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Where are you from (country)? UK
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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? 25, 6ft 4, 14 stone?
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? i am very fit with no body fat. Excercise as much as my body lets me.
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? I eat a very healthy balanced diet, always have even before this. Raw food and lots of chicken and fish etc.
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? I took saw palmetto for a month.
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 24
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? i was 24 when i quit a month after i started
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? SAW palmetto
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? i believe it was roughly around 120 mg a day then one final 500 mg which pushed me over the edge.
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? No
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What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? I didnt experience any on the drug maybe just a little more tired.
Put an X beside all that apply:
Sexual
[ x] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ x] Loss of Morning Erections
[ x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ x] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ x] Watery Ejaculate
[ x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[ x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] 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
[ x] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ x] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ x] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ x] 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)
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? vitamins and healthy living.
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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)? I seemed to have raised prolactin
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
Firstly, hello to everyone on this forum. Ive lurked on this site occassionally for the last few months and i think its a great tool for us all to work together. However, i know im new and all, id like it if you kindly respected my choice that this thread isnt bombarded with people telling me im fucked and there is no cure because right now, that really isnt going to help me and make this all any better. Im trying to stay positive although some days its hard.
Right, my story. I began taking a multi hair vitamin with contained a small dose of saw palmetto for roughly around a month (July 2014). When i looked at it it was roughly around 125mg per pill. I took one a day. All was fine and i didnt really notice much but felt like i should renew the pills after i finished them. I finished them, but instead went and just bought saw palmetto as i noticed it was the main ingredient and i could just buy it easily in the local holland and barrett rather than having to wait and order off the internet. I arrived home from holland and barrett, took a pill and went to sleep. It was a 500 mg pill.
The next day all hell broke lose, I woke up with a lifeless dick that was pale and cold and felt like someone had turned the blood flow tap off. I panicked, i started searching what it could be. I found this website and my heart sank. How the fuck can a herb that can do this be allowed to be sold iin a high street store?
I felt quite low, i had no desire for anything or sex. I think this was accentuated by the feeling like id ruined myself. Anyway, days went by and numbness and shrinkage had set in. I was fucking petrified. I went to see the doctor who was of no help as he said i was just run down and tired. I had been working alot and been under alot of stress.
weeks went by and things seemed to improve. I booked myself a holiday to mexico to relax and try and repair. I dont know what it was whether the sunshine etc, but everything seemed to return to normal. libido and erections were fierce. (august 2014)
Got back and things seemed to die down a little, i started developing prostate pain and had some hard flaccid. Everything still worked however didnt seem as strong as it should be. I felt very low and depressed. Fog was a constant thing. I went from having the sharpest mind to complete mush. I went back to the doctor, he gave me doxcycline for the prostate pain. I had it for 2 weeks. Things didnt really change. I was referred to a urologist eventually. He examined my prostate and testicles, said that testicles were fine even though i felt they had shrunk slightly but maybe it was in my head. He pressed on my prostate and it hurt like hell. I was perscribed ofloxacin for a month. I took it for 18 days but it gave me raging insomnia. Maybe it was saw palmetto? who knows but i know that ofloxacin fucks you up in terms of sleep. Its the main side. Prostate pain subsided but i had no desire for the opposite sex really. Morning erections and nocturnals were missing a little. Spontaneous were GONE. I then found it hard to maintain an erection on my own. (September)
I was concerned. Then the shit seemed to hit the fan. This was roughly 3 months after i had stopped taking it. I broke out in coldsores and hives and had a bout of diarrhea. I was functioning sexually at this time, things had started to work much better. ( around October/november) Every illness you name it, i seemed to get it.
I went back to my gp and i had a load of blood work done. Ill post them at the end properly. All my ranges were high normal by this point.
Then January came… I woke in the morning with chronic chest pain and numbness and pain shooting down my left arm. I then began to feel very nauseous and not with it. I couldnt concentrate. My mum thought i was having muscle aches as i had been doing press ups the day before… thats mums for you! Things werent right, i knew i needed to get to the hospital. I went to A and E. they rushed me through, i had no idea about the whole heart attack thing and your left arm. I had ecg and everything seemed to be fine. Then they checked my bloods for heart attack markers… The marker was troponin. Range for normal people often goes up to 10. Mine was 1246. They thought a massive chunk of my heart had died so i spent the next week in hospital hooked up to machines, having angiograms of my heart. The most worrying thing throughout all of this was a young un experienced doctor told me i was showing symptoms of HIV (possibly due to the low WBC?) and that i needed to be tested. My heart sank. I spent the next few days in hospital anticapating the worst. How could this be? How can i tell my gf that i could have given her this disease? It was fair to say, my body went into shock and i was tremoring and panicking daily until i had the all clear. I WAS CLEAR. And i was ready to leave. They think i had some sort of virus. I was diagnosed with pericarditis.
Once i had left the hospital i realised that i could no longer sleep, insomnia seemed to set it worse than ever. I was constantly stuck in fight or flight mode, suffered anxiety etc. Sexually i was a no go. I couldnt work and i failed on one occassion. That was the first time in my life it had happened with a girl. I went to the doctors and had everything checked. My gp has no clue, he has to google DHT and prolactin in front of me. I managed to get thyroid and full bloods done. He would not check me for prolactin as as far as he was concerned. only lactating women have that. Ive got a beard, so i have testosterone.
