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)? Germany
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
What is your current age, height, weight? 33, 185cm, 79kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)? Finasteride, Ketozolin Shampoo
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1mg daily, switched later to 1mg eod
What condition was being treated with the drug? Hairloss
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 3,5 months
Date when you started the drug? 21.09.2022
Date when you quit the drug? 14.01.2023
Age when you quit? 33
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? started after 1,5 months of usage
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
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
[X ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ?] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[X ] 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
Physical
[X ] 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
[X ] Gynecomastia (male breasts) / more fat on breast
[ X] Muscle Wastage
[X ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[X ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes/ Sunken eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] 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? Acetyl-L-Carnitin, L-Glutamin, Citrullin-Malat, Probiotics (VSL3)
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)?
Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
I took finasteride for the first time on 09/21. For the first two months I had few side effects other than tightness under the eyes and watery semen. Later there were also testicle pain, a slight loss of libido and a very greasy forehead. I then only took finasteride every other day. The side effects of testicle pain, watery semen and greasy forehead disappeared. But over time, by the end of December, i had significant eye problems and weaker erections. The eyes became particularly sunken and dry this month and I went to the ophthalmologist who diagnosed conjunctivitis. I’ve never had eye problems before. Because of these problems I then discontinued finasteride on 12/30/22 and the dry eyes improved but the sunken eyes did not. After about 10 days my scalp started itching again and I wanted to give finasteride another chance (totally stupid of me).
I took two more pills on 02/13 and 02/14 to finally stop taking it. After this i used he Ketozolin Shampoo for the itching of the scalp.
After about a week later, the train accident began.
The first thing I noticed, was that my skin became very stretchy, especially on the face and neck. In the last 3 months I’ve been struggling with all kinds of symptoms:
-Facial changes (smaller jaw, loss of subsucaneous fat)
-Limp, pale, thin skin that is very stretchy (loss of collagen)
-Sunken eyes
-Gums recession
-Penis and testicle shrinkage
-Noticeable development of veins on the penis
-Phases of cold penis
-Loss of libido
-Loss of erections at night and in the morning
-Muscle wasting, especially in the arms, legs, hands and feet
-Fat accumulation on abdomen, hips and chest
-Loss of eyebrows and eyelashes
-Ridges in the fingernails without a lunula
-Hair thinning and on the sides of the head and other hair texture (straw)
-Cold hands and feets
-Sleeping problems
-Mental stress
I have to say that I had none of these symptoms before and I’ve always been a healthy athletic guy.
Never smoked, drank very little and did a lot of sports with running, gym and yoga.
I’ve been checking this forum for solutions every day for the last 2 months. I looked at all the recovery stories I could find, towner, cdnuts, chi, etc.
It seems clear that we are in some real shit and it is right to push the research forward with all our might.
But until there can be a cure, I try to fight the disease with everything that is available to us:
Healthy eating, sport, exercise, little stress and enjoying life again with friends and family.
I do intermittent fasting, go to the gym, go running. Sauna, cinema and time with friends save my day.
Amino supplements that helps me:
Citrullin helps a little bit with erections
Acetyl-L-Carnitin helps with brain and “focusing” for a short time
L-Glutamin and Probiotics are helping for the Microbiom of the colon
Will give some updates by time about the development.
