Side effects - I took one tablet of propecia only almost 4 weeks ago

General Discussion
#1

Dear members,

I sympathise with you all - this drug shoud be banned for the damage that it is doing to healthy men and how it is messing people’s lives up - the statistics can’t be correct and are vetry misleading from what i read. How they have been able to get away with selling this drug and the lies that the drug makers appear to claim (and medical professionals happily go along with) is beyond me.

I am at my wit’s end. Up until almost 4 weeks ago, I was a healthy 27 year old male that had experienced some hair loss in the last few months. In terms of sex, I had a high sex drive and like most healthy people took a great deal of enjoyment and pleasure in this respect daily - and had no problems whatsoever and actaully felt overactive

I did some reading on the internet, particuarly about hair loss - and so I decided to take propecia though I was aware of side effects and that if I experieneced any I just fet I woud discontinue immediately. I was a little embarassed to go to my GP so I took an online consultation with a doctor and was prescribed the propecia that I wanted. I took one tablet of propecia at 5.30pm on 22nd May 2009. Without exagerration, it has been one of the biggest mistakes in my life.

Within 2 hours or so, I experienced some testicle pain but tried to brush it off as I knew that this was reported on the official propecia website as a common side effect. However that evening was awful - I knew something terrible was happening. I felt that my private parts were being pulled in and shrinking and there was considerable discomfort. I found it very difficult to sleep and it was uncomfortable to lie on a bed and urinating was also very different and uncomfortable.

I thought things improved a little in 1-2 weeks and I was hopeful - however the side effects are still very much there and I am experiencing nearly all the listed possible side effects - the sexual side effects are very prevalent also and I am very scared. My private parts feel very different - discomfort, shrinkage of parts, narrowing, general private parts discomfort throughout the day, feeling very limp despite my best efforts when attempting to masturbate (can only get hard to an extent), very little and watery ejaculate, strangeley fluctuating libido etc.

I have experienced a great deal of depression, finding it very difficult to sleep, muscle weakness, panic attacks, tiredness and sudden energy levels drop, brain fog, lack of motivation to go about normal routine, a lot of crying at times and I am still living a hellish experience.

I can’t belove that one pill has been strong enough to cause these changes and damage - I know myself and general sexual desires and habits / normal ups and downs very well…I went to the GP and he felt that I should be back to normal in a few weeks (even a few days) but something is terriby wrong. It is Wednesday today and this Friday will be 28 days since I took the pill. I am aware that the enzyme responsible for converting T to DHT may not regenerate properly until 30-45 days after a single dosage and so I am clining to the hope that I will be ok after this time - and not experience severe side effects that persist on.

I have ben trawling the internet for stories of similar experinces after short term usgaehope but I am very scared about the reports of persistent side effects in some men long after even a short-term usage of the drug.

How good are my chances that I will recover - or am I going to be one of the very unlucky ones and not recover until a long long time down the road - and even then only to a certain extent? I feel very vulnerable right now.

Please help.

Kind regards

#2

Dear Mew or anyone who can help,

I have posted this as a follow up to my post above…if I don’t get a response I will try posting as a separate question if that’s all right.

I would be most grateful if I could have some information relating to doctors / specialists in this area that I may see in relation to what I am suffering with regards my private parts. I live in London and would be grateful for who you could recommend that I see.

I am very depressed and suffering a lot of anxiety from my condition… and find it very very difficult to sleep as I am strangely tired (but not tired if you can understand that) and also lying down with little blood flow down below and shrinkage is causing me great discomfort…something has gone horribly wrong I fear - my normal routine has been completely disrupted because of this. The discomfort down below (and shrinkage) is causing a great deal of discomfort and my body has also changed due to muscle loss / atrophy. I am very very worried that I will not recover to my former state of just 4 weeks ago before I took one pill of propecia…I still can’t quite fathom how only one pill appears to have done so much damage to my system. I know that the drug obviously works in reducing the prostate - and there are knock-on effects to the private parts from doing this.

Can I also ask if masturbation in itself is unhelpful in my present state in causing me more damage? I sometimes feel not too bad during the day but come the evening, my symptoms always appear to be worse.

Please let me have your thoughts - would be most grateful.

If I am not making sense, I apologise.

#3

You must be imagining it. 1 pill just can’t do something like this :open_mouth: .

#4

Fanjeera - I sincerely wish I was imagining it…I am trying not to be over-dramatic but I am at present suffering the side effects I have listed and am grateful that I discontinued its use after one single dosage as I myself would be in a much worse state if I continued obviously - it would likely worsen / compound the situation. it is a very powerful and damaging drug. I have read that a single dosage is enought to suppress DHT for quite some days and the enzyme responsible for the conversion of T to DHT (as evidenced by FAQs on this website) may not regenerate until 30-45 days after a single dosage.

