- Where are you from (country)?
Currently Thailand
- 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?)
A friend showed me. He also took propecia, quit, crashed and bounced back after 2 months, but did not bounce 100% back.
- What is your current age, height, weight?
33, 6’1/185cm, 204 lbs/92 kg
- Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
Not very much unfortunately due to an injury, if I do it’s brisk walking, stretching, light resistance training
- What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
I go back and forth between whole foods and fast foods depending on my life circumstances
- Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
hair loss
- For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
3 years
- How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
age 29, 2010, uncertain of date
- How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
age 32, 2013, May
- How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
taper off
- What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
Propecia and generic
- What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1 mg/day
- How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
described above
- What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[X] Complete Impotence - at times
[X] Loss of Morning Erections - at times
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections - at times
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections - at times
[X] Watery Ejaculate - especially while on the drug, noticed it strongly the first months
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[X] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm - not inability but delay / loss of sensitivity
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility - unsure - vasectomized
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat - at times, when sexual symptoms are also present
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency - at times, when sexual symptoms are also present
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Severe Depression / Melancholy - at times, when sexual symptoms are also present
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
- What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
See above: weened myself off the drug, then used cialis and pomegranate juice during the recovery period
- 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)?
See above: In May 2013 I took a hormone test with a local endocrinologist. Estradiol 40.1 pg/ml (according to doc, normal: 15-45, so in the range but high), Testosterone: 613 ng/dL (according to doc, normal: 280-800, so in the range.) I had taken a testosterone test in 2007 for a different reason and while I don’t remember the number, the doc had told me it was high and above average. Being now in the mid-range, and high for estrogen, got me worried.
- Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
- Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Born 1980. I started taking generic fin and later branded propecia for better results in 2010. I’m unsure which month. Months later, I noticed slight man boobs but figured it was just due to having put on some weight. When I lost weight, there was no gyno visible. No problems with sexuality, libido or erections except thinner sperm (a less dense liquid it seemed).
In February 2013 I started to notice very serious gyno when leaning over the sink to brush my teeth. Again I attributed it to having put on some weight, however this time after losing the weight the gyno did not disappear. A couple of months later I also noticed a sharp decline in sex drive and difficulty with erections.
In May 2013 I took a hormone test with a local endocrinologist. Estradiol 40.1 pg/ml (according to doc, normal: 15-45, so in the range but high), Testosterone: 613 ng/dL (according to doc, normal: 280-800, so in the range.) I had taken a testosterone test in 2007 for a different reason and while I don’t remember the number, the doc had told me it was high and above average. Being now in the mid-range, and high for estrogen, got me worried.
I weened off propecia, reducing dosage from 1 mg by 25% every 5 days. After a month off propecia I still had problems with low libido, difficulty with erections, sometimes only getting half hard, taking a long time to achieve orgasm, very difficult to orgasm with condoms (had never bothered me in the slightest before).
I started to take cialis and gradually weened myself off it as I switched to pure 100% raw pomegranate juice. A friend of mine had used it as an experiment for a month and reported it has similar effects to cialis. After a while, my erections were back to normal, though sensitivity was still low and taking a long time to achieve orgasm, especially with condoms.
About a month ago, March 2014, I started to note a reduction in erections again, until yesterday it got to a point where I couldn’t get an erection without a lot of prolonged stimulation (both visual and physical). That’s when I panicked and started to research again.
A couple of things…
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I’m trying to focus on the positive and not read too many horror stories as I do believe the mental part of the equation to be a significant factor, obviously not for gyno but definitely for libido. I’m reading the entire recovery section right now. Please NO gloom and doom posts. They won’t help me but only cause further damage psychologically. I’m depressed enough as it is.
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I can’t believe that stories like mine and worse have been posted on this board since YEARS before I started taking this drug. I can not even begin to tell you guys how angry I am at the drug companies. As stated by many on this site, the ONLY reason why I took the risk on fin/propecia was the explicit claim that sides were rare and, if they should occur, will recede upon cessation of use. I would NEVER have taken this risk had I known about it… NO way. I can live with a shaved head, I can’t live with a limp member. The opposite sex certainly is one of man’s greatest joys and my drive used to be exceptionally HIGH, now nearly gone.
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An acquaintance of mine also took propecia around the same time and to the best of my knowledge continues to do so. He does not believe in the sides but I do know that he hardly wants to ever have sex anymore, and he is in his mid 20s and used to be all about it… had little else on his mind other than sex before propecia. He never used contraception with his girl-friend of 2 years and she never got pregnant. That’s all I know about his case, unfortunately we’re no longer in touch.
Speculation:
I started to notice serious problems with propecia when I lived in Thailand. In an unrelated discussion, a friend of mine brought up the speculation that Thailand has a very high number of ladyboys due to chemicals in its environment and water. Quote from a Yahoo answers post:
I did indeed have takeaway food almost daily in Thailand, which is usually hot chicken soup in a plastic bag (dumb I know). The Thais seem to love their chemicals - when house keeping cleans a room, it has a strong smell afterwards. Styrofoam everywhere. As I mentioned, my problems resurfaced over the past couple of weeks, and incidentally I came back to Thailand 8 weeks ago. I hadn’t been in the country during my recovery. So, I speculate that propecia’s side effects get worse for me when I’m exposed to these chemicals that mimic estrogen in the human body.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoestrogen
Of course it’s hard to be certain. I’m taking another testosterone and estrogen test tomorrow, and I’ll likely leave the country again to see what happens. The day before I came back to Thailand I remember having a very high drive and up to 4 orgasms per day. It looks like I had recovered and xenoestrogens crashed me again. I could be wrong and it could also be partly in my head of course, but certainly not entirely. While I’m staying away from soup delivery in plastic bags, I still need to drink water and it always comes in plastic containers here. God knows if they were left in the tropical sun for a day before they got delivered to the store.
