Is this just as bad for my health/recovery? God I don’t know what to do. I thought this was much safer than fin without the sides. I haven’t been able to sleep at all once I got off of fin. Do you guys thing using alfatradiol is making my insomnia/pfs worse? The number one symptom Im getting after stopping fin is INSOMNIA.Its affecting my cognition and mood. I don’t know what to do to make my situation better. I ve tried valerian root and magnesium before bed. Indica made my insomnia worse. Im riding my bike/ running everyday to tire myself out before bed and still not able to sleep. Being outside in the sun really improves my mood. I can’t even focus on the things I enjoy doing cause Im too busy trying to figure out what the hell is going on with me.
It’s hard to properly say what’s what …but I’d imagine it’s not the alfatradiol affecting the sleep that much, it’s the discontinuation of finasteride that has caused the extreme insomnia .
How bad is it at right now? (In terms of hours of sleep per night?) when was the last pill taken ? What other alternative medicines have you tried so far?
Thank you for your response ! I was on fin for a little over a month. I was using .25/.5 every other day though. I stopped about 3 weeks ago. Im glad I at least hopped off the drug early on. I still want to use alfatradiol to halt further hair loss. I feel like its been working. Yeah I’m just not sure if I should stop this treatment as well. I was using topical Ecklonia Cava that I boufgr from the Hairliciously channel on youtube and it seemed to stop further hairless but It made my hair look really greasy. Microneedling helps a bit especially if you are just starting to notice hairloss. I tried ru58841 but got really bad heart palpitations. I had the same side effect with minoxidil. I am currently using stemoxydine ( super mild version of minoxidil) and alfatradiol currently for my scalp.
I am getting 0 hours of sleep. I might have slept really light for a few days but I havent experienced deep and restful sleep. Do you think cbd oil might help? Do you have insomnia as well?
What are your symptoms? how long were you on fin?
My symptoms are insomnia ,tinnitus (electric pulse kinda sound) anxiety , erectile dysfunction , Anhedonia.
Most of these things I have Mildly , at the moment but over the past year and a half since I quit there have been episodes where they all have been extreme.
Insomnia was my worst symptom for sure so I fully understand the struggle . I have often had nights of zero hours (something I once thought was impossible) although recently I’m doing better .
I used finasteride for four years and took my last pill on September 10th 2019
It definitely sounds fairly extreme like how some of us have reported on here , I honestly think until your body stabilizes a bit -minerals, supplements (including CBd oil ) are gonna do minimal to address insomnia this severe . Arguably magnesium glycinate might be the best bet , but I would suggest temporarily using some Zopiclone or temazepmam whilst things are bad. Perhaps here and there for the next 2-3 months (don’t get addicted) and then see where you are at on the 3 month mark.
I currently use Mirtazapine which I have been on for 6 weeks and I’m doing much better at the moment (6-7 hours per night ). However Mirtazapine is not recommended by many on this forum (I was at a really desperate point and needed to restore sleep again so I gave it a go , even amongst the risks) however it has also helped others on here .
I wish you better mate , I really don’t envy you . I’ve been through a lot in my life but this finasteride induced insomnia has been pretty much the toughest challenge I have ever faced . Most people improve sleep from 3 -6 months onwards, I have just been a little unlucky .
Hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones.
I wouldn’t worry too much about hairloss products just focus on getting better (*tip - it’s not gonna fare well with other members of this site discussing hairloss products etc you may get a strong reaction- be warned! )
Don’t stop exercising, healthy diet , hobbies or a craft, interaction with others(no matter how you feel)
Keep doing everything as normal as this minimizes a response to fear of your situation.
Wishing you better !
Im definitely feeling slight anhedonia as well. Do you think were experiencing anhedonia due to the fact that we have insomnia ?
I don’t have insurance and Im scared to even go to the doctor. I really don’t want to hop on meds. Im going to go really intense at the gym this weekend and run up until the point of exhaustion and see if that helps.
I hope your situation gets better mate. Im sorry you are going through all this. yeah I shouldn’t even be complaining especially since I was only on this for a month.Do you even get the urge to fall asleep during the day? I can’t even get that feeling? I’ll start yawning though but my mind doesn’t seem to respond? Do you sleep some nights without any meds? Im going to look into Mirtazapine . Thank you for your recommendations. Yeah I’m going to do my best not to hop on any meds and just work my body until its totally exhausted and see if that’s going to do anything. What was the longest you went without any sleep? Did exercise help with insomnia?
Yeah I smoked some indica a few days ago and I was just having really depressive thoughts and it made my insomnia even worse. I think once were able to get some decent rest our whole cognition and mood will drastically improve. But yeah the insomnia is crazy.
I wish you the best and hope you get better man! stay positive! Thanks again fo your suggestions and sharing your experience with me.
When the insomnia is bad it definitely affects the Anhedonia , however I don’t think the insomnia is the root cause of the Anhedonia as there’s plenty of people on here with some severe Anhedonia but they can sleep ok . It’s linked , but it’s not a cause and effect situation in my opinion.
That’s one of the strange things , I can’t properly nap in the daytime and there’s several people on here with similar issue to this. It’s very strange.
No one quite knows what is going on , it’s possible Finasteride has affected the HPA Axis of the brain so we are in a constant fight or flight situation or it has created a shift between GABA and Glutamate balance in the brain which would cause insomnia and similar anxiety issues.
It is possible to sleep without meds yes …last year I went from end of July to December without using meds and was getting 4-6 hours a night . Don’t have any zero nights for months on end .