All of my tests came back really positive. I had high end normal tesosterone and free. Thryoid seemed good. So why was i suffering this anxiety, insomnia and redcued sexual function. I went back to my urologist who said he was going to check my prolactin level but it was very rare that a male has high levels in his system. Sure enough the results came back. range 86 mIU/L - 324. I was 646.
I was sent to a endocrinologist. I had an mri of my brain and had the all clear for a tumor. The endos decided they wouldnt put me on any treatment because walking up some stairs can raise your prolactin that much? Am i dealing with idiots?
I went back to my gp and with my persuasion i managed to get him to perscribe cabergoline. I took it at small doses. 0.25 first week then 0.25x2 a week. It seemed to really help. I was getting good erections. Random erections, my semen was firing across the room and there was fucking loads of it. My dick was hanging like a donkey. I thought i was cured. Then it seemed to wear off after a couple of weeks?. I thought i had taken to much so i stopped cold turkey. I developed constipation and began having lots of white stuff in my stool. I thought the constipation was down to the cabergoline. WHite stuff? I thought it was candida. I began flucanozole which seemed to get rid of some of the white stuff but not all. Weirdly, i think it helped with my sleep.
Where i am now.
I currently get the occasional bad nights sleep and insmonia. its like tired but wired! I am waiting for a prolactin result again to see if the medication brought it to low. My gp refuses to check my testosterone etc as its not necessary! I am getting morning and night time erections although they are not 100% and dont seem to last. I dont have much sexual desire, libido isnt quite right. I dont masterbate as without porn i dont think it will do much. I no longer have hard flaccid and penis seems to hang much better. Balls hang normal again. I do sometimes suffer with lack of blood in penis and it doesnt look as plump but i dont have the hard flaccid thank god! When im with my girl i do get aroused from sexual thoughts and i can have sex usually 2 or 3 times a day, however often the erections arent what they should be. Even though the erections have died off a little in terms of strength. i still seem to have a massive load and it shoots which for some time it didnt! Especially when i had the prostate troubles. I dont think ive lost much in erect length. One thing i will tell you guys, i thought my dick had shrivelled up and died but it COMES BACK. Trust me. Keep this faith! It can ruin your life if you let it. Im waiting to see an endo monday again. I have also noticed that my hair has continued to recede and shed, i have oily skin, i get spots occasionaly on my back and face etc and i am growing more body hair all the time. Surely this is a positive? Whats with the dick issues then? I feel mentally foggy still which i will say that the CABERGOLINE helped with when i was on it. I wanted to start writing songs and building things. Hobbies i hadnt even thought of in so long. Now ive stopped it it seems to have worn off.
Here are my blood results:
end of July 2014.
Testosterone 16.8 (7.6-31.4nmol/L)
Free 0.30 (0.17 -0.67)
SHBG 40
Albumin 50 (35-50 g/L)
Sodium 142 (132-148)
Potassium 3.9 (3.5-5.3)
Creatinine 79 (62-106)
WBC 3.2 (4-11) LOW
RBC 4.46 (4.5-6.5) LOW
NOVEMBER 2014
Albumin 54 (35-50) High
Testosterone 24.7 (7.6-31.4)
Free Test 0.43 (0.17-0.67)
SHBG 40 (15-64)
sodium 141 (132-148)
Potassium 4.2 (3.5-5.3)
Creatinine 88 (62-106)
WBC 3 (4-11) LOW
RBC 4.33 ( 4.5-6.5)
ALT 9 (0-40)
ALK PHOS 53 (30-130)
Bilirubin 20 (0-21)
Calcium 2.52 (2.2-2.6)
Phosphate 0.91 (0.8-1.5)
Total Protein 82 (60-80)
Albumin 54 (35-50) HIGH
globulin 28 (18-36)
Feritin 101 (30-400) LOW?
Glomerular Filtration Rate >60 (60-120) LOW?
C reactive protein <1 (0-10)
January 2015
WBC 4.8 (4-11) Come just back in range
RBC 4.64 (4.5-6.5) Just back in range
Albumin 49
ALT 26 (0-40)
ALK Phos 47 (30-130)
Bilirubin 9 (0-21)
Calcium 2.54 (2.2-2.6)
Phosphate 0.84 (0.8-1.5)
Protein total 80 (60-80)
Globulin 31 (18-36)
Testosterone 25.5 (7.6-31.4)
Free test 0.54 (0.17-0.67)
SHBG 33 (15-64)
PROLACTIN 675 (86-324)
LH 7.7 (1.7-8.6)
FSH 3.2 (1.5- 12.4) LOW?
TSH 1.3
FREE T4 21.2 (12-22)
T3 25.8 (0-34)
Antibodies 1.6 (0-34)
Sodium 142 (132-148)
Potassium 4.2 (3.5-5.3)
Urea 4.6 (2.5-7.8)
Creatinine 76 (62-106)
FASTING LIPS
cholesterol 3.2 (0-5)
HDL Cholesterol 1.16
Cholesterol HDL ratio 2.8
Triglyceride 0.9 (0-1.8)
Blood cortisol 645 (171-536)
Oestradiol. 98 pmol/L (99-192) Ive converted this range and it seems high for a man? I think it converts to around 26.9? Did the lab make a mistake?
Here is the strange thing. In february i had a X4 saliva test done by an adrenal expert. My tests came back with extremely low cortisol. A normal rhythm throughout the day just very very low. I also came back with very low DHEA from this test.
Can anyone make sense of this? Im going to have my vitamin d checked as well as 3 adiol G and DHT. for some reason the doctors here say its very difficult to test? is this because its expensive?