honestly guys, try to take this one step at a time if you are struggling. Don’t put pressure on yourself, one step at a time! Try the zinc too, lots of it, and balance it with copper if necessary!
- The sleeplessness was the big daddy of all mother f*ckers while dealing with this!! It was brutal! What made it worse, I resorted to trying Lunesta (which caused intense, deep, serious depressive episodes. Very, very bad!), Ambien (didn’t work at all) and Temazepam (worked for a couple of days, then stopped. Withdrawals the next day sucked). Listen guys, the sleeping pills are BAD NEWS!! The more I took them, the more my moods would fluctuate, the more anxiety I would feel, the more I’d worry about sleeping and not, and the depression was downright awful. I drank myself into a stupor several times while dealing with the depression. Having had depression before, I knew I could beat it. But boy it was rough. If you are taking pills and still experiencing anxiety / depression, try coming off them. I told myself one day that this was it: No more pills, if I couldn’t get my sleep back naturally, I would just get so fatigued that I’d sleep whether I liked it or not. I surrendered to the situation, and this worked wonders. I researched meditation and self hypnosis. These techniques worked a charm! Natural, deeply relaxing techniques. Listen guys, your body is one seriously intelligent organism. It can and will fix itself, if you can get your mind out of the way. That’s what I did, that’s how I got my sleep back on track, and that’s how my depression and anxiety faded and disappeared. YOU MUST MAKE A COMMITMENT TO NOT USE THE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS if you can, this was key. I was willing to deal with any consequences just to get better (this included loss of job, moving in with the in-laws (I have no family here) etc.) My body needed me, and that was that.
- Fixing sleep took care of the appetite.
- My tear ducts are better, but are still dry. If Propecia has had a lasting effect on me, this is it. I can live with it.
- Other very important actions I took whilst going through all of this was the following:
o Strict dietary change. Raw fruits, vegetables (ESPECIALLY: loads of spinach, celery, strawberries, apples, loads of oranges, blueberries, almonds, walnuts, tomatoes, bananas, peaches), and at least 6 cups of green tea daily (highly recommended). Salmon and chicken was my staple fish / meat.
o Loaded up on additional Vitamin B and C supplements while getting over this. I tried every natural sleep aid possible, 5HTP, Melatonin, Sleep MD, Valerian etc etc. I can PROMISE you that the best remedy for sleep is self hypnosis or meditation before bed, and simply LISTENING to your body, when it is tired let it rest, trust your body 100% and get your mind out of the way. DO NOT mix the natural aids with the prescription stuff, it can do funny sh*t to you.
o Exercise that increases testosterone levels, daily. I did hundreds of situps, pushups, chinups, and when running, jog/sprint/jog/sprint. Very, very intense exercise is required. I have always been an athlete, and I really needed to call on all of my training to get through this.
I can’t stress strongly enough how much I went totally against prescription drugs while getting over this. I will never, ever touch prescription medication again. There is always a solution in nature if you look hard enough. Your body has an amazing capacity to heal itself if given the leeway to do so.
Would I ever recommend Propecia? ABSOLUTELY NOT. This is a bad drug, period. Hormones are delicate, and should not be messed with. We are lucky our bodies are programmed to readjust and heal themselves.
Guys, I hope this helps. If you are suffering from using this drug, please keep working at it, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Surrendering to your situation is quite liberating, and it is the opposite of defeat. Accepting what you are going through shines the light on the answer, it really does.
If I can help you at all, please message me, I’ll do my best to respond asap. I wish you all the best.
Steve