At the end of December something unfortunately caused a relapse and I had the sleep issues back .
The longest I went without sleep was 2 nights in a row.That only happened once or twice . It was usually night of zero hours followed by a night of 2 hours with the occasional 4 hours when it was at its worst . Pretty grim , I’m just glad to be doing better at the moment. It’s been mostly 6-7 hours now for a good few weeks.
Exercise does help now yes , but at the time when it was really bad like back when I first discontinued finasteride it didn’t do much (which suprises everyone and makes you feel worse when you can’t fall asleep after exercise!) but that doesn’t mean stop exercising , I would say keep going and do as much normal stuff as you can .
Try magnesium glycinate if possible , it might take 3-4 nights before it fully starts working but it should be a help.
Meds are not great yes…but sometimes when it’s rough , it’s better than getting no sleep I feel.
You could probably get Mirtazapine without too much issues , the temazepam and the Zopiclone would be harder to obtain (depends if you have an understanding doctor )
I think the evil thing is not so much that finasteride exists out there and is being prescribed, it’s more that when people suffer these side affects like extreme insomnia and go to their doctors they 99% get palmed off to psychiatry / therapy route , instead of getting properly investigated and further help for this condition…it sucks because the condition is barely recognized itself 
Best thing is to keep going , keep living well as best you can , keep a positive frame of mind , do the right things with diet and exercise (I also pray a lot for restoration ) and never give up hope - as people here have got a bit better eventually
Hey man THANK YOU for the magnesium glycerinate recommendation. I ve been able to get some rest the last few days thanks to you ! I bought just regular magnesium last week but didn’t do anything. The magnesium glycerinate is definitely doing something tho. Its the only thing that has worked so far. .I also munched on some walnuts as well before bed. I also can not properly nap in the daytime as well. I went to visit an old friend last week and that definitely just made me feel better jut being able to interact with someone.
yeah I can’t focus on my hobbies I enjoy doing cause I am spending my time on propecia forums and figuring out ways to get some decent sleep like everyone else on here. Yeah I remember I bought into Kevin Manns channel as well as The Hair Loss Channel on youtube before taking fin and they made it seem as if everything is going to be okay once you hop off fin.
Thanks for the encouraging words . I hope you are able to heal soon my friend! Sending you and peace and love brotha!
Glad you are feeling a bit better , keep on with it 
yes Magnesium Glycinate activates GABA and Glycine receptors so it should help with sleep (particularly this type of finasteride associated insomnia , which people think is due to fucked up GABA balance due to the inhibitor of 5ar )
yeah man it really helped out. thanks again! yeah the first two weeks I was experiencing brutal insomnia man. are you able to get drunk from alcohol even after finasteride use? Im planning to drink with an old friend but Im not sure how my brain will react ? Im almost one month off of finasteride? are you still on sleeping pills? any good progress with your pfs man?
I use Mirtazapine at the moment ….it’s been about 7 weeks in so far and has been a help.
It’s not really a sleeping pill as such but it helps reset sleep a bit .
Yeah it’s a strange one , in some ways I associate my tinnitus with PFS ……the whole time that there’s ringing it’s like a physical reminder of it to me.
Lately it’s been able to get a lot quieter somehow , which makes me hope I’m doing better. Plus been getting 6-7 hours a night pretty much which was probs what I got before PFS anyways.
That’s prob one good thing that I cut down on alcohol a lot since I went through PFS ….I don’t really drink anywhere near what I was before but I have definitely a buzz sometimes from 2-3 pints . The sleepiness kicks in a lot more than the buzz though. I find on days when I’m feeling better the alcohol process kicks in more how it used to and on days when I’m bad I usually avoid it or then it doesn’t seem to do anything. Hope that makes sense?
The main things I do to defeat this is work as hard as possible , I hate laying around anyways but I found it I work hard at stuff …and this could be anything - from working on my music , cleaning the house, my degree, my part time job, fitness/exercise etc what I’ve found is I seem to be switching the self reward section on a little bit in the brain , it seems to make me feel something again. The more time that passes and the more I do these things the more I start to feel more normal .
yeah I’ve been able to sleep without magnesium pills the last few days as well. it wasn’t the best sleep but its something at least. I still need to implement a solid workout routine Ever thought about going to a sauna? Might help with overall health and better sleep? I ve been thinking about going to a sauna this week. I don’t have strong cravings to eat also. Did that happen to you? Did it ever get back to normal? Even after I eat a heavy meal I am not able to feel sleepy like before 
Are you using any supplements to help adheonia? I ve been hearing that b12 and tyrosine helps? I take a sea moss supplement that has it but Im not sure if it even has enough to have any effect on on me. I might buy a b12 and tyrosine supplement this week.
Yeah I haven’t had a drink in over a year. My buddy wants to drink but I’m not sure if I can enjoy a good buzz like before. I might wait a couple of months before I have a drink. I just finished a 3 day liver detox also. Yeah I’ve been reading that alcohol doesn’t effect them like it used to. I hope to hit the bars soon and try to have a normal social life again. So hard to meet down to earth women these days especially out here in Los Angeles man The older I get the harder it is to make friends and meet women.
Yeah man I honestly do not like mopping around at home just thinking about PFS. I shouldn’t even be complaining though since I was only on it for a month man. I like to hang out at this hotel patio on the weekends and read or work on music on my laptop also. What kind of music do you make? yeah its best to just stay busy to keep your mind off things man. Have you been open about PFS with friends and family?