Side effects from just 1 pill?

Member Stories
#1

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)?
Australia

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?)
Googling recovery stories lead me here

What is your current age, height, weight?
25 y/o, 176cm, 108kg

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

What condition was being treated with the drug?
MPB

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
1 day

Date when you started the drug?
01/31/23

Date when you quit the drug?
01/31/23

Age when you quit?
25

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
A couple of hours after I took the pill

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
Erectile dysfunction. Cannot get erect, even when stimulating/masterbating.

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
[ x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ x] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating (may have had slight ADD before, but can barely get anything accomplished now)
[ ] Confusion
[] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ x] Suicidal Thoughts (can’t imagine living the rest of my life like this)

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain (only during crash)
[ ]Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[] Weight Gain
[] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[] Muscle Wastage
[] Muscle Weakness (Takes a great amount of exertion to perform physical activities now)
[ ] Joint Pain
[] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[] Prostate pain
[] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[] Constipation / “Poo Pellets” (actually have loose stools often since starting propecia)
[] 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?
N/A

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)?
N/A

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

This is my second attempt to post. The first time, I didn’t follow the template so here we go. I decided to take finasteride to battle mpb and took one 1 mg pill on Tuesday the 31st of Jan at around 3.30pm. a few hours later when I decided to masterbate I found myself not being able to get erect, even though I was getting in the mood by looking at nsfw pics. This terrified me as porn always gets me going so I decided not to take any further pills.

The next day I tried again but to no avail. The day after, I woke up with 50% morning wood but it felt off but I’m thinking it’s progress right? Later that afternoon I had an hour nap and woke up again with an erection but still it didn’t feel normal. I tried to use that erection to masterbate but I couldn’t, it went away fast. Today I also woke up with morning wood but again, it felt off. Today marks the 3rd day since I’ve taken the pill and still no erection. I can get in the mood by looking at nsfw pics but the erection just won’t come.

I’m just starting to freak out you know. I’m 25 and my parents are pressuring me to get married and this is just the last thing I need. I’m already insecure as it is with my hair and weight and this is rapidly eating away at my will to live. I haven’t told anyone except my younger brother who lives with me. He’s reassured me that it’s only 1 pill, and 1 pill can’t cause anything permanent. I wish I had someone else to talk about it other than my brother (2 years younger than me) who I’m supposed to be a role model for.

I’ve booked an appointment with a doctor who I’ll be seeing 14 days after I took the first pill to give me some time to recover and I’m praying that by the time I see him, I’ll be back to normal. I’ve faced obstacles in my life and always managed to get over them but this one, I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t recover. This has surely rocked me to the core and suicidal thoughts are slipping in.

I would love to hear some recovery stories from people who had an experience similar to mine. That will really help me feel better about the whole situation. I work from home and I do find myself having a bunch of free time at work which makes it hard to keep my mind off this. I keep telling myself, It’s just 1 pill, 1 pill can’t possibly have permanent life altering effects on you right? Any advise will be appreciated.

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Erectile disfunction after 1 pill
#3

Don’t mastrubate for the next couple of weeks…Sleep well…

Eat only Vegetables and Meat for the next couple of weeks avoiding… all forms Diary/Sugar/Gluten

Take Vitamin-D.

and Don’t touch Propecia ever again…

2 Likes
#4

From time to time devastated young guys apear here, than they make two or three posts that things getting better and than they disappear. These lucky guys have had a strange finasteride reaction but didn’t develop pfs. I hope and I think it’s the same with you. Pfs is rare. It needs weeks to month until enough enzymes produced to reset the blocked and the normal hormone flow sets in again. Finasteride itself is out of the body fast. And I wouldn’t follow any protocol.

3 Likes
#5

Hey,

It’s too early to make any serious conclusions. I had similar episode due to another potent drug. I also freaked out at that moment, but in a week or so my sexual function fully recovered. But when that happens to you, remember to avoid finasteride at all cost. I know, your other problems also seem depressing, but they are manageable. And hair thinning is absolutely negligeble compared to full-blown PFS. If I were you, I’d follow @onlyhope’s advice and tried to avoid bad thoughts for that period.

Cheers

1 Like
#6

Unfortunately, some of the worst affected in our community got the condition from only one pill. As unbelievable as that may sound, it has happened.

That said, if you took that one pill only a few days ago, it’s way too early to jump to any conclusions.
(You typed the wrong year in your drug consumption/cessation dates)

The vast majority of people recover from the adverse effects within a few months of stopping the drug. We often recommend people to give it at least three months to see if you still naturally recover.
If by that time you have still not recovered, there may be more legitimate reason for concern.

For now, give it more time, and you will most likely still recover.

Unfortunately, there is no first-line treatment to offer you in the meantime.

There’s also (as is already evident from this one thread) a lot of noise on the internet about what people should or shouldn’t do in this situation. None of it has any basis in reality, and there is a lot of cognitive dissonance out there that results in a lot of nonsense. What I mostly mean by that is don’t bother with ‘protocols’ or ‘not masturbating’ or supplements. It will not change anything.

There’s really very little you can do except taking good care of yourself and sitting this out. Avoiding anti-androgenic substances (which is pretty much every other hairloss treatment imaginable) is the best thing you can do.

