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Where are you from (country)? USA
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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?) internet search
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What is your current age, height, weight? 34, 6’3", 212lbs
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Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? yes, dedicated bodybuilder since I was 18
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What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? I eat high protein/carbohydrates and moderate fats.
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Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? paranoid about hair loss
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For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 2.5 years
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How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 32 began in Aug 2011
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How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 34 in April 2014
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How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? cold turney
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What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? proscar
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What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25mg/day
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How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? When I think about it now it was almost immediately, but they didn’t destroy my life until after 2 years of use
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What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? while on I noticed my penis shrunk, numbness and slight loss of libido. and extrememly embarassing ED. this led me to quit in April. since quiting symptoms have become 10X worse. complete ED, complete loss of libido, complete loss for desire of life, depression, panick attacks in the middle of the night, brain fog, dry eyes and achy body and weakness. however, my overall testosterone remains fairly high for a 35 year old. 3 months after quitting fin it was 937. however, free test was only 10.1
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
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ x] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[x ] Confusion
[ x] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ x] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[x ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[x ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[x ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[x ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[x ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ x] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ x] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[x ] Joint Pain
[ x] 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)
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What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? The big problem is is that I was already the epitomy of health. muscle and single digit body fat. My diet has been great and very clean since I was 18. my bloodwork is always good. however, after 4 months I finally convinced a urologist to check my estrogen as I susbected it was high. I’m very in tune with my body. sure enough it was high but Dr said he wasn’t comfortable prescribing me anything for it as he felt it will fall into range with time. funny, they have all been "comfotable prescibing me endless cialis and viagra… both of wich only have worked occassionally and the quality of erection is still horrible with these meds. I just don’t have a sex drive at all. So thuse far I have just done what I always have done; heavy weight training, mobility training/yoga, healthy high protein diet and supplements. and cialis(which I hate having to use). I used to be the horniest person alive I thought. this has been awful
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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)? above range estrogen
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Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride? no
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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.
I’m a vain SOB. I loved cutting down woman in the bedroom like trees. I was paranoid about hairloss at 32 and got on fin. for the first 2 years I was still horny as ever. thinking about sex CONSTANTLY and masterbating at work up to 3 times a day was not unusual. then in December of last year I was with a new girl and I couldn’t get it up. never had this happened to me before. I was devistated. went to the doctors the next day. he asked me what medication I was on. ask soon as I said finasteride. he told me I need to stop taking that and that my receptors were clogged but that I would be fine in a few weeks. I didn’t really even believe him because I didn’t think it could be the drug cause I had been on it for two years with no problem. I cut back the dose to 1.25 everyother day. over the next 8-10 weeks libido got worse and worse. that’s when I did my own research and to my horrow stumbled upon the truth about finasteride and what it does. I had no idea. I quit immediatley. went back to the doctor and he said "yes, I did some more looking into it after you were here last time and it might take more like 6 months for your boy to heal. over the last 4 months I have been to 2 urologists, and 1 endo. I have had about three blood tests. Overall testosterone always ranging between 790’sand 930’s…in fact I have elevated my natural testosterone since being off but my symptoms have only gotten worse. I continue to eat, and train like I always have and have looked very good but I never feel normal or even close to better, and then when I have a crash(like a week of panic attacks with , racing heart, trembling body and horrible joint muscle pain, I just get so depressed and wonder if I will ever be my old self again. I am tired of waiting for my body to “heal itself” my life is going by me while I am simply existing in a zombie state…but not truly living. I am wanting to fix this. I will tell you all, I doubt their is anyone on this site in better shape than me, who has consistantly, day in and day out eaten and lived the “natural bodybuilder” lifestyle as successfully as I have. of course I know there are probably others on here just like me, but my point is, this has done zilch to help me recover. I am getting worse and I do believe that only time will heal of is we are ever to be healed. however, like I said before, I don’t want to waste anymore time dwelling on this bullshit. I want to try to feel like ME again. I will do TRT, anti estrogens whatever it takes.