Sides after 4 weeks

Member Stories
#1

BEFORE POSTING IN THE MEMBERS STORY SECTION, PLEASE COPY/PASTE THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS/PROFILE TEMPLATE INTO YOUR POST.

This is so that we can more easily track our symptoms and hopefully find patterns in our syndrome. This will also help others understand your background, and help us try to determine what are the most commonly experienced side effects after discontinuation of Finasteride.

COPY AND PASTE THE FOLLOWING INTO YOUR OWN POST, then answer the questions.

  1. Where are you from (country)?
    USA
  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?)
    goog
  3. What is your current age, height, weight?
    33, 6’0 210
  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
    yes, cardio weights 4-5 weekly
  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
    mostly paleo but cheat a litte
  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
    mph
  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
    3 weels
  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
    august 15 roughly
  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
    33, bad sides
  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
    cold
  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
    propecia
  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
    1mg
  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
    within i week
  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
    bad shrinkage low libido , bad erections
    Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[x ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[ x] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ x] Loss of Morning Erections
[x ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

Physical
[ ] 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)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
    tribulus

  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)?
    no

  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.
    Took the drug on a whim for 3 weeks. bad sides within 1 week. still bad sides with about 4 weeks off. Everything down below is off. low libido with pretty bad all around shrinkage. the puberty look. Really concerned about how persistent the sides have been, but oddly the situation does seem somewhat unssutainable. I realize that a lot of people here have permanent problems. not trying to minimize them. Biggest question is this. If I do snap out of this will I have a sudden DHT surge because it seems like stuff is almost bottled up and ready to explode at some point. I have a funny feeling stuff won’t look this out of whack forever. What does everyone think? I would emphize that I am in phenomal shape. I’m not quite a bodybuilder, but close. Thanks for your time

#2

Update. Can achieve erection fairly easily with masturbation, but having continued shrinkage and low libido. Hard to tell what each day is going to bring. Its pretty scary to wake up one day and feel better then wake up the next day and still have sides

#3

Also, what is the likely path for people who recover? Do they feel a surge when things go back to normal?

#4

Hey Bob,

it’s still early days for you. You are still within a timeframe where many people recover. Only very few people have significant side effects that persist of months and years. So good luck to you!

#5

Thank you. Its weird but it almost feels like stuff is being blocked and its really unnatural. I suppose thats the DHT that is being shut down. It feels like one day things will just clear and everything just will suddenly revert back. An explosion of sorts. Still very scary. I hate the shrinking

#6

I am no medical expert. There are people here that understand that far better than I do, but from what I gather, the main theory now is that there is some kind of translation failure at the epigenic(?) level. So, roughly, the message is there, but it doesn’t really come across. That fits your feeling somewhat, I guess. And I feel the same. It’s like I am sitting in a car with a very powerful engine and start the car. You can feel the power, but somehow the engine doesn’t really get the car going. Let’s hope it gets unleashed again one day.

#7

Update. Was laying on the couch and got a surge. My penis and testicles almost immeadiatley dropped and everything got larger. Flaccid things look better. Libido is still not back

#8

I just don’t understand whats going on. My natural flaccid size seemed to return this morning, but then disappeared again. Also had numbness in the afternoon. Everything else seems to be fine. Sleep has been good, workouts good, mood good. The stuff seems to have such a powerful effect on me. I get scared off and on, but the human body is so resilient. Cancer, lost limbs, failed kidneys and things keep on going. I hope this stuff clears up. Also, one more time. Is rush of DHT the most likely outcome? Or gradual progress.

#9

Some experience a surge of androgen/DHT 2-3 weeks post-drug… others do not.

The response is individual and likely dictated by your body/genetics/hormones’ response to stopping androgen deprivation therapy.

#10

Update. Loss of libido is incredible. I can still feel everything with touch (can get an erection through manual stimulation). Its been roughly a month and no back to normal. Remain positive. Hoping cialis arrives in the mail soon.

#11

I dont know what to do. My flaccid penis has curvature to the right and I have no libido. I have been off this drug for 4 weeks. Please help me.

#12

Also, have pressure on my lower belly

#13

Another update. I can’t tell if things are getting better or not. I am still under the assumption that things will get back to normal eventually, but this has been the scariest month of my life. Still cannot understand how anything could last this long after only 2.5 to 3 weeks of use. I reject most peoples claims that this is brain issue. Maybe this is too causal an interpretation… The drug effects seem to blunt. I can perfectly understand how things could take a longtime to heal, but has anyone really been almost totally healthy and taken something that caused their sex drive to go to nothing for the rest of their lives? Seems very unlikely. Things will get better.

#14

there is no guarantee that works for you cialis friend.

#15

If I could make a suggestion, I’d strongly advise you take a break from the the forum for a while in order to relax and allow your body to try to recover on its own. A lot of guys on here suggest not posting until you’ve been off the drug for at least three months. This suggestion is made not only because some people recover on their own within that time, but also because in the immediate weeks/months after getting off fin, one’s body is in an especially fragile state, and the best thing to do in that time is to try to take it easy, be healthy, and not stress yourself out and/or put yourself through unneeded mental anguish. You’re understandably worried about what’s happened to you, but it does seem to me like you may be driving yourself a little crazy with the frequent updates and browsing of this forum – though I acknowledge I could be misreading your state of mind. It’s ultimately your choice, of course, but as someone who spent hours upon hours stressing myself out by poring over this forum immediately after getting off fin, I wish I would have gotten away from here in the early days to see if doing so would have helped things.

#16

Ok. I will give an update in two weeks. Also, Im pretty confident cialis will help alot

#17

Hey everyone,
I am back and without good news. My hormone profiles came back and everything was well within normal ranges. I will post them when they email me a copy. My main problem is still really low libido and change of penis and scrotum. I either get the puberty look or i have testicles will huge amounts or skin on the bottom. On the penis I still have prominent veins and a slight hour glass shape. I am better than I was three weeks ago and I should be relieved that my hormone tests should nothing out of the ordinary, but until it goes away it something that doesn;t stray from my mind. My body is perfect. No gyno. I am still very strong and muscular. No fatigue or brainfog.
I’ve read a lot of studies and posts on the forum and I still believe that it is a hormonal problem. All the neuroscience stuff doesn’t seem very likely, but who knows. DHT got blasted down to really low levels and it is taking a longtime to get back together. If anyone has any thoughts I would appreciate it. Its been 10 weeks since I quit

#18

Free testosterone was 15 NG
Total test 462
From 3 weeks ago. I have no ideas what they were before propecia

#19

Still no sex drive recovery. Remains only symptom. Have huge amounts of excess skin around scrotum. No doubt related to the inability of the drug th wear off.

#20

Bob,

I’ve been having similar symptoms (been off for two months). Especially the horrible low libido. Please keep us updated!