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)? 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?) Google
What is your current age, height, weight? 28 years old. 5 Foot, 11 inches
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Finasteride
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1 mg 3X a week
What condition was being treated with the drug? Hair loss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 14 months, 21 days.
Date when you started the drug? 01/18/2021
Date when you quit the drug? 04/08/2022
Age when you quit? 28
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? Approximately 4 months. I didn’t connect it to Finasteride until recently.
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Slurred speech, brain fog, anhedonia.
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
[ ] 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
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[X] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X] 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)
[ ] 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
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] 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? Whole foods, gluten free diet. Variety of different supplements.
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)? Was within the normal limits of everything with blood work.
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Hi, everyone. Please bare with me here because this all ties into what may be Finasteride side effects. I really need some support as I’m just feeling crushed right now by all of this (as I know we all are) and I’m not sure if there’s hope for recovery.
I’ve been searching for a cause/solution for these issues for a year now and to no avail. I’ve been dealing with severe neurological symptoms for about a little over a year now - the two most impactful ones are severe brained fog and slurred speech. I was recently diagnosed by an SLP with dysarthria, which confirms what I’ve experienced for a while now.
Just to give a little back story: I haven’t sustained any head injuries. I’m 28 years old and healthy. I workout regularly, eat a Whole Foods, gluten free diet, meditate, and just generally take care of myself. I contracted COVID-19 in May 2020 and was virtually asymptomatic. I did my two weeks of quarantine and didn’t think twice about it. However, I began developing long COVID symptoms about 8 weeks post viral infection that resulted in brain fog and speech issues. I’m in a management role and do a lot of presentations/public speaking, and so these symptoms were quite obvious when my words began coming out a little slurred and I was often losing track of my thoughts. It was frustrating, but bearable. Fast forward to around March of 2021 and the symptoms became exacerbated (almost a year post infection). What started as a few stumbles at work worked up into a full blown speech issue that I began having in my personal life. I honestly attributed it to just anxiety in the beginning, but this was getting bad.
I now need to intensely focus on not slurring and it makes having a natural conversation extremely difficult. I can no longer speak fast and need to deliberately speak slowly to make sure my words come out clear; otherwise they’re jumbled, cluttered and slurred. It’s as if I’m speaking with marbles in my mouth. My mouth literally feels numb. I’ve also intermittently had issues with drooling over the past year.
I went to a neurologist around August 2021 (a little over a year post infection) and over the course of several months had two MRIs, an MRA, an EEG, and an EMG; all of which came back clear. I got the impression that the doctors thought I was making it up because my slurred speech wasn’t overly obvious, but I know how much effort I need to put into speak and it’s not natural anymore. It has been getting worse. I began working with a speech language pathologist (SLP) recently who has diagnosed me with dysarthria. His immediate concern was something neurodegenerative like ALS or MS. I went back to my neurologist for a follow up EMG about two weeks ago just to be sure and it came back clear as before. I’m also working with a homeopathic doctor who did a genetic test and blood work. The blood work came back clear and the genetic test gave me some good personal insight, but there was nothing overly concerning.
This is where Finasteride comes into play. THE ONLY thing that was different around the time all this started was that I began taking Finasteride in late January 2021. My symptoms became really bad that March. Now I know I’ve thrown in a lot of COVID speculation here and I do believe it’s a contributing factor, but I am almost 100% certain most of this is caused by Finasteride.
I literally think about this every day and it just popped in my mind to google “Finasteride and slurred speech” about two weeks ago. After reading through some of the neurological issues people are experiencing, it seems to make sense. I can’t think of what else it could be unless future neurological exams do find something more obvious. I’ve done all the tests I can. I immediately came off the drug after taking three times a week for the past 15 months.
A few keys points (and some venting):
- My mouth feels numb around the jaw and lips constantly. It seems to be better first thing in the morning and gets worse throughout the day.
- The cold really exacerbates it.
- I made sure to explicitly put that I was taking Finasteride on ALL of my medical documentation and not once did any doctors suspect this could be causing the symptoms. It’s infuriating as it’s clear most doctors don’t understand the effects of this stuff. As a matter of fact, the one neurologist said he had been taking it for years and had amazing results.
Questions:
- Has anyone experienced this symptom on Finasteride? If so, did you recover and approximately how long did it take?
- Are there any immediate recommendations to assist with potential recovery? I am really focusing on diet right now along with meditation.
This seems like a very supportive community and I wish everyone the best in recovering from this bullshit.
I apologize if this comes off as more speculatory, but I really believe Finasteride is behind these symptoms.