#7

Hopefully, I’ll end up like those guys. Thanks for the reassurance. I needed this!

#8

Thanks, my usual routine already includes taking vitamin D, Zinc and fish oil tablets. I’ll try my best to stay positive for the coming weeks.

1 Like
#9

If I were you I would avoid zinc. Zinc is anti androgenic. We have reports of people worsening when consuming zinc. To some degree it is a natural part of a normal diet. But at the very least you should avoid large quantities of it, which is why I would recommend against consuming it via supplement.

#10

Noted, I’ll avoid that from now on.

#11

Avoid for ever finasteride, dutasteride, Saw Palmetto (even if its topical/champú), and some suplements.

OFC a pill can cause sides, but give It time and you Will be way better. And try to no stress yourself, sleep, make exercise, eat healthy, etc.

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#12

BTW, did you have any stressful experience right before your crash? This happened to me before my initial episodes which made me believe those were stress-related.

#13

No I was feeling fine on the days leading upto it. I was heavily contemplating if I should take it or for a few weeks but I wasn’t stressed. Took it around 3.30 pm for the first time and later that day I went to masterbate (with porn) and couldn’t no matter how hard I tried. That’s when I started freaking out.

#14

It’s now the 5th day since I’ve taken just the one pill and no improvements so far. I’ve had some weird sensations in my crotch/lower abdomen area a few times on and off. I hope it’s my body returning to normal. Starting to hate the internet now because a lot of content is sexualised which makes me think of my current situation. Going to church today for the first time in a while. I was raised catholic so hoping to pray to make myself feel better and keep out the suicidal thoughts.

1 Like
#15

Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s so familiar to me.
I hope you’ll be able to find peace in yourself and abandon those dark thoughts. And that recovery is near, of course.

#16

It took me 1-2 weeks to recover from erectile dysfunction. It wasn’t a fun experience at all having to wait whether it would improve or not. I’m back to normal for the most part around 90-95%. Each person is different, though. Like @Wintermoon said, it hasn’t been that long since you took the pill. It can take weeks or months for your hormone levels to recuperate.

If it gives you any light, I lost my virginity only after the whole PFS situation. I started taking Finasteride at 23 years old, but now I’m 25 years old and it hasn’t been on my mind as much anymore.

#17

It’s been exactly 1 week. Still no improvements. The weird sensations in my crotch/lower abdomen is becoming more frequent. It doesn’t hurt just feels weird.

#18

Hey, the recovery might be as sudden as the symptoms onset. At least it happened to me like that. And as I understand, there’s a 3 months window when things could get better naturally. Try not to focus on the these problems for some time.

1 Like
#19

Too early to tell if this is gonna last long term. I wouldn’t freak out man. Vast majority of people go back to normal. Pfs is rare.

#20

Discambler:

Only answering to @Toughluck24, no bad mindset, everybody will recover! OK?!

Millions take propecia, more Millions take proscar against benign prostate hyperplasia and only some 0,1 pro mille get pfs symptoms. Apear here desperate with their symptoms after some days, weeks but many of them have only the normal very more common finasteride side effects subsiding after some weeks to 3 month, when the blocked 5ar enzyms are totally exchanged with new unblocked 5ar enzyms.

But this solve of normal and common finasteride side effects has definitely nothing to do with a pfs “recovery”. Because in this cases they never developed the permanent post finasteride syndrome. But often this lucky cases stand than here and tell over their incredible recovery over years. Specifically about their great sexlife and how good they feel. For me absolutely unfair.

Than there seem to be some cases of a first year recovery, guys who develope pfs symptoms after a crash and go back near to normal again.

With the time many patients get used to the new situation and most of them get better neurological with brainfog and Derealisation phenomens. Some mild pfs cases, with no genital atrophy and venous leak are able to recover over the time.

The recovery section says recovery stories give us hope. But all the absurd recovered after 11 years severe pfs after shijat himalaya salt intake and the detailed now sex seven times in a row story format is more disturbing than helpful for me. And this story format connected to the 100 % recovery protocol format proliferate in such a manner that all the normal pfs patients with their daily suffering think to be an outsider and a minority between all the recovery professionals. Not willing for heavy injection, not willing for recovery.

This is absolutely not true.

2 Likes
#21

Just wanted to Update. After a week and 2 days I was back to normal.

It’s now been exactly two weeks and I’m fairly certain I’m back. The first week was crazy. I was contemplating suicide and I could only calm down once I figured out a way to take myself out. That’s what calmed me down, the fact that I could end it if this side effect became permanent. I’ve had suicide thoughts before but it was real this time. That was the darkest I’ve ever felt in my life. I really want to thank everyone who’s replied to my thread, your kind words really helped me pull through this dark period in my life.

My heart goes out for everyone who’s suffering through this and I hope that there’s some breakthrough in the future that leads to curing this awful disease.

My hair is thinning and I’ve come to accept it. I’ll never be touching this stuff again, not even Saw Palmetto the supposed natural remedy. After doing a lot more reading/research I am convinced that the studies were skewed/biased when it came to those who experienced the side effects.

1 Like