Thank you Finfina. The fatigue is the most unbearable thing for me, so any possible paths to investigate it are welcome.
welcome bro
brace yourself for atleast a ‘‘lovely’’ 3-4 months of tremor.
your hormones are out of whack and you will experience a rollercoaster of ups and downs.
you just gotta ride the wave.
Day 12. I almost thought I felt normal last night, but this morning is only the same. I had a few weak erections through the night and brain fog seems slightly cleared. Is that a hopeful sign?
Felt like I had to pee all night and could barely get anything out. Still no appetite and my hair has completely stopped shedding, which seems totally impossible and like a sick joke.
I am taking work off day but I don’t have any more sick days. The desperation is growing. I just feel like crying all day.
I’m so sorry to read this @gs1994, you’re in my thoughts. You describe what so many here can relate to. Please try to bear it in mind that you are very early in coming off the drug and that many people have come through this website that have had a similar experience to you in the first weeks/months off the drug to then make a substantial recovery/improvement after that. For some, they have an adverse drug reaction that isn’t necessarily PFS and they have subsequently described themselves as recovered, following more time off the drug. If you do have PFS (which you don’t know yet as it has been such a brief time since you quit), you should also bear it in mind that many, many patients experience improvements in the 6 - 12 month period after quitting the drug. Stay strong and keep us updated.
1 Like
dude you have no idea the bullet you’ve dodged. if you want to cry all day, imagine if your penis was totally numb, cold and you had no brain penis connection. the amount of fear and isolation that brings is indescribable. trust me when i tell you, the fact that you started at such a low dose has probably saved you.
i only took 1mg, and that same night i had the worst headache of my life, everything was blurry, especially at night. if i would look at something off center i couldn’t even read it. i had awful muscle aches and pains. ball pain. and then each day after that for about 4 days i improved and then boom it hit me and i crashed on day 5. you still have sexual fuction and it’s been almost 2 weeks. try to dwell on that and the fact that the odds are looking very good for you. nothing kills a boner more than anxiety.
my advice is to not do anything crazy or start taking stuff, you’ve got a few more weeks until your clear of the fin anyway, it’s a 90% protein binding med. you can’t even donate blood for a month after taking it. if you don’t exercise, i’d strongly recommend it. lift weights and try to think aggressively and do some light cardio. nothing extreme. eat normal, just chill. as someone said above, don’t pull up porn and try to “test” yourself or keep going down that rabbit hole. it’s just going to make things worse for you mentally. i know it’s difficult, try to distract yourself as much as possible and go on with life. you need time.
good luck
how long are you off bro and what sides do you still have compared to the very beginning?
13 months. it took a long time and i had to work at it, but i’d say i’m 90% my vision is pretty good, but not quite as good as it was before. penis doesn’t really throb anymore like it did before. pelvic floor can sometimes feel kinda weird, the ball pain is mostly gone but sometimes i can feel it a bit. my skin kinda took a hit too, feel like i aged years from all the stress.
Im sorry that you went through this. I have experienced somewhat similar symptoms like yours (i.e. extreme muscle pains/stiffness, anxiety etc. etc.
Positive news that your 90% back, you are a true warrior for having gone through this hell.
You still have some battlescars so things have changed permanently it seems.
Do you get (mini) crashes every now and then where your symptoms flare up?
No thankfully.
Hi all,
Thank you so much for your replies. Honestly any time any one of you posts something it helps me feel less alone and a bit more grounded. I wanted to give you guys an update. Today is Day 16 off the fin if my count is correct.
My sexual symptoms seem to be on a roller coaster. Libido vacillates wildly between feeling completely normal and pretty diminished. Yesterday was a good day for libido - today? Not so much. Morning erections are still rare and weak. No spontaneous erections but still have seemingly normal ejaculations, slightly less volume of semen.
I still have reduced appetite. The appetite seems to start coming back at night and by morning is gone again. Fatigue and muscle weakness are still the biggest killers but those seem to vacillate too. Some hours its bad, some hours it feels closer to normal. Sunlight seems to help briefly. The afternoons are still the most rough. I feel cold really easily.
I had a blood test on Friday. The doctor seemed receptive to the idea of PFS but she said it’s just not possible with my low dosage, which I don’t agree with, but at least she was open to the idea. My results were normal except for high T4 and high albumin. I’m going back today for more tests.
My sexual symptoms have been annoying and stressful but I’m still vastly more worried about fatigue and weakness. I really hope these clear up soon. It’s been now almost 2.5 weeks of feeling this fatigue.
kc210,
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement and for sharing your story. Your experiences sound really terrifying and your resolve in the face of that is really admirable and helpful for me to hear. My sexual symptoms have not as of yet been that bad. They are still really up and down. I just want this all to end soon.
np. i was where you are but much worse a year ago, so try to hold out hope. get her to test your zinc when you go back for bloodwork. there are case studies from just 1 pill, so yes it’s very possible. a lot of the members of the forum would also attest to that. i’d recommend taking a break from the masturbation, i know you want to keep seeing how you respond, but just take a week off. if you build up a real urge too that would be a good sign, and you might find it improves the libido.
This may be of help in future interactions with healthcare providers
Day 17. Fatigue and muscle weakness seem better today. Libido is back and erections seem mildly better.
Big problem: I have a fast heart rate and feel winded. If this gets much worse Ill got to an ER because I know those are serious symptoms, but has anyone experienced this? My doctor prescribed me Propranolol to slow my heart rate. Has any PFS-er tried this? Im not going to take it anytime soon, but it may become a medical necessity.
Hey All,
I thought you might want another update. Day 24. Fatigue and muscle weakness seem to be better, but it depends on the hour of the day. Brain fog also seems slightly better but again it just depends on the hour of the day. Sexual function seems to have stabilized I think - at around 70% normal. Morning erections are still wonky but yeah, 70-75%. I still have weird pressure on bladder and I still wake up continuously throughout the night which is terribly frustrating. Some random ball pain and head pressure persists. My appetite for food has returned, which I hope is good news.
I am starting to hope that I’m slowly recovering but I’m terrified of another crash. I almost used a saw palmetto shampoo by accident but avoided that thankfully. Are there any other things I should do to build on this (tentative) improvement ? I’m just terrified of feeling worse again.
Hey guys. It’s officially been one month off. Feeling depressed today. I was doing better but today my sexual function is way down, hunger and appetite gone again, more problems sleeping out of nowhere. Weirdly enough I got morning erections but can’t get them on my own now. I was starting to hope I was on the other side of this thing but today just feels like a major setback. Is a zig zag recovery possible? I just feel so depressed to think I’m slipping backwards
Hi guys.
I woke up today and many of my symptoms are back. Fatigue, weakness, mostly all of it. I’m trying hard not to panic. Is it common or at least have y’all seen this before? Slow recovery and then a return of symptoms? It’s about the same as before. I’m trying to stay calm because I improved the first time but I’m just in a dark place once again.
And just as a note: I didn’t try any supplements or medication and of course did not touch Fin, minoxidil, or anything like that. So I’m not sure what trigger may or may not be
Have you suffered insomnia? Did you take any endocrine blood tests?
I would not say full insomnia. More like fitful sleeping.
I have had two blood tests but sadly both are post-fin and both seemed to be apparently normal
Actually I wrote this after I saw you got bloodwork done. In general you should Always get bloodwork done as a lot of guys come in here and never see a doctor. This could be 1 million other things other than fin. You could have mono for all you know. If you have not, Get a full hormone work up and ask for total T, free testosterone and SHBG, prolactin, ultra sensitive estrogen test. Save those tests for when you are 40 as you will want them for reference later in life!