(0) Where are you from (country)?
Australia
- 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?
28, 175, 75 - Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise?
Yes, running, sometimes gymming - What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)?
During recovery - Mostly vegetarian, no fast food, occasionally some meat (once every 2/3 days) - Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)?
Hair loss - For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)?
Intermittently for periods of weeks - How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride?
19, 01/01/2013 - How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
28, 02/11/2016 - How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey - What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic?
First proscar, only noticed symptoms when switching to a generic (happened almost as soon as I started taking the generic)? - What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
1.25mg/day - How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects?
4 years of intermittent use, however onset happened as soon as I tried generic? - 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
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] 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
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] 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
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] 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?
Ashwaghanda, tribulus, maca and zinc. The major recovery occurred when I tried intermittent fasting, more explained below. - 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 blood tests taken - Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?
Major symptoms have partially cleared up - testicular pain, most of the stomach ache, depression. Still not as hard as I used to be. - Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.
Hi PFS sufferers, my sympathies go out to you. Reading the stories here was shocking. I just wanted to share a couple of points from my experience. I am recovering from ED, testicular pain and gut pain. It has taken me ~3 months to clear it up after the onset of symptoms. A couple of points about my symptoms and recovery are below. I think I am at 70% I hope I do not regress.
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Stay positive (especially when you are yanking it). I know this issue is not a mental one, but there is nothing that kills a boner quite like worrying about whether you have erectile dysfunction.
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Diet matters alot (for me). The major component of my recovery occurred when I attempted intermittent fasting. My method was to fast for 2 days. During the 48 hour period I would restrict calories to 500 (not 1500) calories per day. This fast is intense. Try eating one small meal at dinner. Drink lots of water.
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Most of my diet aside from that consists of vegetables. Try to avoid dairy as much as possible, and gluten.
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pfshealing.com/ has alot of useful information. I came to my diet plan based in part on that website. They point out that a major contributor to PFS symptoms is gut inflammation - my diet plan was centered around dealing with this.
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I was getting night boners - but often couldnt get hard - this was strange to me.
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One of the key points about my onset of symptoms is that I took antibiotics before seeing the PFS symptoms.
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Stay away from saw palmetto - as I gather it is a weaker version of finasteride - it has the same effects. Some people (like me) are told that it combats some of the effects of finasteride… stay away from this shit.
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My recovery occurred at the same time as I did my first intermittent fast. This was 2 weeks ago. It was a major leap forward. This completely eliminated my testicular pain and gut pain.
I realise I am one of the lucky ones with mild symptoms, but I hope some of you see the same success as me. My heart goes out to y’all. I will post again in a couple of weeks. One key point is that recovery comes in waves.
Stay positive.