COPY AND PASTE THE FOLLOWING INTO YOUR OWN POST, then answer the questions.
- Where are you from (country)?
USA
- 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?
29, 181,70
- Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
walk at a slight incline a little bit of weights
-
What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
organic, healthy, eat meat and lots of vegetables -
Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
minor hair loss -
For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
about 18 months-2 years
-
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
26 -
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
28 -
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
taper -
What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
propecia -
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
.25 every third day to start, up to .5 by the end -
How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
a year -
What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
none really
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[x] Loss of Morning Erections
[x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x) 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)
[x] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[x ] Joint Pain
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[x] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] 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?
Full body LED light therapy, strict dieting and supplements, injectable fillers to fix chin and jawline etc though i experience bone growth i believe once i came off finasteride -
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)?
sure, i went from a testosterone level of 390 when i was coming off the drug back up to a level of 800 -
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
no -
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Hi Everyone,
My experience on finasteride ran the awful gamut: panic attacks, gray skin, bone and fat redistribution in face (my face went from starkly square to round), muscle wasting (from 6’ 150lbs to 135 and soft; i never worked out and always had a soccer player’s hard build. i actually had avoided working out before propecia bc i hated how big muscles would get), end of eyebrow loss (latisse helps once your test levels are normal again i think), mental disorganization, inability to sleep 8 hours and dream normally.
I recovered by doing full body led light therapy for 5 days in a row (though tbh I felt better after the first session). I slept like a baby and my skin was glowing again. I also was careful to supplement Vitamin D and Iodine into my diet. I took at least 5,000iu of vitamin D every day and had Iodine in Rooibos tea. I also made sure to cut out caffeine, I don’t drink (never have), eat as much Broccoli and Pomegrante Seeds as possible (androgenetic foods), and go on long walks and do some light physical activity. I definitely ate a lot of sauerkraut too after meals to help with absorption. I eat mostly lean meats and vegetables and lots of healthy carbs like quinoa and black beans. I found a derm for injectable fillers to extend my jawline back to where it was before and lift by cheeks during this recover period. I also had her lengthen my chin. I’m not sure if these would have gone back to normal after my testosterone recovered. I went from just under 400 to 800 in under 6 months. The led light also seemed to placate the thinner skin under my eyes and then thicken it (I was beginning to see fine lines which was insane for me bc I have thick latin oily Jewish skin which does crack), however LED light also increases testosterone so it could have been simply that recovery which fixed my skin. (I’ve been back for more filler, but honestly just because I liked it, not because I’m still trying to recover my bone loss). My face is no longer gross, gray, and round. Thank god. It definitely took a few weeks to feel normal again, but I spent a good month or so feeling like I would never recover. I swear full body LED light is life changing. I’ve heard of people having moderate success just exposing their chests or balls to LED light, but I went somewhere with a strong bed of it, and I swear by that night I felt differently. Take whatever I’m writing with a grain of salt because I caught this early and I never took the drug for as extended a period as many people on here seem to have. I honestly have no idea how people take this drug for like a decade. The weirdest part of my recovery was all the sleeping and bone growth that seemed to happen over several weeks. It was like I was going through a second puberty.
