Screwed up my life?

Member Stories
#1

Hi, my name is Martin (34y) and this is the story how I propably destroyed my life by trying to avoid getting bald:

  1. How did you find this forum?
    Google
  2. What is your current age, height, weight?
    34, 189cm, 81Kg
  3. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    No
  4. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    mixed (everything)
  5. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    Hair loss
  6. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    10 days only
  7. How old were you when you started Finasteride?
    34
  8. How old were you when you quit?
    34
  9. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    cold turkey
  10. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    Propecia 1mg
  11. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1mg
  12. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    9 days
  13. 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
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate (I wouldn’t know since I’m totally impotent)
[X] Reduced Ejaculate (I wouldn’t know since I’m totally impotent)
[X] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Depression / Melancholy

Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] 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)
Insomnia, sweating a lot, scrotum feels funny (like contracting)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    None

  2. 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)?

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

After using Propecia for around 1 week I noticed that my semen was watery and that ejaculation was feeling somehow “different”.
I though it was psychological since I had sexual intercourse with hard sustained erection on day 8 and could still masturbate on day 9.
The real problems started at day 10: My penis shrunk and became totally numb. I tried everything to get him stimulated, but nothing worked!
My penis feels like a dead piece of meat hanging between my legs! I feel totally castrated…
Now, I’m off Propecia for 2 days and I’m feeling like a neutrum. Looking at porn doesn’t stimulate me at all.
I used to be very sexually active and had intercourse or at least masturbation every day for over 15 years. Now that’s all gone!
I now it’s too early to tell but anyway: How are my chances?? I heard it takes around 1/2 weeks to get my DHT back and weeks/months to recover, but PLEASE tell me if there is anyone with COMPLETE IMPOTENCE who recovered!
I’m really desperate and I don’t know what to do…One funny thing: I don’t feel like I miss my penis at the moment, because I don’t feel like a men anymore. I guess I’m totally fucked up.

I went to my GP yesterday and she said that ED is very rare and reversible. Yeah right, that’s why I took the risk in the first place. I cannot imagine at all that things will improve because my penis is TOTALLY DEAD. Before it was very easy to get erections…

Please help me! I don’t want to become suicidal…

PS: The only thing that helps me now is my sarcasm: Propecia did ONE great thing to me: I have suffered psychoslogically from my hair loss for many years. That’s completely gone now!! :slight_smile: Thank’s to Propecia! Since I’m impotent I don’t care about my hair loss AT ALL! Great!! Thanks!!!

#2

Hi Martin.
Being on the drug for only ten days, hopefully you will recover quickly.
I’d suggest you get some blood work done at your doctor, checking your hormone levels.
Search the forums and you’ll find specifically what values are worth testing, posting the results on this board is also helpful for others, as some clever minds here are trying to isolate the main cause of our shared problems.

Recommend you to read some stories in the recoveries section of the forums, you may pick up something that’ll help you along the way.

Godspeed.

#3

Hi Manda,

Thanks for your advice. I’ll see my doctor end of next week and get some blood tests done. Until then I’ll just try not to freak out…

#4

Oh, I forgot:

Yes, I did some research before I started taking that poison and came to the following conclusions that made me take this risk:

  1. I thought that the statistics produced by Merck where correct
  2. I thought the side effects where always reversible
  3. I thought that a lot of people having problems while taking Propecia would just blame their preexisting ED problems on Propecia
  4. I thought there was a lot of lobbying going on against Propecia by snake oil producers. Therefore there are a lot of negative comments.
  5. I thought that a little decrease in potence wouldn’t be that much of a problem since I had very frequent spontaneous erections which was rather annoying sometimes. I did not know there is a risk that my penis would just simply die…

A message to all those considering taking Propecia: Well, as soon as you become totally impotent, your hair loss does not matter at all any more. Impotence and hair loss are two problems of a totally diferent scale, but you only realize this when it’s already too late…

#5

martin man
i am on the same boat as you
took the damn thing for a month
i even made a post about it in the stories section
i just pray i get back to myself in a week or two
and the worst thing is i can’t even do those hormone tests
Ive always had hyper sexuality and its not that i’'m impotent now
just nowhere near as strong as before
id give my self a 3 right now out of 10
It’ll probably come back normal

#6

Hi MANDATE,

Well, at least you’re still getting a boner and can be sexually active. 3 out of 10 doesn’t sound too promising, but it’s still way better than a 0.
Let me know how things develop in the next days so we can compare (I took my last poison pill on Monday morning).

Good luck to you!

#7

yeah i can still get a boner and i am happy for that but what happened to me wasn’t fair
when the doc prescribed me the meds he told of no risks and such
if i had known one bit that it could effect my life like this i would have never taken it
don’t get me wrong i love my hair but in no way is it worth the things i am having to experience now
i shouldn’t be going through this bull shit in the first place

well in regards to the score i gave myself
let me clarify a bit
by 10 i mean a sex god not regular guy
3 is a regular guy
which is where i am now
i used to be 10 or 9
to go from there to here just sucks
that’s probably why i never let the balding thing get to me too much
i might not have hair but damn if can satisfy 4 women at the same time who cares
i have an insane sex drive
used to

good luck to you too man
if you have an email id pm me
we can progress each other there since we both left the drug almost at a similar time
mine was Tuesday night

#8

Don’t worry, if you haven’t even been a month off it. It takes time, but it will become better. From such a short period, you will 99% recover.

