Side effects with 1.25mg of generic Propecia (penis pain)

Member Stories
#1

I took 1/4 generic Propecia 5mg, so a dose of 1.25mg for hair loss.

Side effects 12 hours later were:

  • Erectile dysfunction (softer erection, harder to achieve, trouble to maintain)
  • Lower libido
  • Mild pain in the penis shaft and head when flaccid, comes and goes
  • Watery semen, but orgasm felt normal otherwise (penis pain started after orgasm)
  • Some cognitive symptoms like memory loss, confusion and trouble concentrating

Side effects 24 hours later:

  • Erectile dysfunction (easier to achieve erection but still softer and trouble maintaining)
  • A bit more libido
  • Mild pain in penis shaft is now continuous when flaccid
  • Have not tried ejaculating/orgasming today
  • Less cognitive symptoms, but still memory loss

I will update this thread with my progress. Have any of you guys had pain in the penis from this?

1 Like
#2

Side effects 48 hours later:

  • Erectile dysfunction eased, now 95% of normal
  • Libido back maybe 70% of normal
  • Penis pain now less frequent, but penis getting cold sometimes
  • Less memory and concentration problems
  • New symptom: random bouts of anxiety, usually go away in 10-15 minutes

I went to take a lab test of testosterone, cortisol, estradiol and progesterone.

Estradiol was low, but not by much. However, low estradiol can cause erectile dysfunction, loss of libido and anxiety. Progesterone was high, probably due to the body trying to find homeostasis by increasing estradiol production.

Testosterone and cortisol I have never measured before, so I don’t really know what’s normal for me, but they were within general normal ranges. However cortisol was in the high end of normal for that time of the day 10:50am, around 400nmol/L.

This is in my mind confirmation that 1 dose of finasteride can indeed cause a hormone imbalance and I am not imagining these problems. I am going to get retested on monday, and also adding DHT to see where it’s at after 8 days.

#3

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    Finland

  2. 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

  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    30, 175cm, 64kg

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    Yes. Mostly body weight exercises at home, and long walks for cardio.

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    Normal, omnivore. I try to avoid processed foods.

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    Hair loss.

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    1 day.

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    30, started May 28, 2017

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    30, ended May 28, 2017

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

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    Generic Propecia

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1/4 of a 5mg tablet, so a single 1.25mg dose

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    Around 12 hours

  14. 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
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] 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
[ x] Confusion
[ x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ x] 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
[ x] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ x] Other (please explain)
Mild bouts of anxiety lasting 10-15 minutes, not panic attacks. Continuous and sometimes intermittent penis pain in the shaft after ejaculation. Trouble sleeping. Muscle twitches (I have had these before but they are a bit more frequent now).

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    No official treatments but I am attempting to boost DHT and testosterone through breathing exercises and intermittent hypoxia, intermittent fasting and high intensity training, as well as dietary changes like more saturated fats and also ordered some sorghum flour and PS supplements to boost 5-a reductase activity. I also did a 20 hour water fast after the symptoms first started.

  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)?
    Only post-finasteride. On the second day I ordered tests for testosterone, estradiol, progesterone and cortisol. My estradiol levels were below the range and progesterone near the top. Testosterone was normal, and cortisol near the high end of normal for that time of the day. However I may have elevated cortisol levels from before due to sleeping problems for the past 6 months or so. I am ordering more tests before I visit an endocrinologist, for example cortisol saliva test and retaking estradiol and progesterone first, then next week I will do a DHT and another testosterone test to see where my levels are.

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
    It’s horrifying how one pill can throw your entire hormonal system out of whack.

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
    My hair loss started a few years back. Both my dad and uncle have the same type of hair loss. At age 30 I was already NW2. I look much better with a good head of hair, although not terrible bald either, so I decided to try out Finasteride and Minoxidil. Haven’t tried Minoxidil yet, but for Finasteride I got a prescription and the doctor of course told me its unlikely to have side effects and if it does, they will end once I stop using the drug.

Well I got all the side effects listed for the drug, and more, after the first pill, so I decided to stop using it as the sides were not to my liking. I’m only 4 days in, and the sides have gone up and down a bit. Hopefully they will stop sooner rather than later, but it looks like it might take a while as I might have underlying conditions (possibly continuously high cortisol levels, maybe cushings syndrome) which could be contributing to the hormonal imbalance.

#4

Side effects after 4 days:

  • Insomnia, my stress hormones seemed through the roof as my mind kept racing and could not fall asleep
  • Lower libido but not as bad as the first day
  • My penis has a near constant mild pain, I think it may be shrinking due to not enough androgens, but still the same size when erect
  • Can still get erections but I am abstaining from orgasming, as it worsens the penis pain, but I aim to get a couple erections every day as it increases testosterone production and abstaining for 7 days also increases T production
  • Bouts of brain fog, confusion, memory loss, trouble concentrating, anxiety … thankfully I am somewhat clear-headed 60-70% of the time
  • New symptom today: constant low-grade fever around 36.5-37.1 celcius and occasional hot flashes
  • Mild diarrhea, I used to have chronic constipation for years so this is actually a little bit of an improvement, I have less stomach pain now

What I am doing to try and fix this situation:

  • Intermittent fasting, I feel clear headed when I’ve been without food for over 12 hours, I think when the digestive system is less active that lets off a lot of pressure on your body
  • Breathing exercises and intermittent hypoxia, look up the Wim Hof method, this reduces my stress levels and pulse
  • High intensity training whether its sprinting or explosive push-ups or pull-ups, this increases testosterone and exercise in general decreases cortisol
  • Supplements: magnesium, vitamin C, fish oil with vitamin D, probiotics, ashwaganda (have not tried it yet), phosphatidylserine (still enroute), might try melatonin for sleep
  • Foods: eating a bit more red meat due to saturated fat, butter instead of margarine, adding more fresh vegs (usually I just eat frozen), avoiding gluten, white sorghum flour enroute

Further testing:

  • Saliva cortisol testing on friday
  • Retesting testosterone, estradiol, progesterone tomorrow
  • Monday DHT test and possibly retesting others depending on the results
#5

Side effects after 5 days:

Today I actually felt pretty good when I woke up and even throughout the day. I had morning wood and was previously woken up with a nocturnal erection.

