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)?
I will say just that I’m from Europe
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?)
Google
What is your current age, height, weight?
22; 1.68; 50
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Topical finastetide
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
0.25% for just 4 days
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Androgenic alopecia
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
For just 4 days straight
Date when you started the drug?
28 march this year
Date when you quit the drug?
31 march
Age when you quit?
22
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
I applied my first dose at night. In like 10 minutes I felt a strong dizziness that lasted around 30 minutes.
The next day, I felt a little numb down there. The sides aggravated each dose so I quit.
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
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
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ X] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] 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
[ x] Genital Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[x] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ x] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ x] 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?
I started tianeptine for depression
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)?
Higher testosterone
Low estradiol (menopause level)
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
I’M A WOMAN…
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
So I’ve been fighting androgenic alopecia since early 2021. I’ve been in minoxidil since march, that year. In july I began the birth control Diane 35 (cyproterone acetate and ethinylestradiol)
For a full year my hair improved greately. After that in 2022 started falling again.
I began searching for things to keep my hair and I found out about a hair clinic. I went to that hair clinic and I started microneeding and LLLT. But things got worse for my hair so I started a topical solution made of spironolactone.
I used it for 4 months. Everything was FINE. But I had problems with the bc. It made me feel ill. My dermatologist told me that I should get off of the bc but I needed to use some more potent solution than spiro to keep my hair. I FOLLOWED HER IDEEA WITHOUT A QUESTION AND THIS WAS MY BIGGEST MISTAKE.
My life was going well except for hair. Got my driver license, beautiful relationship with a man that I was attracted too 10000%, friends, hopes for the future…
Till the nightmare began. I was excited to start the solution. I started it, first day something was off but I didn’t think too much of it.
Next days I got sides. I USED THIS POISON 4 TIMES, BUT IT WAS ENOUGH TO FUCK ME UP. ME BEING A HEALTHY YOUNG WOMAN WITH A LIBIDO OF A MAN.
After I stopped I experienced pain in genital area, and weak orgasms, somehow numb genitals, loss if libido, loss of attraction to opposite sex. I got very scared and searched about this. This is when I found out about PFS. I hate that bitch of a derm that said to me that the solution is 100% safe because it doesn’t go systemic. And I hate myself even more for believing it. Even if bc and spiro had an reputation of lowering libido, it didn’t happen to me. I HAD HIGH LIBIDO ALL MY LIFE. I decided to calm myself and wait to see if it improves. (I forgot to tell I also had horrible periodlike and breast pain even if I was far away from period, this improved) (also my hair started falling like crazy after 2 two of using the solution)
After 2 and a half weeks, things improved to the point I wasn’t so worried anymore. I was also on that 7 day pause of birth control. Libido almost back, sensation better, that genital pain almost went away.
Then I started another pack of bc at aproximately 3 weeks. This is the second biggest regret because I’m scared that I’ve made a great mistake by adding another antiandrogenic thing…
After first two doses of the bc, I loss sensation, my pain was back full force, lost libido, I’m not abble to orgasm anymore, my clit doesn’t get arroused. It’s like it’s dead. Right now it’s been 4 weeks and 5 days since quittung that cursed solution that is marketed as totally safe. I REALLY hope things are gonna start improving after quitting birth control. The wierd thing is that I started to get some of my libido back in the past few days. It’s seems that I start to feel it’s pressence mostly after almost 24 hour of my last dose of bc. I wish I can say that about my clit’s sensibility coming back…. I also had a few days in the past days when I won’t feel that genital pain anymore. I will stop the pack but I have left 7 days if it. My endo told me that if I stopped when I wanted I’ll mess my hormones more. Is strange that test. is high and estradiol low af. It’s been a torture because I’m affraid of bc messing things up even more and I’m stuck.
It’s been a rough month for my mental health and I’m sorry for all of you who go trough this. I wish for all of you to get better. As for me, this thing made me go into a depression. I started to take tianeptine. Hope is okay and not doing anymore harm. Everyday since things started going really bad I cry and I’m full of anxiety. I can’t sleep for the last two days because of the anxiety. I can’t eat. I don’t enjoy anything else in life anymore.
I went to the hair clinic to argue with that derm BUT SHE TOLD ME SHE DIDN’T HAVE ANY CASE LIKE MINE AND THAT I’M CRAZY. SHE LAUGHED AT ME
Sex for me has been a very important part of my life. It was even a coping mechanism sometimes. It was something that made me feel very close to my boyfriend. I want to share again this special feelings of connection with him. I pray to God that I won’t lose this but I’m so scared because of what I’ve read in here. What horror stories about people who just took fin for a few days and messed their life. I don’t know… I’m scared. I wil ubdate you if things get better since I feel the same things as most if you.
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance:
- Dosage:
- How often you took it:
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]