Stopped taking medicines today

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)?
Serbia

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 search – finasteride insomnia

What is your current age, height, weight?
30, 182 cm, 75 kg

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Finasteride, Tamsulosin

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
5 mg a day, 0.4 mg a day

What condition was being treated with the drug?
prostatic hyperplasia

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
a month

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
30

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
30

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
Two weeks

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
severe sleep deprivation, tremors

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
[ ] 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
[X] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[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
[ ] 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
[X] Muscle Weakness
[X] Joint Pain
[X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[X] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[X] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[X] Frequent urination
[X] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
None

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)?
Did not have any tests.

Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?
No.

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

For about two weaks now I felt unbearable, having severe insomnia, and even when I sleep it’s as if I hadn’t slept at all. I feelt as if the only thing stopping me from killing myself is my faith. Last night I googled about finasteride, today I googled some more and found out about disruption of REM sleep and also that consequences may be permanent. I threw my medications right away and cursed the day when I started using them.

2 Likes

Sorry that you’ve ended up in this boat. It feels terrifying but hang on to the fact that you’ll probably get better. The mejority recover in approx 3 months after cessation. This will be more likely on your case given you’ve had limited exposure. No matter how bad it gets beliieve this is only temporary. The worst thing you can do is feed the panic and anxiety that has been thrown at you. Good luck. It will be OK

3 Likes

I’ll echo what @LazarusRy has said and say you should remain optimistic that this will resolve itself for you as you’ve only just discontinued your use of the drug. We advise to wait until at least three months have passed since cessation of an anti androgenic substance before one considers themselves to have this condition. The statistics say that there’s a good chance you will improve or recover but if you don’t, this forum will be here to support you. The people here know exactly of what you report, it is truly horrendous. Please hold on and look after yourself as best you can during this period.

3 Likes

Thanks for the support and kind words. I will report here any changes as they occur.

Како си брате.
Hi man, sorry you had to learn about fin the hard way. You are still early with these sides so you will highly likely get either recovered ot at least i a way better shape after the 3 months mark, still it could take more than 3 months tho, just don’t do stupid stuff messing around further with other supplements/vitamins that can worsen your situation! God bless you!

3 Likes

Hi there… I stopped 6 days ago… I stopped “cold Turkey” but now read that going off gradually is probably the way to go… does anyone have any thoughts on this?

This is Finasteride’s dose-response curve:

image

As you can see, realistically you won’t be able to go down gradually enough to avoid a sharp drop in DHT inhibition.

1 Like

@tisho1012 Ево борим се брате мој напаћени.
(I’m fighting it my longsuffering brother.)
Thanks.

2 Likes

Progress report.
For a bit over two weeks now I have not had any PFS symptoms, so that means that if I don’t crash 'till February (when it would be over 3 months time without them) I got off scot-free. I avoid the forum because I avoid even thinking about how hellishly I used to feel, and quite frankly thinking about the possibility of crashing back into it frightens me to the very core of my being. If I don’t get PFS, even such a short experience with its symptoms will have made me a different man, a better man certainly. In fact, it already has but for the nagging terror lurking in the back of my mind.

6 Likes

Sounds like it’s going the way it should and you’ll likely be past it in no time.

Nicely done! :slight_smile:

Progress report.
I’ve been over three months simptom-free now so I guess officially I’m free. So if there are any unfortunate new victims of finasteride reading this know that there’s hope.

7 Likes

Congratulations on recovery!