I did however feel a bit feverish throughout the day, but my temperature was 36.86C so actually lower than yesterdays 37C. Had some cognitive symptoms but not as bad as some of the previous days. Also no penis or testicle pain and my penis was not that cold today, maybe because of the higher body temperature, idk. New symptom though: sore muscles. My leg muscles were particularly sore, but not aching. It must have been from me sprinting a few days ago and walking 5km the day before.

I went and did some blood tests and once I got back around 2pm I tried to get an erection, no problem, even without porn I got it up. However toward the evening I felt something change, my libido went down (it was already quite low) and I tried to have an erection again, but this time nothing, not even with porn, not even 70% erection like during the first day. My first limp dick. I did get some blood into the penis but it was like 10%.

Anyway, while it is a little concerning I am not that worried yet. This is quite the roller coaster as the body tries to find homeostasis. Seems like it might take a while though, fuck.

Waiting for the lab results to get back, my bet is that estradiol has shot up (hence the ED) and testosterone has gone down (sore muscles, ED). With low estradiol I’d be having ED and anxiety, with high estradiol it’s just ED.

Tomorrow I will also take the saliva cortisol test at home, and hand it in to the lab on saturday. Results will take a week or so. If I don’t feel better by monday I am seeing an endocrinologist. Although I doubt there is much he can do for me, based on experiences I’ve read from you guys.

I’ll post back with the results I get from my labs, tomorrow hopefully, but then I’ll probably be taking a break from this forum with more irregular updates.

I really just need to focus on recovery and not worry too much about my dick. To be honest I wasn’t using it that much anyway. I just don’t want manboobs, please spare me lol.

#6

Just got my test results back and it does not look good, but not catastrophic yet either. Total estradiol levels have crept up, which they should, but they are still below normal levels. However progesterone levels are now way above the normal for males. Also my SHBG is the highest reference value for men, usually what people have in their 70s (I’m 30). Testosterone has gone down to the average of males between 25-34, but not to the point where I would be seeing obvious symptoms of low testosterone. My estimated free testosterone (based on total T vs SHBG) is in the very low range of normal however. I think the high progesterone, high SHBG and possibly high cortisol are preventing estradiol levels from rising as they reduce free testosterone (which is required for the conversion process). I am not an endocrinologist though, so I’m just thinking out loud.

Also took the DHT test, but they test that very infrequently because its not a commonly requested test, so it might take some weeks to get results.

So I guess I should focus on trying to reduce SHBG and progesterone, so that I can increase free testosterone and estradiol levels have a chance of coming up a bit. For lowering SHBG, Boron, vitamin D3 and a high carb diet has been proven to work. I think I will include some of those factors in my plans and see if it works. I will still do carb backloading (eating most carbs after 5pm) to increase testosterone, but definitely not limit my total carbs.

Just took my first swab for the cortisol saliva test. Going to do that today and just relax.

Oh yeah, after some trying I was able to get a boner last night, and woke up from morning wood which is good. Still abstaining from orgasming until I am feeling normal. Otherwise not feeling too bad this morning, but the day is still young. Only got a slight ball ache and some muscle soreness, but minimal cognitive symptoms and I don’t feel as feverish as yesterday, still haven’t measured my temp though.

Anyway, see you guys in a week or two with some updates then.

#7

A quick update: Most of my cognitive symptoms have disappeared and my body temperature is better, although I do still sometimes have brain fog. However my erectile problems have not resolved, they have even gotten a bit worse.

But one weird thing is that prior to consuming finasteride I had a persistent anal fissure that was painful due to my anal spinchter muscles cramping and I also had frequent erections unassociated with any form of arousal. Both of these symptoms have now disappeared, and instead I now have erectile dysfunction. I haven’t had any involuntary erections (such as nocturnal or moning erections) in a few days and when I try to get an erection it is usually not as strong as before and the sensation is diminished, despite having abstained from orgasm for almost a week. Normally I’d be close to orgasm with just a few strokes by now.

I also noticed that when I sit or lay down, my erections are stronger than when I stand up, it actually goes down a bit and back up when I sit down. Also sitting in a warm bath my erections are almost normal strength. My perineum is also very soft when my penis is not erect. It was soft before, but I don’t remember it being this soft. And when my penis is erect, it is not as hard as it was, it only temporarly gets really firm when I stroke my penis, it’s like there’s a muscle contraction when I do that when it should be constant.

I haven’t had any pain in my penis for a few days either, but I have abstained from orgasming. The pain always started after orgasm and lasted a bit over 24 hours after that. I did this twice.

These symptoms are similar to that of pudendal neuralgia or pudendal nerve entrapment, or possibly some other pelvic floor related nerve disorder. Somehow the hormonal imbalance caused by finasteride must have triggered this. Hopefully it will resolve on its own when my hormones become rebalanced, as I can’t recall any situation where these nerves might have been physically damaged.

#8

things to avoid:
Sugar- gluten
caffeine
vegetable oils- except (coconut and palm oils & olive are good)
cheese & mayonnaise
paraben products
Milk Solids- but Yogurt has some probiotics…its upto u
Frequent masturbation-(less is better- its a proven fact that excess jerking has caused many to crash and IMP fact is that semen retention is highly critical requirement for any internal recovery and ameliorating them)
So take care mate