I am not sure if I a lot more sensitive to the drug than other people. However I have read of other people suffering side effects and reduced sexual capaicity straight away also. People respond differently to this drug - some will not experience side effects at all after long-term use, others experience side effects at different stages while others get them straight away as in my case. This drug is truly an evil thing…I am in total disbelief that it has been allowed to continue to be sold, all in an effort to aid hair loss. I am in total disbelief that it has caused me so many problems so very quickly (on a side note that I am not so worried about, it has accelerated my hair loss quite some and my temples have receded much more so).

I am a sane individual and am not imagining any of the symtoms that I list - I so wish I was. I just hope and pray that I have not been damaged permanently in any way and that it is a case of givng my body time to recover when the most direct effects of this drug wear away after 30-45 days. DHT is obviously vital to normal function and depriving your body of this hormone can be very damaging. I am praying that my hormonal balance will readjust back to its prior state and in that time that my genital tissues and prostate have not been damaged through androgen deprivation to a point that they will not recover to their former state.

From what I understand it may be a slow process to allow my prostate time to ‘heal’. I am aware that the drug causes the prostate to shrink, cause a degree of involution and cellular death. The prostate is evidently linked to a man’s genitals and is important to normal sexual function in a number of different ways that lead to many of the side effects that we see from use of this drug. I have read of the persistent side effects that others have suffered on here after just a week’s use and recovery has not been made back to pre-finasteride state after even one year. 3pm ( initially 1 weeks’ use) and Boston (3 weeks’ use), Mark Giba of a hair loss forum (only 1 week and side effects that persistted for at least one year) are three people that spring to mind.

I really don’t know what to expect right now. At times I think I may be improving and have a degree of sexual function but absoluelty nowhere near to how I was immediately before taking this poision. At a flaccid state, especially at night, my penis shrivels up and becomes very small causing me quite some discomfort (almost as if there is no blood flow there at all) and my scrotum also hangs low, smaller, quite wrinkly and at the top of my scrotum there is almost a flap of skin that I obviously didn’t have before. Generally speaking, my muscles have softened up all over my abdomen, the area around my pubic area has also siginificantly softened up and become more inverted even. The right side of my abdomen also aches at times. I am much more emotional and tearful at times and sleeping is very difficult as I also seem to have bursts of nervous energy during the night while feeling pretty tired during the day.

I would like to know of any doctors - specialists in the field of propecia recovery that I can go to see in London please.

I would appreciate some feedback and some hope and what I can expect. I wish all of you well and if I am to make a recovery at some point in time where I can say I feel better - I aim to make it my goal to help the efort in banning this drug …and bring these bastards that sell this drug to justice in how they ruin the sexual and mental wellbeing of men. They can’t be allowed to get away with this and make false claims and prey on the weak and vulnerable.

I look forward to hearing from you.

#5

John, check Doctors section at bottom of site.

Regarding masturbation, its a good idea to keep bloodflow going downstairs.

You really need to get comprehensive bloodwork done to see if there’s some hormonal issues taking place post-Fin, particularly Total/Free Testosterone, LH, FSH, Estradiol, SHBG, DHT etc.

Hopefully over time things will improve.

#6

Dear Mew,

I really appreciate you getting back to me. I see the good work that you have been doing and continue to do for many years. A good number of people I am sure are so very grateful for what you do. The number of people affected by this drug so negatively is staggering.

Regarding getting bloodwork done, shouldn’t I wait until the 30-45 day mark has passed and to see what kind of improvement I have made at that point? I am trying to be positive.

What would the point be in getting bloodwork done for the things that you list before that time if this enzyme is possibly still inhibited at this time?..this would produce a different set of results. We know that the drug as you say induces a flat does response and the drug binds like a lock to T, suppressing up to 70% of DHT initially…and while DHT levels rise steadily after this last dose and often come back strongly in some form 2 weeks after last dose commonly - regeneration of the enzyme responsible for converting T to DHT is known to take a minimum of approximately 30 days (up to 45 days) to come back online. The direct biological effect of a dosage of propecia takes a very long time to dissipate obviously. Would you agree?

In this case - shouldn’t I wait before getting blood tests taken? Also how much light can these blood test results shed at this stage? I also have no comparable set of blood test results to how I was befoehand obviously. I also hear that while hormomal levels may be return to normality after discontinuation of the drug for some people, people still experience side effects becasue of the damage done while on the drug to prostate / genital tissues etc. In any case, if the blood test results show something up, again shouldn’t I hope that time itself would cause a change in these values?

[I have just come back from playing tennis for my club’s doubles team and feel noticeably differnent to how I feel on the court usually - first of all I could feel this dull ache in my scrotum, I can feel discomfort in the prostate - that area around my pubic area in general feels just much softer and sensitive - as well my actial privates more shrivlled / wrinkly up in its flaccid state like I mentioned beforehand. On a side note I could not muster up much aggression at all like I normally do when hitting my tennis shots, I’ve lost a lot of body mass and have become skinnier in a way, felt far less masculine, weaker, more apathetic to winning and losing and didn’t want to be there…it was so strange. Just feel like hormonally there was a difference].