#9

you talking to him or me
i took it for a month
exactly 30 tablets 1 mg a day

#10

Both of you, I guess. 1 month doesn’t seem to be that long either. Go see some hair loss forums and you will meet people that take this pill years without any problems.

#11

Thanks for giving me hope, Fanjeera. This Propecia experience is really scaring the shit out of me! I guess it attacks a man at his weakest point…
I’ve read you have taken 9 of those poison pills. Have your side effects disappeared by now?

#12

Not totally. I still have watery semen and muscle twitches, but it seems to improve. My erections and sex drive isn’t ideal as well, but I blame the stress which also gives me brain fog. Though, my hormones are off balance, I’m still sure most of the problem is psychological. Try not to think of it and you will be impressed of how much you’re still your old self :wink:.

#13

I have decided to take (per day):

  1. Zinc 10mg
  2. Vitmin C 1000mg
  3. Magnesium 60mg
  4. Omega-3 acids 500mg

This, combined with mild weight lifting 2-3 times a day, is to try to increase my Testosterone level to prepare myself for the crash which could occurr in around 4-8 days. I have no idea if that helps, but I guess a crash on a higher Testosterone level might leave after-crash level in an acceptable range.

Any idea if it’s a good idea trying to masturbate to finally get my penis out of his coma? I’ve heard that could increase penile tissue damage even more.

I guess relaxation is key, too. The body has some problems&damages to take care of and he only does this as soon as it feels to have time for it. Otherwise it will distribute ressources to more important parts of the body.

Hopefully I’m right. Normally I would pray to God to help get me out of this mess, but I guess he will just say that I got myself into this stupid unnessessary mess myself because of pure vanity. No joke, I do believe in God.

#14

your the first positive guy i have met on this site
how long ago were you on the meds

#15

OK, guys. For everybody who’s interested in my story, here’s a short update:

I believe I’m starting to consider naked women as something slightly interesting again. Maybe I’m just imagining this change, but I hope it’s true…
It’s funny: on the first day off the poison, I was so emotionally flat that I actually forgot for a day that I had a girlfriend (we see each other just on the weekends). I’m not kidding! I would normally call her everyday but that day I just didn’t feel any emotions and therefore the concept of having a female for emotions and sex just wasn’t part of my mindset anymore. Really weird!!!
Incredible: I’ve smoked weed several times (a long time ago) and felt just slight positive effects, but it’s said to be EVIL and it’s totally ILLEGAL. On the other side: Propecia is an incredibly DANGEROUS and DEVASTATING drug that chemically CASTRATES you, but you can easily get it. It’s even recommended to you by many doctors. That’s so WRONG!!!
And another glimpse of hope: Last night, after trying very, very hard and for a long time to concentrate on my most arousing sexual fantasies, I managed to get somewhat of an erection again!!! :slight_smile:
It felt really strange and was only 60% of the size it used to be, but at least my penis somehow “resurrected”. That gives me a lot of hope.
However, this morning my penis just appeared again in its shriveled, tiny, numb state.
I think there’s a lot of psychology involved. It shouldn’t be possible to get some of my DHT back just 2 days after the last poison pill. Or is it possible?

The last two days I was reading a lot in this forum and it’s really great! Thank you guys for helping other victims of this horrible drug! Just the fact that there’s this community already helps a lot to maintain hope…
And just a word for those guys out there who suffer a lot more than I do and for a much longer time: Sorry if I’m making such a big story about my (still) rather moderate problems, but psychologically I feel maybe as horrible as you do because I have no idea if I’m going to be fine in a few weeks or if I crash down to Propecia hell forever…I wish everybody out there all the best for their recovery!

#16

I think we can all relate to the “freak out” stage, since your body is going haywire and you have no idea what’s going to happen. Try your best to calm yourself down and remember that your body needs more time to figure itself out. I took 2 pills about 5 months ago and I’m only recently starting to feel normal again. I had the dead penis and flat emotions and everything. Also, everyone’s body reacts differently, so only time will tell how things end up. You can probably expect a crazy rollercoaster of ups and downs in the coming weeks/months. Stay positive, and good
luck! :slight_smile:

#17

Thanks a lot, tryingnottoworry!

I hope it’s gonna be fine.

I’m just worried about a possible crash when my DHT gets back into my body…I stopped cold turkey and I’m on my 3rd day off. Now I did a lot of reading and realized that stopping cold turkey may not have been such a good idea after all. Maybe there is still time to do some sort of “weening off”? Any idea?

#18

WELL i think it 's a lot of mind games really
cause i don’t think that stupid drug can effect me that long and you have all the right to be bat shit crazy at this stage on the account you don’t know what your sentence is with the drug
as for me i had morning wood again although it was 20% only when compared with before i started taking the drug
i am just happy i could movie my penis again
lets see where things go from here
maybe ill get a 100% better in a week
who knows

#19

The drug is probably not completelyout of your system most likely, that will take weeks.

#20

SO ACCORDING to you i should get better in weeks
awesome