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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, I guess. Knew of the forum before I took my first pill. Should have listened
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What is your current age, height, weight? 24, 150lbs. 5’6’’
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of exercise? Before Propecia - 3 times a week. Initially after, 5 times a week. Both weight train and cardio.
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? pretty healthy, no soda or fast food. But I am a meat eater.
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 7 days
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 24
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 24
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Cold Turkey
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? (1/4 of 5 mg pill)
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25 mg less dust from cutting the pill
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? 7 days
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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
[X ] Complete Impotence
[X ] 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
[ ] 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
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ X] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[X ] Muscle Wastage
[ X] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[X ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ X] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
General healthy lifestyle, nothing more. Meds got me into this, hesitant to use them to get out. -
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)?
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
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Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Vanity, silly thing. I started a new job in March of 2012 which came with an increased level of stress. By June I noticed my hair was starting to shed a bit. Funny, since I used to joke back in high-school about how my hair was think as a brillo-pad. So I went and saw a dermatologist. She told me it was likely just many hairs in the telogen phase. I didnt believe her, but did nothing. After seeing a GP for my annual insurance checkup, I got a prescription for Ketokonozale. Hair continued to shed, so I went to see a ‘hair restoration specialist’, who told me that I had very early but detectable shrinking of the hair follicle, and should get on propecia as a preventative measure. I asked him about all the things that I had read about severe, and permanent side effects. To all of this he replied, that it was unscientific, and I shouldn’t believe everything I read.
Great! So I started propecia (1/4 of a 5 mg pill). 7 days later my penis was dead. It had gone cold, limp and shrunken to the size it was when I was 7. After calling the doctor he told me, in effect, that it was in my head. Useless.
I spent the next few days reading everything I could about propecia side effects (mostly from this forum) and freaking myself out. I changed my diet, and worked out regularly. I was going to the bathroom at work every 15 minutes to check myself. Each time only psyching myself out again. I didn’t post immediately, because the forum is for those with permanent or long lasting side effects. And I was getting better. I mean maybe to 90% erections by early April? ( For all I know it was 60% and I was just so excited to have anything back I was calling it recovery, my gf still thinks im a loooooong way from recovered). Libido never really came back, 5/10 at best? Keeping/getting muscles is a sisyphusian task but I was making progress. In any event, I got lazy with the diet and workout. Work took over my schedule and now I’m regressing. Not as bad as it had been, but still pathetic for a 24 year old male.
I don’t plan on being a frequent poster, I’m really just trying to build the number of documented cases of long term side effects. I would consider myself lucky that I can at least manage symptoms, and am definitely not the worst afflicted. non-the-less, this stuff is poison.
When I can, I will donate to the foundation.