What a nightmare.

Many thanks indeed - best wishes!

#7

Hi John, in the mean time you can try taking some Zinc supplement,
it might provide you with some benefits.

#8

Thank you kemangd - however I already take a ‘Wellman’ vitamin everyday which includes 15mg Zinc, I believe, though I will now consider adding to this. Best of luck in your recovery.

#9

Zinc is good for the mind, right? I started it too.

#10

Hi Fanjeera,

Regarding your post - it appears zinc is beneficial in quite a few different ways. Among other things, it helps in the healing of wounds and is a vital component of many enzyme reactions. it appears it is important for a man’s sexual reproduction facility and aids prostate problems. See link below - it can’t do any harm to take this in the recommeneded amount.

healthvitaminsguide.com/minerals/zinc.htm

Wishing you all the best in your recovery.

#11

I don’t really care about the sexual side effects, but just want my mind to work properly. I want to feel the world and not be like a zombie. I’m as well having speech difficulties.
For example, focusing on writing this short post took me 5 mins. Imagine me writing essays on the next school year…

#12

Dear Fanjeera,

I hear what you are saying - I feel like that myself, I’ve just had a very bad night…could not sleep until maybe 5am, was moaning to mysel, was in great discomfort downstairs and consequently moaning to myself. I’ve made an appointment to see a doctor in the next 10 days. I can’t believe how potent this drug is - to a certain extent I feel chemically castrated by this drug and my mental state has been greatly affected. At times I just feel like throwing the towel in but we can’t let ourselves be defeated by this, we must plough on.

All we can do is be patient and hope that time will heal things - hang in there and lets try and be patient as difficult as that sounds.

I would suggest that you make an appointment with your doctor and let your family know what is going on, that will take some of the burden off you. I know how difficult it is for families to accept what is going on however - I’ve had to move back in with my parents these last 4 weeks with what is happening to me.

Regards

#13

I doubt the doctors know what to do. I’m doing a blood test on Monday. Is it worth anything? I heard that the mental side effects don’t reflect in the blood content parameters.

#14

Hi Fanjeera,

I gather that you are taking blood tests as listed in the FAQs on this website…I assume what they will show are your present recordings of hormones (high or low) and imbalances between the various hormone groups. Perhaps, this may shed some light on your present mental state if oestrogen levels for example are elevated after use of this drug.

You can then compare them over time of course, 5 weeks on, 3 months on etc.

Apart from mental side effects, have you suffered from any sexual side effects to speak of?

We have both been fortunate that we have discontinued this drug after short periods of time (in my case a single dose and your case 8 days). With that being said, the odds are hopefully in our favour that we wll recover without issue in a relatively short space of time as most men appear to do, but like Mew has said this is a total crapshoot that we don’t know.

I know that my mental state has certainly been affected, brought on by what’s happened to my usual workings downstairs having been affected and the discomfort and pain experienced.

It is still very early days for you if you have been off the drug only a matter of days - you have to give it some time before DHT levels start rising again. While DHT levels do start rising again after you quit the drug, regeneration of the enzyme responsible for DHT production may not happen until approximately 30-45 days after discontinuation - bear this in mind. Hopefully symptoms should greatly improve for both of us after this period of time passes and this enzyme comes back online to convert T to DHT as it shoud do. I have an appointment with a urologist in 10 days time and seeing my GP next Thursday.

I still can’t belive how one dose has had such an effect.

I wonder if there is anyone out there like me who has discontinued after one dose, suffered side effects including sexual side effects for at least one month - and then made a recovery to their prior state after a certain period of time? I would be very interested to know of anyone.

Good luck Fanjeera.

#15

I’m having a regular blood test on Monday my dermatologist appointed me. If it doesn’t show me the hormone levels, I guess I’ll have to go to my main doctor and try to explain my situation and ask for the right test very carefully. I doubt I get anywhere from there, though… She’ll probably just suggest some food additives and send me off.
The sexual sides – my penis shrinked, I’m having less erections and my sperm is watery. They don’t really worry me: I’m not impotent and still have my gender.
What worries me as well is my facial look. I have got comments from people… Would other usesrs tell me their opinions, if I posted some pictures of myself for comparison?
Thanks for your support :slight_smile:!

#16

John,

First of all, how are you doing now? I really want to know because I took 4 pills of Propecia 3 weeks ago and I don’t seem to be recovering.
How is your life-style? Do you smoke, do you drink, do you take other meds (including minoxid)? What do you eat?

Thank you for sharing your story, and wish you good luck!

#17

This post has me worried because I took one pill then got off of it. Nothing seems to happen so far, but my parents have told me there’s no way one pill is that strong to have all the side effects you are mentioning.