Stopped taking Propecia after 2.5 months of having erectile problems

Symptoms Sexual
#1

I started taking Propecia in mid-August of this year. Over the past 2 months I had started to notice that I was having problems with getting and maintaining erections in a way that I never had before. I also began to notice a decrease in my sex drive. I had never had erectile problems or sex drive problems before. I assumed it was just a temporary side effect that would go away or that it would go back to normal if I decided to stop taking the medication so I continued taking it for a few more weeks. But after reading the new research that is showing that the side effects may be longer and more damaging than previously thought and that they can continue even AFTER stopping the medication, I decided to quit taking it that very day and will never take another one.

I am hoping that my body will return to normal and that these side effects will just be temporary now that I have stopped the medication.

Since I only took it for about 2 and half months am I likely to have a good prognosis for recovery, or could I still be in trouble?

#2

Hopefully you’ll be fine. First thing is not to panic.

Some advice while you’re getting finasteride out of your system:

-Take it easy, you are recovering from an intense hormonal and neurological manipulation of your body. Live healthy, get enough sleep, exercise lightly, don’t have too much sexual activity (once every three days or so). Research and try a paleo diet and eliminate things that stress your body like alcohol, sugars, and stimulants such as caffeine.

Given how people can heal and crash or develop worsening symptoms long periods after being off finasteride it seems to be a good idea to make a conscientious lifestyle change in favor of healthier behaviors of you don’t already have them.

Please note these are generalizations of what has helped people on this site. Some will disagree about the method of discontinuing finasteride (such as tapering off) or about what worked for them. In the end you will have to decide what the best course of action for you is.

#3

I’m pretty young and healthy overall anyway, so hopefully that will help. I work out, eat healthily, am not overweight and don’t drink alcohol to speak of.

What I’m curious about is the use of the phrase “crash” that I see on many threads here. What does ‘crash’ refer to?

Is this a biological or sexual ‘crash’, or is it more of a mental ‘crash’, like depression?

#4

It is a loss of androgenic function/response post-drug, typically when androgen levels (Testosterone) drop within weeks of quitting the drug.

Details: propeciahelp.com/symptoms

#5

You don’t need to worry about it unless it happens and hopefully it won’t. Trust me, if you crash then you will damn well know about it.

When exactly did you quit the drug? this forum is for men with long term problems so it’s probably best that you try to forget about it for now, assuming that you will return to normal in the next couple of weeks. If the side effects persist then please come back and complete a member’s story.

If you use any hair loss forums or speak to people that are thinking about using finasteride then you know what to tell them :sunglasses:

#6

I quit several days ago, and so obviously it’s too soon to do a post-drug report, but I wanted to report what had happened to me while I was on the drug.

I also wanted to ask questions about what to possibly expect in the weeks ahead during the post-drug period.

#7

Read mew’s post above.